Mechanism for sharing information associated with application events

• US 10,033,792 B2
• Filed: 11/03/2017
• Issued: 07/24/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Dov Koren
• Original Assignee: Dov Koren
• Inventors: Koren, Dov
• Primary Examiner(s): Huynh, Cong-Lac
• Application Number:
  US15/803,371
• Publication Number:
  US 20180063222A1
• Time in Patent Office: 263 Days
• Field of Search: 715200
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3438 monitoring of user actions tracking the activity of the user H04L67/535
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/176 Support for shared access to files; File sharing support
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2119 Authenticating web pages, e.g. with suspicious links
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2149 Restricted operating environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching

Abstract

Techniques are provided that allow users to collaborate in relationship to data views, application displays, applications or events. A user can type in a text view related to a specific view in an application display, and the information is shared with other users that take part in sharing that view. A user that expresses an interest in an event is notified about the event and has the capability to interact, in relation to the event, with other users (e.g. by text). The particular form of interaction (and sharing) can be selectively specified. This interaction is comparable to a dynamic bulletin board where the subject is event driven. In the case of an event interest(s), users specify their interest (e.g. in other user application events or system events) and the system automatically alerts them to the occurrence of the event.

Claims

1. A system, comprising one or more server computers configured to execute instructions that cause the system to perform a method comprising steps of:

maintaining, for a particular application that is associated with a particular user, particular content that is accessible over a network;

based, at least in part, on receiving, over the network, an indication of a first input from the particular application, transmitting, over the network, a first link to a first application that is associated with a first user;

based, at least in part, on receiving, over the network, an indication of usage of the first link by the first application, enabling the first application to interact with the particular content over the network;

based, at least in part, on receiving, over the network, an indication of a second input from the particular application, transmitting, over the network, a second link to a second application that is associated with a second user;

based, at least in part, on receiving, over the network, an indication of usage of the second link by the second application, enabling the second application to interact with the particular content over the network;

receiving, over the network, from the particular application, an indication of a particular interaction with the particular application, and wherein the particular interaction includes interaction that causes change to the particular content;

generating first information, wherein the first information includes information that provides context of the particular interaction and a particular link that provides access over the network to the particular content;

storing the first information in a database;

storing the first information in a memory cache;

transmitting, over the network, the first information to the first application;

retrieving the first information from the memory cache and transmitting, over the network to the second application, the first information;

receiving, over the network, from the first application a first comment, wherein the first comment is entered in a first text entry interface, of the first application, that is related to the first information;

while the first information is concurrently maintained in the database and in the memory cache, performing the steps of;

storing the first comment, in relationship with the first information, in the database; and

in response to receiving from the first application the first comment, updating the memory cache with the first comment to store the first comment in relationship with the first information in the memory cache;

retrieving the first comment from the memory cache without accessing the database;

without the first application having received user input that explicitly indicates with whom to share the first comment, and without accessing the database to retrieve the first comment, transmitting, over the network, the first comment to the second application, to enable display of the first comment, in relation to the first information, in the second application; and

wherein the step of transmitting the first comment to the second application is performed based, at least in part, on the first information having been transmitted to the second application.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the information that provides context of the particular interaction includes a description of the particular interaction.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the particular content includes a particular view;

the particular interaction causes change to the particular view; and

the method further comprises;

generating a snapshot of at least a portion of the particular view; and

wherein the information that provides context of the particular interaction includes the snapshot.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the particular application is associated with the particular user at least in that information that uniquely identifies the particular user is used to login to the particular application.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the method further comprises:

in response to receiving the indication of usage of the first link by the first application, adding, to the particular content, information that identifies the first user as a user that has established a connection with the particular user; and

in response to receiving the indication of usage of the second link by the second application, adding, to the particular content, information that identifies the second user as a user that has established a connection with the particular user.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein:

a given application, that is associated with a given user, is enabled to display the first information; and

the first text entry interface is related to the first information at least in that;

the first application is configured such that a given comment entered in the first text entry interface is transmitted, by the first application to the system; and

the system is configured to transmit the given comment to the given application to enable the given comment to be displayed, in relation to the first information, in the given application.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the particular link enables a recipient of the particular link to participate in same type of interaction with the particular content, over the network, as the particular interaction.

8. A method comprising:

performing, by one or more server computers;

receiving, over a network from a first application that is associated with a first user, data that indicates a first expression of interest in application events of a particular user;

receiving, over the network from a second application that is associated with a second user, data that indicates a second expression of interest in application events of the particular user;

receiving, over the network from the first application, data that indicates a third expression of interest in application events of a given user;

receiving, over the network from a third application that is associated with a third user, data that indicates a fourth expression of interest in application events of the given user;

receiving, over the network from a given application that is associated with the given user, an indication of a given interaction of the given user with the given application;

receiving, over the network from a particular application that is associated with the particular user, an indication of a particular interaction of the particular user with the particular application;

after receiving the data that indicates the first expression of interest, the data that indicates the second expression of interest, the data that indicates the third expression of interest, the data that indicates the fourth expression of interest, the indication of the particular interaction and the indication of the given interaction, performing the steps of;

concurrently maintaining, first information and second information, in a database and in a memory cache accessible to a first process;

transmitting, from the first process to a second process, the first information and the second information from the memory cache without accessing the database;

assembling and formatting for display, by the second process, content of a first application view, to include content of a first view and content of a second view, wherein the content of the first view includes the first information and the content of the second view includes the second information;

transmitting, from the second process to a third process, the content of the first application view;

transmitting, from the third process, over the network, the content of the first application view to the first application to enable display of the first application view in a first application display of the first application, wherein the first application view concurrently includes the first view and the second view, wherein the first view includes the first information and the second view includes the second information;

wherein the first information is transmitted to the first application based, at least in part, on the third expression of interest;

wherein the first information includes information that provides context of the given interaction and a given link that provides access over the network to a given view that is associated with the given interaction;

wherein the second information is transmitted to the first application based, at least in part, on the first expression of interest;

wherein the second information includes information that provides context of the particular interaction and a particular link that provides access over the network to a particular view that is associated with the particular interaction;

without transmitting the first information to the second application, transmitting over the network the second information to the second application to enable display of the second information in a second application display of the second application without the first information being displayed in the second application display;

wherein the second information is transmitted to the second application based, at least in part, on the second expression of interest;

without transmitting the second information to the third application, transmitting over the network the first information to the third application to enable display of the first information in a third application display of the third application without the second information being displayed in the third application display;

wherein the first information is transmitted to the third application based, at least in part, on the fourth expression of interest; and

after transmitting the first information and the second information to the first application, transmitting the second information to the second application and transmitting the first information to the third application, performing the steps of;

receiving, over the network from the second application, a first comment, wherein the first comment is entered in a first text entry interface, of the second application, that is related to the second information;

without the second application having received user input that explicitly indicates with whom to share the first comment, and without transmitting the first comment to the third application, transmitting, over the network, the first comment to the first application, to enable display of the first comment, in relation to the second information, in the first application display; and

wherein the step of transmitting the first comment to the first application is performed based, at least in part, on the second information having been transmitted to the first application.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

executing the first process on a first server computer of the one or more server computers;

executing the second process on a second server computer of the one or more server computers; and

the step of transmitting, from the first process to the second process, is performed over a second network that is different from the network.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

while the second information is concurrently maintained in the database and in the memory cache, performing the steps of;

storing the first comment, in relationship with the second information, in the database; and

in response to receiving the first comment from the second application, updating the memory cache with the first comment to store the first comment in relationship with the second information in the memory cache;

retrieving the first comment from the memory cache without accessing the database; and

wherein the step of transmitting, over the network, the first comment to the first application, to enable display of the first comment, in relation to the second information, in the first application display comprises transmitting, over the network, the first comment to the first application, without accessing the database.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein the step of transmitting the first comment comprises transmitting, over the network, the first comment to the first application, without retransmitting the second information to the first application.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein the step of transmitting the first comment automatically causes display of the first comment, in relation to the second information, in the first application display.

13. The method of claim 8 wherein the step of transmitting the content of the first application view to the first application automatically causes display of the first application view in the first application display.

14. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

while the first application display includes the first information, the second information and the first comment, and while the second application display includes the second information and the first comment without including the first information, and while the third application display includes the first information without including the second information and the first comment, performing the steps of;

receiving, over the network from the third application, a second comment, wherein the second comment is entered in a second text entry interface, of the third application, that is related to the first information;

without the third application having received user input that explicitly indicates with whom to share the second comment, and without transmitting the second comment to the second application, transmitting, over the network, the second comment to the first application, to enable display of the second comment, in relation to the first information, in the first application display; and

wherein the step of transmitting the second comment to the first application is performed based, at least in part, on the first information having been sent to the first application.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein:

the first application view concurrently includes a first portion and a second portion;

the first portion corresponds to the first information and the second comment;

the second portion corresponds to the second information and the first comment;

the second application display includes the second portion without including the first portion; and

the third application display includes the first portion without including the second portion.

16. The method of claim 8 wherein:

the particular interaction corresponds to interaction with the particular view; and

the particular link enables the first application to participate in same type of interaction with the particular view, as the particular interaction.

17. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more server computers, the one or more programs comprising instructions to perform the method recited in claim 8.

18. A system, comprising one or more server computers configured to execute instructions that cause the system to perform a method comprising steps of:

receiving, over a network from a particular application that is associated with a particular user, a first expression of interest in application events of a first user;

receiving, over the network from the particular application, a second expression of interest in application events of a second user;

receiving, over the network from a first application that is associated with the first user, an indication of a first interaction of the first user with the first application;

storing first information about the first interaction in a database, wherein the first information includes a description of the first interaction and a first link that is associated with the first interaction;

storing the first information in a memory cache accessible to a first process;

receiving, over the network from a second application that is associated with the second user, an indication of a second interaction of the second user with the second application;

while the first information is concurrently maintained in the database and in the memory cache, performing the steps of;

storing second information about the second interaction in the database, wherein the second information includes a description of the second interaction and a second link that is associated with the second interaction; and

updating the memory cache with the second information to store the second information in the memory cache;

transmitting, from the first process to a second process, the first information and the second information from the memory cache without accessing the database;

assembling and formatting for display, by the second process, content of a first application view, to include content of a first view and content of a second view, wherein the content of the first view includes the first information and the content of the second view includes the second information;

transmitting, from the second process to a third process, the content of the first application view;

transmitting, from the third process, over the network, the content of the first application view to the particular application to enable display of the first application view in a first application display of the particular application, wherein the first application view concurrently includes the first view and the second view, wherein the first view includes the first information and the second view includes the second information;

wherein the first information is transmitted to the particular application based, at least in part, on the first expression of interest; and

wherein the second information is transmitted to the particular application based, at least in part, on the second expression of interest.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the step of transmitting the content of the first application view to the particular application automatically causes display of the first application view in the first application display of the particular application.

20. The system of claim 18 wherein the first link enables the particular application to participate in same type of interaction as the first interaction.

21. The system of claim 18 wherein:

the first interaction corresponds to input of a first text by the first user;

the first interaction causes a given view of the first application to be updated with the first text;

the first link provides access to the given view;

the second interaction corresponds to causing a file to be loaded to the one or more server computers;

the second interaction causes a particular view of the second application to include at least a portion of the content of the file; and

the second link provides access to the particular view.

22. A system, comprising one or more server computers configured to execute instructions that cause the system to perform a method comprising steps of:

receiving, over a network from a first application that is associated with a first user, data that indicates a first expression of interest in application events of a particular user;

receiving, over the network from a second application that is associated with a second user, data that indicates a second expression of interest in application events of the particular user;

receiving, over the network from the first application, data that indicates a third expression of interest in application events of a given user;

receiving, over the network from a third application that is associated with a third user, data that indicates a fourth expression of interest in application events of the given user;

receiving, over the network from a given application that is associated with the given user, an indication of a given interaction of the given user with the given application;

receiving, over the network from a particular application that is associated with the particular user, an indication of a particular interaction of the particular user with the particular application;

after receiving the data that indicates the first expression of interest, the data that indicates the second expression of interest, the data that indicates the third expression of interest, the data that indicates the fourth expression of interest, the indication of the particular interaction and the indication of the given interaction, performing the steps of;

transmitting, over the network, first information and second information to the first application, to enable concurrent display of the first information and the second information in a first application display of the first application;

wherein the first information is transmitted to the first application based, at least in part, on the third expression of interest;

wherein the first information includes information that provides context of the given interaction and a given link that provides access over the network to a given view that is associated with the given interaction;

wherein the second information is transmitted to the first application based, at least in part, on the first expression of interest;

wherein the second information includes information that provides context of the particular interaction and a particular link that provides access over the network to a particular view that is associated with the particular interaction;

without transmitting the first information to the second application, transmitting over the network the second information to the second application to enable display of the second information in a second application display of the second application without the first information being displayed in the second application display;

wherein the second information is transmitted to the second application based, at least in part, on the second expression of interest;

without transmitting the second information to the third application, transmitting over the network the first information to the third application to enable display of the first information in a third application display of the third application without the second information being displayed in the third application display;

wherein the first information is transmitted to the third application based, at least in part, on the fourth expression of interest; and

after transmitting the first information and the second information to the first application, transmitting the second information to the second application and transmitting the first information to the third application, performing the steps of;

receiving, over the network from the second application, a first comment, wherein the first comment is entered in a first text entry interface, of the second application, that is related to the second information;

without the second application having received user input that explicitly indicates with whom to share the first comment, and without transmitting the first comment to the third application, transmitting, over the network, the first comment to the first application, to enable display of the first comment, in relation to the second information, in the first application display; and

wherein the step of transmitting the first comment to the first application is performed based, at least in part, on the second information having been transmitted to the first application.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein the particular interaction corresponds to interaction with the particular view.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein the particular link enables the first application to participate in same type of interaction with the particular view, as the particular interaction.

25. The system of claim 22 wherein:

a particular application display of the particular application includes the particular view and a second particular view;

the particular interaction corresponds to interaction of the particular user with the particular view; and

the particular link provides access to the particular view without providing access to the second particular view.

26. The system of claim 22 wherein the step of enabling display of the second information and the first comment in the first application display comprises enabling display of the second information and the first comment in a first application view of the first application display;

and

the method further comprises;

after enabling display of the second information and the first comment in the first application view, maintaining, in a memory cache, cached information relating to the first application view, to enable subsequent requests to obtain the cached information without access to a database; and

the cached information includes information relating to organization of the first application view, the second information and the first comment.

27. The system of claim 22 wherein the particular interaction includes interaction that causes change to the particular view.

28. The system of claim 22 wherein the first comment is enabled to be displayed, in the first application display, below the second information.

29. The system of claim 22 wherein the method further comprises:

concurrently maintaining, the first information and the second information, in a database and in a memory cache accessible to a first process;

transmitting, from the first process to a second process, the first information and the second information from the memory cache without accessing the database;

assembling and formatting for display, by the second process, content of a first application view, to include content of a first view and content of a second view, wherein the content of the first view includes the first information and the content of the second view includes the second information;

transmitting, from the second process to a third process, the content of the first application view; and

the step of transmitting the first information and the second information to the first application, to enable concurrent display of the first information and the second information in the first application display of the first application, comprises transmitting, from the third process, over the network, the content of the first application view to the first application to enable display of the first application view in the first application display of the first application, wherein the first application view concurrently includes the first view and the second view, wherein the first view includes the first information and the second view includes the second information.

30. The system of claim 29 wherein the method further comprises:

concurrently maintaining with the first information in the memory cache, information related to organization of the first view; and

wherein the step of formatting the content of the first application view comprises formatting the content of the first view based, at least in part, on the information related to organization of the first view.