System and method for the time representation of tasks5659768Abstract The graphical time representation of tasks for depicting both graphical representation of tasks and alphanumeric representation of tasks. The graphical and alphanumeric representation of tasks are linked so that designation of a timebar results in the designation of a corresponding timecell and vice versa. The timebars and timecells can be manipulated in a coordinated manner. Timebars automatically display symbols indication of the type of manipulation permitted upon designation by a user. Claims What is claim is: Description BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
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If the device click occurs over the display
Look through all the currently displayed layers of timebars,
from the most dependent layer to the least dependent layer.
The dependent layer is "above" its parent layer in terms of
being able to receive a device click. If the point clicked is
within a timebar, determine if it's in the center, left, or
right end of the timebar. This determines whether the user
will be dragging the whole timebar or just one end of it.
If no timebar is clicked
unselect all timebars.
else if the timebar is not selected
unselect all timebars and select the one clicked setup
for calling the timebar movement routine
else if the timebar is selected
unselect the timebar
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An event is defined by a start time and an end time or a start time and a duration. Duration is stored with a precision of two bytes or four bytes depending on the expected length of the event. The interpretation of the event for graphical display uses the times and/or durations in the event compared with the time scale being displayed to draw a time bar representing the event. The present invention accounts for time accurate to within one minute to correspond to the maximum accuracy normally required by people when scheduling and planning. There is no technical reason why the precision could not vary from milliseconds to days should other time granularities be necessary. Time is stored as a four-byte number. The first two bytes is an integer day, projecting 89years backward from Jan. 1, 1970 and 89 years forward for a total range of 179 years centered on 1970. The second two-bytes is a minute within the day, zero to 1439. This time element is represented in the C++ code as a TDateTime object. The timebars are scaled horizontally to the current timescale using the basic conversions discussed below. In order to convert an event to a timebar, the user supplies the starting time of the timescale and the event and the present invention creates a rectangle to surround and graphically represent the event. The conversion process described below sets the horizontal coordinates of the rectangle. The vertical coordinates for the placement of timebars do not depend on time, and are based on other constraints. In a static display, i.e. one that cannot be manipulated by the user, the only constraint is that timebars that overlap in time may not overlap in the two-dimensional space of the display. If two timebars overlap, one of them is positioned so it does not overlap the other. Since it is critically important that timebars are displayed in a consistent pattern, an additional constraint is that they start at one corner of the window and descend or ascend from that point. The preferred embodiment starts at the upper left corner, but the process would work from any point. In a dynamic display, the user may "grab" and "move" one or more timebars, using the pointing device. The moved timebar, when released, may spacially overlap another timebar on the display. The horizontal coordinates of the timebars are readjusted by the invention to eliminate this spatial overlap. To prevent the moved timebar from dropping to the bottom of the display and necessitating constant scrolling by the user, the invention adds an additional constraint is added that any timebar which had a previous vertical position finds the closest unoccupied vertical position and is moved there. The following method is used to calculate the vertical layout variables: Each timebar has its row position recorded in its data structure. If the timebar has not yet been drawn its row position is -1. If it has been drawn (and therefore repositioning of that timebar is to be avoided) the timebar is given a row position greater than -1. The present invention creates an array that holds the right coordinate of the right most timebar of each row. This array is capable of holding coordinates for all defined timebars regardless of when those timebars start. The logic of timebar row position selection is as follows:
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For each layer
sort the timebars by the left edge of rectangle, i.e.
start time
create array-large enough to hold all the
timebars
initialize all array entries to a large negative value
the array contains the right edge of the rightmost
timebar at that vertical offset
for each timebar
row + -1
oldRow = timeBar.row
if (oldRow!= -1)
find the nearest row for which
Array(row)<=timebar.leftEdge
else find the first row (from zero) for which
array(row)<=timebar.leftEdge
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The user communicates the user's intention to manipulate the timebar by placement of the pointer on the timebar. Placement of the pointer on the left end of a timebar communicates the intent to change the start time; placement on the right end of a timebar communicates the intent to change the end time; and placement in the center of the timebar communicates the intent to move the entire timebar. Referring to FIG. 3 a user given graphical feedback when manipulating timebar position. When the pointer is positioned on a timebar the invention indicates the permissible manipulation for that scheduled event. For example a double-ended arrow 13 indicates the entire timebar may be repositioned. A plus-minus cursor 15 indicates a timebar can have its start time changed. A minus-plus cursor 17 indicates a timebar can have its end time changed. Referring to FIG. 4, events contained within other events ("contained events") are shown. FIG. 4 depicts timebars 9 enclosed within other timebars indicating a dependency between the scheduled events. This illustrates the graphical manner in which the present invention deals with events containing other events. Contained events are logically constrained to start and end within the event containing them. All events are read from the database into lists within main memory of the computer. The event type determines its layer. Each event is linked both to its containing events and to its contained events by database identifiers. The object TTimeBar contains an array for each layer (i.e. events, contained events). The layers are filled with data as follows: The user selects a particular time the user wishes to examine. Calculate the range of time from the time selected by the user (start of range) and the width of the graphical window in pixels (see Scaling for the conversion technique). Scan the database for all events where: event.start<= range.end AND event.end>= range.start For each qualifying event, get its type and add it to the list corresponding to its layer. When one layer of timebars is displayed, the timebars are assigned to rows according to the method for calculating vertical layout described above. When multiple layers are displayed, only the topmost, independent, layer uses that vertical layout method described above. The dependent layers are given their row assignments from the layers on which they depend. For example, in a three-layer display, the invention uses the method described below once to assign the rows of the first layer to the second layer, and again to assign the rows of the second layer to the third layer.
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Method for Assigning Rows to Dependent Layers
FromLayer(...) The layer that has row assignments
ToLayer(...) The layer that's receiving row assignments
Correlating ID. The identifier in the timebar that associates
the dependent layer with the independent layer.
Sort the FromLayer array by Correlating ID.
Sort the ToLayer array by Correlating ID.
iFrom=0
nFrom=sizeof(FromLayer)/sizeof(timebar)
iTo=0
nTo=sizeof(ToLayer)/sizeof(timebar)
While (iTo<nTo)
//Advance iFrom to match the correlating id in the
current ToLayer record
while ((Correlating ID of ToLayer (iTo)<Correlating ID of
FromLayer (iFrom)) &&
(iFrom<nFrom))
++iFrom
while (Correlating ID of ToLayer (iTo)==Correlating ID of
FromLayer(iFrom)
copy the row number from FromLayer to ToLayer
calculate the timebar rectangle top and bottom.
this may be at a slight offset from the
FromLayer's top and bottom so the dependent
timebar is inset
++iTo
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When the user wants to change the view or display to a different layer or set of layers, the vertical offsets must be recalculated. Switching layers may also mean a change of timescale. If the timescale is changed, the list of events will be different since a window of a given pixel width has a different width in minutes depending on the timescale. Even if the timescale remains the same, the vertical offsets (rows) will change. For example, an initial display will indicate dependent events contained within the displayed timebars, but the vertical layout is determined based on the current topmost layer. Changing the view means designating these layers previously displayed as dependent layers of timebars, topmost layers. Then the method for calculating vertical layout is executed once again on the topmost layer to reconcile the new display view. Referring to FIG. 5, timebars and associated timecells are shown. The linkage between timebars 21 and the corresponding timecells 23 is shown in this FIG. 5. By simultaneously displaying the timebars and the corresponding timecells, the user can select either timebars or timecells independently or in a coordinated manner. Since timecells correspond more closely to the non-computer user's experience with the seeing schedules a user can textually manipulate the timecells to reflect schedule adjustments. A user can also manipulate the timebars with a pointing device making appropriate schedule changes graphically. A key concept of the present invention is the use of both representations (timebars and timecells) simultaneously. In all cases, manipulation of one (timebar or timecell) results in manipulation of the other. If selection is coordinated then editing the timecell information causes repositioning and resizing of the timebars and moving/resizing the timebar causes a dynamic update of the timecell. When the pointing device is dragged over the timebar a gray outline of the timebar moves in proportion to the pointing device movement. As the timebar is moved, the table is updated for each time increment of motion. If the timebar is being repositioned, both the start and end times are highlighted and updated continually with each minute of motion. If the timebar is being shortened or lengthened, only the start or the end time is highlighted and updated continually, depending on whether the left or right edge of the timebar is being dragged. The method for moving a timebar follows:
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This method is invoked by the pointing device click method
above
setup for updating the table
draw the timebar with a gray outline using an XOR drawing mode
set originalDifference to zero
While the device button is depressed
minutesDifference=scale.Minutes(pixel of movement)
if (minutesDifference!=originalDifference)
originalDifference=minutesDifference
draw the timebar with XOR (erases previous
image)
if only moving the end of the timebar
change the timebar right edge by pixels of
movement
adjust end time
if only moving the start of the timebar
change the timebar left edge by pixels of
movement
adjust start time
if moving both ends
change the left and right edges by pixels of
movement
adjust start and end times
draw the timebar with XOR (draws new image)
call method to update the table
draw the timebar with XOR (erases previous image)
update start & end times in timebar and any associated data
items
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When the user "clicks" on a timebar, the present invention immediately prepares for dragging the timebar and the simultaneous updating the timecells. As has been previously described, the placement of the cursor on the timebar determines if the user intends to move only the start, only the end, or the entire timebar. The method for setting up the timecells for timebar movement is as follows:
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For the selected table row
if only moving the end of the timebar
invert the table cell displaying the end time
invert data associated with timebar length
if only moving the start of the timebar
invert the table cell displaying the start time
invert data associated with timebar length
if moving both ends
invert the table cell displaying the start and end
times
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While the timebar is being dragged, every time the timebar position is updated, the following table method is called:
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For the selected table row
if only moving the end of the timebar
display the new end time
if only moving the start of the timebar
display the new start time
if moving both ends
display the new start and end times
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The timescales chosen for the preferred embodiment use integer values for speed and limit the number of scales to nine for reasons of practicality. Alternative embodiments have no theoretical limit to the number of time scales using floating point calculations with conversion factors using as quantities a) the number of pixels per fifteen minutes and b) a 480 pixel view. Referring to FIG. 6, the capability to vary the timescale to determine the simultaneous use of resources during any time period is displayed 25. Referring to FIG. 7, the determination of a time frame for scheduling an event is provided for the user by a display which depicts days on which events are scheduled by boldface 27, larger font size or other highlighting techniques 29. Referring to FIG. 8, it is shown how the user is supported in scheduling events by displaying a Table of Possible Events. This is a table of generic or specific events that can be scheduled 31. Those events which have already been scheduled are marked with a check 33 so that a user knows they have already been acted upon. How to Use The user would begin using this invention by defining a number of events to be scheduled by specifying and inputting at least an identification of the event, the start time of the event, and either a duration of an end time to the event. By specifying a timescale and a starting date for the display, the user would cause the invention to display a series of timebars uniquely identified as representing particular events over a scrollable grid with time increments over the calendar period specified. Selecting individual timebars using the available pointing devices enables manipulation of the timebar and causes the appropriate timecell data to be displayed near the bottom of the screen. The user communicates the user's manipulation intent by placement of the pointing device cursor when selecting the timebar. Placement of the cursor in the left portion of the timebar indicates an intent change the start time; placement in the right portion of the timebar indicates an intent to change the end time; and placement of the cursor near the middle of the timebar indicates an intent to move the timebar. The invention provides feedback to the user of the interpretation of the user's intent by displaying the cursor in a pre-defined form i.e. a double-ended arrow to indicate the timebar can be repositioned; a plus-minus cursor to indicate the timebar can have its start time changed; or a minus-plus cursor to indicate the timebar can have its end time changed. The user can establish dependencies between events and manipulation of any event then provides feedback to the user of the effect on all dependent events. By calling the resource display, the user can tract the simultaneous use of resources in each of the defined time periods. To identify the need and capability to schedule additional events, the user can display a table of possible events to be scheduled and select events from this table. Display of the provided Gregorian calendar graphically depicts scheduling timeframes as well as identifies days on which events are already scheduled. Summary A highly flexible system and method for the time representation of tasks has been described. With the present invention, not only can interdependencies of tasks be shown graphically, but such graphical representations are linked to other table data where an update of either the graphical or text data results in an update to the other. Other enhancements to the invention will be possible and apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the letter and spirit of the present invention as defined.
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