Patent ID: 7657848

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for providing positional information for nodes arranged in a hierarchy having a plurality of levels, each level having at least one dimension, the method comprising: executing software instructions on one or more computer processors to receive position data associated with all of the nodes contained in a particular level of the hierarchy; executing software instructions on the one or more computer processors to apply a non-linear one-dimensional mathematical distortion function upon the position data of the nodes contained in the particular level to determine transformed position information, wherein applying the non-linear one-dimensional mathematical distortion function includes performing a one-dimensional fisheye function to warp the positions of the nodes only in one direction by calculating a distortion function h(x) according to the equation h(x)=log(d*x+1)/log(d+1), wherein x is equal to nx-fx; wherein d is representative of strength of a fisheye lens; wherein nx is a node's position; wherein fx is the position of focus; and wherein new positions nx' for nodes is calculated according to the equation nx'=h(x)+fx; and executing software instructions on the one or more computer processors to use the transformed position information to generate a display including the warped positions of the nodes contained in the particular level, wherein all of the hierarchical relationships associated with all of the nodes in the particular level are maintained.