Methods, apparatus and systems for data sorting, visualisation and related applications

Abstract

A method of creating a style sheet for the generation of a graphical representation of a data set made up of a plurality of data elements or values used in a data visualisation computing system is described. The method having the steps of retrieving the data values of the data elements in the data set; determining the types of data elements in the set; obtaining the style attributes associated with each type of data element; developing a hierarchy of style attributes; and creating a style sheet to apply to the data set.

1 . In a data visualization computing system implemented on an electronic computing device having at least one processor and memory a method of creating a style sheet for the generation of a graphical representation of a data set made up of a plurality of data elements or values, the method having the steps of:
 retrieving the data values of the data elements in the data set;   determining the data types of the data elements in the data set;   obtaining style attributes associated with each type of data element, the style attributes determining how the data elements are displayed in a generated graphical representation;   determining weightings for each data element;   developing a hierarchy of style attributes, based on the weightings for each data element, the style attributes applied to generated graphical representation depend on the order of the style attributes in the hierarchy; and   creating a style sheet of the style attributes associated with the data type of data element and the hierarchy of style attributes to apply to apply to the data set.   
     
     
         2 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein weightings are determined based on a pre-set or pre-existing weighting for each data elements. 
     
     
         3 . The method as claimed in  claim 2  wherein a user can override the pre-set weightings and alter the rankings of the hierarchy. 
     
     
         4 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein in the steps of obtaining the style attributes and developing a hierarchy of style attributes, a user sets the relative weightings of each of the data elements. 
     
     
         5 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the steps of obtaining the style attributes and developing a hierarchy of style attributes are divided into the steps of firstly sorting the retrieved data elements by function, and secondly applying a priority or weighting to each function. 
     
     
         6 . The method as claimed in  claim 5  wherein the hierarchy is developed according to the weightings, the hierarchy forming the framework or basis of a style sheet which is applied to the retrieved data elements to format an output for the data elements. 
     
     
         7 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the method also includes the step of applying a set of rules for overall presentational style, to generate the required elements that include but are not limited to font, font size, colour elements for background, text, table size, shading. 
     
     
         8 . The method as claimed in  claim 7  wherein the elements which relate to overall presentational style are associated with the hierarchy so that the overall appearance of the output depends on the hierarchy. 
     
     
         9 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein in the step of retrieving the data values of the data elements in the data set, a user sets parameters around the data values to be retrieved. 
     
     
         10 . The method as claimed in  claim 9  wherein the parameters include but are not limited to: a date range, a time range, a location range or location subset, a transaction range or subset. 
     
     
         11 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the data elements can be any combination of, but not limited to, the following elements: time of sale, location, time of use, size of sale. 
     
     
         12 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein a user can manually input or rearrange a hierarchy order either pre- or post-output. 
     
     
         13 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the data is output in any of, but not limited to, the following formats: table, bar chart, pie chart, scatter plot, line chart, heat map, box spiral. 
     
     
         14 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the user set fields may be chosen from any combination of, but not limited to, the following elements: a data range, a location range or number of locations, a sales range, a revenue range. 
     
     
         15 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the method includes the step, after hierarchy of style attributes has been developed, of assessing the overall pattern formed by the hierarchy and the data elements, and developing the overall pattern for the output using those data elements which form the majority, the minority of data elements within the retrieved data which do not naturally comply overridden to fit within the overall pattern. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the method also includes the step of applying a set of rules for overall presentation style, the minority of data elements which do not naturally fit within the pattern presented in a different manner from the majority data elements. 
     
     
         17 . The method as claimed in  claim 15  wherein the method also includes the steps of applying a set of rules for overall presentational style, and assessing any results within the overall pattern that lie outside or deviate from the mean or average by an amount, those results presented in a different manner from the majority data elements. 
     
     
         18 . The method as claimed in  claim 17  wherein the amount is a default amount or a user-specified amount. 
     
     
         19 . (canceled) 
     
     
         20 . The method as claimed in  claim 18  wherein the amount is a percentage or a numerical value based on the relevant data elements. 
     
     
         21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . The method as claimed in  claim 14  wherein the method includes the step, after hierarchy of style attributes has been developed, of assessing the overall pattern formed by the hierarchy and the data elements, and developing the overall pattern for the output using those data elements which form the majority, the minority of data elements within the retrieved data which do not naturally comply overridden to fit within the overall pattern.