Multi-user, multi-timed collaborative annotation

• US 20060101328A1
• Filed: 11/08/2004
• Published: 05/11/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Martin, Sean J., Feigenbaum, Lee D., McCullough, Lonnie A., Martin, Simon L., Torres, Elias, Albornoz, Jordi A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,472,341 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/201
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A displayed document comprises an annotation widget, the widget associated with an annotation document and a corresponding annotation key in an annotation store. The annotation document associated with a workflow action program. A user with a predetermined privilege selects a widget and is presented with the annotation document. The user performs an annotation task modifying the annotation document and submits the annotation document to the annotation store, the submission triggering the workflow action program to progress the workflow to another step.

Claims

1. A method for workflow annotation, the method comprising the steps of:

retrieving a document from a document store;

relating the document with one or more annotations in an annotation store, the annotation store comprising annotations and annotation keys, the one or more annotations related to the document by corresponding annotation keys;

retrieving one or more annotations from the annotation store, the annotations related to the document by the corresponding annotation keys, the annotation widgets having corresponding annotation GUI widgets;

displaying the document at a GUI interface, the displayed document having the one or more annotation GUI widgets overlaying predetermined portions of the displayed document, the one or more annotation GUI widgets comprising a first annotation widget;

selecting the first widget by way of the GUI interface;

responsive to selecting the first widget, retrieving the first annotation document from an annotation store;

displaying at the GUI interface the retrieved first annotation document, the document comprising one or more fields;

modifying by way of the GUI interface a first field of the one or more fields; and

submitting the modified first annotation document to the annotation store, the submitting step comprising the further step of performing a workflow action.

2. The method according to claim 1 comprising the further steps of:

creating the first annotation document;

relating the first annotation document with the first annotation widget;

creating the corresponding annotation key, the corresponding annotation key relating the first annotation document with the document;

associating a location of the document with the widget, the location for displaying the first annotation widget; and

saving the first annotation document and the corresponding annotation key in the annotation store.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the workflow action is any one of ending the work flow, transforming the workflow to a next workflow step, changing the appearance of the first annotation widget, changing the location of the first annotation widget or informing another user of the workflow action.

4. The method according to claim 1 comprising the further step of displaying a task list with the displayed document.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the first annotation document is customized for one or more user roles such that elements of the first annotation are displayed differently for a first user role than for a second user role.

6. The method according to claim 1 wherein the annotation document comprises one or more annotation structures, an annotation structure comprising a title field for prompting a user for annotation data, the annotation document further comprising a data entry field for receiving user provided annotation data.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the annotation document comprises one or more workflow notification annotation structures, a workflow notification annotation structure comprising a workflow title field, the workflow title field for prompting a user for a workflow action, the workflow notification annotation structure further comprising a workflow notification program for performing a workflow notification action.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein the step of performing a workflow action comprises the further step of sending a notification to responsible users, the responsible users responsible for taking a next step in a workflow associated with the annotation.

9. The method according to claim 8 wherein the notification comprises any one of an email, a phone message, a text message, an instant message, a portion of the document or a portion of the annotation.

10. A computer program product for workflow annotation, the computer program product comprising:

a storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by a processing circuit for performing a method comprising the steps of;

the method comprising the steps of;

retrieving a document from a document store;

relating the document with one or more annotations in an annotation store, the annotation store comprising annotations and annotation keys, the one or more annotations related to the document by corresponding annotation keys;

retrieving one or more annotations from the annotation store, the annotations related to the document by the corresponding annotation keys, the annotation widgets having corresponding annotation GUI widgets;

displaying the document at a GUI interface, the displayed document having the one or more annotation GUI widgets overlaying predetermined portions of the displayed document, the one or more annotation GUI widgets comprising a first annotation widget;

selecting the first widget by way of the GUI interface;

responsive to selecting the first widget, retrieving the first annotation document from an annotation store;

displaying at the GUI interface the retrieved first annotation document, the document comprising one or more fields;

modifying by way of the GUI interface a first field of the one or more fields; and

submitting the modified first annotation document to the annotation store, the submitting step comprising the further step of performing a workflow action.

11. The computer program product according to claim 10 comprising the further steps of:

creating the first annotation document;

relating the first annotation document with the first annotation widget;

creating the corresponding annotation key, the corresponding annotation key relating the first annotation document with the document;

associating a location of the document with the widget, the location for displaying the first annotation widget; and

saving the first annotation document and the corresponding annotation key in the annotation store.

12. The computer program product according to claim 10 wherein the workflow action is any one of ending the work flow, transforming the workflow to a next workflow step, changing the appearance of the first annotation widget, changing the location of the first annotation widget or informing another user of the workflow action.

13. The computer program product according to claim 10 comprising the further step of displaying a task list with the displayed document.

14. The computer program product according to claim 10 wherein the first annotation document is customized for one or more user roles such that elements of the first annotation are displayed differently for a first user role than for a second user role.

15. The computer program product according to claim 10 wherein the annotation document comprises one or more annotation structures, an annotation structure comprising a title field for prompting a user for annotation data, the annotation document further comprising a data entry field for receiving user provided annotation data.

16. The computer program product according to claim 10 wherein the annotation document comprises one or more workflow notification annotation structures, a workflow notification annotation structure comprising a workflow title field, the workflow title field for prompting a user for a workflow action, the workflow notification annotation structure further comprising a workflow notification program for performing a workflow notification action.

17. The computer program product according to claim 10 wherein the step of performing a workflow action comprises the further step of sending a notification to responsible users, the responsible users responsible for taking a next step in a workflow associated with the annotation.

18. The computer program product according to claim 17 wherein the notification comprises any one of an email, a phone message, a text message, an instant message, a portion of the document or a portion of the annotation.

19. A system for workflow annotation, the system comprising:

a network;

a first computer system in communication with the network wherein the computer system includes instructions to execute a method comprising the steps of;

retrieving a document from a document store;

relating the document with one or more annotations in an annotation store, the annotation store comprising annotations and annotation keys, the one or more annotations related to the document by corresponding annotation keys;

retrieving one or more annotations from the annotation store, the annotations related to the document by the corresponding annotation keys, the annotation widgets having corresponding annotation GUI widgets;

displaying the document at a GUI interface, the displayed document having the one or more annotation GUI widgets overlaying predetermined portions of the displayed document, the one or more annotation GUI widgets comprising a first annotation widget;

selecting the first widget by way of the GUI interface;

responsive to selecting the first widget, retrieving the first annotation document from an annotation store;

displaying at the GUI interface the retrieved first annotation document, the document comprising one or more fields;

modifying by way of the GUI interface a first field of the one or more fields; and

submitting the modified first annotation document to the annotation store, the submitting step comprising the further step of performing a workflow action.

20. The system according to claim 19 comprising the further steps of:

creating the first annotation document;

relating the first annotation document with the first annotation widget;

creating the corresponding annotation key, the corresponding annotation key relating the first annotation document with the document;

associating a location of the document with the widget, the location for displaying the first annotation widget; and

saving the first annotation document and the corresponding annotation key in the annotation store.

21. The system according to claim 19 wherein the workflow action is any one of ending the work flow, transforming the workflow to a next workflow step, changing the appearance of the first annotation widget, changing the location of the first annotation widget or informing another user of the workflow action.

22. The system according to claim 19 comprising the further step of displaying a task list with the displayed document.

23. The system according to claim 19 wherein the first annotation document is customized for one or more user roles such that elements of the first annotation are displayed differently for a first user role than for a second user role.

24. The system according to claim 19 wherein the annotation document comprises one or more annotation structures, an annotation structure comprising a title field for prompting a user for annotation data, the annotation document further comprising a data entry field for receiving user provided annotation data.

25. The system according to claim 19 wherein the annotation document comprises one or more workflow notification annotation structures, a workflow notification annotation structure comprising a workflow title field, the workflow title field for prompting a user for a workflow action, the workflow notification annotation structure further comprising a workflow notification program for performing a workflow notification action.

26. The system according to claim 19 wherein the step of performing a workflow action comprises the further step of sending a notification to responsible users, the responsible users responsible for taking a next step in a workflow associated with the annotation.

27. The system according to claim 26 wherein the notification comprises any one of an email, a phone message, a text message, an instant message, a portion of the document or a portion of the annotation.

28. A service for workflow annotation, the service comprising:

presenting a GUI depiction of a target document, the GUI depiction providing one or more annotation widgets located at user defined locations of the document by a user wherein an annotation widget is associated with one or more annotation windows, an annotation window providing a workflow widget for advancing the workflow associated with the annotation of the annotation window;

an annotation window is presented to a user responsive to the user selecting the corresponding annotation widget on the target document; and

a workflow action is performed by selecting the workflow widget of the annotation window.

29. The service according to claim 28 wherein an annotation widget depicted provides a visual indication of the workflow status.