Methods and systems for managing to do items or notes or electronic messages

• US 10,068,203 B2
• Filed: 10/20/2011
• Issued: 09/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Langoulant, Brendan, Lemay, Stephen, Forstall, Scott, Hearst, David Paul, Eguiluz, Hernan Rodrigo, Christie, Gregory
• Primary Examiner(s): Choi, Carol
• Application Number:
  US13/278,016
• Publication Number:
  US 20120042028A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,511 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting

Abstract

Methods and systems for managing To do items and/or notes and/or emails (or other electronic messages) are described. A record, such as a To do item, in a database maintained locally by the data processing system is encoded into metadata. The metadata is sent as a false email message by an email client application executing on the data processing system to a remote email message server. An email client application executing on a remote processing system accesses the email message server and receives the false email message containing the metadata. The remote client application then either converts the metadata back into a database record editable at the remote processing system or presents a non-editable view of the database record, for example as an incoming email message.

Claims

1. A non-transitory machine readable medium containing executable program instructions which cause a data processing system to perform a method comprising:

modifying or creating, by the data processing system, a record in a database maintained locally by the data processing system;

encoding, by the data processing system, the database record into metadata; and

sending, by the data processing system, the metadata as a first type of email message to a remote email message server, the first type of email message subsequently processed by a remote client application executing on a remote platform, the remote client application providing live controls that process the metadata to update a remote database on the remote platform without displaying any of metadata to a user as an email message, wherein the remote database is synchronized with a message server database based at least in part on two snapshot differences and resolving a conflict between the remote database and the message server database when the two snapshot differences indicate a conflict, a first snapshot difference abased on a difference of a current snapshot of the message server database with a reference snapshot of the message server database, and a second snapshot difference based on a difference of a current snapshot of the remote database with the reference snapshot of the message server database.

2. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the metadata is convertible into a remote database record by the remote client application to provide a synchronized view of the database record as modified by the data processing system.

3. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the encoding comprising generating the metadata to be displayable as a non-editable view of the database record as modified by the data processing system by a remote messaging client that does not provide live controls to process the first type of email message.

4. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1, wherein the metadata is in MIME format, and the database record is a To do item.

5. A non-transitory machine readable medium containing executable program instructions which cause a data processing system to perform a method comprising:

receiving, by the data processing system, a metadata file as a first type of email message from a remote email message server, the metadata file encoding a first database record stored in a message server database on the remote email message server;

converting, by the data processing system, the metadata file to a second database record with a client application executing locally on the data processing system to update a local database on the data processing system, the second database record corresponding to the first database record, the client application providing live controls to convert the metadata file without displaying any of the metadata file to a user as an email message;

presenting, by the data processing system, a view of the second database record through the client application;

reconciling the local database and the message server database based at least in part on two snapshot differences, wherein a first snapshot difference created by comparing a current snapshot of the message server database with a reference snapshot of the message server database, and a second snapshot difference created by comparing a current snapshot of the local database with the reference snapshot of the message server database; and

resolving a conflict between the local database and the message server database when the two snapshot differences indicate a conflict.

6. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 5, wherein the view of the second database record is editable through the client application.

7. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 5, wherein the local database is a local cache of the message server database.

8. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 5, wherein a snapshot comprises a list of paired database record identifiers and each pair includes both a universally unique database record ID and a message ID for a database record stored on the message server.

9. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 8, wherein reconciling further comprises:

determining the message server database is to be modified with a third database record based on the first snapshot difference being indicative of no difference and the second snapshot difference being indicative of a difference; and

sending metadata in a first type of email message to the remote email message server, the metadata encoding the third database record.

10. A machine implemented method comprising:

modifying or creating, by a data processing system, a record in a database local to the data processing system;

encoding, by the data processing system, the modified database record into metadata; and

sending, by the data processing system, the metadata as a first type of email message to a remote email message server, the first type of email message subsequently processed by a remote client application executing on a remote platform, the remote client application providing live controls that process the metadata to update a remote database on the remote platform without displaying any of the metadata to a user as an email message, wherein the remote database is synchronized with a message server database based at least in part on two snapshot differences and resolving a conflict between the remote database and the message server database when the two snapshot differences indicate a conflict, a first snapshot difference created by comparing a current snapshot of the message server database with a reference snapshot of the message server database, and a second snapshot difference created by comparing a current snapshot of the remote database with the reference snapshot of the message server database.

11. The machine implemented method of claim 10, wherein the metadata is in MIME format and the database record is a To do item.

12. A machine implemented method comprising:

receiving, by a data processing system, a metadata file as a first type of email message from a remote email message server, the metadata file encoding a first database record stored in a message server database on the remote email message server;

converting, by the data processing system, the metadata file to a second database record with a client application executing locally on the on the data processing system to update a local database on the data processing system, the second database record corresponding to the first database record, the client application providing live controls to convert the metadata file without displaying any of the metadata file to a user as an email message;

presenting, by the data processing system, a view of the database record through the client application; and

reconciling the local database and the message server database based at least in part on two snapshot differences, a first snapshot difference created by comparing a current snapshot of the message server database with a reference snapshot of the message server database, and a second snapshot difference created by comparing a current snapshot of the local database with the reference snapshot of the message server database; and

resolving a conflict between the local database and the message server database when the two snapshot differences indicate a conflict.

13. The machine implemented method of claim 12, wherein the view of the second database record is editable through the client application.

14. The machine implemented method of claim 12, wherein a snapshot is a list of paired database record identifiers and each pair includes both a universally unique database record ID and a message ID for a database record stored on the message server.

15. The machine implemented method of claim 14, wherein the reconciling further comprising:

determining the message server database is to be modified with a third database record based on the first snapshot difference being indicative of no difference and the second snapshot difference being indicative of a difference; and

sending metadata, in a first type of email message, to the remote email message server, the metadata encoding the third database record.