Tracking database changes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10853336-B2
Application number	US-24046608-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2008
Priority date	Sep 29, 2008
Publication date	Dec 1, 2020
Grant date	Dec 1, 2020

Abstract

Apparatus, systems, and methods may operate to detect a plurality of changes to one of a database format and database content between a first version of a database and a second version of the database, and to transmit change information to a receiving entity, enabling display of the plurality of changes in at least one of a row-wise collective format, a column-wise collective format, a field-wise collective format, or a record-wise collective format. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A computer implemented method comprising:
detecting a plurality of changes to database content between a first version of a database and a second version of the database;
transmitting change information associated with the plurality of changes to a receiving entity;
causing a display of a single visual element that is associated with the plurality of changes based on the change information, wherein the single visual element indicates a coded summary of changes to multiple non-identical content elements in a single row or a single column within the database and the single visual element is displayed adjacent to the single row or the single column;
receiving input indicative of a user selection of the single visual element; and
responsive to receiving the input, causing a separate display corresponding with each of the content elements changed in the single row or the single column, the separate display for each content element providing an indication of one or more changes to the corresponding content element.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting of the plurality of changes does not include detecting a transition in the database content from an element that is empty to an element that is non-empty.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing the database in a spreadsheet file format.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting timeline information to the receiving entity to cause a display of a timeline that includes the first version and the second version.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the display of the single visual element that is associated with the plurality of changes comprises:
a display of a first change indicator comprising at least one of a color or a graphic shape to indicate a change type associated with the database content for the single row or the single column.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the separate display corresponding with each of the content elements changed in the single row of the single column further comprises:
continuing to display the separate display for a determinable period of time, or until user selection input associated with a second change indicator is detected.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the separate display corresponding with each of the content elements changed in the single row of the single column further comprises:
an identification of a user and a time associated with the one or more changes to the corresponding content element.

8. A computer implemented method comprising:
accessing a first version of a database selected from a displayed time line;
accessing a second version of the database selected from the displayed time line;
detecting a plurality of changes to database content between the first version of the database and the second version of the database;
transmitting change information associated with the plurality of changes to a receiving entity; and
causing a display of a single visual element that is associated with the plurality of changes based on the change information, wherein the single visual element indicates a coded summary of changes to multiple non-identical content elements in a single row or a single column in the database and the single visual element is displayed adjacent to the single row or the single column;
receiving input indicative of a user selection of the single visual element; and
responsive to receiving the input, causing a separate display corresponding with each of the content elements changed in the single row or the single column, the separate display for each content element providing an indication of one or more changes to the corresponding content element.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
transmitting indicator information to the receiving entity to cause a display of a colored indicator for each one of a group of users on the time line, wherein a color of the colored indicator corresponds to an identity of a user in the group that saved a corresponding version of the database.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the display of the single visual element that is associated with the plurality of changes comprises:
a display of a first change indicator to indicate addition of a first content element to the row or column; or
a display of a second change indicator to indicate deletion of a second content element from the row or column.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the display of the single visual element that is associated with the plurality of changes comprises:
a display of a shape in a first orientation to indicate addition of a first content element to the row or column; or
a display of the shape in a second orientation to indicate deletion of a second content element from the row or column.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the display of the single visual element that is associated with the plurality of changes comprises:
a display of a change indicator comprising at least two of: a first color to indicate addition of a first content element to the row or column, a second color to indicate deletion of a second content element from the row or column, or a third color to indicate changing a third content element in the row or column.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the display of the single visual element that is associated with the plurality of changes
corresponds to a header row representation of the database.

14. A system, comprising:
a display;
a change tracking module to detect a plurality of changes to database content between a first version of a database and a second version of the database;
a rendering module to cause the display of a single visual element that is associated with the plurality of changes based on the change information, wherein the single visual element indicates a coded summary of changes to multiple non-identical content elements in a single row or a single column of the database and the single visual element is displayed adjacent to the single row or the single column, as part of a graphical user interface on the display; and
a graphical user interface module to receive input indicative of a user selection of the single visual element and, responsive to receiving the input, cause a separate display corresponding with each of the content elements changed in the single row or the single column, the separate display for each content element providing an indication of one or more changes to the corresponding content element.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the rendering module comprises a spreadsheet application program, the system further comprising:
a processor to execute the spreadsheet application program to display the database content as a spreadsheet along with a history of multiple, independently selectable versions of the database on a time line, including the first version and the second version, via the graphical user interface.

16. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored therein, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the machine to perform operations, comprising:
detecting a plurality of changes to database content between a first version of a database and a second version of the database;
transmitting change information associated with the plurality of changes to a receiving entity;
causing a display of a single visual element that is associated with the plurality of changes based on the change information, wherein the single visual element indicates a coded summary of changes to multiple non-identical content elements in a single row or a single column within the database, and

Assignees

• Dulaney Marissa
• Shaver Robert
• Adobe Inc

Inventors

• Dulaney Marissa
• Shaver Robert

Classifications

• G06F16/219 Primary

  Managing data history or versioning (querying versioned data G06F16/2474; querying temporal data G06F16/2477) · CPC title