Random access to properties for lists in user interfaces

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11169663-B2
Application number	US-201916406147-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 8, 2019
Priority date	Jul 11, 2016
Publication date	Nov 9, 2021
Grant date	Nov 9, 2021

Abstract

Random access to any arbitrary object stored in a database from a displayed virtual object image corresponding to an object wherein some properties of the object are displayed in the virtual object image is provided through manipulation of a drag icon to cause, in sequence, display of a ghost template listing types of properties for which data is stored in a database, select a property type from the ghost template, display all instances of the selected property type and display another virtual object image containing a selected instance of the property type and including other properties of a corresponding object. All properties of the object to which the resulting virtual object image corresponds can be determined from further manipulation of the drag icon to display another ghost template.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
displaying a first virtual object image representing a first object of a plurality of objects stored in a database, the displayed first virtual object image including a first plurality of property instances of a plurality of property instances stored in the database, each property instance of the first plurality of property instances corresponding to a respective one of a plurality of property data types stored in the database;
displaying an icon within a boundary of the first virtual object image;
detecting user selection and movement of the icon outside the boundary of the first virtual object image;
in response to detecting the movement of the icon outside the boundary of the first virtual object image, fetching a list of the plurality of property data types corresponding to the first plurality of property instances included in the first virtual object from the database and displaying a ghost template, the ghost template including the fetched list of the plurality of property data types corresponding to the first plurality of property instances included in the first virtual object;
detecting selection of a first property data type of the plurality of property data types displayed in the ghost template by detecting movement of the icon to a location that coincides with the first property data type displayed in the ghost template;
in response to detecting the selection of the first property data type of the plurality of property data types displayed in the ghost template, fetching a plurality of instances of the first property data type stored in the database and displaying a list of the fetched plurality of instances of the first property data type, each of the plurality of instances of the first property data type corresponding to a respective data record in the database;
detecting selection of an instance from the list of the plurality of instances of the first property data type by detecting movement of the icon to a location coinciding with the selected instance of the first property data type;
in response to detecting the selection of the instance from the list of the plurality of instances of the first property data type, fetching a second plurality of property instances from the respective data record corresponding to the selected instance of the first property data type, and displaying a second virtual object representing a second object of the plurality of objects stored in the database that is different from the first virtual object by replacing the first plurality of property instances of the first virtual object with the second plurality of property instances fetched from the respective data record corresponding to the selected instance of the first property data type.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising detecting movement of the icon from the location coinciding with the selected instance of the first property data type to a second location indicating where to display the second virtual object image.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising displaying an animation
representing movement of the selected instance of the first property data type along a path to the second location.

4. A system comprising:
a database;
a display device; and
a processor communicatively coupled to the display device, wherein the processor is configured to: output instructions to the display device to display a first virtual object image representing a first object of a plurality of objects stored in the database, the displayed first virtual object image including a first plurality of property instances of a plurality of property instances stored in the database, each property instance of the first plurality of property instances corresponding to a respective one of a plurality of property data types stored in the database;
output instructions to the display device to display an icon within a boundary of the first virtual object image;
detect user selection and movement of the icon outside the boundary of the first virtual object image;
in response to detecting the movement of the icon outside the boundary of the first virtual object image, fetch a list of the plurality of property data types corresponding to the first plurality of property instances included in the first virtual object from the database and output instructions to the display device to display a ghost template, the ghost template including the fetched list of the plurality of property data types corresponding to the first plurality of property instances included in the first virtual object;
detect selection of a first property data type of the plurality of property data types displayed in the ghost template by detecting movement of the icon to a location that coincides with the first property data type displayed in the ghost template;
in response to detecting the selection of the first property data type of the plurality of property data types displayed in the ghost template, fetch a plurality of instances of the first property data type stored in the database and output instructions to the display device to display a list of the fetched plurality of instances of the first property data type, each of the plurality of instances of the first property data type corresponding to a respective data record in the database;
detect selection of an instance from the list of the plurality of instances of the first property data type by detecting movement of the icon to a location coinciding with the selected instance of the first property data type;
in response to detecting the selection of the instance from the list of the plurality of instances of the first property data type, fetch a second plurality of property instances from the respective data record corresponding to the selected instance of the first property data type, and output instructions to the display device to display a second virtual object representing a second object of the plurality of objects stored in the database that is different from the first virtual object by replacing the first plurality of property instances of the first virtual object with the second plurality of property instances fetched from the respective data record corresponding to the selected instance of the first property data type.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the processor is further configured to detect movement of the icon from the location coinciding with the second instance of the first property data type to a second location indicating where to display the second virtual object image.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the processor is further configured to output instructions to the display device to display an animation representing movement of the selected instance of the first property data type along a path to the second location.

7. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied thereon, the program instructions executable by a computer to cause the computer to:
display a first virtual object image representing a first object of a plurality of objects stored in a database, the displayed first virtual object image including a first plurality of property instances of a plurality of property instances stored in the database, each property instance of the first plurality of property instances corresponding to a respective one of a plurality of property data types stored in the database;
display an icon within a boundary of the first virtual object image;
detect user selection and movement of the icon outside the boundary of the first virtual object image;
in response to detecting the movement of the icon outside the boundary of the first virtual object image, fetch a list of the plurality of property data types corresponding to the fi

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Ragan Jr Richard W
• Sun yu wei

Classifications

• G06F3/0482 Primary

  Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus · CPC title

• G06F40/186

  Templates · CPC title

• G06F3/04817

  using icons (graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34) · CPC title

• G06F3/0486

  Drag-and-drop · CPC title

• G06F3/0485

  Scrolling or panning · CPC title