| Data storage, retrieval, manipulation and display tools enabling multiple hierarchical points of view -> Monitor Keywords |
|
|
  Data storage, retrieval, manipulation and display tools enabling multiple hierarchical points of viewRelated Patent Categories: Data Processing: Database And File Management Or Data Structures, Database Schema Or Data StructureThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070239741. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/461,182, filed on Jun. 12, 2003, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/388,095, filed on Jun. 12, 2002, each application naming JENA JORDAHL as inventor, and the entire contents of each of which are herein incorporated by reference. FIELD [0002] This systems and methods relate to the field of computers, and more particularly to the field of computer database systems and methods. BACKGROUND [0003] The advent of the computer has permitted dramatic increases in the capability to store and manipulate data. The development of computer networks, such as the Internet, has provided unprecedented access to data. However, the proliferation of data does not necessarily maximize the usefulness of that data. In fact, proliferation of data can, in some circumstances, even serve as an obstacle to clear understanding, such as by obscuring connections between data or burying the most relevant data among a large amount of irrelevant data. [0004] Methods and systems are needed to assist users in making more effective use of data. One general way to make more effective use of data is to provide an organizational structure for the data. That is, data may be more easily understood if it is stored and presented according to a particular point of view. One way of representing an organizational structure or a point of view is a hierarchy. One example of such a hierarchy is a "drill down" hierarchy in which each level of a hierarchy represents related subcomponents of the next higher level of the hierarchy, with related elements of the various levels of the hierarchy being connected by lines or arrows. Representing data elements via a hierarchy can improve utilization of the data, because the data can be found, examined and manipulated based on its location in the hierarchy. For example, a simple hierarchy for personal information might include high level fields of "name" and "address," with second level fields of "first, last and middle" for "name" and "street number, street name, city, state and zip code" for "address." Systems and methods exist for storing data related to such a hierarchy. Creating connections between available data and the hierarchy categories while using the hierarchy to focus attention on the distinguishing features thus allows the user to impose some meaning on the data relative to other data related to the same hierarchy. [0005] Conventional database systems and methods can be subject to a number of problems. Primarily, people change the data structures very slowly, many times as a means of implementing change controls. If the structures underlying the data can be built in such a way that based on one's focus area the data relationships show up differently, then the system can exhibit rigor in validating the storage of information while providing exceptional manipulation and analysis capabilities. Though current database technology supports different views of the same data, this is not the same as providing different contexts for acting on the data. Current technology provides views that act as censors, blotting out information considered irrelevant to the defined view. [0006] It can be suggested that the same data may have dramatically different meaning and significance depending on the point of view of the person, group, or agent who is using the data. For example, a zip code might be highly relevant to a party wishing to send a letter but irrelevant to a party seeking driving directions to a particular location. Such a simple example may not present a major problem because the user can simply ignore the zip code, but when uses of the same data are in increasingly different contexts, conventional database methods and systems are increasingly ineffective at providing useful database functions for the different contexts. As a result, users typically build distinct databases for different uses of the data, even though the data content may overlap substantially. [0007] What is needed is a system that permits the storage, retrieval and manipulation of a given set of data in different contexts. In particular, a system is needed that permits a user to establish a point of view, such as via a hierarchy, and that allows the user to retrieve, manipulate, and display data according to that point of view. Moreover, since a user's own point of view may change, the system should allow the user or users to establish multiple hierarchies or points of view and to use the hierarchies interchangeably regardless of the structure of the data in connection with the hierarchies. The system should also permit users to conveniently construct and modify hierarchies that can be of a wide variety of types and should not be limited to a single hierarchy or type of hierarchy. [0008] Conventional search tools typically allow text- or string-based searching in which the user inputs a word or phrase, either in Boolean form or as an unstructured string, and in which the system outputs a document or a list of documents that are ranked according to conventional algorithms, such as weighting according to term frequency and inverse word frequency within a document. In such conventional systems, the input does not reflect any logical structure, particularly any hierarchical structure. In other search tools, the search must conform to the structure of the data that is being searched. The search may indirectly reflect the underlying structure of the data, but the search does not reflect the user's point of view to the same degree as would a hierarchy that establishes the user's point of view. Accordingly, a need exists for a system that permits the user to conduct a search and view results that reflect the unique requirements defined by the user's point of view. [0009] In addition, a system that permits users to search other users' points of view and to integrate those points of view with those of the user can be beneficial. Users may also wish to have the system suggest other points of view as more profitable informational Points of View (iPOV's) than their own. The system should therefore be able to generate new iPOV's by permutating the existing and relevant iPOV's and electronic Bodies Of Knowledge (eBOK's). [0010] Further, the system should permit use of hierarchies in different stages of data processing. A user should be able to create a representation of a point of view, to manage the point of view, to use the point of view to assist in clustering related information, and to use the point of view as a visualization tool with respect to data. Thus, hierarchical displays should be supported, as well as storage of hierarchical information and iPOV searches. Optimized searches require projects of hierarchical data into specialized forms allowing easy access to the data by multi-path search algorithms. Each of these features might be provided as a component linked to a conventional database system, or the components could be provided together as an integrated system. SUMMARY [0011] The systems and methods create an environment where the analysis of similarities and differences between pieces of information can be customized and displayed in a manner that is easily understood. Unique points of view can be employed in decomposing complex information into manageable chunks while at the same time providing a container for the more amorphous concepts of context and relatedness. Maps, specifically hierarchical maps, can be the metaphor of choice for codifying and displaying the relationships between pieces of information and the importance of a piece to the point of view. Because the systems and methods can be easily customizable and configured to run on various computer hardware for numerous purposes, the core aspect of the systems and methods need not be limited to the visualization used to present the point of view or to the particular search technique employed. While these components can be important for the functioning of the system, it can be understood that future implementations can include other UI metaphors and alternate search routines. Mapping can include representations that express a point of view and the search routines can express the similarities and differences between how information shows up relative to that point of view. [0012] When all aspects of the system are employed together, the systems and methods can include a system architecture that allows for both pattern recognition routines and logic rules to ascertain the relevance of a piece of information to a point of view, relationships between the point of view, and the frame of reference that provide a broader context within which the point of view can be understood, and methods of relating information to either the point of view or the frame of reference. A set of transformational and statistical language data can provide the backdrop for similarity functions to assess relatedness when the data presented does not identically match. Language can be interpreted broadly to include systematic methods of communication or sensation through a device. e.g., English, Latin, Cobol, image, sound, ultra-sonic, or encrypted language. [0013] Similarity functions can determine exactly how similar something must be to be considered related, and difference functions can determine exactly how different something can be before being considered unrelated. As an example for the string of letters "Ave", abbreviation similarity functions can acknowledge that "Ave" can be an abbreviation for the word "Avenue". Difference functions can indicate that two strings of letters, one being half as long as the other and not being an abbreviation or alternate name for the other, are not related. [0014] Since information in a computer system is stored in memory or on storage media such as hard drives, CD roms, DVD's, etc., the systems and methods can consist of information on how to access and manipulate information in various kinds of formats. In a preferred embodiment, the systems and methods can use the distinctions in points of views, frames of reference, similarity and difference functions, and relatedness maps such as hierarchies when storing and manipulating data access information. Additionally, the systems and methods can store information used to manage its own control and customization in the same format and using the same methods as that used to store application information. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0015] The following figures depict certain illustrative embodiments in which like reference numerals refer to like elements. These depicted embodiments are to be understood as illustrative and not as limiting in any way. [0016] FIG. 1A illustrates a vectored data arrangement and related rings of data; [0017] FIG. 1B illustrates a more detailed view of the data arrangement of FIG. 1A; [0018] FIG. 2A illustrates a hierarchical representation of contact data; [0019] FIG. 2B illustrates a user interface for adding an element to the hierarchy representation of FIG. 2A; Continue reading... Full patent description for Data storage, retrieval, manipulation and display tools enabling multiple hierarchical points of view Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Data storage, retrieval, manipulation and display tools enabling multiple hierarchical points of view patent application. Patent Applications in related categories: 20080281835 - Virtual foldering system for blending process and content in a collaborative environment - A computer system that includes a storage medium. The storage medium stores a database. The database includes tables. Each table includes g at least one column and at least one row. The tables describe components of a hierarchy in which hierarchical relationships between components of the hierarchy are defined. The ... ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Data storage, retrieval, manipulation and display tools enabling multiple hierarchical points of view or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Triggering server state changes with references Next Patent Application: Method and apparatus for detecting a change-point in a time-series of computer telemetry signals Industry Class: Data processing: database and file management or data structures ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Data storage, retrieval, manipulation and display tools enabling multiple hierarchical points of view patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 0.23056 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Medical: Surgery , Surgery(2) , Surgery(3) , Drug , Drug(2) , Prosthesis , Dentistry |
||
