Patent ID: 7519617

Claim:
A method for creating associations between different data, wherein the associations are defined by navigation paths between triggers and targets, wherein the targets are used to identify and navigate to one or more corresponding targets, the method comprising: providing a graphical user interface that displays icons representing different data, wherein each of the different data can be identified as a target and as a trigger; receiving user input dragging a first icon representing a target onto a second icon representing a trigger; in response to receiving the user input, performing the following: dynamically creating a navigation path between the second icon representing the trigger and the first icon representing the target in response to the user input, wherein the navigation path includes a mapping used to identify the target from the trigger and is stored for subsequent access by a computing system and wherein the navigation path is stored with one or more criteria that determine the circumstances under which an association between the trigger and target applies, the association corresponding to a user preference for navigating between the trigger and target; and displaying a prompt that allows for entry of metadata describing various characteristics of the association, the metadata being stored in one or more tables in an underlying relational database; automatically modifying the association in response to navigation between the trigger and target; and displaying the modified association on the graphical user interface.