METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACTIVITY LEVEL VISUALIZATION IN AN ELECTRONIC CALENDAR
The present document describes a system and method of managing and viewing calendar data. Calendar data may include, for each of a plurality of calendar events, data items indicating at least a date of the event. According to some example embodiments, a visual indicator is displayed for each date in a date range. The visual indicator may be generated as a function of the number of events or the duration of time of events for the day. The visual indicator may include a font size and/or bold type of a numerical day displayed. Thus, in some example embodiments, the size and bold type of the numerical day may indicate to a user the relative activity level of the individual days of the date range. The visual indicator may also indicate a conflict between scheduled events.
1 . A method implemented by a processor, comprising:
generating, for each date in a date range, an index as a function of calendar data, the calendar data including data items that indicate a date for a calendar event and a total time occupied by the calendar event; and
displaying a visual indicator as a function of the index, wherein the index represents, for each date, at least one of: a number of events for the date; and the total time occupied by the number of events for the date.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the visual indicator comprises, for each date, a respective font setting of a respective numerical day, the font setting being determined as a function of the calendar data.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein, for each numerical day, the respective font setting comprises a respective font size.
4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein, for each numerical day, the respective font setting comprises a respective bold type.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the calendar data further comprises, for each calendar event: a respective data item indicating an availability factor of the event; and
generating the index as a function of the calendar data comprises generating the index as a function of the total time occupied by the number of events for the date and the availability factor of each event for the date.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the availability factor indicates that the event is designated as one of free, busy, tentative, and out-of-office.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein generating the index as a function of the calendar data comprises generating the index as a function of a total time occupied by the events designated as either busy or tentative.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the calendar data further comprises, for each of at least one calendar event: at least one data item indicating at least one participant for the event.
9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising, for each date, displaying a participant indicator generated as a function of a number of participants of events for the date.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one calendar event comprises a plurality of calendar events, and the visual indicator comprises a conflict indicator that indicates a conflict between two or more of the plurality of calendar events.
11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving the calendar data from a database.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the calendar data that is received comprises a portion of available calendar data.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the portion of the available calendar data comprises data items upon which the index is based.
14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein
the calendar data further comprises, for each calendar event: a respective data item an availability factor of the event, and
the portion of the available calendar data comprises the data items indicating: the date of the event; the total time occupied by the event;
and the availability factor of the event.
15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising receiving an indication of a selected date in the date range and receiving additional data items for events for the selected date.
16 . An apparatus, comprising:
a processor configured to generate, for each date in a date range, an index as a function of calendar data, the calendar data including data items that indicate a date for a calendar event and a total time occupied by the calendar event; and
a display displaying a visual indicator as a function of the index, wherein the index represents, for each date, at least one of: a number of events for the date; and the total time occupied by the number of events for the date.
17 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the visual indicator comprises, for each date, a respective font setting of a respective numerical day, the font setting being determined as a function of the calendar data.
18 . The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein for each numerical day, the respective font setting comprises at least one of a font size and a bold type.
19 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein
the calendar data further comprises, for each calendar event: a respective data item indicating an availability factor of the event, and,
generating the index as a function of the calendar data comprises generating the index as a function of the total time occupied by the number of events for the date and the availability factor of each event for the date.
20 . A computer-readable medium having processor-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to implement a method comprising:
generating, for each date in a date range, an index as a function of calendar data, the calendar data including data items that indicate a date for a calendar event and a total time occupied by the calendar event; and
displaying a visual indicator as a function of the index, wherein the index represents, for each date, at least one of: a number of events for the date; and the total time occupied by the number of events for the date.