System and method for network user interface OLAP report formatting

• US 9,208,213 B2
• Filed: 10/14/2005
• Issued: 12/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microstrategy Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Microstrategy Incorporated
• Inventors: Harold, Lee C., Zhu, Qing, Liebl, Herbert
• Primary Examiner(s): Debrow, James J
• Application Number:
  US11/249,369
• Publication Number:
  US 20060085742A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,707 Days
• Field of Search: 715/212, 715/243, 715/248, 715/256
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/25 Integrating or interfacing systems involving database management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/283 Multi-dimensional databases or data warehouses, e.g. MOLAP or ROLAP
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/103 Formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents automatic justification G06F40/189; automatic line break hyphenation G06F40/191

Abstract

A network-based system for enabling users connected over the network to an OLAP system to select formatting options for reports requested for processing by the OLAP system. The system enables a user to select the format for each report in a workbook or for a stand-alone report. The format specified may be multiple levels of format that are applied in a hierarchical manner including global formats that apply to all reports in a workbook, report formats which apply to specific reports in the workbooks, attribute/element/metric formats which apply to specific attributes, elements, and metrics of a report, and value formats which apply to specific values within an element of a report. The formats specified may also comprise merged report formats, combined grid and graphs within a report and an autoformat that enables each recipient of the report to specify the format in which that recipient views the report when the report is received.

Claims

1. A system for presenting reports processed by an on-line analytical processing (OLAP) system over a network, the system comprising:

at least one physical processing device that executes one or more computer program modules that;

receive, from a user system through a web browser, a request for a workbook comprising a plurality of reports and a selection of one or more specified templates or filter combinations to format one or more of the plurality of reports;

return control of the web browser to enable a user to use the web browser to perform one or more other tasks while the workbook request is being processed, wherein the one or more other tasks includes requesting an additional workbook;

receive the workbook comprising the plurality of reports processed by the OLAP system in response to the workbook request;

format one or more of the plurality of reports in the workbook in accordance with the selected one or more specified template or filter combinations received from the user system through the web browser in communication with the OLAP system over the network;

build an interactive spreadsheet application for presenting the workbook at the web browser of the user system, wherein the interactive spreadsheet application configures an arrangement of the plurality of formatted reports in the workbook; and

transmit the workbook including the plurality of formatted reports within a page over the network to the web browser of the user system through which the request was received, wherein the transmitted workbook is presented at the user system using the interactive spreadsheet application displayed within the web browser.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify a plurality of format levels used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the plurality of format levels are used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook in a hierarchical order, wherein the hierarchical formatting order includes superseding at least one of the plurality of format levels that are higher in the hierarchical order with at least one of the plurality of format levels that are lower in the hierarchical order.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the plurality of format levels comprise a global format level, a worksheet format level, a report format level, an attribute, element, and metric format level, and a value format level in that hierarchical order, whereby the global format level is highest in the hierarchical order and the value format level is lowest in the hierarchical order.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify a merged format used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify a combined grid and graph format used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify one or more rules used to format one or more of the plurality of reports in the workbook, wherein the one or more reports to be formatted using the one or more rules are specified at the user system through the web browser.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify one or more predefined formats used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify one or more scripts used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook, wherein the one or more scripts are created at the user system and specified through the web browser.

10. A computer-implemented method of presenting reports processed by an on-line analytical processing (OLAP) system over a network, the method being implemented by a computer that includes a physical processor, the method comprising:

receiving, from a user system through a web browser, a request for a workbook comprising a plurality of reports and a selection of one or more specified templates or filter combinations to format one or more of the plurality of reports;

returning control of the web browser to enable a user to use the web browser to perform one or more other tasks while the workbook request is being processed, wherein the one or more other tasks includes requesting an additional workbook;

receiving the workbook comprising the plurality of reports processed by the OLAP system in response to the workbook request;

formatting one or more of the plurality of reports in the workbook in accordance with the selected one or more specified template or filter combinations received from the user system through the web browser in communication with the OLAP system over the network;

building an interactive spreadsheet application for presenting the workbook at the web browser of the user system, wherein the interactive spreadsheet application configures an arrangement of the plurality of formatted reports in the workbook; and

transmitting the workbook including the plurality of formatted reports within a page over the network to the web browser of the user system through which the request was received, wherein the transmitted workbook is presented at the user system using the interactive spreadsheet application displayed within the web browser.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify a plurality of format levels used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of format levels are used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook in a hierarchical order, wherein the hierarchical formatting order includes superseding at least one of the plurality of format levels that are higher in the hierarchical order with at least one of the plurality of format levels that are lower in the hierarchical order.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the plurality of format levels comprise a global format level, a worksheet format level, a report format level, an attribute, element, and metric format level, and a value format level in that hierarchical order, whereby the global format level is highest in the hierarchical order and the value format level is lowest in the hierarchical order.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify a merged format used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify a combined grid and graph format used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify one or more rules used to format one or more of the plurality of reports in the workbook, wherein the one or more reports to be formatted using the one or more rules are specified at the user system through the web browser.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify one or more predefined formats used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify one or more scripts used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook, wherein the one or more scripts are created at the user system and specified through the web browser.

19. An electronic device comprising a non-transitory computer usable storage medium having computer-executable code embodied therein for presenting reports processed by an on-line analytical processing (OLAP) over a network, wherein executing the computer-executable code on a physical processor coupled to the electronic device causes the electronic device to:

receive, from a user system through a web browser, a request for a workbook comprising a plurality of reports and a selection of one or more specified templates or filter combinations to format one or more of the plurality of reports;

return control of the web browser to enable a user to use the web browser to perform one or more other tasks while the workbook request is being processed, wherein the one or more other tasks includes requesting an additional workbook;

receive the workbook comprising the plurality of reports processed by the OLAP system in response to the request for the workbook;

format one or more of the plurality of reports in the workbook in accordance with the selected one or more specified template or filter combinations received from the user system through the web browser in communication with the OLAP system over the network;

build an interactive spreadsheet application for presenting the workbook at the web browser of the user system, wherein the interactive spreadsheet application configures an arrangement of the plurality of formatted reports in the workbook; and

transmit the workbook including the plurality of formatted reports within a page over the network to the web browser of the user system through which the request was received, wherein the transmitted workbook is presented at the user system using the interactive spreadsheet application displayed within the web browser.

20. The electronic device of claim 19, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify a plurality of format levels used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook.

21. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the plurality of format levels are used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook in a hierarchical order, wherein the hierarchical formatting order includes superseding at least one of the plurality of format levels that are higher in the hierarchical order with at least one of the plurality of format levels that are lower in the hierarchical order.

22. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the plurality of format levels comprise a global format level, a worksheet format level, a report format level, an attribute, element, and metric format level, and a value format level in that hierarchical order, whereby the global format level is highest in the hierarchical order and the value format level is lowest in the hierarchical order.

23. The electronic device of claim 19, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify a merged format used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook.

24. The electronic device of claim 19, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify a combined grid and graph format used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook.

25. The electronic device of claim 19, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify one or more predefined formats used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook.

26. The electronic device of claim 19, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify one or more rules used to format one or more of the plurality of reports in the workbook, wherein the one or more reports to be formatted using the one or more rules are specified at the user system through the web browser.

27. The electronic device of claim 19, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify one or more scripts used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook, wherein the one or more scripts are created at the user system and specified through the web browser.

28. A non-transitory computer usable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for presenting reports processed by an on-line analytical processing (OLAP) over a network, wherein the computer readable program code executes on one or more physical computing devices, and wherein executing the computer readable program code on the one or more physical computing devices causes the one or more physical computing devices to:

receive, from a user system through a web browser, a request for a workbook comprising a plurality of reports and a selection of one or more specified templates or filter combinations to format one or more of the plurality of reports;

return control of the web browser to enable a user to use the web browser to perform one or more other tasks while the workbook request is being processed, wherein the one or more other tasks includes requesting an additional workbook;

receive the workbook comprising the plurality of reports processed by the OLAP system in response to the request for the workbook;

format one or more of the plurality of reports in the workbook in accordance with the selected one or more template or filter combinations received from the user system through the web browser in communication with the OLAP system over the network, wherein the one or more template or filter combinations specify a plurality of format levels used to format the plurality of reports in the workbook in a hierarchical order;

build an interactive spreadsheet application for presenting the workbook at the web browser of the user system, wherein the interactive spreadsheet application configures an arrangement of the plurality of formatted reports in the workbook; and

transmit the workbook including the plurality of formatted reports within a page over the network to the web browser of the user system through which the request was received, wherein the transmitted workbook is presented at the user system using the interactive spreadsheet application displayed within the web browser.