User interface for creating spreadsheet data summary table

Data summary tables can be used to analyze large amounts of data. An example of a data summary table is a PIVOTTABLE dynamic view that can be generated using Microsoft Corporation's EXCEL spreadsheet software. Data summary tables provide an efficient way to view and summarize the data provided by the database program, or in the data list of a spreadsheet. Users can select fields of data to include in a page, row, column, or data area of a data summary table, with parameters such as totals, variances, counts, and standard deviations displayed for the selected data fields. You can choose. Data in the database that can be queried from within a spreadsheet program, or spreadsheet data that includes lists, can be parsed in a data summary table.

Although the data summary table is designed to analyze the data efficiently and intuitively, it can be very difficult for a novice user to create the data summary table itself. For example, some programs provide wizards to help users create data summary tables. These wizards can be useful when creating the first data summary table, but once they are created, the wizards cannot be easily used to modify the display. Other programs allow the user to drag and drop the desired fields directly into the data summary table. Although these programs provide users with greater flexibility when creating displays, they may not be very intuitive for beginners to use.

<p><patcit num="1"><text>U.S. Patent Application No. 11/157634</text></patcit></p>

<p> This summary is provided to provide a simplified description of the selected concepts further described in the detailed description below. This abstract is not intended to identify the main or essential features of the subject matter described in the claims, but to be used as an aid in defining the scope of the subject matter described in the claims. It's not a thing either.</p><p> In one aspect, the graphical user interface for creating a data summary table includes a field pane that contains a list of multiple fields and a layout pane that contains multiple zones that represent areas of the data summary table. Is programmed to allow a field of a plurality of fields from the field pane to be added to the first zone of said zones. The data summary table is updated as fields are added to the layout pane.</p><p> According to another aspect, within a computer system having a graphical user interface for a data summary table, the method is to select a field from a list of multiple fields, out of multiple zones representing areas of the data summary table. Includes adding a field to the first zone of the layout pane and updating the data summary table when the field is added to the first zone of the layout pane.</p><p> According to another aspect, the computer-readable medium selects a field from a list of multiple fields, adds the field to the first zone of the multiple zones that represent the area of the data summary table, and. Contains computer executable instructions to perform steps, including updating the data summary table when a field is added to the first zone of the layout pane.</p><p> Next, the attached drawings will be referred to. Drawings are not always made on a fixed scale.</p>

<figref num="1">It is a figure which shows an exemplary general-purpose computing system.</figref><figref num="2">It is a figure which shows the example sheet of a spreadsheet program.</figref><figref num="3">It is a figure which shows the example data summary table and task pane of a spreadsheet program.</figref><figref num="4">It is a figure which shows the example task pane of FIG.</figref><figref num="5">It is a figure which shows another exemplary task pane.</figref><figref num="6">It is a figure which shows an exemplary menu for arranging a field in the layout pane of a task pane.</figref><figref num="7">It is a figure which shows an exemplary method for arranging a field in the layout pane of the task pane of FIG.</figref><figref num="8">It is a diagram showing an exemplary data summary table and task pane of FIG. 3 with fields added to the table.</figref><figref num="9">It is a diagram showing an exemplary data summary table and task pane of FIG. 3 with multiple fields added to the table.</figref><figref num="10">FIG. 5 shows an exemplary data summary table and an exemplary task pane of FIG. 9, with fields rearranged on top of the table.</figref><figref num="11">It is a figure which shows another exemplary task pane.</figref><figref num="12">It is a figure which shows the example menu for modifying the layout of the task pane of FIG.</figref><figref num="13">It is a figure which shows the exemplary task pane of FIG. 11 of a different layout.</figref><figref num="14">It is a figure which shows the exemplary task pane of FIG. 11 of a different layout.</figref><figref num="15">It is a figure which shows the exemplary task pane of FIG. 11 of a different layout.</figref><figref num="16">It is a figure which shows the exemplary task pane of FIG. 11 of a different layout.</figref><figref num="17">It is a figure which shows an exemplary method for arranging a field in the layout pane of the task pane of FIG.</figref><figref num="18">FIG. 5 illustrates another exemplary method for arranging fields within the layout pane of the task pane of FIG.</figref><figref num="19">FIG. 5 illustrates another exemplary method for arranging fields within the layout pane of the task pane of FIG.</figref><figref num="20">It is a figure which shows an exemplary filtering task pane.</figref><figref num="21">It is a figure which shows the example manual filtering area of another filtering task pane.</figref><figref num="22">It is a figure which shows the exemplary flyout menu of the filtering task pane of FIG.</figref><figref num="23">It is a figure which shows another exemplary flyout menu of the filtering task pane of FIG.</figref><figref num="24">It is a figure which shows the example dialog box of the filtering task pane of FIG.</figref><figref num="25">It is a figure which shows another exemplary filtering task pane.</figref><figref num="26">It is a figure which shows the exemplary flyout menu of the filtering task pane of FIG.</figref><figref num="27">It is a figure which shows another exemplary task pane.</figref><figref num="28">It is a figure which shows the example tooltip of the task pane of FIG.</figref>

Next, with reference to the accompanying drawings, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below. The embodiments disclosed herein are exemplary and should not be construed as limiting, and these embodiments are provided to ensure that this disclosure is thorough and complete. There is. The same number refers to similar elements throughout.

The embodiments presented herein relate to a data summary table used to analyze data on a computer system.

Next, referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary computer system 100 is shown. The computer system 100 shown in FIG. 1 can take various forms, such as desktop computers, laptop computers and portable computers. Further, although computer system 100 is shown, the systems and methods disclosed herein can be implemented similarly within various alternative computer systems.

The system 100 includes a processing device 102, a system memory 104, and a system bus 106 that connects various system components including the system memory 104 to the processing device 102. The system bus 106 can be any of a plurality of types of bus structures, including memory buses, peripheral buses, and local buses using any of the various bus architectures. The system memory includes read-only memory (ROM) 108 and random access memory (RAM) 110. A basic input / output system (BIOS) 112 containing basic routines that help transfer information between elements within computer 100 is stored in ROM 108.

The computer system 100 further includes a hard disk drive 112 for reading from and writing to a hard disk, a magnetic disk drive 114 for reading from or writing to a removable magnetic disk 116, and a removable optical disk 119 or other such as a CD-ROM, DVD, etc. Includes an optical disk drive 118 for reading from or writing to the optical medium of. The hard disk drive 112, the magnetic disk drive 114, and the optical disk drive 118 are connected to the system bus 106 by the hard disk drive interface 120, the magnetic disk drive interface 122, and the optical drive interface 124, respectively. The drive and its associated computer storage readable media provide non-volatile storage for computer readable instructions, data structures, programs, and other data for the computer system 100.

The exemplary environment described herein can use a hard disk 112, a removable magnetic disk 116 and a removable optical disk 119, but within the exemplary system 100, data can be stored elsewhere. Type of computer readable media can be used. Examples of these other types of computer-readable media that can be used in an exemplary operating environment include magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks, Bernoulli cartridges, random access memory (RAM) and reads. Dedicated memory (ROM) is included.

Store multiple program modules on hard disk 112, magnetic disk 116, optical disk 119, ROM 108, RAM 110, including operating system 126, one or more application programs 128, other program modules 130, and program data 132. Can be done.

The user may enter commands and information into the computer system 100 using an input device such as a keyboard 134, a mouse 136 or another pointing device. Examples of other input devices include toolbars, menus, touch screens, microphones, joysticks, gamepads, pens, satellite antennas and scanners. These and other input devices are often connected to the processor 102 via a serial port interface 140 coupled to the system bus 106. However, these input devices can also be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, game port, or universal serial bus (USB). An LCD display 142 or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus 106 via an interface such as a video adapter 144. In addition to the display 142, computer systems can generally include other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers and printers.

Computer system 100 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer 146. The remote computer 146 may be a computer system, server, router, network PC, peer device or other common network node and generally includes many or all of the elements mentioned above with respect to the computer system 100. Network connections include a local area network (LAN) 148 and a wide area network (WAN) 150. Such networking environments are common in offices, enterprise-scale computer networks, intranets, and the Internet.

When used within a LAN networking environment, computer system 100 is connected to local area network 148 via a network interface or adapter 152. When used within a WAN networking environment, the computer system 100 generally includes a modem 154, or other means for establishing communication over a wide area network 150 such as the Internet. Modem 154, which may be internal or external, is connected to system bus 106 via serial port interface 140. In a networked environment, the program modules shown for computer system 100, or parts thereof, may be stored in remote memory storage. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing communication links between computers may be used.

The embodiments described herein can be implemented as logical operations within a computing system. Logical operations can be implemented as (1) a sequence of computer implementation steps or program modules performed on a computer system, and (2) interconnected logic or hardware modules performed within a computing system. .. This implementation is a matter of choice that depends on the performance requirements of a particular computing system. Therefore, the logical operations that make up the embodiments described herein are referred to as operations, steps, or modules. These operations, steps and modules do not deviate from the spirit and scope of the invention set forth in the claims herein, and are software, firmware, digital logic for special purposes, and any of them. Those skilled in the art will understand that they may be implemented in a combination of. This software, firmware, or similar sequence of computer instructions may be encoded, stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and encoded in a carrier signal for transmission within a computing device. You can also.

Next, referring to FIG. 2, an exemplary program 200 is shown. In one embodiment, the program 200 is a Microsoft EXCEL spreadsheet software program that runs on a computer system such as the computer system 100 described above. Program 200 includes spreadsheet 205 with an exemplary list of data 210. The user can create a data summary table from the data 210.

For example, with reference to FIG. 3, an exemplary user interface 302 of Program 200 is shown. User interface 302 includes an initial data summary table 320 (data summary table 320 is blank in FIG. 3). The data summary table 320 can be created from data from various sources. In one embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the data summary table 320 can be created from data from one or more databases, as further described below. In other embodiments, the data summary table 320 can be created from data in a spreadsheet, such as the data 210 shown in FIG.

Program 200 user interface 302 also includes an exemplary task pane 450 that can be used to create and modify the data summary table 320. For example, task pane 450 contains a list of fields from data 210. The user can select and deselect fields from task pane 450 to create the data summary table 320, as further described below.

I. Task pane Next, referring to FIG. 4, an exemplary task pane 450 is shown. The task pane 450 generally includes a field pane 452 and a layout pane 454. As further described below, Task Pane 450 is used to create and modify the data summary table 320.

Field pane 452 contains a list 453 of each field in a given database or spreadsheet (eg spreadsheet 205 shown in Figure 2 above). The scroll bar 451 is provided because the list of fields 453 is longer than the space provided by the field pane 452. In some embodiments, the field pane 452 (and the layout pane 454) can also be resized by the user. Each field in Listing 453 contains a checkbox next to the field. For example, the field "Profit" contains a checkbox 460 placed adjacent to the field caption. When a field in Listing 453 is added to Layout Pane 454 as described below, the checkbox associated with the field is checked. For example, checkbox 460 in the "Profit" field is checked because it has been added to layout pane 454.

Layout pane 454 includes multiple zones that represent aspects of the data summary table 320 created using task pane 450. For example, layout pane 454 includes row zone 455, column zone 456, value zone 457, and filter zone 458. Row zone 455 defines the row labels for the resulting data summary table 320. Column zone 456 defines the column labels for the data summary table 320. Value zone 457 identifies the data that is summarized (eg, aggregated, variable, etc.) on the data summary table 320. Filter zone 458 allows selection of filtering that applies to all other fields in other zones 455, 456, 457 (for example, one field can be placed in filter zone 458 and in layout pane 454. For all other fields, the field in filter zone 458 is related to that field in filter zone 458 to create a filter to show only the items related to the selected item (s). You can select one or more items).

One or more of the fields from field pane 452 are added to one or more of the zones in layout pane 454 to create and modify the data summary table 320. In the example shown, the user clicks on a field from list 453 in field pane 452 and drags and drops it into one of the zones in layout pane 454 to add the field to the data summary table 320. be able to.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the user can hover over a particular field contained within field pane 452, such as the Store Sales field 466. When the user hover over a field, a crosshair cursor 472 is presented to the user, who clicks on the selected field and one of the zones in field pane 452 to layout pane 454. Indicates that you can drag to one. When the user selects a field, the crosshair cursor 472 returns to the normal cursor and the Store Sales field 466 can be dragged and dropped into value zone 457 as shown. Fields can also be removed from layout pane 454 by selecting and dragging the field from layout pane 454.

In another embodiment, the user can check the checkboxes associated with a particular field in field pane 452 to add a field to layout pane 454. For example, if the user selects the checkbox 460 associated with the "Profit" field shown in the task pane 450 of Figure 4, this field may be added to the value zone 457 as the "Profit" field 462. it can. As further described below, Program 200 can be programmed to parse the selected field and place it within the appropriate zone of layout pane 454. The user can also deselect the checked field to remove the field from layout pane 454. For example, if the user deselects check box 460, the Profit field 462 is removed from layout pane 454.

In an optional example, if the user clicks on a given field to select a field without dragging the field to one of the zones in drop zone 454, the user chooses in which zone the field should be placed. A menu that allows this (eg, similar to menu 482 shown in FIG. 6) may be presented to the user.

Next, referring to FIG. 7, an exemplary method 500 for adding a field from field pane 452 to a zone in layout pane 454 is shown. At step 501, the user selects the fields listed in field pane 452 that he wants to add to layout pane 454. In operation 502, it is determined whether the user has selected a check box associated with a particular field. If the user selects a checkbox, control is passed to operation 503 and program 200 can automatically determine in which zone of layout pane 454 the selected field should be placed. Then, on operation 507, the field is added to the appropriate zone in layout pane 454.

If operation 502 determines that the user has not selected a check box, control is passed to operation 504. In operation 504, the user selects a field and determines whether it has been dragged and dropped into one of the zones in layout pane 454. If the user is dropping a field into one of the zones in layout pane 454, control is passed to operation 507 and the field is added to that zone.

If step 504 determines that the user has not dragged and dropped the field, an optional embodiment allows the user to drag / drop the field into a zone in layout pane 454 without selecting a checkbox. Control is passed to operation 505 because the field is selected without. At operation 505, program 200 presents the user with a menu to allow the user to select the zone to which the field will be added. Then, in operation 506, the user selects the desired zone. At operation 507, the field is added to that zone.

When the field is added to the zone in layout pane 454, control is passed to operation 509 and program 200 updates the data summary table 320 accordingly, as described below.

Looking back at Figure 4, when a field, such as the Profit field from Field Pane 452, is added to one of the zones in Layout Pane 454, the checkbox associated with that field in Field Pane 452 (for example). Checkbox 460) is checked to indicate that the field is part of Data Summary Table 320. In addition, the font of the field label associated with the field in the field pane 452 is bolded. Similarly, if a field is not yet part of (or has been removed from) the data summary table 320, the checkbox associated with that field remains unchecked and the field is usually not bold. Indicated by the font of. Other methods can be used to indicate the fields that are part of the data summary table 320.

When a field is added and removed from layout pane 454 of task pane 450, the resulting data summary table 320 is modified accordingly. For example, the user is initially presented with a task pane 450 that includes a field pane 452, as shown in FIG. Referring to Figure 8, when a user adds a Profit field to Zone 457 in Layout Pane 454, the sum of the data associated with the Profit field is automatically added to the data summary table 320. With reference to Figure 9, users can add additional fields (for example, Sales Average, Customers, Gender) to the zones in Layout Pane 454. , The data summary table 320 is updated to include data about the added fields.

Referring to FIG. 10, the user can also move the field from one zone to another in the layout pane 454 of the task pane 450, and the data summary table 320 is updated accordingly. For example, the user can move the Gender field from column zone 456 to row zone 455, and the data summary table 320 is automatically updated to reflect the change. The user can also move the fields in a given zone 455, 456, 457, 458 to change the order in which the fields are displayed in the data summary table 320. For example, a user can move the Gender field above the Customer field in row zone 455 so that the Gender field precedes the Customer field in the data summary table 320. ..

Next, referring to FIG. 6, in one embodiment, if the user clicks and releases a field such as the Product Categories field 481 in Layout pane 454 without dragging the field, the user A menu 482 is presented to the user that allows them to manipulate the placement of fields in layout pane 454. For example, menu 482 allows the user to reposition a field within a given zone (ie "Move Up", "Move Down", "Move to Beginning". ) , Move to End ), move the field between zones (ie Move to Row Labels , Move to Values , Move to Values , Move to Values , Move to Values To Column Labels, Move to Report Filter), remove fields from Layout Pane 454 (ie Remove) Field (remove field) ") allows. Only the options available for a particular field are shown as active choices in menu 482 (for example, "Move to Row Labels" is shown as inactive in this example because field 481 is already in row zone 455. Has been).

Looking back at Figure 4, task pane 450 also contains a manual update checkbox 469. When check box 469 is selected, the resulting data summary table 320 is not automatically updated when fields are added, rearranged, and removed from layout pane 454 of task pane 450. For example, if the user selects the manual update checkbox 469 and then adds a field to row zone 455 in layout pane 454, the data summary table 320 automatically updates to reflect the newly added field. Not done. Instead, the update is made after the user selects the manual update button 471, which becomes active when changes are made, and the manual update can be performed. Manual updates can be used to improve efficiency when dealing with large amounts of data that require considerable retrieval and processing time to create the data summary table 320. In this way, the desired fields and filtering can be selected prior to the creation or modification of the data summary table 320, which creation or modification is done when the manual update button 471 is selected, thereby increasing efficiency. improves.

Referring to FIG. 11, the fields shown in the field pane 452 represent data fields of the online analysis processing (OLAP) type. (In contrast, the fields shown in Field Pane 452 of Figure 5 are non-OLAP types, sometimes referred to as relational fields.) OLAP provides analysis of the data stored in the database. This is a category of tools. OLAP tools allow users to analyze different dimensions of multidimensional data. OLAP data fields are arranged in a hierarchical structure with multiple levels. For example, the "Sales Fact 1991" field has the subfields "Store Sales", "Unit Sales", and "Store". Includes "Cost". Subfields can be accessed by expanding the subfield and clicking the drill indicator (plus / minus, +/- sign) 556 to collapse it. OLAP data can be arranged in dimensions with hierarchies and measures.

In the embodiments shown, each field listed in field pane 452 comprises a plurality of components. Fields can be highlighted by hovering or clicking on the field. For example, each field, such as the "Product" field shown in FIG. 11, contains selection areas 558, 559 that allow the user to select and drag the field. Each field also contains a checkbox 560 that can be used to add / remove fields from the data summary table 320. In addition, each field of the OLAP data type can include a drill indicator 556 that is used to expand and collapse subfields associated with the field. In addition, each field contains a dropdown area 562 used to access filtering options, as further described below.

Referring again to FIG. 4, task pane 450 also includes a control 470 that allows the user to modify the layout of task pane 450. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the user can select control 470 to access the layout menu 572. Layout menu 572 is used to arrange panes 452 and 454. For example, if the user selects Fields and Layout stacked 573 on control 470, then within task pane 450 field pane 452 is simply integrated, as shown in Figure 4. Placed on layout pane 454 to form one pane. User controls 470, "Fields and Layout side by If you select side 574, within Task Pane 450, Field Pane 452 will form a single integrated pane, as shown in Figure 13. Placed along the side. If the user selects Fields only 575 on Control 470, Field Pane 452 is shown separately, as shown in Figure 14. If the user selects "Lay out only 2 by 2" 576 in control 470, the layout pane 454 is a zone arranged in 2x2 rectangles, as shown in Figure 15. It is shown separately by 455, 456, 457 and 458. If the user selects "Lay out only 1 by 4" 577 in control 470, the layout pane 454 is a zone arranged in 1x4 rectangles, as shown in Figure 16. It is shown separately by 455, 456, 457 and 458.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the fields in the field pane 452 are listed in alphabetical order. In a list containing OLAP type data, such as the one shown in Figure 4, the measures are listed first, followed by the dimensions in alphabetical order. In the example shown, the dimension folder is shown in an expanded form and all other fields are shown in a collapsed form. Other arrangements can be used.

II. Automatic placement of fields in the layout pane Revisiting Figure 4, if the user selects a field by checking the checkbox associated with the field, program 200 will place the selected field in one of the zones in layout pane 454, as described below. Programmed to put automatically in one.

In general, numeric type fields are added to value zone 457, and non-numeric type fields are added to row zone 455 in layout pane 454. For example, fields of numeric type (eg, monetary sales figures) are generally aggregated and therefore placed in value zone 457, and fields of non-numeric type (eg, product name) are commonly used as row labels. Therefore, it is automatically placed in row zone 455.

Then referring to Figure 17, an exemplary method 600 for automatically adding the selected field to one of the zones in layout pane 454 is shown. In operation 601, the user selects a field in the field pane 452, for example using a check box associated with the field. Operation 602 then determines if the field is of numeric type. If the field is of numeric type, control is passed to operation 603 and the field is added to value zone 457 for aggregation. If operation 602 determines that the field is not of numeric type, control is passed to operation 604 and the field is added to row zone 455.

In some embodiments, numeric type fields can be further parsed before adding the fields to value zone 457 to determine if another placement within layout pane 454 is more appropriate. For example, fields that contain multiple zip code values are of numeric type, but it is generally desirable to place these fields in row zone 455 instead of value zone 457. To this end, in some embodiments, numeric type fields are further parsed using data semantics to identify the desired placement within layout pane 454.

In one embodiment, a lookup table, such as Table 1 below, is used to identify numeric type fields that are added to row zone 455 instead of value zone 457.

<tables num="1"><img file="JP2012142002A_D0001.tif" /></tables>

In Table 1, the column "FieldTypeString" contains a text string that is compared to the caption of the selected field, as further described below. In the example shown, the caption of the selected field is compared to each string in the FieldTypeString column of Table 1 to identify any case-insensitive match.

If there is a match between the text string in the FieldTypeString column and the caption in the selected field, the numeric items in the field are further parsed using the values in the Min Value and Max Value columns in Table 1. To. The value in the MinValue column specifies the minimum value of any of the items of a given FieldTypeString type. The value in the MaxValue column specifies the maximum value of any of the items of a given FieldTypeString type. If MinValue is not defined in Table 1 for a particular FieldTypeString type, it is determined whether the numeric item is an integer less than MaxValue. If MaxValue is not defined for a particular FieldTypeString type, it is determined whether the numeric item is an integer greater than MinValue. If neither MinValue nor MaxValue is defined for a particular FieldTypeString type, it is determined whether the numeric item is an integer.

For example, if the selected field contains the caption "Month", Table 1 is parsed to identify a match with the value "Month" of FieldTypeString. The field-related numbers are then parsed to determine if the numbers are in the range of minimum and maximum values, "1" and "12" (representing January to December). In one embodiment, all numeric items in the field are tested. In other embodiments, for example, if there is a fairly large number of numeric items, only a sample of the numeric items is tested against the minimum and maximum values in Table 1. If all of the values are within the minimum and maximum values, the field is added to row zone 455 instead of value zone 457, as further described below.

The text strings shown in Table 1 as well as the minimum and maximum values are only exemplary and different strings and values can be used. For example, the text string and the minimum / maximum values can be modified according to the geographic location where the data is generated (for example, the phone number value can vary depending on the geographic location). In other embodiments, different types of semantic checks can be used. For example, in addition to or instead of checking the actual value of a numeric item, you can parse the number of digits in the numeric item. For example, if the caption of a field matches the text string "zip code" (ie zip code), then a minimum of 5 digits (eg "90210" contains 5 digits) and a maximum of 10 (eg "90210-1052") You can check the number of digits of a numeric item in a field to see if it is within the range (including 10 digits).

Then, with reference to FIG. 18, an exemplary method 610 for automatically arranging the selected field within the layout pane 454 is shown. Method 610 is similar to Method 600 described above, except that numeric type fields are further analyzed. At operation 611, the user selects a field in the field pane 452, for example using a check box associated with the field. Operation 612 then determines if the field is of numeric type. If the field is of non-numeric type, control is passed to operation 613 and the field is added to row zone 455.

If operation 612 determines that the field is of numeric type, control is passed to operation 615. At operation 615, the field captions are parsed, and at operation 616, the captions are compared to a text string lookup table as shown in Table 1 above. If operation 616 does not match between the caption and the text string, control is passed to operation 619 and the field is added to value zone 457. If operation 616 matches between the caption and the text string in Table 1, control is passed to operation 617.

Operation 617 parses the numeric item in the field, and operation 618 compares the value of the numeric item with the minimum and maximum values in Table 1 associated with the text string. If the numeric item is outside the range of minimum and maximum values mentioned above, control is passed to operation 619 and the field is added to value zone 457. If the numeric item is within the minimum and maximum values in operation 618, control is passed to operation 613 and the field is added to row zone 455.

In this way, a particular field of numeric type can be automatically identified and placed in row zone 455 instead of the default value zone 457. If program 200 automatically places the field in a specific zone in layout pane 454 and the user wants the field to be placed in a different zone, the user can select the field and drag it to the desired zone. it can.

In some embodiments, the fields associated with the date information are identified and placed in column zone 456 instead of row zone 455 or value zone 457. For example, method 630 shown in FIG. 19 is similar to method 610 described above, including operations 61-619. However, at operation 618, if the numeric item is within the minimum and maximum values, control is passed to operation 631. Operation 631 determines if the field is a date field. In the examples shown, this determination is made by a text string with matching captions. For example, if the caption of a field contains the text "date" and matches the text string "date" in Table 1, the field is identified as a date field. If the field is a date field, control is passed to operation 632 and the field is added to column zone 456. If the field is not a date field, control is passed to operation 613 and the field is added to row zone 455.

In an alternative embodiment, the metadata associated with a particular field can be used to identify the attributes for the field. For example, metadata can be used to identify whether a field is a numeric and / or date field.

In some embodiments, the following rules are used when automatically adding fields that identify OLAP data to Layout Pane 454 and Data Summary Table 320.

A. OLAP Hierarchy / OLAP Named Set 1. The hierarchy is added to the row zone 2. The hierarchy is nested inside all other fields in the row zone 3. For hierarchies with multiple levels, the highest level fields are displayed in the data summary table and the user can drill to see the lower level fields. B. OLAP Major / OLAP KPI Expression 1. If at least one measure has already been added, the measure will be added to the same zone as the already added measure. 2. Adding a second measure will result in a data field in the layout pane (see, for example, the "Σ Value" field in Figure 10), which will be placed in the column zone by default and more than one in the value zone. If there is a field of, the data field will be displayed in the layout zone 3. Data fields are nested inside all other fields in the column zone when added 4. The data field resides in a row or column zone In some embodiments, the following additional rules are used when automatically adding fields that identify non-OLAP data, or relational fields, to Layout Pane 454 and Data Summary Table 320.

A. For non-numeric fields, the field is added to the row zone and the field is nested inside all other fields in the row zone. B. For numeric fields, the field is added to the value zone 1. If at least one field is already in the value zone, this field will be added to the same zone as the already added field 2. Adding the first field to the value zone will result in a data field in the layout pane, which will be placed in the column zone by default. 3. Data fields are nested inside all other fields in the column zone when added 4. The data field resides in a row or column zone.

III. Filtering task pane With reference to Figure 11 again, one or more filters can be applied to items in a particular field to limit the information contained in the data summary table 320. For example, the user can use the dropdown area 562 of a particular field listed in field pane 452 of task pane 450 to access the filtering task pane 700.

Next, with reference to FIG. 20, an exemplary filtering task pane 700 is shown. Interface 700 generally includes a field selector drop-down control 705, a manual filtering area 707, and a filtering control area 709.

The selector drop-down control 705 can be used to select different fields for filtering. In OLAP data, the fields in the field selector drop-down control 705 can be displayed hierarchically, and the drop-down control 705 can be used to select different levels of OLAP data for filtering. .. In the example shown, the selected field is the "Country" field.

The manual filter area 707 lists all the items related to the fields shown in the selector drop-down control 705. A checkbox is associated with each item listed in the manual filter area 707 to allow the user to manually select which items to include in the filter. See Figure 21. In OLAP data, the drill indicator for expanding or collapsing the item associated with each field listed in the manual filter area 707 is a sub-item by clicking the plus / minus (+/-) sign. Can be accessed. For example, in the expanded form, the "Drink" and "Food" items are shown. Checkbox 713 is selected for the "Food" item, and as a result, each "Food" sub-item is selected as well. In the "Drink" item, the sub item "Alcoholic" Only "Beverages" is selected, and the checkbox 712 associated with the "Drink" item has a mix indicator to indicate that only some of the sub-items of the "Drink" item are selected. It is provided. The select all checkbox 711 can be selected to select / deselect any item at all levels shown in filter area 707.

Seeing Figure 20 again, when the user uses the selector drop-down control 705 to select a different field, the manual filter area 707 will now list the items associated with the fields shown within the selector drop-down control 705. Will be updated accordingly. If the newly selected field is from another level in the same hierarchy as the field originally selected in the selector dropdown control 705, items of all levels for OLAP data are shown in the manual filter area 707. As such, the manual filter area 707 remains unchanged.

The filtering control area 709 lists the filter controls that can be used to apply to the selected field shown in the selector drop-down control 705. Control 710 allows the user to change the order in which the filtered items are listed. For example, the user may select one of the controls 710 to list the filtered items in alphabetical order A ~ Z or Z ~ A. Control 715 is used to provide additional sorting options, such as sorting by a particular field.

The user can select control 720 to remove all filtering on the fields in the dropdown selector 705. Controls 725 and 730 allow the user to select a particular filter to apply to the fields in the dropdown selector 705. For example, if the user selects control 725, the flyout menu 740 shown in FIG. 22 is presented to the user. Menu 740 lists multiple filters that can be applied to the selected field. The filters listed in Menu 740 are the filters commonly applied to label fields. These filters are, but are not limited to, "Begins With," "Does Not Begin With," "Ends With," and "Does Not End With." , "Contains" and "Does Not" Contain "includes. The user can select a filter from menu 740 to apply the filter to the items in the field. Similarly, the user can select control 730 to access the flyout menu 745 shown in FIG. Menu 745 includes filters that can be applied to value fields. These filters are, but are not limited to, "Equals", "Does Not Equal", "Greater Than", "Greater Than Or Equal To", "Less Than". Includes "Less Than Or Equal To", "Between" and "Not Between".

Then, referring to FIG. 24, when the user selects a filter from one of the flyouts 740, 745, a dialog box such as dialog box 760 for building the desired filter is presented to the user. In dialog box 760, field selection box 772 prepopulates the selected fields in the selector dropdown control 705, and filter selection box 774 prepopulates filters selected from flyouts 740 and 745. Has been incorporated into. The user can select different fields, for example, by selecting the drop-down menu in the field selection box 772 to access other fields currently contained in value zone 457. The user can select different fields by selecting the drop-down menu in the filter selection box 774, which provides a list of all filters available for the data type. Criteria box 776 allows the user to put the values to be filtered in it. For example, the user can use the "Store" in the manual filter area 707. If you select the Sales item and then select the Greater Than filter from Flyout 745, a dialog box 770 is presented to the user. The user can enter the value "50000" in the criteria box 776 to set a filter that filters all store sales greater than $ 50,000.

Then, referring to FIG. 25, controls 725 and 730 can be modified according to the type of field shown in the selector dropdown control 705. For example, task pane 700 contains fields for data types, thus including a control 725 that allows filtering by date and a control 730 that allows filtering by value. The user can select control 725 to access the flyout menu 760 shown in FIG. The flyout menu 760 contains multiple filters that can be applied to fields of data types.

In some embodiments, only the controls applicable to the selected field are presented to the user. For example, if the user selects a non-numeric type field that is not a date, control 725 is active to provide a flyout menu 740 with filters applicable to those fields. If the user selects a date field, control 725 is active to provide a flyout menu 760 with filters applicable to the date field. If the user selects a field of non-data type of number, control 730 is active to provide a flyout menu 745 with filters applicable to the number data field.

In some embodiments, the filter can be associated with a given field before the field is added to the data summary table 320. The filter is actually applied when a particular field is added to the data summary table 320. In this way, the amount of data accessed and summarized on the data summary table 320 can be reduced, which improves efficiency. If the filter is applied to a field that is already contained in the data summary table 320, the data summary table 320 is updated to take into account the filter that shows only the filtered items.

Additional details regarding applying the selected filter to the data are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, Patent Document 1, Reference No. 14917.0108 US01 / 3111178.01, filed June 21, 2005. , "Dynamically Filtering Aggregate Reports Based on Values Resulting from One or More Previously Applied Filter".

The check box indicator 752 (see Figure 25) in the filtering pane 700 is placed adjacent to any of the applied filters. Then, referring to Figure 27, when a filter is applied to a given field, the filter icon 810 is placed on the field in field pane 452 of task pane 450 to indicate that the filter has been applied to that field. Shown adjacent. In some embodiments, similar filter icons are also associated with filtered fields in Layout Pane 454 and Data Summary Table 320.

In addition, a tooltip 830 is provided as shown in FIG. 28 when the pointing device hover over a particular field with the filter icon 810. Tooltip 830 lists the filtered fields in one of three sections: a manual filter, a label filter, and a value filter. Tooltip 830 also lists the filtered fields in order of evaluation by the type of filter applied. For filters with longer labels, some of the labels can be truncated as needed to fit within the tooltip. For each filter, Tooltip 830 shows that the manual filter is first applied to the 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 "Year" fields. Tooltip 830 then has a text filter that asks for the text "ab" to "Product Indicates that it applies to the Name field. Additional filtering is also shown in Tooltip 830. In this way, the user can identify which filters are applied to the data summary table 320, and can also identify the order in which the filters are applied by inspecting tooltip 830.

In the example shown, the user can use the dropdown area 562 (see Figure 11) of a particular field listed in task pane 450 to access the filtering task pane 700. When a user accesses interface 700 from the data summary table 320, the default field shown in the selector drop-down control 705 is the currently selected field in the data summary table 320. The user can select another field using the selector dropdown control 705. In another embodiment, the filtering task pane 700 can also be accessed from within the data summary table 320 by selecting the drop-down area 862 within the data summary table 320 (see Figure 9). In other embodiments, the user filters by selecting one or more fields in the data summary table 320 and right-clicking on the selected fields to access one or more filtering options. You can access the task pane 700. These options may include, for example, including or excluding selected fields with a manual filter, or filtering selected fields using the label, date, or value filters mentioned above. ..

When the filtering task pane 700 is accessed from the data summary table 320, the fields listed in the drop-down control 705 can be selected based on where the user access interface 700 is located. For example, if the user selects drop-down area 862 from the fields in the row of the data summary table 320, all the fields in the current row are shown. Otherwise, if the user selects the drop-down area 862 from the fields in the columns of the data summary table 320, all the fields currently in the column are shown.

In the embodiments shown, the filtering information is stored with the specific fields to which it applies. For example, if filtering is applied to a field that is not part of the data summary table 320, the filtering information is associated with the field and is applied when the field is added to the data summary table 320. Similarly, if a field with a filter is removed from the data summary table 320, the filter information is retained with the field so that the filter will be applied again if the field is later added back to the data summary table 320. To. As mentioned above, filtering on fields can be removed by selecting the filter and then the control 720 (see Figure 20).

The various embodiments mentioned above are provided for illustration purposes only and should not be construed as limiting. Various modifications without following the exemplary embodiments and applications set forth herein and without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. And will be readily recognized by those skilled in the art that changes may be made.