Bi-directional update of a grid and associated visualizations
Architecture that facilitates the attachment of multiple visualization types (e.g., charts) to the data of a grid and the presentation of the visualization next to the grid. The infrastructure allows each data view to be associated with a set of visualizations. These visualizations are rendered along with the grid (in a separate presentation pane) so that the user does not have to switch context to perform analysis. The visualizations available include charts that show aggregate and/or non-aggregate data. In a server farm scenario, all user interactions such as drill-downs are provided. Server farm drill-downs for these visualizations can be obtained using MHTML (MIME hypertext markup language). The visualizations can be automatically updated when filters are applied on the grid, and when drill-down is performed on the visualization, the grid is automatically updated. The visualizations can be consumed from a web-based browser client and/or thick client, for example.
1. A computer-implemented data viewing system, the system comprising:
a processor; and
a memory in communication with the processor, the memory comprising and computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
retrieve at least a portion of data in a database,
generate a grid based upon the at least a portion of the data,
send the grid for display,
accept a request to display at least a portion of the data in the grid in a graphical format,
send a data page with the grid data and with a placeholder for a graphical format,
determine graphical formats available to display the grid data,
send a listing of the available graphical formats,
accept a designation of an available graphical format,
accept a designation of grid data to be represented in the designated graphical format,
retrieve data from the database corresponding to the designated grid data,
generate a graphical representation of the retrieved data in the designated graphical format, and
send the graphical representation to replace the placeholder in the data page.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the memory further comprises computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
accept a request to apply a filter to the grid data;
apply the filter to the grid data;
send a data page with the filtered grid data;
determine whether the graphical representation is a valid representation of the filtered grid data;
if the graphical representation is not a valid representation then modify the graphical representation to indicate that the graphical representation is not a valid representation of the filtered grid data;
send the modified graphical representation and an option to update the graphical representation;
accept a request to update the graphical representation;
update the graphical representation in view of the filtered grid data; and
send the modified graphical representation to be inserted into the data page.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the memory further comprises computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
accept a request for an interactive drill-down on the graphical representation;
automatically update the grid in response to the interactive drill-down request on the graphical representation;
automatically updating the graphical representation in response to the interactive drill-down request; and
send the updated grid and the updated graphical representation.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein the memory further comprises computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
accept a request to filter the data in the grid;
filter the data in the grid; and
update the graphical representation to reflect the filtered grid data.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein the memory further comprises computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
accept a request to apply a filter to the data in the grid; and
fade an existing graphical representation in response to the request to apply the filter.
6. The system of claim 5 wherein the memory further comprises computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
accept a request to update the graphical representation in response to the filter being applied;
update the graphical representation; and
send the updated graphical representation for display.
7. A computer-readable storage medium that is not a signal, the computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:
generate one or more grids, each grid being based upon at least a portion of data retrieved from a database;
send at least one grid for display;
accept a request to display at least a portion of the data in the at least one grid in a graphical format;
send a data page with the at least one grid and with a placeholder for a graphical format;
determine graphical formats available to display the data in the at least one grid;
send a listing of the available graphical formats;
accept a designation of an available graphical format;
accept a designation of data to be represented in the designated graphical format;
retrieve from the database data corresponding to the designated data;
generate a graphical representation of the retrieved data in the designated graphical format; and
send the graphical representation to replace the placeholder in the data page.
8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , further comprising computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to:
accept a request to filter the data;
apply a filter to the data;
automatically update the graphical representation in response to the filter being applied to the data;
accept a request for an interactive drill-down on the graphical representation; and
automatically update the graphical representation in response to the interactive drill-down request.
9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , further comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to:
accept a request to apply a filter to the grid data;
apply the filter to the grid data;
send a data page with the filtered grid data;
determine whether the graphical representation is a valid representation of the filtered grid data;
if the graphical representation is not a valid representation then modify the graphical representation to indicate that the graphical representation is not a valid representation of the filtered grid data;
send the modified graphical representation and an option to update the graphical representation;
accept a request to update the graphical representation;
update the graphical representation in view of the filtered grid data; and
send the modified graphical representation to be inserted into the data page.
10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , further comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to:
accept a request to filter the data in the grid;
filter the data in the grid; and
update the graphical representation to reflect the filtered grid data.
11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , further comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to:
accept a request to apply a filter to the data in the grid; and
fade an existing graphical representation in response to the request to apply the filter.
12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to:
accept a request to update the graphical representation in response to the filter being applied;
update the graphical representation; and
send the updated graphical representation for display.
13. A computer-implemented method of viewing data, the computer-implemented method comprising performing computer-implemented operations for:
obtaining data from a database;
generating a grid based upon the data;
sending the grid of the data for display;
accepting a request to display the data in a graphical format;
sending a data page with the grid and with a placeholder for a graphical format;
determining graphical formats available to display the data;
sending a listing of the available graphical formats;
accepting a designation of an available graphical format;
accepting a designation of data to be represented in the designated format;
retrieving from the database data corresponding to the designated data;
generating a graphical representation of the designated data in the designated graphical format; and
sending the graphical representation to replace the placeholder in the data page.
14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising accepting a request for an interaction invoking a drill-down process to be performed on the graphical representation, performing the drill-down process, and updating the grid of data based on the drill-down process performed on the graphical representation.
15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
accepting a request to apply a filter to the grid data;
applying the filter to the grid data;
sending a data page with the filtered grid data;
determining whether the graphical representation is a valid representation of the filtered grid data;
if the graphical representation is not a valid representation then modifying the graphical representation to indicate that the graphical representation is not a valid representation of the filtered grid data;
sending the modified graphical representation and an option to update the graphical representation;
accepting a request to update the graphical representation;
updating the graphical representation in view of the filtered grid data; and
sending the modified graphical representation to be inserted into the graphical representation.
16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
accepting a request to apply a filter to the data in the grid; and
fading an existing graphical representation in response to the request to apply the filter.
17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
accepting a request to update the graphical representation in response to the filter being applied;
updating the graphical representation; and
sending the updated graphical representation for display.