System and method for creating and displaying data_—ties

摘要

A system and method for creating, storing and retrieving, and displaying user-created data_ties (a data_tie is a user-created relationship between two items the user had previously saved). The purpose of the invention is to provide the user a way to not only see the data he has saved, but to provide him a way to graphically display the relationships he has made between pieces of Evidence. The present invention is particularly adapted to tablet computers, notepads, etc. with touchscreens. A feature of the present invention is the ability to manually slide one icon on top of a second icon thereby creating a data_tie between the two pieces of data, or evidence. In various embodiments of the invention, this relationship can be annotated with context to later relate why and how the two pieces of data were connected.

主权项

1. On a computer having a touch sensitive screen that can display icons representing data objects, where icons can be dragged and dropped, a system for managing relationships between data objects comprising:
a touch screen; a first displayed icon on said touch screen representing a first data object stored in a database; a second displayed icon on said touch screen representing a second data object stored in the database; a set of executable instructions running on said computer adapted to create a data_tie between said first data object and said second data object when said first icon is dragged and dropped on to said second icon, the data_tie representing a particular relationship between the first data object and the second data object; a connection table in the database adapted to store information relating to said particular relationship; and wherein a graphical indicator is displayed on said computer between said first and second icon to show existence of said data_tie between said first and second data objects, the graphical indicator being annotated to display information relating to the particular relationship between the first data object and the second data object, wherein the first and second icon have sizes related to a total number of data_ties associated with them.