System and method for dossier creation with responsive view handling for free-form layout

1. A method, comprising:

retrieving a dataset from a database;

creating, on a first platform, a report including a visual representation of the dataset, the visual representation comprising multiple data containers, said creating the report comprising:

user placement of visual representations to the report; and

automatically correcting placement issues when positioning the visual representations in the report, wherein when the user adds a new visualization that overlaps an existing visualization, the new visualization is automatically resized to fit within an open space in the report, and wherein when the user adds the new visualization that overlaps the existing visualization and there is insufficient open space in the report to resize the new visualization, the existing visualization and the new visualization will automatically be grouped and will remain overlapped with the new visualization being positioned on top of the existing visualization;

wherein when the existing visualization and the new visualization will remain overlapped the user may resize the existing visualization and/or the new visualization,

wherein when the user resizes the existing visualization and/or the new visualization, the resized visualization will snap-fit with respect to another visualization, and

wherein when the user resizes the existing visualization and/or the new visualization, once the existing visualization and/or the new visualization contacts another existing visualization, the existing visualization and/or the new visualization being resized will be automatically stopped from resizing and the alignment guidelines will automatically be displayed, the alignment guidelines appearing as lines on the report and comprising align left, align center, align right, align top, align middle and align bottom;

automatically formatting the report to a second platform, said automatically formatting the report comprising changing an arrangement of the multiple data containers to fit the second platform, said changing the arrangement being conducted based on the following formatting rules:

if no group relationship between the multiple data containers exists, treating each of the multiple data containers as one separate bounding box and displaying the multiple data containers one by one;

if an overlap exists between the multiple data containers, maintaining the overlap on the second platform; and

if an overlap exists between two or more of the multiple data containers, treating the two or more of the multiple data containers as one bounding box including any spacing area between the multiple data containers and formatting the multiple data containers in the one bounding box to dimensions of the second platform by width ratio,

wherein single data containers, with no group relationship, are stacked vertically on the second platform and grouped data containers are maintained as a group and maintain their relative positions; and

displaying the report on a graphical user interface of the second platform.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first platform is a desktop computer or a laptop computer and the second platform is a tablet device or a handheld mobile device.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first platform is a desktop computer and the second platform is a mobile telephone.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first platform has a graphical user interface, and

wherein dimensions of the graphical user interface of the first platform are different than dimensions of the graphical user interface of the second platform.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said automatically formatting comprises changing the arrangement of said multiple data containers based on dimensions of the graphical user interface of said second platform.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, on said first platform, the multiple data containers are arranged in an array, and

wherein said automatically formatting comprises arranging said multiple data containers on the graphical user interface of said second platform in a vertical stack.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the two or more of the multiple data containers will be treated as one bounding box if the two or more of the multiple data containers overlap in area by more than 50% of an area of a smaller one of the two or more of the multiple data containers.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the formatting rules further comprise maintaining a grouped arrangement of data containers when two or more of the multiple data containers are grouped on the first platform.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said formatting rules further comprise, for data containers including text, an image or a key performance indicator, a fit-to-height rule.

10. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the second platform is the tablet device, and

wherein, on the tablet device, the arrangement of the multiple data containers is maintained, and an aspect ratio of the report is adjusted.

11. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the second platform is the hand-held mobile device, and

wherein, on the hand-held mobile device, the multiple data containers are placed one-by-one vertically according to a position of each of the multiple data containers on the first platform from left to right and top to bottom.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said formatting rules further comprise, for data containers including an image, a fit to container option or a filler container option.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the user may select the alignment guidelines to be displayed from a drop down menu.

14. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising layering the visual representations,

wherein lower layers of the visual representations are visible depending on a size of the visual representations and a degree of transparency of an upper-most layer.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein when the visual representations are layered, the user is able to right-mouse-click on the upper-most layer to generate a context menu, and

wherein the context menu provides a list of user-selectable layered visualizations.

16. A non-transitory computer processor-readable storage medium storing instructions configured for execution by a computer for:

retrieving a dataset from a database;

creating, on a first platform, a report including a visual representation of the dataset, the visual representation comprising multiple data containers, said creating the report comprising:

user placement of visual representations to the report; and

automatically correcting placement issues when positioning the visual representations in the report, wherein when the user adds a new visualization that overlaps an existing visualization, the new visualization is automatically resized to fit within an open space in the report, and wherein when the user adds the new visualization that overlaps the existing visualization and there is insufficient open space in the report to resize the new visualization, the existing visualization and the new visualization will automatically be grouped and will remain overlapped with the new visualization being positioned on top of the existing visualization;

wherein when the existing visualization and the new visualization will remain overlapped the user may resize the existing visualization and/or the new visualization,

wherein when the user resizes the existing visualization and/or the new visualization, the resized visualization will snap-fit with respect to another visualization, and

wherein when the user resizes the existing visualization and/or the new visualization, once the existing visualization and/or the new visualization contacts another existing visualization, the existing visualization and/or the new visualization being resized will be automatically stopped from resizing and the alignment guidelines will automatically be displayed, alignment guidelines appearing as lines on the report and comprising align left, align center, align right, align top, align middle and align bottom;

automatically formatting the report to a second platform, said automatically formatting the report comprising changing an arrangement of the multiple data containers to fit the second platform, said changing the arrangement being conducted based on the following formatting rules:

if no group relationship between the multiple data containers exists, treating each of the multiple data containers as one separate bounding box and displaying the multiple data containers one by one;

if an overlap exists between the multiple data containers, maintaining the overlap on the second platform; and

if an overlap exists between two or more of the multiple data containers, treating the two or more of the multiple data containers as one bounding box including any spacing area between the multiple data containers and formatting the multiple data containers in the one bounding box to dimensions of the second platform by width ratio,

wherein single data containers, with no group relationship, are stacked vertically on the second platform and grouped data containers are maintained as a group and maintain their relative positions; and

displaying the report on a graphical user interface of the second platform.

17. A system, comprising:

a database storing a dataset;

a first platform comprising a processor configured to create a report including a visual representation of the dataset, the visual representation comprising multiple data containers, wherein the reported is created by:

user placement of visual representations to the report; and

automatically correcting placement issues when positioning the visual representations in the report, wherein when the user adds a new visualization that overlaps an existing visualization, the new visualization is automatically resized to fit within an open space in the report, and wherein when the user adds the new visualization that overlaps the existing visualization and there is insufficient open space in the report to resize the new visualization, the existing visualization and the new visualization will automatically be grouped and will remain overlapped with the new visualization being positioned on top of the existing visualization;

wherein when the existing visualization and the new visualization will remain overlapped the user may resize the existing visualization and/or the new visualization,

wherein when the user resizes the existing visualization and/or the new visualization, the resized visualization will snap-fit with respect to another visualization, and

wherein when the user resizes the existing visualization and/or the new visualization, once the existing visualization and/or the new visualization contacts another existing visualization, the system will automatically stop the existing visualization and/or the new visualization being resized from resizing and automatically display the alignment guidelines, the alignment guidelines appearing as lines on the report and comprising align left, align center, align right, align top, align middle and align bottom; and

a second platform comprising a graphical user interface configured to display the report,

wherein the report is automatically formatted to the second platform when displayed on the second platform, said report being automatically formatted by changing an arrangement of the multiple data containers to fit the second platform, said changing the arrangement being conducted based on the following formatting rules:

if no group relationship between the multiple data containers exists, treating each of the multiple data containers as one separate bounding box and displaying the multiple data containers one by one;

if an overlap exists between the multiple data containers, maintaining the overlap on the second platform; and

if an overlap exists between two or more of the multiple data containers, treating the two or more of the multiple data containers as one bounding box including any spacing area between the multiple data containers and formatting the multiple data containers in the one bounding box to dimensions of the second platform by width ratio,

wherein single data containers, with no group relationship, are stacked vertically on the second platform and grouped data containers are maintained as a group and maintain their relative positions.