Patents by Inventor Christopher A. Hays

Christopher A. Hays has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20160019292
    Abstract: 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.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 16, 2014
    Publication date: January 21, 2016
    Inventors: Pedram Faghihi Rezaei, Christopher A. Hays, Amir M. Netz, Patrick J. Baumgartner
  • Publication number: 20150201819
    Abstract: The present invention is concerned with an improved surface cleaning device. The device has a utility portion for engaging a surface to be cleaned and a handle portion connected to the utility portion. The utility portion defines a lower surface facing a surface to be cleaned, and is adapted to accommodate a sheet of cleaning substrate for covering the lower surface and contacting a surface to be cleaned in use. The utility portion includes a plurality of projection members protruding from the lower surface for providing one or more raised regions on the cleaning sheet substrate which otherwise is fitted against the lower surface, such that in use the one or more raised regions are accessible to recessed area of a surface to be cleaned.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 7, 2015
    Publication date: July 23, 2015
    Inventors: CHRISTOPHER HAY, GREGORY CLEGG SPOONER
  • Publication number: 20150149471
    Abstract: 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.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2015
    Publication date: May 28, 2015
    Inventors: Robert M. Bruckner, Christopher A. Hays, Fang Wang
  • Publication number: 20150058350
    Abstract: 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.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 1, 2014
    Publication date: February 26, 2015
    Inventors: Robert M. Bruckner, Christopher A. Hays, Fang Wang
  • Publication number: 20140351296
    Abstract: 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.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 13, 2014
    Publication date: November 27, 2014
    Inventors: Christopher A. Hays, Carolyn Khanh Chau, Robert A. Meyers
  • Patent number: 8874576
    Abstract: 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.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Robert M. Bruckner, Christopher A. Hays, Fang Wang
  • Patent number: 8819069
    Abstract: 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.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher A. Hays, Carolyn Khanh Chau, Robert A. Meyers
  • Patent number: 8745486
    Abstract: 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.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Nicoleta Cristache, Donovan R. Smith, Christopher A. Hays
  • Publication number: 20140019437
    Abstract: 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.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 16, 2012
    Publication date: January 16, 2014
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher A. Hays, John H. Vulner, Robert M. Bruckner
  • Patent number: 8584036
    Abstract: Resizing and/or repositioning a target object related by containment to one or more related object laid out on a computer user interface. Original sizes and/or positions of the related objects to the target object resized and/or repositioned are stored. During the resize and/or reposition operation of the target object, an impact on a related object is calculated based upon a change from the stored original sizes and/or positions of the related object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2013
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher A. Hays, Rajeev Karunakaran
  • Publication number: 20130282769
    Abstract: 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.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2013
    Publication date: October 24, 2013
    Inventors: Christopher A. Hays, Carolyn Khanh Chau, Robert A. Meyers
  • Patent number: 8478786
    Abstract: 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.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2013
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher A. Hays, Carolyn Khanh Chau, Robert A. Meyers
  • Patent number: 8359308
    Abstract: Architecture which provides that certain data-bound objects in the report can be configured by the report author to use data from a specific query result rather than take data from the containing data bound object. The report author defines a relationship between the data in the contained object and the data in the container, allowing instances of the descendant object to be correlated with instances of the ancestor object. This relationship can be either explicit with join conditions or implicit due to an intrinsic hierarchical relationship between the query results.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2013
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher A. Hays, Robert M. Bruckner, John H. Vulner
  • Publication number: 20120109995
    Abstract: Comparing data items. The method includes accessing a query or command to retrieve data. The query or command includes an identification of a data item, a logical operator and a specialized token. A comparison as defined by the logical operator between the data item and the specialized token is performed. The following illustrates the results of the logical operation on any data item and the specialized token: an equal logical operation results in true, a greater than logical operation results in false; a less than logical operation results in false; a greater than or equal to logical operation results in true; a less than or equal to logical operation results in true; a not equal logical operation results in false; an IN logical operation results in true; and a NOT IN logical operation results in false. As a result of the comparison, the data item may be retrieved.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 28, 2010
    Publication date: May 3, 2012
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher A. Hays, Aaron S. Meyers, Alexandre I. Mineev
  • Publication number: 20120066249
    Abstract: Embodiments are directed to implementing hierarchy metadata to improve relational model default path selection heuristics. A computer system receives a database query from a user. The query is configured to return a portion of requested data stored in the database. The database includes multiple different data entities related to each other via different relationship paths. The computer system accesses hierarchy metadata that describes various database hierarchies, each hierarchy including multiple data entities. The computer system determines an optimal path between the related data entities based on the database query and the hierarchy metadata, and accesses the data using the determined optimal data entity relationship path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2010
    Publication date: March 15, 2012
    Applicant: MICROSOFT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Christopher A. Hays, Aaron S. Meyers, Robert A. Meyers
  • Publication number: 20120066267
    Abstract: 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.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2010
    Publication date: March 15, 2012
    Applicant: MICROSOFT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Christopher A. Hays, Carolyn Khanh Chau, Robert A. Meyers
  • Patent number: 8099678
    Abstract: Various technologies for processing a selection on an item on a report. In one implementation, a request to perform an action on the item may be received. Whether one or more actions corresponding to the item exist based on one or more parameters and one or more values of the parameters associated with the item may be dynamically determined. A list of one or more actions may be displayed if the one or more actions exist.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2012
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher A. Hays, Jason D. Carlson, Robert A. Meyers
  • Patent number: 8072467
    Abstract: A rendering system is provided. The rendering system includes a rendering component that receives a request to view a data set and provide output to drive a display application. A processing engine generates output data for the rendering component, where the output data is suitable to satisfy a present demand to render a subset of the data set.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Robert M. Bruckner, Fang Wang, Christopher A. Hays, Jason D. Carlson
  • Publication number: 20110246447
    Abstract: Architecture which provides that certain data-bound objects in the report can be configured by the report author to use data from a specific query result rather than take data from the containing data bound object. The report author defines a relationship between the data in the contained object and the data in the container, allowing instances of the descendant object to be correlated with instances of the ancestor object. This relationship can be either explicit with join conditions or implicit due to an intrinsic hierarchical relationship between the query results.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2010
    Publication date: October 6, 2011
    Applicant: MICROSOFT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Christopher A. Hays, Robert M. Bruckner, John H. Vulner
  • Patent number: D651805
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2012
    Assignee: Hayco Manufacturing Limited
    Inventors: Christopher Hay, David Bernard Domingo Deacon