SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR BROWSING HIERARCHICALLY BASED NODE-LINK STRUCTURES BASED ON AN ESTIMATED DEGREE OF INTEREST

摘要

Method and system to enable a user to view large collections of hierarchically linked information on a computer based display. A tree structure visualization is created which presents a representation of the complete collection of information on the display. The visualization fits completely within a fixed area of the computer based display, negating the need to scroll information into the display area. The visualization is based on identified focus nodes and through calculation of a Degree of Interest (DOI) for each of the nodes base d in the structure. Layout and presentation of the visualization structure is bas ed on the DOI values in combination with considerations of available display space . A user may dynamically manipulate views of the structure by selecting one or more focus nodes, thus causing a recalculation of the degree of interest.