System and method for the simultaneous display and manipulation of hierarchical and non-hierarchical data
View Patent ↗A system and method for the analysis of hierarchical and non-hierarchical relationships between a set of related nodes and for the creation of a cone graph structure based on the hierarchical and non-hierarchical relationships. The cone graph structure is a three-dimensional or pseudo-three-dimensional object which can be altered and manipulated by the actions of a user. The cone graph structure is an interface for providing a user with a structural understanding of the relationships between different nodes such as files in a file structure of web pages within a web site.
1. A computer implemented method of graphically displaying relationships between a plurality of nodes, comprising:
identifying at least one hierarchical relationship between at least two of said plurality of nodes; and
generating a virtual three dimensional cone having:
graphical representations of each node on a surface of the cone;
graphical representations of the at least one hierarchical relationship;
identifying at least one non-hierarchical relationship between at least two of said plurality of nodes; and
generating graphical representations of the at least one non-hierarchical relationship;
wherein the graphical representations of the non-hierarchical relationships between the pairs of non-hierarchically linked nodes are lines extending through the interior of the cone.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hierarchical and non-hierarchical links are hypertext links between nodes.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nodes are web pages.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the graphical representations of the hierarchical relationships between the pairs of hierarchically linked nodes are also lines on the surface of the cone.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein nodes being part of the same level in the node set are represented by a ring around the cone.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein a vertex of the cone is a home page of a web site.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one graphical representation comprises a parent node with a plurality of associated child nodes.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein:
a first child node includes a pointer to the parent node; and
a second child node includes a pointer to the first child node.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein a third child node includes a pointer to the second child node.
10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of associated child nodes each include a pointer to the parent node.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of identifying at least one hierarchical relationship between at least two of said plurality of nodes further includes:
identifying a hierarchical relationship between a vertex node and a child of the vertex node; and
identifying at least one hierarchical relationship between the child node and all descendants of the child node.
12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising the step of identifying at least one hierarchical relationship between the grandchild node and at least one descendant of the grandchild node.
a first child node includes a pointer to the parent node; and
at least a second child node includes a pointer to the parent node.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of identifying at least one hierarchical relationship between at least two of said plurality of nodes further includes:
identifying a plurality of hierarchical relationships between a vertex node and a plurality of children of the vertex node; and
identifying a plurality of hierarchical relationships between the plurality of children nodes and all descendants of the plurality of children.