WO2016018325A1 - Systèmes et procédés décisionnels - Google Patents

Systèmes et procédés décisionnels Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2016018325A1
WO2016018325A1 PCT/US2014/048981 US2014048981W WO2016018325A1 WO 2016018325 A1 WO2016018325 A1 WO 2016018325A1 US 2014048981 W US2014048981 W US 2014048981W WO 2016018325 A1 WO2016018325 A1 WO 2016018325A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
data
app
menu
business intelligence
recipient
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2014/048981
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Rajesh Kutty
Jean Michel Guillemin
Original Assignee
iVedix, Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by iVedix, Inc. filed Critical iVedix, Inc.
Priority to PCT/US2014/048981 priority Critical patent/WO2016018325A1/fr
Publication of WO2016018325A1 publication Critical patent/WO2016018325A1/fr

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Classifications

    • GPHYSICS
    • G06COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06FELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/01Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
    • G06F3/048Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
    • G06F3/0481Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
    • G06F3/0482Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
    • GPHYSICS
    • G06COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06QINFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q10/00Administration; Management
    • G06Q10/10Office automation; Time management
    • GPHYSICS
    • G06COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06QINFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q10/00Administration; Management
    • G06Q10/10Office automation; Time management
    • G06Q10/109Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting

Definitions

  • the disclosed system includes a computer readable storage medium including executable instructions to provide a navigational menu and a choice of actions as a Graphic User Interface (GUI), referred to herein as a contextual radial menu apparatus or device.
  • GUI Graphic User Interface
  • the disclosed embodiments are particularly suited, but not restricted, to Business Intelligence (Bl) applications requiring hierarchical menu items to be drilled down or up and searched across dimensions.
  • the following disclosure relates generally to data visualization and data interaction. More particularly, this disclosure relates to performing data visualization aimed at selecting items or actions like a system of menus and sub- menus associated with software. Thanks to its circular or radial geometry of several disclosed embodiments, the apparatus does not have any physical limitation of number of menus and sub-menus. The size of the navigational interface is arbitrary but, importantly, it does not grow along with the number of displayed sub-menus. Thanks to its mobility, menu items and action buttons can change depending upon the position on a screen or page.
  • Business Intelligence generally refers to a category of software and network-based systems and applications used to improve business enterprise decision-making and governance. These software tools provide techniques for analyzing and leveraging enterprise applications and data. These tools are commonly applied to financial, human resource, marketing, sales, service provision, and customer and supplier analyses. More specifically, these tools can include: reporting and analysis tools to analyze, forecast and present information, content delivery infrastructure systems for delivery, storage and management of reports and analytics, data warehousing systems for cleansing and consolidating information from disparate sources, and integration tools to analyze and generate workflows based on enterprise systems.
  • reporting and analysis tools to analyze, forecast and present information
  • content delivery infrastructure systems for delivery, storage and management of reports and analytics
  • data warehousing systems for cleansing and consolidating information from disparate sources
  • integration tools to analyze and generate workflows based on enterprise systems.
  • Intelligence tools work with data management systems, such as relational databases or On Line Analytic Processing (OLAP) systems used to collect, store, and manage raw data and transactional enterprise systems that generate data.
  • OLAP On Line Analytic Processing
  • a subset of business intelligence tools are reports, OLAP systems.
  • Bl tools provide users with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that enables them to interact with the application, for example, to select items or trigger actions.
  • GUI Graphical User Interface
  • Interactive reports and dashboards require commonly filtering data; it can be the selection of a single attribute value but also bigger pieces such as a whole dimension or subset of data.
  • Modern Bl tools require users to navigate across hierarchies, typically to drill down data in order to get more details.
  • a suitable user interface screen may include, for example, a display region and a number of user interface controls, which may be presented in the form of menu bars.
  • the menu bars may be expanded (i.e., in a drop down menu) to display various selectable options.
  • the number of interactive functionalities that a user interface allows is proportional to the number of options displayed in connection with the menu bars on the user interface screen.
  • drop down controls are activated by selecting an arrow in the right hand corner.
  • a drop down list is then displayed for user selection.
  • the selection is made by clicking on the appropriate choice.
  • the list is hidden and the choice is displayed in the text box.
  • the list may have scroll bars if there are too many items for display in a single view.
  • the Macintosh operating system uses a similar technique called PopUp buttons. By pressing and holding the mouse button, a list is displayed. As long as the mouse button is depressed, the list remains visible. By scrolling the mouse pointer down the list, the user can make a selection. Once the proper choice is highlighted, the mouse button is released and the selection is made.
  • the options may be user determined, for example, through user selections.
  • a problem with these arrangements is that the system or the user cannot accurately anticipate which options the user may wish to access in a particular user interface screen and, therefore, may create unnecessarily restrictive menu options. These may frustrate the user.
  • a different and less frequently used approach to the above problem is a "bulls eye" menu in which options are presented in progressively outward- expanded concentric cycles, much like a shooting target with a central bulls eye.
  • the options in circular layers that are closer to the center are higher level options.
  • Associated lower level options may be displayed in additional circular layers that may be farther away radially from the center.
  • One advantage of a bulls eye menu is faster user selection. For example, by allowing the user to directly move a mouse pointer to a desired option in one of the concentric layers.
  • Selection speed associated with this direct movement is much faster than selection made from a traditional menu, such as a drop down menu.
  • a disadvantage of the bulls eye menu is its rigid format, which requires an entire circular layer to be added to the outside of the concentric circles when a single option beyond the current outer layer is to be added. This expansion may sacrifice an unnecessary large amount of screen area.
  • the bulls eye menu's circular format also does not allow easy linear mapping of user selection steps through the layers.
  • the disclosed systems and methods provide a navigational device or menu apparatus shaped like a disc having a two-layer structure: a wheel or other rotatable shape and a partial shield on top, both assembled on a common axle I axis; the rotating wheel, made of retractable inner rings, holds the selectable menu and sub-menu items while the shield is the support for the action buttons.
  • the disclosed navigational device is preferably, in at least one embodiment, implemented as a virtual display technique depicted on a display or user interface.
  • the disclosed embodiments may include a 30 apparatus on which additional information can be displayed.
  • the bread crump side of the wheel can be used for displaying information such as the selected path or the search result among other pieces of information. For instance, search can be processed from the apparatus and the result displayed on it.
  • the disclosed navigational system is designed to leverage the gestures integrated with the operating system (OS) of portable computing devices such as tablets and similar touchscreen devices. Different gestures will drive different actions. For instance, touching a dimension will drill down at the first level of the dimension
  • the apparatus is movable over the screen and the menu items and actions vary upon the position.
  • the apparatus is also removable from the screen.
  • the disclosed embodiment includes a computer readable storage medium with executable instructions to select information or action to perform within an application context.
  • An example of such instructions is the search of items across dimension given a set of selection criteria.
  • Also disclosed in embodiments herein is a computer readable storage medium including executable instructions to configure the content and the layout of a mobile app.
  • the disclosed embodiments are particularly suited, but not restricted, to Business Intelligence (Bl) dashboard applications requiring displaying, and interacting with, data under any forms of graphical or tabular visualization.
  • Bl Business Intelligence
  • a computer-executed method including executable instructions to communicate information across various recipients, where passing data or parameters from one window to another is required, in a common embodiment of a recipient (defined as a screen area) where some content is displayed or an application is running therein.
  • Also disclosed herein is a uniform syntax including executable instructions to parse the syntax and convert it into specific query language for accessing data directly from a database or from any other sources accessible from a resource locator (e.g., URL) string.
  • This aspect is particularly suited to computer software requiring accessing disparate data stored in heterogeneous source systems.
  • the application (app) layer also provides for end user layout and content customization.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a computer constructed in accordance with a disclosed embodiment.
  • FIG. 2 illustrates the navigation inside the hierarchy of menu in accordance with a disclosed embodiment.
  • FIG. 3 illustrates the item selection processing in accordance with disclosed embodiment.
  • FIG. 4 illustrates the activation of contextual action processing in accordance with a disclosed embodiment
  • FIG. 5 illustrates the search of item processing in accordance with disclosed embodiment.
  • FIG. 6 illustrates an example of hierarchy representing menu node associated with a disclosed embodiment.
  • FIG. 7 illustrates the display of a menu and sub-menus on the wheel with a disclosed embodiment.
  • FIGS. 8A - 8G illustrate the rotation of the wheel under the shield to display more menu items in accordance with a disclosed embodiment.
  • FIGS. 9A - 9B illustrates the search result in accordance with a disclosed embodiment.
  • FIG. 1 0 illustrates the spatial representation in 3D of the
  • navigational aid used to display search criteria in accordance with a disclosed embodiment.
  • FIG. 1 1 is a general illustration of configurator functionality, including a configuration database.
  • FIG. 1 2 is an illustrative example of an App Resource, as
  • FIG. 1 3 is a sequential series of steps representing a process for uploading the configuration of an App Resource.
  • FIG. 1 4 is a block diagram illustrating the interrelationship amongst various components of the disclosed system and methods.
  • FIG. 1 5 is an illustrative example of objects that may be dragged and dropped in accordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiments.
  • FIG. 1 6 is an exemplary schema representing the context of the neutral query specification.
  • FIGS. 1 7, 1 8A, 1 8B, 1 9A and 1 9B are illustrative examples of alternative visualization topologies.
  • FIG. 20 is an example of a data context mixing Internet data with structured database data.
  • FIG. 21 is a schematic illustration of one embodiment for the linkage of social media information.
  • FIGS. 22A - 22B are illustrative examples of a what-if visualization method in accordance with the disclosed system.
  • a hierarchical menu is a structure of a set of levels of nodes.
  • a hierarchical menu can be depicted of a directed tree that displays data in a hierarchical format.
  • a flat menu is a singular occurrence of a hierarchical menu; it is a hierarchical menu with no sub-menu.
  • the general term hierarchical menu is used.
  • a sub-menu is a set of nodes of the level immediately below a given menu item.
  • a node is a visual depiction of an item of a hierarchical menu.
  • a node is depicted in a specific level of a hierarchical menu.
  • a node is depicted in relation to other nodes within a hierarchical menu.
  • a node is associated with a named menu item identifiable by the users.
  • a selection is a choice among a list of specific type of menu items that affects the data population inside a grid, chart or the like.
  • a selection serves as command in order to either extending or filtering a set of data to display.
  • a selection must have a destination such as a chart, a grid or the like wherein the selection is applied to change the data.
  • An action is a choice among a list of specific type of menu items that kicks off a process. Unlike selection, action does not require a destination; itjust activates a process whose execution does not affect the selection of data in a grid, chart or the like.
  • a dimension is a type of data model object that represents a side such as a category, a column or a set of data items within a data source. Each dimension represents a different category, such as region, time, or product type. Dimension definitions support the specification of hierarchies to form a hierarchical dimension where dimension levels are constrained by hierarchical logic. Members of a dimension may be defined through a filter or transform. [0057] A d i me n s ion can contain one or several hierarchies
  • a food item dimension could contain a pyramid-based food categories and subcategories such as fruit, meat, dairy on one level and then, on a lower level, apple, orange, plums under fruit, beef, chicken under meat and so on.
  • a data source is an information resource.
  • Data sources include sources of data that enable data storage and retrieval.
  • Data sources may include databases, such as, relational, transactional, hierarchical, multidimensional (e.g., OLAP), object oriented databases, and the like .
  • Further data sources may include tabular data (e.g., spreadsheets, delimited text files), data tagged with a markup language (e.g., XML data), transactional data, unstructured data (e.g., text files, screen scrapings), hierarchical data (e.g., data in a file system, XML data), files, a plurality of reports, and any other data source accessible through an established protocol, such as Open DataBase Connectivity (ODBC) and the like.
  • Data sources may also include a data source where the data is not stored like data streams, broadcast data, and the like.
  • a data filter is selection criteria used for retrieving relevant data from a data source, or a subset of previously received data.
  • a visualization is a graphic display of quantitative information. Types of visualizations include charts, grids, maps, and word-cloud, among others.
  • the computer 1 00 includes standard components, including a central processing unit 1 05 and input/output devices 1 1 0, which are linked by a bus 1 20.
  • the input/output devices 1 1 0 may include a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, monitor, printer, and the like.
  • one or more aspects of the computer 1 00 may be implemented using a personal and/or portable computing device such as a tablet, laptop, smartphone, etc.
  • a network interface circuit 1 1 5 is also connected to the bus 1 20.
  • the network interface circuit (NIC) 1 1 5 provides connectivity to a network 1 06 (local-area-network (LAN), wide-area- network (WAN), etc.) via wired or wireless technologies, thereby allowing the computer 1 00 to operate in a networked environment.
  • a network 1 06 local-area-network (LAN), wide-area- network (WAN), etc.
  • LAN local-area-network
  • WAN wide-area- network
  • a memory 1 22 is also connected to the bus 1 20.
  • the memory 1 22 stores, among other data, one or more of the following modules: a data source 1 25, a data access module 1 30, a contextual menu module 1 35 and a graphical user interface (GUI) module 1 40.
  • GUI graphical user interface
  • the data source 1 25 stores and supplies data for the data access module 1 30.
  • the data source resides on a separate machine.
  • the data access module 1 30 extracts data from the data source when required, constructs data filters, accesses the data source, and filters and groups the data as requested, in particular menu data.
  • the contextual menu module 1 35 constructs the menu hierarchy and accepts user selection(s) or action(s) from the graphical user interface module 1 40.
  • the graphical user interface module 1 40 displays the menu hierarchy created by the contextual menu module 1 35 and accepts user selection.
  • the graphical user interface module 1 40 may rely upon the navigational aid in the nature of the contextual radial menu apparatus functions to an optimized user interface for menu and sub-menu selection.
  • Graphical user interface module 1 40 passes the user selection made in contextual menu module to the core application module 1 45.
  • the executable modules stored in memory 1 22 are exemplary, and other or alternative modules may be similarly stored therein. Additional modules such as an operating system module may also be included. It should be appreciated that the functions of the modules may be combined. In addition, the functions of the modules need not be performed on a single machine. Instead, the functions may be distributed across a network, if desired. Indeed, the disclosed embodiments may be commonly implemented in a mobile device(s) with various components being implemented at the front-end side and/or the server-side. It is the functions of the disclosed embodiments that are significant, not where they are performed or the specific manner in which they are performed.
  • FIG. 2 illustrates a high level workflow 200 associated with a disclosed embodiment.
  • This workflow relates to the navigation in the menu and subsequent menus.
  • the contextual menu module 1 35 identifies the context of a menu, operation 202, which is transmitted to the graphical user interface module 1 40 for displaying the top level menu items 204 to the user.
  • the context can change based on the user's interaction with the computer 1 00. Therefore, the contextual menu module 1 35 identifies, in real-time, the context of a menu 202; if the context is changed, test 206, then the graphical user interface module 1 40 refreshes the menu items 204 accordingly.
  • the graphical user interface interface receives a navigation selection 208.
  • the user can request two possible types of navigation 21 0 in a menu: navigate up, which goes back to the upper level of the menu, and navigate down, to display a sub- menu. It is not possible to navigate lower than the bottom level in a menu, test 21 2; if the user attempts to do so then an alert is triggered at operation 21 4. If a subsequent menu is available then an outer ring is displayed with the sub-menu items 21 6. Navigating up into a menu erases the outer ring as represented by operation 21 8.
  • FIG. 3 illustrates a high level workflow 300 associated with a disclosed embodiment.
  • This workflow relates to selecting menu items.
  • the user navigates across the menus and sub-menus 200 in order to get a list of selectable items displayed along the outer ring, as represented in the operations 21 6, 21 8 of FIG. 2.
  • An item is accepted as a selection, operation 305, and is dropped, operation 31 0, either directly into the application as represented at 340 or a multi-selection recipient based upon test 31 5. If the selection is dropped into the multi-selection recipient then the selected item is added to the current selection list, operation 330. This entire process from the navigation 200 to the multi-selection 320 can be repeated until the user decides to release the multi-selection 325.
  • the selection list is then passed to the application 1 45 (FIG. 1 ) through the graphical user interface module 1 40.
  • the selection list is then emptied 335.
  • the single selection case, reflected via test 31 5, passes the individual selected item to operation 340 to the core application module 1 45 through the graphical user interface module 1 40.
  • FIG. 4 illustrates a high level workflow 400 associated with a disclosed embodiment.
  • This workflow relates to selecting action items.
  • the contextual menu module 1 35 identifies the context of a menu, operation 41 0, which is passed to the graphical user interface module 1 40 for displaying the action item menu to the user.
  • the context can change, as reflected in test 430, based on the user interaction with the computer 1 00. Therefore, the contextual menu module 1 35 identifies real-time the context of a menu 202; if the context is changed, for example in operation 206 (FIG. 2), then the graphical user interface module 1 40 refreshes accordingly the selectable action items as represented by operation 420.
  • the graphical user interface module 1 40 receives an action selection, operation 440. The action is then passed to the core application module 1 45 for execution as represented by operation 450.
  • FIG. 5 illustrates a high level workflow 500 associated with the disclosed embodiment.
  • This workflow relates to searching menu items.
  • operation 505 After a request for search is initiated, operation 505, then the user is allowed to input multiple search criteria as represented in operation 51 0.
  • the search engine associated with the disclosed embodiment can be launched as shown by operation 51 5. If there is at least one matching item found, determined by test 520, then the search result is displayed at operation 530, where a slice in the wheel is allocated for each found item. Then the user can make a selection of a found item, operation 535, that will refresh the menu list, operation 540, and thereby highlighting the found item on the outer ring; the navigation lineage is also displayed, each level
  • FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a hierarchical menu 600.
  • the year “201 0" (61 0) and year “201 1 " (61 2) represent the top menu items of the hierarchy; it is by convention designated as the level 1 of the menu hierarchy 61 4.
  • the year “201 0" is broken down into four quarters “Ql 201 0" (620), “Q2 201 O” (625), “Q3 201 0" and “Q4 201 O”. Those four subordinate nodes constitute the level 2 (61 5) in the hierarchy.
  • the quarter “Q2 201 0" (625) can also be broken down into the three months: "April” (635), “May” and “June", which are part of the level 3 (630) of the hierarchy.
  • the drawing illustrates only the decomposition of the quarter “Q2 201 0" but it should be appreciated that the three other quarters can be broken down the same way.
  • the drawing illustrates the decomposition of the month “April” (635) into the thirty days of this month, from "April 1 st” to "April 30th”; those nodes are part of the level 4 (650) in the hierarchy.
  • FIG. 7 is a representation of the hierarchical menu illustrated in FIG. 6 associated with invention contextual radial menu device or apparatus as may be depicted on a graphical user interface in accordance with a disclosed embodiment.
  • the drawing shows the four levels of the time hierarchy: year 735, quarter 730, month 725 and day 705 displayed in successive rings in the embodiment.
  • Each level is represented in a specific circular layer or ring that is progressively farther away radially from the outer ring hosting the nodes of the lowest selected level of the hierarchy.
  • the addition and the removal of circular layers are processed according to the workflow 200 illustrated in FIG 2.
  • Each circular layer is divided into a number of slices or sections, where each of the slices or sections represents a node of the hierarchical menu.
  • the shield 71 0 that is shown as overlaid on top of the wheel in the FIG. 7 serves as a "fixed support" to host the action menu items.
  • Each action item is represented with a square 71 5 on the shield.
  • the list of action items to be made available on the shield varies depending on the menu context being displayed at the time. The selection of an action item is processed in compliance with the workflow 400 illustrated in and previously described relative to FIG. 4.
  • the wheel 740 and the shield 71 0 are tied together or associated using a common axle or axis at the center point 720.
  • the wheel can rotate on the axle relative to the shield and vice-versa.
  • the shield 71 0 hides a portion of the wheel 740 and thereby some slices or sections representing the nodes of the hierarchical menu may not be visible on the wheel.
  • the number of slices visible on each circular layer is physically restricted due to the limited size of the wheel in the display.
  • the thirty slices matching the thirty days in April cannot all be displayed on the outer ring of the wheel 740.
  • the shield nonetheless, makes it possible to make visible as many slices as desired, and at least theoretically an infinite number of slices may be "hidden” behind the shield, because the wheel is rotating on its axle at point 720.
  • the wheel and various rings therein are "rotated clockwise and anti-clockwise (counterclockwise) under the fixed shield; thus, there is a way to make apparent as many menu items as required by rotating the wheel, even though at any particular time, less than the total number of menu items (sections) are visible on the display of the menu. It is also possible to use varying numbers of levels within the disc display to enable the easy selection and navigation through a large quantity of selections, information, etc. A similar functionality holds true for the shield as well.
  • Various selectable action items 71 5 are depicted on the shield 720. However, once the shield is "filled” with action items 71 5, the action items, like the slices on the wheel or disc, are rotated through the shield display region thereby allowing for the view of multiple action items, and in particular more than can be easily depicted within the display region of the shield. It will also be appreciated that the display characteristics of the action items (e.g., size of a thumbnail image or icon representing the action) may be customizable so that the number of items that may be displayed in the region of the shield is also dependent upon the action item thumbnail size.
  • FIGS. 8A - 8D there are exemplary illustrations of the use of the contextual radial menu described above.
  • FIG. 8A an initial position of the wheel or disc is represented, and in FIG. 8B, the position of the wheel after a roughly 45-degree rotation clockwise is illustrated by the rotation of the outer ring of the wheel 820 in order to display two additional slices: "April 8 201 0" (826) and "April 9 201 0" (828).
  • the two slices “April 30 201 0" (81 4) and “April 29 201 0" (81 6) from the FIG. 8A are now hidden under the shield 822 in FIG. 8B.
  • the shield 822 can hide as many slices as necessary. In the embodiment depicted actually twenty-one slices from "April 1 0 201 0" to "April 30 201 0" are hidden in FIG. 8B.
  • FIG. 8C which again represents an initial position of the wheel
  • FIG. 8D which represents the position of the wheel after a roughly 90-degree rotation anti-clockwise
  • the rotation of the outer ring of the wheel 830 is seen to have changed in order to display three additional slices or sections: "April 26 201 0" (846), “April 27 201 0" (848) and "April 28 201 0" (849).
  • the three slices “April 5 201 0" (81 4) and “April 6 201 0" (81 6) and "April 7 201 0" (838) from the FIG.
  • FIGS. 8E-8G show different embodiments and shapes of the contextual radial menu, although all include several common characteristics.
  • the menu is contextual. That is, the information that is displayed on the portions of the menu that are navigable is generated based on several contexts, which may include: data context, user choices, user permissions, software configuration, hardware configuration, and the method of interaction with the apparatus.
  • the context applies to the real-time changes that occur in the display. For example, the selection of one menu item will bring up a submenu selection of different choices.
  • the contextual radial menu is radial or rotatable. That is, the menu operates by providing information that is present on the shape's outer perimeter or radius, or information that rotates or is situated around a central point or region. In some embodiments, the information may be maintained in a generally equidistant relationship based upon the level (e.g., ring) in which the navigation or menu information is displayed. All subsequent selections on the contextual radial menu will either expand or collapse along a radial line, thereby providing a menu display process that maintains the shape of the contextual radial menu so that it occupies the same amount of screen space.
  • the contextual radial display is a menu, in that it functions as a graphical representation of data points that are selectable, and it allows the user to navigate through and/or to various choices that the software interface offers. Further, submenus are stored under larger menus, with measures and dimensions accessible dependent upon context and location.
  • the contextual radial menu utilizes a shield or similar overlay, which is separate from the radial member, that allows for changing settings, making selections, or offering additional navigation choices.
  • All of the above listed characteristics of the contextual radial menu depicted relative to the disc embodiment in FIGS. 8A-8D may also be applied to various shapes (e.g., hexagon, triangle) as represented in FIGS. 8E and 8 F, respectively.
  • FIG. 8 G it is also possible to utilize partial- shapes such as arcs to provide the same abilities as the circular disc.
  • the contextual radial menu may be in the shape of a disc, there is no intent to limit the shape, and the design principles above may apply to other shapes, provided those principles are implemented and an underlying system architecture (data models, etc.) are similar.
  • the contextual radial menu apparatus includes a polygon-shaped member 870 that rotates or moves beneath shield 872.
  • the contextual radial menu is in the form of a triangular member 880 that rotates beneath a shield 882.
  • FIG. 9A illustrates the result of a search associated with a disclosed embodiment.
  • the drawing exemplifies the result of a search made on the keyword: "Pittsford” entered in specific edit area 91 8 according to the workflow 500 in the FIG. 5.
  • Three items have been matched, each represented with a specific slice in the wheel 91 3: the slice 91 2 depicts the level 2 in the hierarchy part of the dimension:
  • the slice 91 4 is the level 3 in the hierarchy part of the dimension: "store”
  • the slice 91 6 depicts the level 3 in the hierarchy part of the dimension: “warehouse”.
  • FIG. 9B is a representation of the navigation lineage of the item 91 4 found in FIG. 9A associated with a disclosed embodiment.
  • the drawing depicts the visual of the contextual radial menu after the user has selected the item 91 4, at operation 535 in the workflow illustrated in FIG 5.
  • the visual is the result of a refresh of the wheel, step 540.
  • the slice "store" (922) in the closest inner ring to the center indicates that the selected item found
  • FIG. 1 0 illustrates the spatial representation, in 30, of the wheel of FIG. 9A, used to display search criteria.
  • the configurator (e.g., 1 41 0 in FIG. 1 4), including an application configurator database (see FIG. 1 1 ), allows a mobile application to query a database and return or retrieve information in a
  • the configurator is “generic” in the sense that it can work with an assortment of databases, provided that it is set up to do so. This allows a single mobile app to treat all the data it displays as part of the same semantic, thereby permitting a seamless and fluid collusion of information to be presented to a user by the interface. As noted above, such features are particularly suited for the access, display and analysis of business intelligence.
  • the configurator may be a useful tool for configuring an interface that demands interaction between a database and an application that has multiple configurations.
  • a mobile business intelligence platform like miVEDiX benefits from the configurator for several reasons: allows each user to customize their experience; allows administrators to set controls on what information will be made available to each user; eliminates the need for developing specific web services and data object maps; allows one app to interface with various database technology platforms with minimal conversion in the middle of the process; accelerates the deployment of business applications that use these platforms, especially in large organizations; and once configured, the configurator needs minimal attention.
  • the configurator aspect of the disclosed embodiments is related to the architecture of a platform hosting the configuration of specific instances of a generic application (app).
  • An app is traditionally an instance of a specific program; every device runs a given version of the same code and each user sees the same screens, possibly with different data, but always with the same features.
  • a different paradigm, employed by the disclosed embodiments, is to develop a generic program for a device, parameterized with configuration arguments; every device runs the same program but each user may see a dissimilar "app" running with distinctive content and features.
  • the configurator has four discrete parts: a database configuration layer; a data object mapping layer; an application frame layer; and a credentials layer.
  • the database configuration layer acts as a gatekeeper.
  • the data object mapping layer serves as a central hub for mapping dimensions and measures across different databases. After it has been set up to properly interface with the databases in question (e.g., Oracle, SAP, etc.) the data object mapping layer exists as a "signpost" to both point queries in the right direction, and ensure the data is returned in a uniform format that the application can use.
  • the application frame layer is used to store
  • Each app is identified within the configurator with a unique appID as depicted in FIG. 1 1 .
  • the user runs the generic app, which is identified by the configurator's usage of the appID.
  • the user can change the applD from the device, using the settings available through the application.
  • the configurator may include several discrete parts including an App Resource (e.g., FIG. 1 2): the constituent parts that make up the app itself.
  • a Resource Context may also be included and comprises two parts, a data context and a property context.
  • the data context is the determination of what is actually displayed, whereas the property context determines the physical layout and overall visualization of the content on the screen.
  • a generic app must be initiated with a given set of configuration parameters. Those are stored externally in a central database named: App Configurator.
  • App Configurator The data model of the Configurator database
  • the purpose of the configurator is to store the configuration of many apps; each app is identified with a unique applD. Once installed on a device the generic app must be run in association with a given applD. The user can possibly change the applD from the device using the app settings.
  • An App Resource as represented for example in FIG. 1 2, is a constituent of the app that may be displayable and from where the user can interact with the device.
  • Examples of App Resources can be any sort of constituents such as dashboards, reports, key performance indicators (KPI) or another app.
  • KPI key performance indicators
  • the configurator is not restricted to a pre-defined set of constituent types but is designed to be extensible.
  • the configurator also includes an App Resource (as represented in FIG. 1 2 ; 1 220) made of one or several screen frames.
  • a screen frame, or simply frame is a rectangular recipient (or similarly-shaped region) of a given size and a given position on the device screen.
  • a frame is like a window in which content such as text, chart or other graphics can be visualized.
  • the user can generally interact with a frame using gestures inherent to the device. More specifically these are recipients of a given size and position on the device's screen.
  • the frames can be interacted with, so long as the device can support such interaction as touch screen functionality, swiping, drag/dropping, and other common user interface gestures.
  • the content to be displayed in a frame is specified thanks to a resource context.
  • a resource context bundles together a data and a property context.
  • the former drives the content, the latter controls the layout of the content.
  • a type such as grid, graph, and map among others is associated to each frame; the type of frame drives the visualization of the content in that frame.
  • the process may include initial steps of logon (1 31 0), reading and setting up the appID (1 31 4), and authorization (1 31 8).
  • the configurator receives a request, processes the request based upon the database
  • steps 1 330 — 1 334 the app resources are uploaded into the device and the home screen for the requested app is displayed.
  • the disc 700 may be one of a plurality of selectable apps or features in a frame generally illustrated in region 1 420.
  • information may be moved from the disc to a frame, and from or between frames or regions in a frame.
  • the following discussion is directed to a drag and drop feature in accordance with another aspect of the disclosed business intelligence systems and methods.
  • another aspect of the systems and methods disclosed herein is in the form of a computer program stored in a memory, including executable instructions operating on a computing device, to communicate information across recipients.
  • the method of communicating information is particularly suited to computer software requiring passing data or parameters from one window to another as suggested above (disc-to- frame, frame-to-frame, etc.); a window is a very common embodiment of a recipient defined as a screen area where some content is displayed or an application is running in to. This embodiment relies on a common semantic specifying the content of the two recipients.
  • the drag and drop or frame-to-frame aspect is related to the transmission or sharing of information from one source recipient to a target recipient.
  • the information must be formalized according to a uniform semantic interpretable by both recipients (source and target). Accordingly, the system focuses on the programmable instructions aiming at identifying the piece of information from the source recipient and communicates it to the target recipient. The information dropped into the target recipient is interpreted and processed accordingly. This whole process is referred to as a recipient-to-recipient interaction.
  • the "Data Context” is in this case a two dimensional graph, with the characteristics of the graph already decided before hand - a bar graph with X and Y axes.
  • the "Measure” chosen for this particular graph is sales, by amount, and so it is appropriately labeled along the X axis.
  • the "dimension” being examined e.g., Cars
  • Another dimension plotted along the Y axis is the brand of car.
  • the content of every recipient is a set of selectable objects.
  • the two axes "Brand” and “Sales” in the graph depicted in the left side of FIG. 1 5 are two separate objects of type “axis”; the legend, as well as every bar, is another type of object.
  • These objects are all related to metadata that is specified in the data context of the recipient.
  • the value on the axis "Brand” such as Toyota”, “Honda” and “Nissan” are selectable objects as well; those are elements, or values, as opposed to metadata. That is important to differentiate metadata from value because both are treated differently when interacting.
  • the thesaurus of tags defines a semantic characterizing the recipient content in the associated data context. The following is an illustrative example. Suppose the user wanted to add a fourth brand to the graph, perhaps "Subaru.” They would select the brand from another source (e.g., another graph, a list, the miVEDiX DISC, etc.) and, using the touch screen's drag-and-drop feature, drag it and drop it on the graph.
  • another source e.g., another graph, a list, the miVEDiX DISC, etc.
  • the data context methodology is employed to map the complex and heterogeneous physical world of data to a uniform semantic.
  • the syntactic cues are arbitrary and may be driven by existing standard formats such as XML or Jason.
  • the disclosed embodiment focuses rather on the semantic necessary for visualizing, analyzing and interacting with data.
  • mapping necessitates mapping the uniform semantic to some specific source objects.
  • the mapping is described as a logical step necessary for the disclosed system to be workable, but it is not necessarily part of the system itself. Therefore, the components necessary for the implementation of the mechanism for handling the mapping may or may not be incorporated with the system.
  • a dimension provides the means to "slice and dice” data in a data warehouse. Dimensions provide structured labeling information to otherwise unordered numeric measures. For example, "Customer”, “Date”, and “Product” are all dimensions that could be applied meaningfully to a sales receipt. A dimensional data element is similar to a categorical variable in statistics.
  • a fact table consists of the measurements, metrics or facts of a process. It is often represented in a data model at the center of a star schema or a snowflake schema, surrounded by dimension tables.
  • Fact tables provide the (usually) additive values that act as independent variables by which dimensional attributes are analyzed.
  • a measure is a specific measurement from a fact table.
  • a measure is a property on which calculations (e.g., sum, count, average, minimum, maximum) can be made. For example if a retail store sold a specific product, the quantity and price of each item sold could be added or averaged to find the total number of items sold and total or average price of the items.
  • FIG. 1 6 the schema depicted shows the physical world on the right side made of databases and external systems, as a specific web site, requiring specific API's to get data out.
  • This data context is a request for getting two measurements: “Sales Amount” and “Sales Quantity” at the intersection of three dimensions: “Store”, “Product” and “Time”.
  • This data context would allow "drilling down” the data because each dimension contains a hierarchy; the response will be a set of sale values aggregated at the top level (levelOl ) of the hierarchy of each dimension, for instance, "State”, “Year” and "Product Category”.
  • the tags are valid keywords and form part of the uniform analytics semantic. Each tag may be supplemented with attributes (e.g., Type, Name), whose values appear to the right.
  • attributes e.g., Type, Name
  • the data context will be semantically correct at the condition every value is a valid entry in the industry lexicon.
  • mapping of the values to physical objects such as table attributes, cube dimension attributes, or API formal parameters enables a common software component, the dynamic query engine, to generate a request to the source system(s).
  • the request may be a SQL or MDX query or a URL with adequate parameters given the type of database or source system.
  • the important property of such a data context is that the source systems, whatever the number of them and the nature thereof, are transparent. In other words, the specification is fully neutral.
  • the Graph Topology Determination is employed to choose an appropriate type of graph and decide of an adequate data layout given a set of values specified by a data context.
  • Examples of graph types are: pie chart, line chart, bar graph, bubble chart, among others. Determining the data layout in a graph is essentially performed by allocating dimensions or measures to graphical components such as axes, lines, bars, bubbles, pie slices.
  • This task is essentially a manual human task in most data analysis tools; the user picks itself a type of graph available thru a catalog of available visualizations.
  • one goal of the disclosed system and methodology is to develop a deterministic process (GTD) given a set of data to decide, or assist the user in selecting, the best kind of visualization among a catalog of pre- defined graph types.
  • GTD deterministic process
  • the data context associated to the set of data is an essential driver for GTD.
  • a deterministic process such as GTD cannot function unless a formal topology of data visualization exists related to a semantic
  • the absolute cardinality Ca(D) of a dimension D is the number of distinct elements inside it.
  • the cardinality relative Cm(D) to a measure is the number of distinct elements in the dimension for which a measure value exists.
  • the cardinality of each dimension of a given topology is not visible in the DVT equation; the full view of a data set topology includes therefore a DVT equation and the cardinality of every dimension in it.
  • Each type of graph comes with a topological constraint.
  • the DVT is essentially relevant for graphical visualizations because non-graphical data visualizations such as tabular grids do not have topological constraints; the number of columns or rows is theoretically unlimited. In other words, N can be infinite. This is not the case for graphical visualizations however.
  • the pie chart example of FIG. 1 7 shows a measure: "Car sales" of car models (Dimension); the size of each slice being proportional to the measure value.
  • FIGS. 1 9A and 1 98 are illustrative examples of different topologies for bar charts or graphs.
  • the allocation of a measure or a dimension to a particular axis or other object such as a line or bar needs to be determined by the GTD.
  • Dl the dimension of the dimensions.
  • the question becomes, which one to allocate to the X axis of the chart?
  • Dl will be assigned to the X axis, and otherwise D2 is assigned to the X axis.
  • the dimension not assigned to the X axis has to be represented in the bars either as stacked bars or clustered bars. In both cases, however, the cardinality of the non-axial dimension must not exceed an arbitrary number N otherwise an exception is raised alerting the system that the topology is too complex for visualization.
  • the what-if functionality illustrates that the business intelligence system may also enable visualization of changes to a plurality of outcomes based upon adjustment, of at least one variable. More specifically, executable instructions first produce a display of, for example, sales as represented in the middle region of each of the displays. By adjusting the cost "thumbwheel" 2220 in the lower left of the region, it is possible to vary or adjust the cost and in doing so one is able to produce a real-time representation of the impact of changing the cost on both the resulting revenue both before and after tax, as reflected in fields 2230 and 2232, respectively.
  • the adjustable variables are sales (units) 221 0, costs 221 2, and tax 221 4, it is clear that the adjustment of either or all of the sales, costs and tax thumbwheels will alter intermediate and/or final calculations that are based upon such data.
  • the what-if feature provides any easy way for a user to view the impact of changes to input variable.
  • the resulting fields, where numeric values are displayed may also be color-coded so that there is a reinforcement of the values (e.g., using green for revenue above a certain threshold and red for revenue below the threshold). Or, varying or multiple thresholds and a plurality of colors may be employed in order to make the what-if system customizable.
  • SMS Social Media Source
  • occurrence 21 1 0 is attached to some parameters table: "Social Media Source Parameter” mapped to the uniform semantic thanks to the table: "Analytics Keyword” 21 20, which provides the database objects thru the "Database Object
  • the visual elements directly source data from backend databases, social media interfaces and other structured or unstructured sources via a unified data model (UDM).
  • UDM unified data model
  • the unified data model could be supported by any combination analytics data store(s) (ADS), several unified dimensional databases (UDO, OIAP Cubes, External APis and/or External web services.
  • ADS analytics data store
  • UEO unified dimensional databases
  • OIAP Cubes OIAP Cubes
  • External APis External web services
  • External web services unified dimensional databases
  • the analytics data store layer is an Important component of the framework as it facilitates a single yet dynamic upstream data source for the visual elements.
  • an analytics data store component ensures data integrity across structured and unstructured content.
  • These web services are platform agnostic components controlling the bidirectional data flow (calls and responses) between the app and the data sources.
  • These web services use native database drivers to ensure performance with respect to data retrieval and response times. Native drivers also ensure the propagation of native security from the data sources.
  • the web services Interface with the miVEDiX Core Security and Registration Master Database (Security Module - miVEDiX SMD). This module can also be integrated with corporate lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) Instances.
  • LDAP corporate lightweight directory access protocol
  • the web services handle a neutral message format: XML data embedded under the simple object access protocol.
  • the architecture can reside within a hosted (cloud based) or controlled (enterprise managed) environment.
  • tag cloud or similar mechanism (see e.g., http://iosguy.com/201 0/ 1 1 / 1 7/creating-a-3d-tag-cloud/) for the display of various pieces of information such as keywords, variables, etc. as a means for allowing a user to make a selection from a large set of possibilities.

Abstract

L'invention concerne un support de stockage lisible par ordinateur comprenant des instructions exécutables pour fournir un menu de navigation et un choix d'actions sous la forme d'une interface utilisateur graphique (GUI). Les modes de réalisation de l'invention sont particulièrement adaptés, mais pas limitée aux applications décisionnelles (Bl) à forer vers le bas ou vers le haut et à rechercher à travers les dimensions d'éléments de menu hiérarchique. L'invention concerne également un support de stockage lisible par ordinateur comprenant des instructions exécutables pour configurer le contenu et la disposition d'une application mobile pour un tableau de bord décisionnel, en particulier l'affichage et l'interaction avec des données sous n'importe quelle forme de visualisation graphique ou tabulaire.
PCT/US2014/048981 2014-07-30 2014-07-30 Systèmes et procédés décisionnels WO2016018325A1 (fr)

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