Route selection by drag and drop

Abstract

The various embodiments of the present invention may be directed to a system for facilitating data processing in a visual manner. An application may include, inter alia, a basket component for visually representing the particular data items that a user desires to be processed by an application. The application may allow a user to initially search for data items that may be of interest (e.g., points-of-interest or POIs). A user may select POIs to obtain additional descriptive information regarding each data item. If the selected POI is to be included in processing, a user may drag the visual representation of the POI into the basket component. When the basket component contains all POIs desired for processing, the user may further instruct the application to formulate a result that is a composite of some or all of the POIs in the basket component.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 presenting, via a graphical user interface, one or more data items specifying points-of-interests of a user;   selecting the one or more data items to obtain descriptive information about the respective data items;   dragging the one or more data items into a basket component that visually represents the selected data items;   generating composite information using the data items dragged in the basket component; and   initiating storage of the composite information to a remote resource for sharing the composite information with one or more devices associated with the user.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 initiating storage of the data items to the remote resource for sharing the data items with the one or more devices.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the sharing of the data items is part of a synchronization function that permits the sharing of the data items with a plurality of subscribers. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the data items relate to a map application, the method further comprising:
 determining to display a map containing the data items for selection by the user; and   presenting a button that, upon activation by the user, initiates the generation of the composite information, wherein the composite information represents a route associated with the map for the selected data items.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a first one of the devices provides the graphical user interface for the selection of the data items, and a second one of the devices retrieves the composite information from the remote resource. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating a request to obtain one of the data items from the remote resource from a corresponding one of the devices to generate the composite information.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein order of the data items to be processed is in accordance with the selection order of the dragged data items into the basket component. 
     
     
         8 . An apparatus comprising:
 at least one processor; and   at least one memory including computer program code for one or more programs,   the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following,
 present, via a graphical user interface, one or more data items specifying points-of-interests of a user; 
 select the one or more data items to obtain descriptive information about the respective data items; 
 drag the one or more data items into a basket component that visually represents the selected data items; 
 generate composite information using the data items dragged in the basket component; and 
 initiate storage of the composite information to a remote resource for sharing the composite information with one or more devices associated with the user. 
   
     
     
         9 . An apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:
 initiate storage of the data items to the remote resource for sharing the data items with the one or more devices.   
     
     
         10 . An apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the sharing of the data items is part of a synchronization function that permits the sharing of the data items with a plurality of subscribers. 
     
     
         11 . An apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the data items relate to a map application, the apparatus is further caused to:
 determine to display a map containing the data items for selection by the user; and   present a button that, upon activation by the user, initiates the generation of the composite information, wherein the composite information represents a route associated with the map for the selected data items.   
     
     
         12 . An apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein a first one of the devices provides the graphical user interface for the selection of the data items, and a second one of the devices retrieves the composite information from the remote resource. 
     
     
         13 . An apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:
 generate a request to obtain one of the data items from the remote resource from a corresponding one of the devices to generate the composite information.   
     
     
         14 . An apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein order of the data items to be processed is in accordance with the selection order of the dragged data items into the basket component. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause an apparatus to at least perform the following steps:
 present, via a graphical user interface, one or more data items specifying points-of-interests of a user;   select the one or more data items to obtain descriptive information about the respective data items;   drag the one or more data items into a basket component that visually represents the selected data items;   generate composite information using the data items dragged in the basket component; and   initiate storage of the composite information to a remote resource for sharing the composite information with one or more devices associated with the user.   
     
     
         16 . A computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:
 initiate storage of the data items to the remote resource for sharing the data items with the one or more devices.   
     
     
         17 . A computer-readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the sharing of the data items is part of a synchronization function that permits the sharing of the data items with a plurality of subscribers. 
     
     
         18 . A computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the data items relate to a map application, the apparatus is further caused to:
 determine to display a map containing the data items for selection by the user; and   present a button that, upon activation by the user, initiates the generation of the composite information, wherein the composite information represents a route associated with the map for the selected data items.   
     
     
         19 . A computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein a first one of the devices provides the graphical user interface for the selection of the data items, and a second one of the devices retrieves the composite information from the remote resource. 
     
     
         20 . A computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:
 generate a request to obtain one of the data items from the remote resource from a corresponding one of the devices to generate the composite information.