Method and electronic device for editing content

• US 10,356,139 B2
• Filed: 07/14/2017
• Issued: 07/16/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Hak-jung, Kang, Young-cheol, Seo, Won-young, Ryu, Hyung-sun, Jeon, Byeong-yong
• Primary Examiner(s): To, Jennifer
• Assistant Examiner(s): Li, Liang Y
• Application Number:
  US15/650,338
• Publication Number:
  US 20170318064A1
• Time in Patent Office: 732 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/101 Collaborative creation, e.g. joint development of products or services
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails

Abstract

A content editing method and apparatus for efficiently editing of content by allowing one user who edits the content to confirm a region of the content edited by another user. The content editing method includes displaying a content select interface used by the first electronic device to select content stored in a server; displaying a content edit interface used to edit the content if the content is selected through the displayed content select interface; and displaying an object informing a redundant access to the selected content when a second electronic device attempts to edit a part of the selected content that is being edited by the first electronic device through the content edit interface.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating coauthoring of a document by a server system, the method comprising:

receiving, from a first electronic device, first information regarding a partial portion of the document sent based on a selection, by a user of the first electronic device, of a lock option in a document editing application at the first electronic device;

identifying, based on the first information, that the partial portion is requested to be prevented from being edited;

identifying second information regarding the user of the first electronic device who requested to prevent editing of the partial portion;

sending, to a second electronic device, the first information and the second information to cause the second electronic device to provide an identifier at a position in the document based on the partial portion of the document, wherein the identifier is for indicating that the user of the first electronic device requested to prevent editing of the partial portion and is for an interaction causing the second electronic device to provide an instant messaging interface and send a request for instant messaging with the user who requested to prevent editing of the partial portion, and the identifier is provided based on an identity of the user of the first electronic device;

receiving, from the second electronic device, the request for the instant messaging with the user who requested to prevent editing of the partial portion, wherein the request is sent by the second electronic device based on the interaction involving the identifier at the second electronic device;

receiving, from the first electronic device, third information regarding the partial portion sent based on a selection, by the user of the first electronic device, of an unlock option in the document editing application at the first electronic device;

identifying, based on the third information, that the partial portion being prevented from being edited is requested to be released from being prevented from being edited; and

sending, to the second electronic device, the third information to cause the second electronic device to release the partial portion from being prevented from being edited,

wherein the lock option and unlock option are provided as user interface items in the document editing application at the first electronic device, and

wherein, when the instant messaging interface is caused to be provided based on the interaction involving the identifier, the instant messaging interface is provided in a separate window.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the server system stores the document.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an editing request for editing the document from the first electronic device or the second electronic device; and

editing the document based on the received request.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the document is a web document.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing the first electronic device and the second electronic device with information regarding users who participate in the coauthoring of the document.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing the second electronic device with the document in which the partial portion is requested to be prevented from being edited.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to receiving the request for the instant messaging with the user who requested to prevent editing of the partial portion, allowing the first electronic device and the second electronic device to communicate with each other.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for instant messaging with the user who requested to prevent editing of the partial portion is a request exclusively for instant messaging with the user who requested to prevent editing of the partial portion.

9. A server system, comprising:

a memory storing instructions; and

a processor configured to execute the instructions to;

receive, from a first electronic device, first information regarding a partial portion of a document sent based on a selection, by a user of the first electronic device, of a lock option in a document editing application at the first electronic device,

identify, based on the first information, that the partial portion is requested to be prevented from being edited,

identify second information regarding the user of the first electronic device who requested to prevent editing of the partial portion,

send, to a second electronic device, the first information and the second information to cause the second electronic device to provide an identifier at a position in the document based on the partial portion of the document, wherein the identifier is for indicating that the user of the first electronic device requested to prevent editing of the partial portion and is for an interaction causing the second electronic device to provide an instant messaging interface and send a request for instant messaging with the user who requested to prevent editing of the partial portion, and the identifier is provided based on an identity of the user of the first electronic device,

receive, from the second electronic device, the request for the instant messaging with the user who requested to prevent editing of the partial portion, wherein the request is sent by the second electronic device based on the interaction involving the identifier at the second electronic device,

receive, from the first electronic device, third information regarding the partial portion sent based on a selection, by the user of the first electronic device, of an unlock option in the document editing application at the first electronic device,

identify, based on the third information, that the partial portion being prevented from being edited is requested to be released from being prevented from being edited, and

send, to the second electronic device, the third information to cause the second electronic device to release the partial portion from being prevented from being edited,

wherein the lock option and unlock option are provided as user interface items in the document editing application at the first electronic device, and

wherein, when the instant messaging interface is caused to be provided based on the interaction involving the identifier, the instant messaging interface is provided in a separate window.

10. The server system of claim 9, wherein the memory further stores the document.

11. The server system of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:

receiving an editing request for editing the document from the first electronic device or the second electronic device; and

editing the document based on the received request.

12. The server system of claim 9, wherein the document is a web document.

13. The server system of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:

provide the first electronic device and the second electronic device with information regarding users who participate in coauthoring of the document.

14. The server system of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:

provide the second electronic device with the document in which the partial part portion is requested to be prevented from being edited.

15. The server system of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:

in response to receiving the request for the instant messaging with the user who requested to prevent editing of the partial portion, allow the first electronic device of the user and the second electronic device to communicate with each other.

16. The server system of claim 9, wherein the request for instant messaging with the user who requested to prevent editing of the partial portion is a request exclusively for instant messaging with the user who requested to prevent editing of the partial portion.