Message handling method and terminal supporting the same

• US 10,015,118 B2
• Filed: 08/27/2013
• Issued: 07/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Lee, Gahee
• Primary Examiner(s): Ipakchi, Maryam M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Parbadia, Pritisha N
• Application Number:
  US14/011,600
• Publication Number:
  US 20140059448A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,771 Days
• Field of Search: 715752
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15

Abstract

Provided is a message handling function of a terminal and, particularly, a message handling method and a terminal for supporting the same, the message handling method including displaying plural messages, receiving a predetermined input event instructing aggregation of the plural messages, and aggregating at least one of the messages per user identification information to generate per-user aggregated messages according to the input event.

Claims

1. A method for generating a message for transmission, comprising:

at a terminal having a processor, a storage memory, a user interface, and connected to a network, receiving messages via the network;

displaying, at a display of the terminal, a plurality of messages related to multiple users identification information, the plurality of messages received by the terminal via the network and stored in the storage memory of the terminal;

receiving an input event at the user interface;

determining, by the processor, that the input event is associated with an instruction to generate an aggregated message according to a predetermined rule;

in response to the instruction to generate an aggregated message from among the plurality of displayed messages according to a predetermined rule, determining, by the processor, an aggregation range for the aggregated message, the aggregated message associated with a message sequence, the aggregation range including messages from the plurality of messages, the messages within the aggregation range displayed as transmitted by at least two different users, each user having specific user identification information displayed adjacent to each message transmitted by each user; and

wherein determining the aggregation range further comprises receiving a multi-touch input as the input event, the multi-touch input selecting a first displayed message with displayed specific user identification information, the multi-touch input further selecting a last displayed message with the displayed specific user identification information,

generating an aggregated message ready for transmission via the network by aggregating all of the messages having the same displayed specific user identification information between the first selected displayed message of the multi-touch input and the last selected displayed message of the multi-touch input according to the predetermined rule, the aggregation comprising;

removing the selected first displayed message and each message of the plurality of displayed messages having the same displayed specific user identification between the first displayed message and the selected last displayed message from the message sequence,

redisplaying, in a same order, the removed messages with the selected last displayed message, as the aggregated message, the aggregated message being displayed at a position of the selected last displayed message in the message sequence,

displaying the aggregated message as a bubble with the specific user identification information displayed adjacent to messages received or transmitted from users having different displayed user identification information, the messages received or transmitted from users having different displayed user identification information displayed based on receiving or transmission time information, and

maintaining a display of all other displayed messages of the message sequence as separately displayed messages with the respective user identification information displayed adjacent to each message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein aggregating the messages further comprises:

aggregating only messages corresponding to a specific user identification information selected from the users identification information related to the plurality of messages.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the user interface, a multi-touch event and configuring the aggregation range according to a predetermined rule associated with the multi-touch event; and

wherein configuring an aggregation range comprises one or more of;

configuring current on-screen messages as the aggregation range;

configuring messages between a specific message selected from the plurality of messages and a most recently received message as the aggregation range;

configuring messages transmitted on a specific date as the aggregation range; and

configuring a predetermined number of messages arranged before and after a message selected from the plurality of messages.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein aggregating aggregation range aggregating all of the messages having the same displayed specific user identification information further comprises:

receiving, via the user interface, a movement touch event, the movement touch event modifying the touch input associated with the instruction to generate an aggregated message, and aggregating the messages within the aggregation range according to the movement touch event; and

displaying the aggregated message at a position of one of the first and the last message, in a direction of the movement touch event during a multi-touch event, the aggregated message being distinguished from other messages.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying messages having the same displayed specific user identification information as a message indicated by a multi-touch event to be distinguished from other messages when receiving the multi-touch event for indicating one or more of a first and last message included in the aggregation range.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the input event comprises:

receiving a touch event for selecting a first message of the aggregation range, the aggregation range delimited by a first message and a last message;

receiving a scroll event for searching the last message hidden on a current screen of the display; and

receiving a touch event for selecting the last message appearing on the current screen according to the scroll event.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising dividing the current screen into an area including the selected first message and another area where the scroll event is made in search for the last message.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the aggregated message at a side of the display;

receiving a predetermined input signal for disaggregating the aggregated message;

checking time information on each of the messages stored together when storing the aggregated message and time information on currently displayed other messages; and

disaggregating and rearranging the aggregated message based on the time information.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an input signal for transmitting the aggregated message; and

transmitting the aggregated message, upon reception of the input signal, via the network, to one or more of a predetermined application program running on a terminal of one or more of multiple users belonging to a message group, a terminal of a specific user designated by the input signal, and a terminal supporting aggregation of the plurality of messages.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a predetermined touch event generated at an area of the display where the aggregated message is displayed; and

deleting a message including a part of content which is designated by the predetermined touch event where the aggregated message is displayed.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein aggregating the at least some of the messages further comprises:

aggregating the messages corresponding to multiple users identification information related to the messages in the aggregation range to generate a plurality of aggregated messages.

11. A terminal for generating a message for transmission, the terminal communicatively connected to a network and comprising:

a processor;

a display;

a user interface; and

a storage memory capable of storing messages and containing instructions causing the processor to;

receive messages via the network;

display, on the display of the terminal, a plurality of messages related to multiple users identification information, the plurality of messages received by the terminal via the network and stored in the storage memory;

receive an input event, via the user interface,

determine, by the processor, that the input event is associated with an instruction to generate an aggregated message according to a predetermined rule;

in response to the instruction to generate an aggregated message from among the plurality of displayed messages according to a predetermined rule, determine, by the processor, an aggregation range for the aggregated message, the aggregated message associated with a message sequence, the aggregation range including messages from the plurality of messages, the messages within the aggregation range displayed as transmitted by at least two different users, each user having specific identification information displayed adjacent to each message transmitted by each user,

wherein, in determining the aggregation range, the processor receives a multi-touch input as the input event, the multi-touch input selecting a first displayed message with displayed specific user identification information, the multi-touch input further selecting a last displayed message with the displayed specific user identification information, and

generate an aggregated message ready for transmission via the network by aggregating all of the messages having the same displayed specific user identification information between the first selected displayed message of the multi-touch input and the last selected displayed message of the multi-touch input according to the predetermined rule, the aggregation comprising the processor;

removing the selected first displayed message and each message of the plurality of displayed messages having the same displayed specific user identification between the first displayed message and the selected last displayed message from the message sequence,

redisplaying, in a same order, the removed messages with the selected last displayed message, as the aggregated message, the aggregated message being displayed at a position of the selected last displayed message in the message sequence,

displaying the aggregated message as a bubble with the specific user identification information displayed adjacent to messages received or transmitted from users having different displayed user identification information, the messages received or transmitted from users having different displayed user identification information displayed based on receiving or transmission time information, and

maintaining a display of all other displayed messages of the message sequence as separately displayed messages with the respective user identification information displayed adjacent to each message.

12. The terminal of claim 11, wherein the storage memory contains instructions causing the processor to:

aggregate only the messages corresponding to a specific user identification information selected from the users identification information related to the plurality of messages.

13. The terminal of claim 11, wherein the aggregation range comprises one of:

an aggregation range designated by first and last messages by the multi-touch input received at the user interface, an aggregation range including current on-screen messages,

an aggregation range including messages delimited with a message selected from the plurality of messages and a most recently received message,

an aggregation range including the messages transmitted on a specific date, and

an aggregation range including a predetermined number of messages arranged before and after a message selected from the plurality of messages.

14. The terminal of claim 11, wherein the storage memory contains instructions causing the processor to receive, via the user interface, a movement touch event modifying a multi-touch event instructing the processor to generate an aggregated message, to aggregate the message in a predetermined range according to the movement touch event, and to display the aggregated message at a position of one of the first message and the last message which are in a direction of the movement touch event during the multi-touch event, to distinguish the aggregated message from other messages.

15. The terminal of claim 11, wherein the display displays messages having the same displayed specific user identification information as a message designated by a multi-touch event when receiving the multi-touch event for designating one or more of a first message and a last message in the aggregation range, to be distinguished from other messages.

16. The terminal of claim 11, wherein the storage memory contains instructions causing the processor to:

receive a touch event, via the user interface, to select a first message of a predetermined range, the predetermined range delimited by a first message and a last message;

receive a scroll event, via the user interface, to search for the last message hidden on a current screen; and

receive a touch event, via the user interface, to select the last message appearing on the current screen according to the scroll event.

17. The terminal of claim 16, wherein the display is configured to present a display dividing the current screen into an area having the selected first message and an area where the scroll event is input for search of the last message.

18. The terminal of claim 11, wherein the storage memory contains instructions causing the processor to receive a predetermined input signal, via the user interface, disaggregate the aggregated message displayed at a side of the display, and the storage memory contains instructions causing the processor to check time information on messages stored together when storing the aggregated message and time information on currently displayed other messages, disaggregate the aggregated message, and rearrange the disaggregated messages based on the time information.

19. The terminal of claim 11, wherein the storage memory contains instructions causing the processor to receive an input signal, via the user interface, to transmit the aggregated message, and the terminal transfers the aggregated message, via the network, upon reception of the input signal, to one or more of a predetermined application program running on a terminal of one or more of multiple users belonging to a message group, a terminal of a specific user designated by the input signal, and a terminal supporting aggregation of the plurality of messages.

20. The terminal of claim 11, wherein the storage memory contains instructions causing the processor to receive a predetermined touch event, via the user interface, generated at an area of the display where the aggregated message is displayed, and storage memory contains instructions causing the processor to delete a message including a part of content which is designated by the predetermined touch event from the aggregated message.

25. The terminal of claim 11, wherein the storage memory contains instructions causing the processor to:

aggregate the messages corresponding to multiple users identification information related to the messages in the aggregation range to generate a plurality of aggregated messages.

21. A method for generating a message for transmission, the method comprising:

at a terminal having a processor, a storage memory, a user interface, and connected to a network, receiving messages via the network;

displaying, at a display of the terminal, a plurality of messages related to multiple users identification information, the plurality of messages received by the terminal via the network and stored in the storage memory;

receiving an input event at the user interface,

determining, by the processor, that the input event is associated with an instruction to generate an aggregated message according to a predetermined rule;

determining, by the processor, a delimited aggregation range for the aggregated message, wherein the delimited aggregation range includes messages associated with at least two different users identification information from among the plurality of messages; and

generating, by the processor, an aggregated message ready for transmission over the network, the aggregated message aggregating the messages in the delimited aggregation range according to the predetermined rule.

22. A terminal for generating a message for transmission, the terminal communicatively connected to a network and comprising:

a processor;

a display;

a user interface; and

a storage memory capable of storing messages and containing instructions causing the processor to;

receive messages via the network,

display, on the display of the terminal, a plurality of messages related to multiple users identification information, the plurality of messages received by the terminal via the network and stored in the storage memory,

receive an input event, via the user interface,

determine that the input event is associated with an instruction to generate an aggregated message according to a predetermined rule,

determine an aggregation range for the aggregated message, wherein the aggregation range includes messages associated with at least two different users identification information from among a plurality of messages,

receive a second input signal, via the user interface, the second input signal associated with an instruction to delimit the aggregation range of the messages to be aggregated from the plurality of messages, and

generate an aggregated message ready for transmission over the network according to the predetermined rule.

23. A method of generating a message for transmission, the method comprising:

at a terminal having a processor, a display, a storage memory, a user interface and connected to a network, receiving messages via the network;

receiving, via the user interface, a multi-touch event designating a first message and a last message among a plurality of messages displayed on the display;

checking, by the processor, user identification information of the messages including a first message and a last message, and the messages displayed between the first and the last message on the display, wherein the checked user information of the messages is associated with at least two different users identification information from among the plurality of messages; and

generating an aggregated message ready for transmission via the network according to a predetermined rule, the generating including aggregating the messages per user identification information.