Patent ID: 7176925

Claim:
A method in a computing system of displaying data as structural visual attributes based on user-defined format maps, said method comprising the steps of: receiving a format map comprising a mapping segment, said mapping segment comprising a beginning boundary value, an ending boundary value, a beginning structural visual attribute corresponding to said beginning boundary value, and an ending structural visual attribute corresponding to said ending boundary value; associating said format map with a variable that has a plurality of data values; using said format map to associate a data value of said variable with a structural visual attribute corresponding to said data value, ,wherein the using step comprises: associating said beginning boundary value with said beginning structural visual attribute to define a first mapping point; associating said ending boundary value with said ending structural visual attribute to define a second mapping point; applying interpolation techniques to the first mapping point and the second mapping point to identify said structural visual attribute corresponding to said data value; and expressing said data value by displaying said structural visual attribute.