Patent Application
20140244620
The present invention relates generally to computer searching of data, and more particularly, to providing ways to dynamically adjust the scope of data searches.
As high speed computer networks extend beyond physical boundaries (e.g., work, home, etc.) to encompass the vast network space that is represented by the Internet, locating and bounding information, content and data becomes increasingly difficult. Even at the level of a single PC having significant storage capability, providing the user with easy to understand views and organizational tools for filtering and displaying large sets of data can be challenging.
For instance, with regard to filtering data, while a user is often permitted to conduct content searches based upon key words and the like, the amount of information, data and content that is returned based upon such searches is often times still voluminous enough to be overwhelming as the user has limited filtering options and/or options for setting content parameters. Additionally, the user often has no means by which to organize and filter the returned data in a manner that would allow presentation of only a manageable amount of information and/or that presents the data in a manner wherein the content most useful to the user is presented in a more prominent fashion (e.g., displayed first in a data listing).
With regard to displaying data, information and content, data sets are often too large for each data element within the set to be represented on the viewable display area. Thus, when viewing such large data sets, it may be difficult for the user to readily determine how much information, content, or data may be part of the data set, but which is not present in the viewable display area.
The ability to scope searches is becoming increasingly common. By scoping searches, a user may define the scope of a search to be narrower or broader. For example, at a retail store website, a scoper may provide the user with the ability to conduct searching within a particular category of product (i.e., sporting goods). Currently, scopers allow users to search within different sub-domains via a drop-down list; however, such scopers may be restricted with respect to the navigation hierarchy displayed by a user interface.
Accordingly, a user interface which presents data to a user in such a way that the relative amount of data in the data set is readily apparent would be desirable. Additionally, a method of providing access to a large range of data, content and information without overwhelming the user would be advantageous. Further, it would be advantageous if such method permitted presentation of the data in a manner wherein the data most useful to the user was prominently set forth.
Embodiments of the present invention provide an improved graphical user interface (GUI) for refining a scope of a search. In one aspect, a method for refining a search may include the use of a GUI rendering navigation scope bar that allows a search to be broadened or narrowed by moving the bar from left to right or from right to left. The method further includes the displaying of a plurality of navigation nodes in a graphical navigation string. The navigation nodes comprise a navigation hierarchy, having a first level and a second level. The method further includes the displaying of a finder field adjacent to the plurality of navigation nodes in the graphical navigation string for searching the first level of the navigation hierarchy. It also includes the displaying of a navigation scope bar for searching the second level of the navigation hierarchy. Additionally, it includes a processor that determines a refined search criteria based on a movement of the navigation scope bar with respect to a navigation node within the plurality of navigation nodes in the graphical navigation string. The method further includes the sending of the refined search criteria to a search engine.
An alternative method to render the graphical navigation scope bar may include displaying detents which correspond to each of the graphical navigation nodes which provide points to click on to narrow or broaden a search.
Another implementation may include a translucent overlay for searching the navigation hierarchy by moving the translucent overlay from left to right or right to left. Yet another implementation may include rendering a navigation tree to display the navigation hierarchy. In addition to the graphical navigation scope bar, translucent overlay, detents, or navigation tree, a finder field would also be present to search within a level of the navigation hierarchy.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings. The various features of the drawings are not to scale as the illustrations are for clarity in facilitating one skilled in the art in understanding the invention in conjunction with the detailed description. In the drawings:
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The following described exemplary embodiments relate to a user interface (UI) for presenting and displaying data sets to a user that incorporates a filtering device referred to herein as “scoper”. Scope control enables the user to dynamically adjust a current range of view for the information, content and data displayed on the UI. A scope control tool described herein may be accessible from all screens in the UI. The software tool described in various embodiments of the present invention may be applied to control screens, tools, or application screens.
By scoping searches, a user may refine their search more accurately and easily by either broadening or narrowing the search. Currently, scopers are not intuitive and user friendly enough to encourage a more targeted graphical way to re-scope a search. By combining scope control with the data display options permitted by, for example, a 3-D UI design, access may be provided to a large range of information without overwhelming the user. Accordingly, in one aspect, various embodiments of the present invention are directed to a UI for representing content, information and data to a user. Advantageously, the search mechanism described herein permits a more intuitive and more productive search process.
Scope control enables the user to dynamically adjust a current range of view for the information, content, and data displayed on the UI. For example, this could save valuable time by leading to fewer irrelevant search results. Additionally, the scope control tool described herein 1 can make the search function less confusing by providing an easier user interface (search interface). Various embodiments of the present invention further permit the inclusion and delineation of one or more narrow subsets of data within the display encompassed by a relatively broad scope setting, if desired.
Referring to
The computer 102 may communicate with server 106 and database 120 via the network 118, e.g., the Internet. The computer 110 may communicate with server 114 and database 120 also via the communication network 118. Network 118 may include connections, such as wire, wireless communication links, or fiber optic cables. As will be discussed with reference to
The client computers 102 and 110 may be programmed to execute a graphical user interface containing search interface 104 (e.g. such as a web browser plug-in) and access content managed by the servers 106 and 114.
In the embodiments of the present invention described below, users are respectively operating client computers 102 and 110 that are connected to the search engine 122 running on the servers 106 and/or 114 via search interface 104. Data or content may be presented to a user using a navigation hierarchy having more than one level. In various embodiments of the present invention, the first level of the navigation hierarchy, i.e., the navigation nodes 338-352 for a navigation tree, 332 (
As described in the following paragraphs, in an embodiment of the present invention a graphical user interface (GUI) may be run which displays a search interface to facilitate dynamic adjustment of the search scope to be applied to a particular data set (see
Another embodiment illustrates how the search interface program 104 may display detents 402-406 (
Another exemplary embodiment describes how the search interface program 104 may use a navigation tree 502 (
At 204, search interface 104 may receive text which a user may have entered into a finder field 312 (
At 206, the search interface 104 detects whether the user has modified, i.e., broadened or narrowed the search scope. In various embodiments, users may be able to modify the scope by moving either a navigation scope bar 314 or a translucent overlay 410 (
In an alternative embodiment, users may be able to modify the scope by moving the translucent overlay 410 (
Referring back to
At 212, if search interface 104 determines that text has been entered into the finder field 312 then at 214, the search interface 104 may transmit the search criteria to the search engine 122. Then, at 216, the search interface displays the results corresponding to the scope as determined by the navigation scope bar 314 or the translucent overlay 410
A user may adjust the navigation scope bar 314 by dragging it to a predefined region corresponding to each of the plurality of navigation nodes 318-330 in the navigation string 310. For example, the default search may start with the finder scoped to the first level of current navigation context. In
As can be understood, various embodiments of the present invention provide a user control for dynamically adjusting the scope of a set of content and/or data and a user interface for representing the same.
Data processing system 800, 900 is representative of any electronic device capable of executing machine-readable program instructions. Data processing system 800, 900 may be representative of a smart phone, a computer system, PDA, or other electronic devices. Examples of computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may represented by data processing system 800, 900 include, but are not limited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, network PCs, minicomputer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices.
User client computers 102 and 110, and network servers 106 and 114 include respective sets of internal components 800 a, b. c, d and external components 900 a, b. c, d illustrated in
Each set of internal components 800 a, b, c, d also includes a R/W drive or interface 832 to read from and write to one or more portable computer-readable tangible storage devices 936 such as a CD-ROM, DVD, memory stick, magnetic tape, magnetic disk, optical disk or semiconductor storage device. The search interface 104 in client computer 102, 110; can be stored on one or more of the respective portable computer-readable tangible storage devices 936, read via the respective R/W drive or interface 832 and loaded into the respective hard drive 830.
Each set of internal components 800 a, b. c, d also includes network adapters or interfaces 836 such as a TCP/IP adapter cards, wireless wi-fi interface cards, or 3G or 4G wireless interface cards or other wired or wireless communication links. The program 104 in client computer 102; programs 108 and 116, respectively in network servers 106 and 114; and program 112 in remote computer 110 can be downloaded to respective client computers 102 and 110 from an external computer via a network (for example, the Internet, a local area network or other, wide area network) and respective network adapters or interfaces 836. From the network adapters or interfaces 836, the program 104 in client computer 102; programs 108 and 116, respectively in network servers 106 and 114; and program 112 in remote computer 110 are loaded into the respective hard drive 830. The network may comprise copper wires, optical fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers.
Each of the sets of external components 900 a, b. c, d can include a computer display monitor 920, a keyboard 930, and a computer mouse 934. External components 900 a, b. c, d can also include touch screens, virtual keyboards, touch pads, pointing devices, and other human interface devices. Each of the sets of internal components 800 a, b. c, d also includes device drivers 840 to interface to computer display monitor 920, keyboard 930 and computer mouse 934. The device drivers 840, R/W drive or interface 832 and network adapter or interface 836 comprise hardware and software (stored in storage device 830 and/or ROM 824).
Aspects of the present invention have been described with respect to block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus (system), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer instructions. These computer instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The aforementioned programs can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including low-level, high-level, object-oriented or non object-oriented languages, such as Java, Smalltalk, C, and C++. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet service provider). Alternatively, the functions of the aforementioned programs can be implemented in whole or in part by computer circuits and other hardware (not shown).
Based on the foregoing, computer system, method and program product have been disclosed in accordance with the present invention. However, numerous modifications and substitutions can be made without deviating from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention has been disclosed by way of example and not limitation.
