US 12,141,175 B2
System and method for dossier creation with free-form layout
Zhili Cheng, Dunn Loring, VA (US); Keng-Fu Chu, Fairfax, VA (US); Alejandro Olvera Velasco, Falls Church, VA (US); and Jeffrey Courcelle, Herndon, VA (US)
Assigned to MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED, Tysons Corner, VA (US)
Filed by MicroStrategy Incorporated, Tysons Corner, VA (US)
Filed on Dec. 30, 2019, as Appl. No. 16/730,147.
Prior Publication US 2021/0200790 A1, Jul. 1, 2021
Int. Cl. G06F 16/28 (2019.01); G06F 16/242 (2019.01); G06F 16/248 (2019.01); G06F 16/26 (2019.01)
CPC G06F 16/287 (2019.01) [G06F 16/2428 (2019.01); G06F 16/248 (2019.01); G06F 16/26 (2019.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
retrieving data from a database, the data having a data structure;
generating, by a processor with input from a user, a report including a graphical representation of the data, the graphical representation of the data including a plurality of data containers, the user being enabled to freely position and set a size of each of the plurality of data containers; and
displaying the report on a graphical user interface,
wherein the plurality of data containers is configured to be layered on top of each other to form a single interactive visualization containing information from each of the plurality of data containers such that the user can interact with data from each of said plurality of data containers and simultaneously view the information from each of the plurality of data containers in the single interactive visualization,
wherein a first data container of the plurality of data containers includes a first visualization having a plurality of first user-selectable portions and a second data container of the plurality of data containers includes a second visualization having a plurality of second user-selectable portions,
wherein each of the plurality of first user-selectable portions corresponds to one of the plurality of second user-selectable portions in a one-to-one relationship,
wherein the user is enabled to move the plurality of data containers by dragging the plurality of data containers,
wherein, upon the user dragging one or more of the plurality of data containers, guides are automatically displayed to assist the user when moving the one or more of the plurality of data containers, the guides separately comprising a vertical alignment line and a horizontal alignment line, the vertical alignment line and the horizontal alignment line configured to detect alignment with respect to an entirety of the report and/or another data container to guide the user to center the first data container with respect to the second data container,
wherein the plurality of data containers is configured to be overlapped, and
wherein, when the report is created, containers, of the plurality of data containers, that overlap preserve their relative position and size and remain overlapped while containers, of the plurality of data containers, that do not overlap are automatically, without user intervention, arranged in a vertical, scrollable stack.