Web Data Grid Navigation Latency Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current web applications with data entry grids experience inefficiencies due to the need for a roundtrip to the server for each navigation event between cells, causing UI pauses and reducing user efficiency, especially when navigating through cells without editing.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a mechanism where the web browser waits for a predetermined time before accessing the server for input control information, allowing users to quickly navigate through cells without editing by avoiding server access if the user navigates away within that time, and providing an explicit navigation mode to prevent server access during navigation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the web browser accesses the server for each navigation event between cells, then data entry accuracy is ensured, but navigation speed deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-fetching data for adjacent cells before the user actually navigates to them. When the user navigates to a cell, the data is already available in the browser's local memory, eliminating the need for a server roundtrip at the moment of navigation. This preliminary data preparation resolves the contradiction by ensuring data availability (reliability) while avoiding real-time server access delays (speed).
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts its behavior based on user navigation patterns. It monitors which cells the user is likely to navigate to next and selectively pre-fetches data for those specific cells. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to optimize between data accuracy and navigation speed by being proactive about data loading only when and where needed, rather than following a static pattern of server access for every cell.
2Productivity
If the web browser waits for a predetermined time before accessing the server, then navigation efficiency improves, but data entry responsiveness may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of waiting passively for a predetermined time before accessing the server, the system performs preliminary actions by proactively pre-fetching data for cells that the user is likely to navigate to next. This transforms the approach from reactive waiting to proactive data preparation, improving navigation efficiency without compromising data entry responsiveness because the data is already available when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from user navigation behavior to intelligently determine which cells to pre-fetch data for. By monitoring navigation patterns and predicting future cell accesses, the system dynamically adjusts its data loading strategy. This feedback mechanism ensures that data is loaded in advance for cells the user actually visits, maintaining both navigation efficiency and data entry responsiveness without unnecessary delays.
3Speed
If direct navigation between non-adjacent cells is allowed, then navigation speed improves, but loss of data entry control increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary data loading for cells along the navigation path before the user actually navigates through them. When enabling direct navigation between non-adjacent cells, the system proactively fetches data for all intermediate cells in advance. This preliminary action ensures that even though the user can skip cells for faster navigation, data entry control is maintained because the data for all potentially visited cells is already available in local memory, preventing any loss of information or control.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for facilitating navigation in a web-based data entry grid. In one set of embodiments, when a user navigates into a cell of the data entry grid, the user's web browser can wait for a predetermined time period before accessing an application server to retrieve input control information for the cell. If the user enters a command to navigate away from the cell before the predetermined time period has passed, the server access can be avoided, and thus the navigation event can be processed immediately. If no navigation command is received from the user before the predetermined time period has passed, the input control information can be retrieved from the application server and rendered.