Patent Publication Number: US-6035309-A

Title: System and method for editing and viewing a very wide flat file

Description:
The application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/474,204, filed Jun. 7, 1995 now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/367,992, filed Jan. 3, 1995 now abandoned, which was a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/015,690 filed on Feb. 9, 1993 now abandoned. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a system and a method for editing and viewing widely spaced data in very wide data processing files. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Electronic computers can store files to be displayed with a number of vertical columns and a number of horizontal rows of data. The widths can be extremely wide. However, the tradition for computer screens is for there to be eighty vertical columns or a little wider, which correlates with the eighty vertical columns of a standard data processing punch card. 
     The problem addressed by this invention relates to the fact that when a large number of columns are side by side in a computer file being viewed with an Editor or a Viewing program they cannot be easily correlated without extensive effort by the user. Each user currently needs to do side to side scrolls when editing very wide electronic files to correlate the data they wish to review at a given moment. This problem is typical of very wide files, such as in the 
     Dauerer and Kelley &#34;Front End for File Access Control System,&#34; abandoned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07-754,923, filed Sep. 4, 1991, 
     Dauerer and Kelley, &#34;The RACF Front End Extension&#34; copending U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,576 issued Nov. 21, 1995, which supports the Dauerer and Kelley, &#34;Database System for Intersite Line Comparison&#34; U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,833 issued Dec. 12. 1995. 
     Files that are used for on-line editing or viewing by a user have traditionally been limited to a width of 80 columns or a little wider. Even though most operating systems have the capability (given enough time and manipulation) to display very wide files, up to 65,335 bytes as is the case with the IBM VM operating system, practical usage of this capability has not been possible. 
     The reason that wide files are not used is that they present two extremely difficult problems. The first is that wide files require the user to contend with two more dimensions in order to view or manipulate a file. For example, a narrow file, one that fits the standard screen width size of 80 columns, requires only two controls to scroll through the file, up and down. A wide file, on the other hand, requires an additional left control and an additional right control. The second problem is that when viewing or editing a file, one needs (or would prefer) to have certain related information displayed on the screen, all at once, in order to make sense out of what is being observed. One might need to have data in columns 1-8, 345-367, and 1120-1128 on the screen simultaneously, but that is impossible to do without reformatting the files. Users would sooner reformat and process multiple files than jockey back and forth from left to right and back to the left, from one end of one row of a wide file to another end of the same row in the wide file, but that is expensive and/or very time consuming. 
     An object of this invention is to aid users to view or manipulate wide data processing files without having to reformat those files. 
     Another object of this invention is to eliminate or greatly reduce the need for users to do side to side scrolls when editing very wide electronic files to read data spaced apart by several columns beyond the field of view of a single screen. 
     A further object of this invention is to aid users to manipulate wide files in a way which presents columns of information in the positions desired regardless of the positions of the columns in the stored data base. 
     In accordance with this invention, a data processing system comprising a central processing unit, a random access storage device and a terminal with a display screen capable of displaying a predetermined number of columns at one time, 
     a) means for storing data in the random access storage device having a number of columns greater than the number that can be displayed at one time by the display screen, 
     b) means for retrieving data from the storage device into the processing unit, and 
     c) means for managing the display of the columns of data including interactive means at the terminal for selecting sequences of columns of data to be juxtaposed on the screen. 
     Further in accordance with this invention the interactive means comprises actuation of predetermined functional elements on the terminal. 
     Still further in accordance with this invention the data processing system provides selection of the list by the steps as follows: 
     a) displaying a window of all of the available views for the file being viewed, 
     b) responds to the selection the view of the file to be displayed, and 
     c) displays the selected view of the file. 
     Preferably the selected view of the file is in the edit mode to be edited. 
     In another aspect of this invention, the data processing system performs the steps as follows: 
     a) gets a file, 
     b) opens the file, 
     c) displays the file, 
     d displays a window of all of the available views for the file being viewed, 
     e) responds to the selection of the view of the file to be displayed, and 
     f) displays the selected view of the file. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The foregoing and other aspects and advantages of this invention are explained and described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a data processing system in accordance with this invention. 
     FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of a first part of the method of operation of the system in accordance with this invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing additional features of the method of operation of a system in accordance with this invention. 
     FIG. 4 shows a shows a monitor display screen with six fields of ILCS (Intersite Line Comparison System) data which will provide an example of how this invention can be employed to view selected parts of very wide files. 
     FIG. 5 shows a monitor display of the same data as FIG. 4 with a window which contains five selections for the ILCV (Intersite Line Comparison View) from which a desired view can be chosen. 
     FIG. 6 shows the display which results on the monitor from entering a exemplary selected ILCV command from the monitor screen. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of this invention in the form of a block diagram of a data processing system. The system includes computer terminals 301, a central processing unit (CPU) 308 and a storage unit 310, which comprise the hardware of the system. The computer terminals 301 for users are connected to CPU 308. The central storage unit 310 which comprises a random access storage device (which is preferably a magnetic disk drive) is also connected to CPU 308. 
     Programs and macros to be loaded into the CPU 308 are located in section 307 of the central disk storage unit 310. Users at computer terminals 301 LOGON to the central processing unit (CPU) 308 to issue system requests to invoke a program known as the ILCEDIT EXEC program located in memory 302 in CPU 308. The CPU 308 issues a request to the the central storage unit 310 to load the ILCEDIT EXEC program from the disk storage section 307 into the memory section 302 in the CPU 308. The CPU 308 issues a request to the central storage unit 310 to load the C00026 screen manager macro from storage section 307 into memory section 303 and screen manager into memory section 302. The CPU 308 issues a request to the central storage unit 310 to load the ILCV macro program into memory section 304 in CPU 308. Section 306 of the disk storage unit 310 is the location of the data files that are to be edited. The CPU 308 also issues a request to the central storage unit 310 to load those data files from disk storage section 306 into memory section 305 of CPU 308. Central processing unit (CPU) 308 loads the data files that will be edited together with the programs that perform the editing. 
     This invention provides for the easy editing of wide files through the use of a window on the display terminal screen which displays a choice of multiple views of the file under the control of a function (PF) key that invokes a window which lists multiple views of the file. Each file has a list of possible views that pertain to that file from which a selection can be made by the user who is viewing the file. Selection of a view from the window presents a display of a collection of columns which are a smaller subset of the columns of the entire file, in accordance with the choice of the user. The intent is to present related columns of data in a narrow width, less than or equal to the width of the viewing screen on the display unit being employed by the user, to make the data easier to view, comprehend, or edit. 
     The invention provides a mechanism to list the groups of columns that constitutes a view of the file. The view that is presented may be of any width. There may be an unlimited number of views of a file. Each of these views is listed in a table. The invention provides a mechanism for displaying the optional views, choosing a view and reformatting the file into the selected view. 
     The system consists of 3 program elements as follows: 
     ILCEDIT EXEC program 
     C00026 EDIT screen manager macro 
     ILCV EDIT macro. 
     To edit a wide file enter into the ILCEDIT EXEC program an argument, where the argument is the name of the wide file to be edited. ILCEDIT EXEC acquires data to determine the width of the file to be edited and it saves that width data by placing the value in a global variable (storage unit). The ILCEDIT EXEC also calls the system editor, and invokes the C00026 EDIT screen manager macro and passes along the file name of the file to be edited. 
     The C00026 EDIT screen manager macro provides a series of PF key  options which are listed at the bottom of the screen. One of the PF keys  is listed as VIEWS. Activating the PF key  marked VIEWS provides on the screen of the computer monitor a window with a list of viewing options. Selecting one of these options edits the same file displaying only the columns indicated by the selected viewing option. 
     Pressing the PF key  for VIEWS triggers the C00026 EDIT screen manager macro to call the ILCEDIT EXEC program passing a parameter which indicates that the VIEWS window is required. The ILCEDIT EXEC program supplies the text, located in the VIEWS text table, for the window and calls a windows program to display the text which represents a list of choices of the columns to be displayed. 
     Selecting one of these choices invokes the ILCV EDIT macro view program. This program retrieves data on the size of the file being edited from global storage and calls the system editor specifying the pairs of columns to be displayed by the system editor. The system editor displays the file to be edited with the currently requested view of the pairs of columns. 
     The ILCEDIT EXEC then calls the system editor with the C00026 EDIT program as the editor profile. This profile presents the PF key  options at the bottom of the screen. One of the options is VIEWS. If the PF key  for VIEWS is chosen then a window is presented with the list of views for the file. The window is generated by a call back to the original program ILCEDIT EXEC by the C00026 EDIT macro profile. 
     Selecting one of the views results in a call to the ILCV EDIT macro with an argument which represents the appropriate view. The ILCV EDIT macro uses the argument to select the appropriate instruction to present the selected view. In addition, the ILCV EDIT macro gets the width of the edited file from a storage area where it was stored by ILCEDIT EXEC. Further, the ILCV EDIT macro uses this width as a variable together with a previously coded list of selected columns to call the VM system EDIT macro to present the specified view. 
     FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a first part of the method of operation of the system in accordance with this invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the flow chart is as follows: 
     
         ______________________________________                                    
Operation 101                                                             
           Start the program (e.g call ILCEDIT EXEC with                  
           an argument comprising the name of the file                    
           to be edited.)                                                 
Operation 102                                                             
           Invoke the ILCEDIT EXEC program with the name                  
           of the file to be edited. The ILCEDIT EXEC                     
           program determines the size of the file to be                  
           edited, places the value in a global                           
           variable, calls the system editor program                      
           (which can be any editor as will be well                       
           understood by those skilled in the art),                       
           invokes the C00026 EDIT screen manager                         
           program and passes (calls the program and                      
           gives it a parameter) the file name to be                      
           edited. At this point the file may be                          
           edited.                                                        
OPERATION 103                                                             
           The C00026 EDIT screen manager macro provides                  
           (for a file to be viewed) a series of PF.sub.key               
           options which will be listed at the bottom of                  
           the screen. One of the PF.sub.keys is listed as                
           VIEWS. Operation of the PF.sub.key listed as                   
           VIEWS provides a window with a list of                         
           viewing options which show different sets of                   
           columns. Selecting one of these options                        
           edits the same file displaying only the                        
           columns indicated by the selected viewing                      
           option.                                                        
OPERATION 104                                                             
           Display the file with the indicated editor.                    
OPERATION 105                                                             
           Should we end the program?                                     
           If YES then call the end routine by branching                  
           at branch B2 to Operation 207 (FIG. 3).                        
           If NO, then go on to Operation 106.                            
OPERATION 106                                                             
           Has the PF.sub.key for VIEWS been selected which               
           indicates a a request to see the list of                       
           viewing selections?                                            
           If YES then branch by calling branch A2                        
           in FIG. 3 to provide the Present List in                       
           operation 203.                                                 
           If NO, then return back up to repeat                           
           Operation 104.                                                 
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     FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing additional features of the method of operation of a system in accordance with this invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the flow chart is as follows: 
     
         ______________________________________                                    
OPERATION 201                                                             
            Is this a request to see the list of viewing                  
            selections?                                                   
            If YES go to operation 203.                                   
            If NO, go to operation 202.                                   
OPERATION 202                                                             
            Is this a request to end the program?                         
            If YES, end the program by going to Operation                 
            207.                                                          
            If NO, go to Operation 205.                                   
OPERATION 203                                                             
            Present a window of all of the available                      
            views for the file being edited. These views                  
            are found in the option list table. Pressing                  
            the PF.sub.key for VIEWS triggers the C00026 EDIT             
            screen manager macro to call the ILCEDIT EXEC                 
            program passing a parameter that indicates                    
            the VIEWS window is required. The ILCEDIT                     
            EXEC program supplies the text, located in                    
            the VIEWS text table, for the window and calls                
            a windows program to display the text which                   
            represents a list of choices of the columns                   
            to be displayed.                                              
OPERATION 204                                                             
            Invoke the ILCV EDIT macro to call the data                   
            to be viewed. This program gets the size of                   
            the file being edited from global storage and                 
            calls the system editor with the pairs of                     
            columns to be displayed by the ILCEDIT EXEC.                  
            At this point the user can edit the file                      
            being displayed with the system editor.                       
OPERATION 205                                                             
            The ILCEDIT EXEC displays the file to be                      
            edited with the current requested view of the                 
            desired sets of columns.                                      
OPERATION 206                                                             
            Request to end the program?                                   
            If YES then end the program by going to                       
            Operation 207.                                                
OPERATION 207                                                             
            End the program.                                              
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     Alternative Application 
     If a user wishes to pre-select a &#34;permanent profile&#34; from the list of possible views he may invoke the ILCEDIT EXEC program with a second parameter that indicates the view to edited. This action will cause the file to edited to be initially displayed with the pre-selected view. The view parameter will then be saved in a global variable so that the next invocation need not have a second parameter to get the pre-selected view. A global variable is stored in a file and the information stored will be shared between programs and the storage can be either temporary or permanent. Global variables address two primary needs: 1) the need for several programs to share a common set of values; 2) the need to retain those values, either temporarily of permanently, for subsequent use. The global variable will be checked by the ILCEDIT EXEC to see if a pre-selected view is required. 
     To remove the pre-selected view from the global variable, the ILCEDIT EXEC is invoked with the second parameter of DROP to eliminate the &#34;permanent profile&#34;. 
     FIG. 4 shows a display screen with six fields of ILCS (Intersite Line Comparison System) data which will provide an example of how the instant invention can be employed to view selected parts of very wide files. FIG. 4 shows the first 72 column section of a very wide file of a hypothetical CALLUP listing of VM users. The first set of eight columns which contain the VM USERID which is to be given access to a number of disks as displayed. Columns 9-11 are also devoted to the USERID field to provide a margin including the column of asterisks. Columns 12-28 are devoted to the NAME of those users. Columns 31-42 include the department number, a serial number, etc. Columns 44-50 include the VM NODE of FSHVMTP which happens to be the same for all users on this list, columns 53-60 include the personal USERID. Columns 63-68 include manager data, and the last three columns 70-73 include location information. 
     An example of a window displayed on the monitor of a user terminal 301 in FIG. 1 of the system and used to select predetermined fields or sets of columns as illustrated in FIG. 5 is shown in Table I which follows: 
     
                       TABLE I                                                     
______________________________________                                    
Move the cursor to select and press enter.                                
______________________________________                                    
Select &#34;ILCV 1&#34; for name and disks.                                       
Select &#34;ILCV 2&#34; for name, serial and manager data.                        
Select &#34;ILCV 3&#34; for entire file.                                          
Select &#34;ILCV 4&#34; for id, name serial and disks                             
Select &#34;ILCV 5&#34; for id, serial and disks                                  
PF 3 End PF 7 Backward PF 8 Forward                                       
______________________________________                                    
 
    
     FIG. 5 shows a monitor display of the same data as FIG. 4 with a window which contains five selections for the ILCV (Intersite Line Comparison View) from which a desired view can be chosen. By moving the cursor and pressing enter, the user of a user terminal 301 can select one of the five arrangements of the fields to be displayed on the monitor of the user terminal. In the case of &#34;ILCV 1&#34;, the name and the disks to which the user is connected are displayed, as is illustrated in FIG. 6 which shows the result of entering the selected ILCV command from the monitor screen. In the case of &#34;ILCV 2&#34;, the name, serial and manager data for the user are displayed. In the case of &#34;ILCV 3&#34;, the entire file is displayed in the same way it was in FIG. 4 again. In the case of &#34;ILCV 4&#34;, the USERID, name, serial and disks are shown. In the case of &#34;ILCV 5&#34;, the USERID, serial and disks are shown. 
     This invention is meant to address those data files that are not in an a priori formalized data base system such as dBASE IV Ver. 1.5 wherein many files of data are prepared for other purposes than data base functions. A Relational Database Management System (RDMS) is the type of rigid system that dBASE IV represents. A DB2 system is another type of RDMS system. 
     The essence of the instant invention can be characterized by four characteristics as follows: 
     First Characteristic 
     The first characteristic of the instant invention is that it is a flexible system which does not require a database management system. The system of the instant invention can work against a flat file prepared by anyone without any preconceived constraints which would have to be imposed by a formal database manager. An RDMS database system has a predetermined architecture which is implemented at the time of the creation of the database. The file must comply with that architecture or the database system cannot use it (unless the architecture is physically altered) since the RDMS database system is rigid and not at all free-form in concept or in function; and the architecture includes a list of field identifiers. Each field identifier has a unique name, column descriptions, and data descriptions in the database catalog table used by the RDMS database management program, unlike the system of this invention. 
     Second Characteristic 
     An RDMS system (which is a formal database management system) requires a data manipulation language to select, insert, delete, and update data on the database. The second characteristic of the instant invention is that there is no need for a data manipulation language required in order to select, insert, delete, and update data on the database. The SQL (Structured Query Language) is an example of a data manipulation language used in DB2. The database manager program expects and requires transactions to be written for data selection and update, in a format which matches the data base architecture. Exclusively numeric data is allowed in fields defined as numeric, and alphabetic data is permitted only in fields defined as alphabetic. If one wants to make a change in numeric data where it was previously described as alphabetic data, one must redefine the field description and physically alter the architecture of the data table. In some cases, extensive alterations are necessary. 
     Third Characteristic 
     The third characteristic of the instant invention is that there is no requirement of user defined indexes within the system of the invention in order to operate a system with this invention efficiently. Note that indexes in a database system are lists of pointers to records in the order of values of certain preselected sequences of fields, and that those sequences of fields serve as keys to enhance the searching of a particular database file. That while indexes are an optional feature for user-defined tables, indexes are often required for system catalog tables in a Relational Database Management System (RDMS). Moreover, indexes on very large user-defined tables are strongly recommended in an RDMS system. The disadvantage is that creation of indexes, and maintenance of the lists of pointers to records (defragmentation of space marked for deletion) adds to the overhead of traditional tasks of database management systems. Such an overhead requirement is not found in the system of the instant invention. 
     Fourth Characteristic 
     The use of a commercially-available RDMS system to edit data records of any length implies the additional task of loading the data into the constructed tables. This does not happen automatically in a product such as dBase IV Rel. 1.5 since the data must be entered in accordance with a predetermined format. The fourth characteristic of the instant invention requires only the identification of the data file to be edited, and no further interaction of the part of the user of a system operating with the instant invention since no predetermined format need be used. 
     There is a need in industry for a highly flexible, extemporaneous way to achieve the characteristics of the instant invention without the substantial manual work or overhead work required to achieve the result with an RDMS system. 
     For example in FIG. 6, with &#34;ILCV 1&#34; the USERID BBRATIS from the USERID field in columns 1-11 is shown on the screen as are the data on connected to disks 192, 197, 198, 199, 202, 210 and 410 from fields including columns 91-155. On line 5 USERID BDDISS is shown to be connected only to disks 199 and 202. 
     The selection of the &#34;ILCV 1&#34;, &#34;ILCV 2&#34;, &#34;ILCV 3&#34;, &#34;ILCV 4&#34; or &#34;ILCV 5&#34; could also be made by typing the id &#34;ILCV #&#34; on the command line and hitting the enter key, or by using a mouse to locate the cursor on the correct position on the window in FIG. 5. Also, a light pen, or a capacitive touching of the screen of the monitor in the right location are alternative interactive means for entering the data into the system to select the menu item desired. 
     All that a user needs to do is move the cursor across the screen of FIG. 5 with the keys on the terminal or a mouse, etc. and select the &#34;ILCV #&#34; which provides the data fields desired. 
     While this invention has been described in terms of the above embodiment(s), those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modifications within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.