Abstract: A system and method for optimizing the structure and display of complex data filters is provided. The system includes software modules for creating, optimizing and then displaying complex data filter queries structured according to a particular query language. The query is modeled by generating a filter network comprising a plurality of filter nodes, wherein each filter node corresponds to a conditional expression in the query. Optimization modules then optimize the structure and visual display of the filter network. The system software modules may include a query input module, a graphical interface module, a visual optimization module, and a query language optimization module. The query input module enables a user to input a data filter query into the system using a particular query language. The graphical interface module then maps the input query into a graphical representation of the data filter using a readily understandable graphical paradigm.

Abstract: A method and system for indicating boundaries of data subsets that are displayed in a display window in a data processing system. Data having data subsets are displayed within a display window with a selected data subset being visible within the window. The selected data subset has an upper and lower boundary. A marker is displayed in association with the display window in response to a selected data subset within the plurality of data subsets being displayed within the display window. The marker has two terminuses, an upper terminus and a lower terminus. The location of the upper terminus indicates an upper boundary of the selected data subset and the location of the lower terminus indicates the lower boundary of the selected data subset. An absence of one of the two terminuses intuitively indicates, to a user, a presence of additional undisplayed data within the selected data set that is not displayed within the display window.