| 摘要 |
A computer-implemented design tool for the navigation and visualization of data in at least one relational and/or multidimensional database. The design tool allows a user to partition a display screen into a plurality of frames, to insert and configure controls within each frame to form a dashboard, the controls defining queries to the database(s) and any rules associated with those queries, and to create the dashboards in multiple levels for each of the frames. Configuring the controls permits a user to define drill actions for the controls within each dashboard to target dashboards in any of the multiple levels, both within the same frame as the starting dashboard, as well as in any or all of the other frames. The user-defined drill actions provide for powerful and highly flexible multi-path and multi-level navigation to achieve visualization of data in the database(s), by displaying on the display screen a respective target dashboard of any one of the multiple levels in each frame according to the controls selected by the user. |
| 主权项 |
1. A computer-implemented method for the visualization and navigation of data retrieved from at least one of a relational or a multidimensional database, the method performed by a computer processor and comprising the steps of:
designing a layout and format of at least one display module by a user to display the data; partitioning the at least one display module by the user into a plurality of frames including frames A, B and C, wherein each frame has a user-definable size; inserting controls into each of the plurality of frames by the user, wherein the controls are selected by the user and include any one of: charts, dials, images, icons, text boxes, buttons, or pivot tables; configuring and user-customizing properties and business rules associated with each of the controls in the frames to create dashboards, wherein a dashboard is a frame with the controls configured; associating the dashboards by the user into multiple layers for each frame, wherein each layer includes a different dashboard displaying a different type of data in a same frame, the different types of data including any one of: text, graphics, or other data such that frame A includes dashboards A1 through AX, frame B includes dashboards B1 through BY and frame C includes dashboards C1 through CZ where X, Y and Z are integers greater than 1; and associating actions with the controls by the user in each dashboard, the actions enabling multi-path navigation across different frames and multi-layer navigation through the multiple layers of dashboards within a single frame, whereby activating a single control:
retrieves different content data from the database, the different content data being related to data displayed in the dashboard where the control was activated; andupdates the dashboard displayed in one or more frames, wherein the displayed dashboard includes a different dashboard with the different content data retrieved from the database such that at least one single controls updates a dashboard display of dashboards Ai, in frame A, Bj in frame B and Ck in frame C to a display of dashboards Ai′, in frame A, Bj′ in frame B and Ck′ in frame C where i is not equal to i′ and are both integers in the range of 1 to X,j is not equal to j′ and are both integers in the range of 1 to Y, and k is not equal to k′ and are both integers in the range of 1 to Z. |
