Three dimensional conditional formatting

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9360992-B2
Application number	US-201313953179-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 29, 2013
Priority date	Jul 29, 2013
Publication date	Jun 7, 2016
Grant date	Jun 7, 2016

Abstract

Three dimensional, conditional formatting based data visualization is provided. Received underlying data may be analyzed and one or more portions of the underlying data that are of interest to a user determined. The portions may be selected actively by a user of automatically determined based on a variation of values in each portion, values of data points in each portion, a usage history of the user, and/or a credential of the user. A background image may be generated by converting the tabular data into a three dimensional image or selecting and image or a graphic associated with the underlying data. The visualization(s) may then be displayed over the background. Scenes may be selected for animated slide shows or movies.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method executed on a computing device for three dimensional, conditional formatting based data visualization, the method comprising:
receiving underlying data;
analyzing the underlying data;
determining a portion of the underlying data to be visualized;
determining a background for a visualization by one of:
converting a tabular presentation of the underlying data to a three dimensional background image,
selecting an image associated with the underlying data, and
selecting a graphic associated with the underlying data;

displaying the visualization of the portion of the underlying data over the determined background:
displaying a history of visualizations of the portion or the underlying data over the determined background through a plurality of miniaturized graphic representations presented in a vicinity of the presented visualization; and
enabling creation of one of a slide show and a movie scene through a displayed control element.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the portion of the underlying data to be visualized comprises:
determining one or more portions of the underlying data that are of interest to a user based on one or more of a variation of values in each portion, values of data points in each portion, a usage history of the user, and a credential of the user.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
conditionally formatting the visualization based on an aspect of the portion of the underlying data that is different from another aspect represented by the visualization.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein converting the tabular presentation to the three dimensional background image comprises:
determining a tilt and a twist parameter for the background image.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
placing the visualization over the corresponding portion of underlying data in the background image; and
aligning the visualization with the corresponding portion of underlying data.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
adjusting one or more placement and perspective parameters of the visualization and the background image for enhanced presentation of an overall scene through one of a touch/gesture input, a selection of commands, an automatic selection.

7. The of claim 1 , further comprising:
displaying a miniaturized graphic representation of a scene comprising the background and the visualization.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
complementing the miniaturized graphic representation of the scene with textual information.

9. A computing device configured to provide three dimensional, conditional formatting based data visualization, the computing device comprising:
a memory;
a display device; and
a processor coupled to the memory and the display device, the processor adapted to execute a data processing application in conjunction with instructions stored in the memory, wherein the data processing application is configured to:
receive underlying data;
analyze the underlying data;
determine one or more portions of the underlying data that are of interest to a user based on one or more of a variation of values in each portion, values of data points in each portion, a usage history of the user, and a credential of the user;
determine a background image for a visualization by one of:
converting a tabular presentation of the underlying data to a three dimensional background image,
selecting an image associated with the underlying data, and
selecting a graphic associated with the underlying data;

display the visualization of the portion of the underlying data over the determined background, wherein the visualization is conditionally formatted such that the visualization and one or more format characteristics of the visualization represent different aspects of the portion of the underlying data;
display a history of visualizations of the portion of the underlying data over the determined background through a plurality of miniaturized graphic representations presented in a vicinity of the presented visualization; and
enable creation of one of a slide show and a movie scene through a displayed control element.

10. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the data processing application is further configured to:
upon user confirmation, save the background image and the visualization as a scene; and
display a miniaturized representation of the scene.

11. The computing device of claim 10 , wherein the data processing application is further configured to:
adjust one or more parameters associated with the visualization based on one or more of predefined values, user selectable values, and automatically configurable values based on a composition of the scene.

12. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the parameters include one or more of: a color, a border style, a relative size, a placement, a perspective.

13. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the data processing application is further configured to:
create and display multiple visualizations associated with a plurality of portions of the underlying data.

14. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the data processing application is further configured to:
save a plurality of scene sequences along with animation parameters as multiple slide presentations or movies visualizing the underlying data.

15. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the data processing application is one of a spreadsheet application, a database application, a presentation application, a note taking application, and a word processing application.

16. A computer-readable memory device with instructions stored thereon for providing three dimensional, conditional formatting based data visualization, the instructions comprising:
receiving underlying data;
analyzing the underlying data;
determining one or more portions of the underlying data that are of interest to a user based on one or more of a variation of values in each portion, values of data points in each portion, a usage history of the user, and a credential of the user;
determining a background image for a chart based visualization by one of:
converting a tabular presentation of the underlying data to a three dimensional background image,
selecting an image associated with the underlying data, and
selecting a graphic associated with the underlying data;

presenting displaying the visualization of the portion of the underlying data over the determined background, wherein the visualization is conditionally formatted such that the visualization and one or more format characteristics of the visualization represent different aspects of the portion of the underlying data;
displaying a history of visualizations of the portion of the underlying data over the determined background through a plurality of miniaturized graphic representations presented in a vicinity of the presented visualization; and
enabling creation of one of a slide show and as movie scene through a displayed control element.

17. The computer-readable memory device of claim 16 , wherein the instructions further comprise:
displaying a menu of actions associated, with the background image and the: visualization, wherein the menu includes one or more of a chart type for the visualization, an aggregation dimension For the visualization, a height dimension fur the visualization, and a category of the scene; and
displaying another menu for selection of one or more scenes for one of a slide show and a movie, wherein the other menu includes selections for animation and transition parameters

Assignees

• Microsoft Corp
• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Peev Igor
• Ruble Brian Scott

Classifications

• G06F40/103

  Formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents (automatic justification G06F40/189; automatic line break hyphenation G06F40/191) · CPC title

• G06F40/18 Primary

  of spreadsheets (form-filling G06F40/174) · CPC title

• G06F3/0484

  for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range · CPC title

• G06F16/904

  Browsing; Visualisation therefor (for navigating the web G06F16/954; browsing optimisation for the web G06F16/957) · CPC title

• G06F3/0488

  using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures · CPC title