Patent ID: 7549309

Claim:
A method of providing a visualization graph on a computer comprising: storing, in computer memory, data corresponding to a plurality of entities, wherein a semantic net includes the entities and wherein the entities are linked to each other by a plurality of relations; in response to a query with respect to an entity selected from the entities, providing a visualization graph representing the results of the query on a display device, wherein the visualization graph includes a focus entity defined by a user or the query; using context information to determine at least one entity to be output in the results, wherein the at least one entity is indirectly related to the focus entity; selecting, from the visualization graph, a plurality of entity groups, each having a single corresponding group node that is expandable or collapsible, and a unique set of the entities, wherein the set of entities within each of the entity groups share at least two common relations, and the entity groups are selected to result in the most even distribution of entities over the entity groups; representing the entities having common relations as being linked to a common node on the visualization graph, wherein the entities linked to the common node are associated with a further entity via a link representing a relation that is not common to all of the entities linked to the common node; causing the entities linked to the common node to display in response to a first predetermined stimulus, wherein in response to the first predetermined stimulus, the common node remains in the visualization graph to represent the common relation; and causing the visualization graph to restructure so that the entities linked to the common node are replaced by the common node in response to a second predetermined stimulus.