Granted Patent B2

US 12,423,353 · App. 18/522,213 · Granted Sep 23, 2025

Inventor: Scott Sherman (Seattle, WA)

Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.

G06F16/9024G06F16/90335G06F16/904

Abstract

Claims (63)

1. A method for visualizing data, performed at a computing device having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs configured for execution by the one or more processors, the method comprising:

displaying a user interface that includes a graph panel and a visualization panel;

displaying, in the graph panel, a graph of a data source, wherein each node in the graph represents a data object, and each edge in the graph represents a relationship between data objects represented by nodes at endpoints of the respective edge;

receiving user input to specify a question directed to the data source;

for each of a plurality of transform models, determining whether transforming the graph according to the respective transform model enables answering the question, wherein each transform model comprises a model interface that specifies input type information, input source information, and user/role requirements for determining eligibility of the transform model to answer the question, and wherein each transform model is associated with a weight score;

selecting a first transform model of the plurality of transform models that enables answering the question, wherein selecting the first transform model of the plurality of transform models comprises rank ordering the plurality of transform models based on the weight score of each transform model;

updating the graph according to the first transform model by:

determining one or more operations specified by the first transform model;

executing the one or more operations on a data model corresponding to the data source to update the graph; and

displaying the updated graph in the graph panel in real-time;

using the updated graph to generate a result set that answers the question; and

generating and displaying, in the visualization panel synchronized with the graph panel, a data visualization of the result set.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein updating the graph according to the first transform model comprises:

determining one or more operations that are specified by the first transform model; and

executing the one or more operations on a data model corresponding to the data source to update the graph.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein each transform model comprises a model interface that specifies one or more characteristics of acceptable inputs, wherein determining whether transforming the graph according to the respective transform model enables answering the question comprises determining if the question matches the one or more characteristics of acceptable inputs for the respective transform model.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the model interface specifies input type information, input source information, and user/role requirements, for the respective transform model.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the model interface includes value based constraints and type based constraints.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in accordance with a determination that a transform model cannot be used to answer the question, modifying the transform model to answer the question.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data source comprises one or more of a database, a columnar data store, or structured text files.

8. A system for visualizing data, comprising:

one or more processors;

memory coupled to the one or more processors;

a display; and

one or more programs stored in the memory and configured for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:

displaying a user interface that includes a graph panel and a visualization panel;

displaying, in the graph panel, a graph of a data source, wherein each node in the graph represents a data object, and each edge in the graph represents a relationship between data objects represented by nodes at endpoints of the respective edge;

receiving user input to specify a question directed to the data source;

for each of a plurality of transform models, determining whether transforming the graph according to the respective transform model enables answering the question, wherein each transform model comprises a model interface that specifies input type information, input source information, and user/role requirements for determining eligibility of the transform model to answer the question, and wherein each transform model is associated with a weight score;

selecting a first transform model of the plurality of transform models that enables answering the question, wherein selecting the first transform model of the plurality of transform models comprises rank ordering the plurality of transform models based on the weight score of each transform model;

updating the graph according to the first transform model by:

determining one or more operations specified by the first transform model;

executing the one or more operations on a data model corresponding to the data source to update the graph; and

displaying the updated graph in the graph panel;

using the updated graph to generate a result set that answers the question; and

generating and displaying, in the visualization panel synchronized with the graph panel, a data visualization of the result set.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein updating the graph according to the first transform model comprises:

determining one or more operations that are specified by the first transform model; and

executing the one or more operations on a data model corresponding to the data source to update the graph.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein each transform model comprises a model interface that specifies one or more characteristics of acceptable inputs, wherein determining whether transforming the graph according to the respective transform model enables answering the question comprises determining if the question matches the one or more characteristics of acceptable inputs for the respective transform model.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the model interface specifies input type information, input source information, and user/role requirements, for the respective transform model.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the model interface includes value based constraints and type based constraints.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors further comprise instructions for:

in accordance with a determination that a transform model cannot be used to answer the question, modifying the transform model to answer the question.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the data source comprises one or more of a database, a columnar data store, or structured text files.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs configured for execution by a computing device having one or more processors, memory, and a display, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:

displaying a user interface that includes a graph panel and a visualization panel;

displaying, in the graph panel, a graph of a data source, wherein each node in the graph represents a data object, and each edge in the graph represents a relationship between data objects represented by nodes at endpoints of the respective edge;

receiving user input to specify a question directed to the data source;

for each of a plurality of transform models, determining whether transforming the graph according to the respective transform model enables answering the question, wherein each transform model comprises a model interface that specifies input type information, input source information, and user/role requirements for determining eligibility of the transform model to answer the question, and wherein each transform model is associated with a weight score;

selecting a first transform model of the plurality of transform models that enables answering the question, wherein selecting the first transform model of the plurality of transform models comprises rank ordering the plurality of transform models based on the weight score of each transform model;

updating the graph according to the first transform model by:

determining one or more operations specified by the first transform model;

executing the one or more operations on a data model corresponding to the data source to update the graph; and

displaying the updated graph in the graph panel;

using the updated graph to generate a result set that answers the question; and

generating and displaying, in the visualization panel synchronized with the graph panel, a data visualization of the result set.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein updating the graph according to the first transform model comprises:

determining one or more operations that are specified by the first transform model; and

executing the one or more operations on a data model corresponding to the data source to update the graph.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein each transform model comprises a model interface that specifies one or more characteristics of acceptable inputs, wherein determining whether transforming the graph according to the respective transform model enables answering the question comprises determining if the question matches the one or more characteristics of acceptable inputs for the respective transform model.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the model interface specifies input type information, input source information, and user/role requirements, for the transform model.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (117)