Abstract:
Systems and methods are provided for personalizing a display of information. In one implementation, a method is provided that includes displaying information in a hierarchical form with a top level and a plurality of lower levels, receiving an input from an individual identifying a node from one of the lower levels, modifying a personal list for the individual to include the identified node, and displaying the nodes in the personal list at the top level of a display hierarchy.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0001]     The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for displaying a hierarchical data structure and, more particularly, to systems and methods for personalizing the display of the hierarchical data structure.  
       DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART  
       [0002]     Organizations often store organizational information in a hierarchical data structure for easy management and administration. For example, they may place names of departments at a top level, names of project groups within a department at a second level, etc. This presentation of data makes it easy to understand communication flows and responsibilities.  
         [0003]     In many organizations, however, the data is dynamic, so the organization may place the information on intranet websites to give employees access to the most recent information. Employees may thus access the website for information related to departments and projects. In addition, for example, sales department director may post or update sales information through the website, or a human resources personnel may provide benefits information on the website, etc.  
         [0004]     Unfortunately, conventional systems display the information in a hierarchical structure. Thus, when an individual logs onto the website, the same top level of the information hierarchy is presented at the top level of the display hierarchy. The individual must then select the department of interest by clicking a link to that department, and then can access second level information in the information hierarchy related to that department. The individual must follow the links through each level of the display hierarchy, and therefore the information hierarchy, to find the information needed.  FIG. 1  shows an example of a hierarchical display of organizational information, and particularly financial information of product sales and post-sale services. The hierarchy shown in  FIG. 1  includes one node at the top level, i.e., “Akron Heating Technologies,” one node at the second level, i.e., “40000 Sales, Marketing &amp; Services,” three nodes at the third level, i.e., “41000 Sales,” “45000 Service,” and “46000 Marketing.” Under the node “45000 Service,” there are two nodes at the fourth level, i.e., “45100 Spare Parts” and “45300 Customer Service.” Under the node “45300 Customer Service,” there are further two nodes at the fifth level. For illustrative convenience, it may be said that node “40000 Sales, Marketing &amp; Services” is the parent node of its child nodes “41000 Sales,” “45000 Service,” and “46000 Marketing,” the node “45000 Service” is the parent node of its child nodes “45100 Spare Parts” and “45300 Customer Service,” etc.  
         [0005]     The above-described presentation of the hierarchical organizational information is inconvenient, because an individual who regularly needs information at a lower level must always traverse the higher levels of the hierarchy. For example, in the example of  FIG. 1 , a sales person who wants to access information for “45000 Customer Service” needs to click through the links from the top level to the fourth level.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0006]     A method of personalizing a display of information, consistent with the invention, includes displaying information in a hierarchical form with a top level and a plurality of lower levels, receiving an input from an individual identifying a node from one of the lower levels, modifying a personal list for the individual to include the identified node, and displaying the nodes in the personal list at the top level of a display hierarchy.  
         [0007]     A computer-readable medium, consistent with the invention, contains a program for causing a processor to perform a method of personalizing a display of information. The method includes displaying information in a hierarchical form with a top level and a plurality of lower levels, receiving an input from an individual identifying a node from one of the lower levels, modifying a personal list for the individual to include the identified node, and displaying the nodes in the personal list at the top level of a display hierarchy.  
         [0008]     A computer system, consistent with the invention, includes a processor and means for accessing a computer-readable medium containing a program for causing the processor to perform a method of personalizing a display of information. The method includes displaying information in a hierarchical form with a top level and a plurality of lower levels, receiving an input from an individual identifying a node from one of the lower levels, modifying a personal list for the individual to include the identified node, and displaying the nodes in the personal list at the top level of a display hierarchy.  
         [0009]     Additional features and advantages of the invention appear in the following description and will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practicing the invention. The foregoing background and summary are not intended to be comprehensive, but instead serve to help one skilled in the art understand the following implementations consistent with the invention set forth in the appended claims. In addition, the foregoing background and summary are not intended to provide any independent limitations on the claimed invention.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]     The accompanying drawings show features of implementations consistent with the present invention and, together with the corresponding written description, help explain principles associated with the invention. In the drawings:  
         [0011]      FIG. 1  shows an example of a conventional hierarchical display of organizational information;  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart showing a method consistent with the present invention for an individual to personalize a display of hierarchical information;  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  shows a webpage containing the information in  FIG. 1  personalized by a method consistent with the present invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  shows a computer system for implementing methods consistent with the present invention; and  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  shows another computer system for implementing methods consistent with the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS  
       [0016]     The following description refers to the accompanying drawings, in which, in the absence of a contrary representation, the same numbers in different drawings represent similar elements. The following implementations do not represent all implementations consistent with the claimed invention. Instead, they are merely examples. Other implementations, and modifications of the described implementations, may also fall within the scope of present invention.  
         [0017]     A method for presenting organizational information consistent with the present invention allows individuals to personalize the display of the hierarchical organizational information. In the following discussion, the hierarchical structure of the information is referred to as the “information hierarchy,” and the hierarchical structure of the information displayed on webpages is referred to as the “display hierarchy.” In a hierarchical structure, there is usually a single root node at the highest level. Nodes at lower levels are reached through a node at next higher level.  
         [0018]     Consistent with the present invention, an individual can select nodes at lower levels of the information hierarchy that have particular interest, and place them in a personal list for display at the top level of the display hierarchy. This allows the individuals to have faster and more direct access to information of interest. The resulting display hierarchy for each individual will differ and better suits the needs of the individuals accessing the information.  FIG. 2  shows a flow chart of a method consistent with the present invention allowing an individual to personalize a display of hierarchical information.  
         [0019]     First, the individual logs onto a webpage containing a standard hierarchical display of information or, if it is personal, a personalized display. (Step  200 .) If the display has been personalized, the nodes at the top level of the display hierarchy includes both the nodes at the top level of the information hierarchy and the nodes in the personal list. (Step  202 .) If the individual wishes to modify the personal list, he provides an input for adding nodes or deleting nodes. (Step  204 .) A processor responds to the input by modifying and saving the personal list (Step  206 ) and displaying the top level of the display hierarchy with including the nodes at the top level of the information hierarchy and the nodes in the updated personal list (Step  202 ). The individual may also choose to log off the webpage (Step  208 ) or navigate through the hierarchy (Step  210 ), before or after the personal list is modified. If, at Step  202 , the personal list contains no node, then by modifying the personal list, new nodes may be added. The modification of the personal list at Steps  202  through  206  may be repeated as necessary to generate the desired personal list.  
         [0020]     The personal list may be modified in many different ways. For example, an individual can go through the levels of the hierarchy to a lower level containing a node of interest and simply click and drag the node of interest into the personal list or away from the personal list. As another alternative, a webpage may contain a button for each node at a lower level of the hierarchy, where a click on the button adds the respective node to the personal list, and may also contain a button for each node in the personal list, where a click on the button removes the respective node from the personal list. Another example is a webpage containing a list of all the nodes of the hierarchy, where an individual logged onto the webpage may check the nodes to be placed in or removed from the personal list without going through the levels of the hierarchy. It is to be understood that these are only examples and the spirit of the invention is not limited thereto.  
         [0021]     In one aspect, the nodes in a personal list may be excluded from the levels of the display hierarchy corresponding to their levels in the information hierarchy. Alternatively, nodes in the personal list may also be displayed at both the top level of the display hierarchy and the levels of display hierarchy corresponding to their levels in the information hierarchy. When a node is removed from the personal list, the node is displayed at the level of the display hierarchy corresponding to its level in the information hierarchy.  
         [0022]      FIG. 3  shows the webpage of  FIG. 1  after being personalized by the method of the present invention. As  FIG. 3  shows, the top level of the display hierarchy now includes the nodes at the top level of the information hierarchy shown in the upper center portion of the webpage, and a personal list shown in the lower center portion. The personal list includes node “45300 Customer Service” and the two child nodes thereof and marked as “modified part.” The upper center portion shows the nodes at the top level of the information hierarchy and their child nodes, except those in the personal list. Note that in the example of  FIG. 3 , the nodes included in the personal list are not displayed again at the levels of the display hierarchy corresponding to their respective levels in the information hierarchy.  
         [0023]     With the webpage personalized as shown in  FIG. 3 , the individual may now access “45300 Customer Service” directly when he logs onto the webpage, instead of going through the hierarchy into the fourth level each time. A different individual interested in other information may personalize the webpage in a different way so that the personal list includes such other nodes in his interest. Therefore, the method of the present invention allows easier access and management of hierarchical information through personalized display.  
         [0024]     A computer system stores the hierarchical information and the personal lists and a software application implementing the method of the present invention. The hierarchical information is most often stored in a database installed on the computer system. The personal lists may also be stored in the database. The computer system may be a computer network, as shown in  FIG. 4 , or a stand-alone personal computer (PC), as shown in  FIG. 5 .  
         [0025]     In  FIG. 4 , a computer network  400  for installing the software and the software application includes a server  402  and a stand-alone PC  404  connected through a network path  406 . Computer network  400  may be a local area network (LAN), where server  402  and PC  404  are workstations. Computer network  400  may also be the Internet, with server  402  on the side of the client installing the database and PC  404  being any workstation available to an individual accessing the database. Alternatively, computer network  400  is a wide area network (WAN), and server  402  and PC  404  lie in two separate LANs connected through the Internet.  
         [0026]     PC  404  includes a bus line  408  connecting a plurality of devices such as a processor  410 , memory devices  412  for storage of information, diskette drives  414 , a fixed disk drive  416 , a monitor  418 , other I/O devices  420 , and a network interface card (NIC)  422 . Processor  410  may be a microprocessor such as an Intel Pentium chip for processing applications. Memory devices  412  may include read-only memories (ROM) and/or random access memories (RAM). Diskette drives  414  may include a floppy drive and/or a compact disk (CD) drive. Fixed disk drive  416  may be a hard drive. Monitor  3418  displays the output from processor  410 , and may also echo the input of the user. I/O devices  420  may include a keyboard and/or a mouse for receiving input from a user of PC  404 . PC  404  is connected to network path  406  through NIC  422 .  
         [0027]     The database storing the hierarchical information and the personal lists is installed in server  402 . An individual accessing the hierarchical information accesses and communicates with PC  404 , which further communicates with server  402  through NIC  422  and network path  406 . In one aspect, the software application implementing the method of the present invention is stored in PC  404  and processor  410  of PC  404  executes the software application locally within PC  404 . Particularly, the software application may be stored on a floppy disk or a CD accessible by diskette drive  414  or on fixed disk drive  416 . In another aspect, the software application implementing the method consistent with the present invention is stored in server  402 , which executes the software application, and processor  410  of PC  404  communicates with server  402  to send information to server  402  and retrieve the results of the execution of the software application from server  402 . A software application, stored either locally in PC  404  or remotely within server  402 , may access the hierarchical information in server  402 .  
         [0028]     Alternatively, a stand-alone PC  500  shown in  FIG. 5  may be used for implementing the method consistent with the present invention. PC  500  includes a bus line  502  connecting a plurality of devices such as a processor  504 , memory devices  506  for storage of information, diskette drives  508 , a fixed disk drive  510 , a monitor  512 , and other I/O devices  514 . Processor  504  may be a microprocessor such as an Intel Pentium chip for processing applications. Memory devices  506  may include ROM and/or RAM. Diskette drives  508  may include a floppy drive and/or a compact disk (CD) drive. Fixed disk drive  510  may be a hard drive. Monitor  512  displays the output of processor  504  and may also echo the input of the user. I/O devices  514  may include a keyboard and/or a mouse for receiving input from a user of PC  500 .  
         [0029]     The database and the software application implementing the method consistent with the present invention may be stored together or separately on a floppy disk or a CD accessible by diskette drive  508  or on fixed disk drive  510 . Processor  504  executes the software application stored in the floppy disk, the CD, or the fixed disk drive  510 . An individual, through monitor  512  and I/O devices  514 , interacts with processor  504 , which executes the software application, thereby accessing the hierarchical information stored in the database.  
         [0030]     The foregoing description of possible implementations consistent with the present invention does not represent a comprehensive list of all such implementations or all variations of the implementations described. The description of only some implementations should not be construed as an intent to exclude other implementations. One skilled in the art will understand how to implement the invention in the appended claims in may other ways, using equivalents and alternatives that do not depart from the scope of the following claims. Moreover, unless indicated to the contrary in the preceding description, none of the components described in the implementations is essential to the invention.