Patent ID: 7861148

Claim:
Method for defining a base line for a sparkline comprising vertical or horizontal lines wherein the lines represent positive and negative values of a set of values, the lines representing negative values extend to one side of the base line and the lines representing positive values extend to the other side of the base line and the sparkline is located in a space having a first border ( 1 ) and a second border ( 11 ), comprising the steps of: providing two or more lines ( 2 - 10 ) into the space between the first ( 1 ) and the second border ( 11 ), determining for each of said lines ( 2 - 10 ) a first value representing the distance between the respective line ( 2 - 10 ) and the first border ( 1 ) and a second value representing the distance between the respective line ( 2 - 10 ) and the second border ( 11 ), determining for each of said lines ( 2 - 10 ) a first ratio between said first value and said second value, determining a second ratio between the maximum and minimum absolute values of said set of values, comparing the second ratio with the first ratio which have been determined for each of said lines ( 2 - 10 ) or with values based on said first ratio, and selecting one of the lines ( 2 - 10 ) as the base line on the basis of this comparison.