Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Christopher Alan Hays

Jason David Carlson

Fang Wang

Robert M Bruckner

Robert Alan Meyers

Patrick John Baumgartner

Amir Netz

Pedram Faghihi Rezaei

Carolyn Khanh Chau

Surajit J Chaudhuri

Henricus Johannes Maria Meijer

Lev Novik

John Carlton Platt

Efim Hudis

Kunal Mukerjee

Brian L Welcker

Rajeev V Karunakaran

John Herschel Vulner

Nicoleta Cristache

Daniel Cory

Adam Donald Wilson

Brian Hartman

Alexandre Igorevich Mineev

Aaron Stephen Meyers

Jingxiao Wu

Mohammad A Rashid

Christopher Baldwin

Nicoleta Chistache

Aaron Meyers

Donovan R Smith

The modifying of a natural language interpretation model for interpreting natural language queries. The system discovers modifications that one or more queriers made to one or more original query results of one or more natural language queries to generate one or more modified query results. The system then uses the discoveries to identify one or more changes to a natural language interpretation model that would result (given the same natural language queries) in one or more query results that more accurately reflect the one or more modified query results. The system the causes the natural language interpretation model to be modified with at least one of the one or more identified changes. Accordingly, over time, the natural language interpretation model may learn from observations of its own performance.

Observation-based query interpretation model modification

A mechanism for responding to a natural language query. Linguistic parsing is applied to the natural language query to generate a set of language element(s). One or more of those language elements are mapped to parameters and/or data elements of a parameterized report, which is selected for use in responding to the query based on the mapping. The selection of the parameterized report and/or mapping to the parameterized report may use the schema of the underlying dataset that the parameterized report uses in order to perform more precise mapping and selection. The selected parameterized report is then used to construct structured data that is responsive to the query. For instance, the structured data could include visualizations. In this manner, already existing parameterized reports that were previously used to generated structured data in the form of reports, may again be used in order to respond to natural language queries.

Query response using mapping to parameterized report

In one embodiment, datasets are stored in a catalog. The datasets are enriched by establishing relationships among the domains in different datasets. A user searches for relevant datasets by providing examples of the domains of interest. The system identifies datasets corresponding to the user-provided examples. The system them identifies connected subsets of the datasets that are directly linked or indirectly linked through other domains. The user provides known relationship examples to filter the connected subsets and to identify the connected subsets that are most relevant to the user's query. The selected connected subsets may be further analyzed by business intelligence/analytics to create pivot tables or to process the data.

Finding data in connected corpuses using examples

Mechanisms to help a computing system respond to a request for information within a data model. After determining that there is insufficient information within the data model to respond to the request, the computing system identifies one or more additional data sources that are external to the data model and that contain information suitable to respond to the request. The computing system then automatically supplements the data model with at least one of such additional data sources. The computing system then responds to the request using the supplemented data model. In some embodiments, the supplementation is performed in advance of the request by analyzing the characteristics of the data model and/or by anticipating possible future requests. Thus, a data model grows automatically in response to particular usage of that data model to satisfy requests.

Automated supplementation of data model

A computer-implemented method for generating a report from a report definition specifying a plurality of data scopes for a dataset includes interpreting, with a processor, a report definition for the report, the report definition comprising a calculation expression for populating a unit of the report, the calculation expression comprising a data aggregation operation, the data aggregation operation comprising an originating reference to a further data scope, accessing a memory coupled to the processor to obtain data from the dataset for respective subsets of the dataset corresponding with the further data scope, determining, with the processor, an output value for the calculation expression in accordance with the obtained data and the data aggregation operation, and rendering the report based on the output value.

Data scope origination within aggregation operations

Embodiments are directed to determining a data insertion point in a data layout based on relative cardinalities between data objects and to determining a data insertion point in a data layout based on defined hierarchies between data objects. In an embodiment, a computer system receives a user input indicating that an additional portion of information is to be added to an existing data layout which includes multiple different data objects. The computer system accesses the data objects to determine relative cardinalities between the data objects in the data layout. The computer system determines an optimal data insertion point for inserting the additional portion of information based on the determined relative cardinalities between the data objects. The computer system also inserts the additional portion of information in the existing data layout at the determined optimal data insertion point.

Automatic layout derivation and implementation

Techniques for configuring a dynamic document template and for generating formatted documents based thereon are provided. A data source is associated with a dynamic document template. Static text is inserted into the template. One or more placeholders are inserted in the template. Expressions may be associated with static text and placeholders in the template. Each expression may reference one or more data elements of the data source. One or more formatted documents may be generated based on the dynamic document template. In the case of placeholders, a data element referenced by an expression associated with a placeholder may be displayed in a formatted document in place of the placeholder in a display format (e.g., a color, a font type, etc.) selected according to the expression. Likewise, a display format of static text may be selected based on an expression associated with the static text.

In-line dynamic text with variable formatting

A reporting system is described herein that allows a report author to declare data reporting structures that specify to a reporting application how to dynamically categorize data with changing or potentially unknown characteristics. The reporting system may extend RDL and the data grouping provided by Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services by adding new elements to the XML-based RDL schema. The reporting system allows the report author to specify for the system to fill gaps in the data, so that the report has a similar layout even as data changes from period to period. The reporting system also allows the report author to specify whether data that does not fit any predefined group bucket is displayed in a report. Thus, the reporting system allows unsophisticated database users to define reports that group data consistently regardless of missing values or other changes in the underlying data.

Reporting including filling data gaps and handling uncategorized data

A computer output display system is provided. The system includes a layout component to determine one or more rendering rules that are applicable to a subset of display output controls. A format component communicates the rendering rules via a generic protocol that is employed by the subset of display output controls to render a display.

Streamable interactive rendering-independent page layout

Embodiments are directed to generating feature values for selectable features using feature recombination. In one scenario, a computer system accesses a set of selectable features where each feature includes one or more feature values. The computer system encodes the accessed set of selectable features, so that the feature values are available for selection by various different users. The computer system generates a first population of feature values from the encoded set of selectable features and ranks each feature value in the first population of feature values based on which feature values are selected by the users. The computer system also generates a second population of feature values by recombining the feature values proportional to the ranking, and further generates subsequent populations of feature values by recombining the values across multiple iterations of expression of preference by different users. These feature values then converge on a subset of preferred feature values.

Distributed feature selection in social networks

Growing community of inventors

Monroe, WA, United States of America

Christopher Alan Hays