Document conversion with merging

• US 20030172168A1
• Filed: 03/05/2002
• Published: 09/11/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Arora, Akhil K., Rank, Paul J., Ong, Herbert T., Cameron, Brian A., Mak, Mingchi S.
• Granted Patent: US 7,200,668 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/230
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/258 Data format conversion from or to a database

Abstract

Converting a document in a small device format and merging the converted document with an original version of the document in an office productivity format. A document on a server may be converted to a small device format. Some information may be dropped from the document during conversion. The converted document may be transferred to a small device for editing. The edited document may be transferred back to the server for synchronization with the original document. After transferal, the edited document may be converted back to the original document format on the server and analyzed to determine differences between the edited document and the original document. The determined differences may be applied to the original document to merge the small device document with the original document. Information that was lost during the original conversion of the document may be restored to the merged document during the conversion/merge process.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a server configured to store documents in one or more server formats, wherein the documents are available to one or more devices via a network, wherein the server is configured to generate a small device document in a small device format from a document in a server format, wherein, to generate a small device document in a small device format from a document in a server format, the server is further configured to exclude one or more formats for content of the document in the server format from the small device document; and

wherein the server is further configured to provide the small device document to a small device coupled to the server;

the small device, wherein the small device is configured to;

modify the small device document to produce a modified version of the small device document; and

provide the modified version of the small device document to the server;

wherein the server is further configured to generate a modified version of the document in the server format from the modified version of the small device document, wherein, to generate a modified version of the document in the server format from the modified version of the small device document, the server is further configured to restore the one or more formats for content of the document in the server format excluded from the small device document.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the document in the server format is an office productivity document.

3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein, to restore the one or more formats for content of the document in the server format excluded from the small device document, the server is further configured to:

compare modified content of the modified version of the small device document to corresponding content of the document in the server format to determine one or more formats for the modified content of the modified version of the small device document to be merged with the document in the server format; and

merge the modified content of the modified version of the small device document into the document in the server format in accordance with the determined one or more formats for the modified content.

4. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein, to generate a modified version of the document in the server format from the modified version of the small device document, the server is further configured to:

determine differences between the modified version of the small device document and the document in the server format, wherein each determined difference indicates changed content of the modified version of the small device document; and

for each of the determined differences, merge corresponding changed content of the modified version of the small device document with the document in the server format.

5. The system as recited in claim 4, wherein, to determine differences between the modified version of the small device document and the document in the server format, the server is further configured to:

generate a modified version of the small device document in the server format from the modified version of the small device document in the small device format; and

compare the modified version of the small device document in the server format to the document in the server format.

6. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein, to generate a modified version of the document in the server format from the modified version of the small device document, the server is further configured to:

generate a modified document in an interim format from the modified version of the small device document;

generate a document in the interim format from the document in the server format;

determine one or more differences between the modified document in the interim format and the document in the interim format;

for each of the determined differences, merge corresponding changed content of the modified document in the interim format with the document in the interim format; and

generate the modified version of the document in the server format from the document in the interim format.

7. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the server is further configured to resolve differences between the modified version of the document in the server format and another modified version of the document in the server format to generate a synchronized version of the document in the server format.

8. The system as recited in claim 7, wherein, to resolve differences between the modified version of the document in the server format and another modified version of the document in the server format, the server is further configured to:

display the differences between the modified version of the document and the other modified version of the document; and

for each difference, accept user input specifying which version is to be used in the synchronized version of the document.

9. The system as recited in claim 7, wherein the server comprises a set of policies configured for use in resolving differences between versions of documents in the server format, wherein, to resolve differences between the modified version of the document in the server format and another modified version of the document in the server format, the server is further configured to, for each difference:

determine one of the polices corresponding to the difference; and

apply the determined policy to the difference to determine which version is to be used in the synchronized version of the document.

10. A server comprising:

a processor;

a memory operable to store program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by the processor to generate a small device document in a format supported by a small device from a document in a format supported by the server;

wherein, to generate a small device document in a format supported by the small device from a document in a format supported by the server, the program instructions are further executable by the processor to exclude one or more formats for content of the document in the format supported by the server from the small device document;

wherein the program instructions are further executable by the processor to generate a version of the document in the format supported by the server from a version of the small device document in the format supported by the small device; and

wherein, to generate a version of the document in the format supported by the server from a version of the small device document in the format supported by the small device, the program instructions are further executable by the processor to restore the one or more formats for content of the document in the format supported by the server excluded from the small device document.

11. The server as recited in claim 10, wherein the document in the format supported by the server is an office productivity document.

12. The server as recited in claim 10, wherein, to restore the one or more formats for content of the document in the format supported by the server excluded from the small device document, the program instructions are further executable by the processor to:

compare content of the version of the small device document to corresponding content of the document in the format supported by the server to determine one or more formats for the content of the version of the small device document to be merged with the document in the format supported by the server; and

merge the content of the modified version of the small device document into the document in the format supported by the server in accordance with the determined one or more formats for the content.

13. The server as recited in claim 10, wherein, to generate a version of the document in the format supported by the server from the version of the small device document, the program instructions are further executable by the processor to:

determine differences between the version of the small device document and the document in the format supported by the server, wherein each determined difference indicates changed content of the modified version of the small device document; and

for each of the determined differences, merge corresponding changed content of the modified version of the small device document with the document in the format supported by the server.

14. The server as recited in claim 13, wherein, to determine differences between the version of the small device document and the document in the format supported by the server, the program instructions are further executable by the processor to:

generate a modified document in the format supported by the server from the version of the small device document; and

compare the modified document in the format supported by the server to the document in the format supported by the server.

15. The server as recited in claim 10, wherein, to generate a version of the document in the format supported by the server from the version of the small device document, the program instructions are further executable by the processor to:

generate a modified document in an interim format from the version of the small device document;

generate a document in the interim format from the document in the format supported by the server;

determine one or more differences between the modified document in the interim format and the document in the interim format;

for each of the determined differences, merge corresponding changed content of the modified document in the interim format with the document in the interim format; and

generate the version of the document in the format supported by the server from the document in the interim format.

16. The server as recited in claim 10, wherein the program instructions are further executable by the processor to resolve differences between the version of the document in the format supported by the server and another version of the document in the format supported by the server to generate a synchronized version of the document in the format supported by the server.

17. The server as recited in claim 16, wherein, to resolve differences between the version of the document in the format supported by the server and another version of the document in the format supported by the server, the program instructions are further executable by the processor to:

display the differences between the version of the document and the other version of the document; and

for each difference, accept user input specifying which version is to be used in the synchronized version of the document.

18. The server as recited in claim 16, wherein the server comprises a set of policies configured for use in resolving differences between versions of documents in the format supported by the server, wherein, to resolve differences between the version of the document in the format supported by the server and another version of the document in the format supported by the server, the program instructions are further executable by the processor to, for each difference:

determine one of the polices corresponding to the difference; and

apply the determined policy to the difference to determine which version is to be used in the synchronized version of the document.

19. A method comprising:

generating a small device document in a small device format from a document in an office format;

wherein said generating a small device document in a small device format from a document in the office format comprises excluding one or more formats for content of the document in the office format from the small device document;

generating a modified version of the small device document in the small device format;

generating a modified version of the document in the office format from the modified version of the small device document; and

wherein said generating a modified version of the document in the office format from the modified version of the small device document comprises restoring the one or more formats for content of the document in the office format excluded from the small device document.

20. The method as recited in claim 19, wherein said restoring the one or more formats for content of the document in the office format excluded from the small device document comprises:

comparing content of the modified version of the small device document to corresponding content of the document in the office format to determine one or more formats for the content of the modified version of the small device document to be merged with the document in the office format; and

merging the content of the modified version of the small device document into the document in the office format in accordance with the determined one or more formats for the content.

21. The method as recited in claim 19, wherein said generating a modified version of the document in the office format from the modified version of the small device document comprises:

determining differences between the modified version of the small device document and the document in the office format, wherein each determined difference indicates changed content of the modified version of the small device document; and

for each of the determined differences, merging corresponding changed content of the modified version of the small device document with the document in the office format.

22. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein said determining differences between the modified version of the small device document and the document in the office format comprises:

generating a modified version of the small device document in the office format from the modified version of the small device document; and

comparing the modified version of the small device document in the office format to the document in the office format.

23. The method as recited in claim 19, wherein said generating a modified version of the document in the office format from the modified version of the small device document comprises:

generating a modified document in an interim format from the version of the small device document;

generating a document in the interim format from the document in the office format;

determining one or more differences between the modified document in the interim format and the document in the interim format;

for each of the determined differences, merging corresponding changed content of the modified document in the interim format with the document in the interim format; and

generating the modified version of the document in the office format from the document in the interim format.

24. The method as recited in claim 19, further comprising resolving differences between the modified version of the document in the office format and another modified version of the document in the office format to generate a synchronized version of the document in the office format.

25. The method as recited in claim 24, wherein said resolving differences between the modified version of the document in the office format and another modified version of the document in the office format comprises:

displaying the differences between the modified version of the document and the other modified version of the document; and

for each difference, accepting user input specifying which version to be used in the synchronized version of the document.

26. The method as recited in claim 24, wherein said resolving differences between the modified version of the document in the office format and another modified version of the document in the office format comprises, for each difference:

determining one of a set of polices corresponding to the difference, wherein the set of policies is configured for use in resolving differences between versions of documents in the office format; and

applying the determined policy to the difference to determine which version is to be used in the synchronized version of the document.

27. An article of manufacture comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:

generating a small device document in a small device format from a document in an office format;

wherein said generating a small device document in a small device format from a document in the office format comprises excluding one or more formats for content of the document in the office format from the small device document;

generating a modified version of the small device document in the small device format;

generating a modified version of the document in the office format from the modified version of the small device document; and

wherein said generating a modified version of the document in the office format from the modified version of the small device document comprises restoring the one or more formats for content of the document in the office format excluded from the small device document.

28. The article of manufacture as recited in claim 27, wherein, in said restoring the one or more formats for content of the document in the office format excluded from the small device document, the program instructions are further computer-executable to implement:

comparing content of the modified version of the small device document to corresponding content of the document in the office format to determine one or more formats for the content of the modified version of the small device document to be merged with the document in the office format; and

merging the content of the modified version of the small device document into the document in the office format in accordance with the determined one or more formats for the content.

29. The article of manufacture as recited in claim 27, wherein, in said generating a modified version of the document in the office format from the modified version of the small device document, the program instructions are further computer-executable to implement:

determining differences between the modified version of the small device document and the document in the office format, wherein each determined difference indicates changed content of the modified version of the small device document; and

for each of the determined differences, merging corresponding changed content of the modified version of the small device document with the document in the office format.

30. The article of manufacture as recited in claim 29, wherein, in said determining differences between the modified version of the small device document and the document in the office format, the program instructions are further computer-executable to implement:

generating a modified version of the small device document in the office format from the modified version of the small device document; and

comparing the modified version of the small device document in the office format to the document in the office format.

31. The article of manufacture as recited in claim 27, wherein, in said generating a modified version of the document in the office format from the modified version of the small device document, the program instructions are further computer-executable to implement:

generating a modified document in an interim format from the version of the small device document;

generating a document in the interim format from the document in the office format;

determining one or more differences between the modified document in the interim format and the document in the interim format;

for each of the determined differences, merging corresponding changed content of the modified document in the interim format with the document in the interim format; and

generating the modified version of the document in the office format from the document in the interim format.

32. The article of manufacture as recited in claim 27, wherein the program instructions are further computer-executable to implement resolving differences between the modified version of the document in the office format and another modified version of the document in the office format to generate a synchronized version of the document in the office format.