Method and system for tracking changes in a document

• US 20060136510A1
• Filed: 12/17/2004
• Published: 06/22/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Voronov, Yohay B., Burns, Charles H. III, Iyer, Raju R., Harahan, Tim
• Granted Patent: US 7,788,237 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/197 Version control for software G06F8/71

Abstract

A change list tracking mechanism supports features that require a record of values that have been modified in a document of a project management software application. Examples of the features supported include multiple undo, report generation, and audit logging. The change list tracking mechanism includes object containers and change lists. Each object container includes objects that are associated with properties of the document. A user who wants to be notified of specific modifications creates the change list to track modifications made to a specific object property in a particular object container. A property value identified in the change list may be modified by any user that accesses the document. The corresponding object container provides information about the modification to the change list. The user is identified and notified of the modification.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for tracking modifications to a document, comprising:

creating a change list that is associated with an object, wherein the object is included in the document;

determining when the object is modified;

recording information associated with the modified object in the change list; and

notifying a user that the object is modified.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising associating the user with the change list by a change list number.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising associating the change list with an object container, wherein the object container comprises the object.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising identifying a property of the object in the change list, wherein determining when the object is modified further comprises determining when the property is modified.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising storing the information associated with the modified object in an undo buffer to enable a multiple undo feature.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising updating a report using the information associated with the modified object.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising identifying a user that modified the object using the information associated with the modified object.

8. A system for tracking modifications made to a document, comprising:

an object container comprising an object, wherein the object corresponds to a property of the document; and

a change list associated with the object container, wherein the object container provides information associated with the object to the change list when the property is modified to enable a feature associated with the modified property.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the object is a task, and wherein the property is at least one of:

a start date, a finish date, a duration, a deadline date, and a resource.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the feature is a multiple undo feature that returns the document to a previous version that does not include the modified property.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the feature is a report generator that implements the modified property in a report.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the feature is an audit logging feature that identifies a user that is associated with the modified property.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the property is modified by performing at least one of:

reordering, moving, deleting, and adding.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the change list is established by a user to notify the user when the property is modified.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the change list is cleared after the user is notified.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the user is associated with the change list by a change list number.

17. The system of claim 8, wherein the document is a project document associated with a project management software application.

18. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for tracking modifications in a document, comprising:

creating a change list that is arranged to track modifications to a property of an object associated with the document, wherein the change list is created by a user;

associating the change list with an object container, wherein the object container comprises the object;

determining when the property is modified;

providing information associated with the modified property from the object container to the change list; and

notifying the user that the property has been modified.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising enabling a feature based on the information associated with the modified property.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the feature is at least one of:

a multiple undo feature, a report generation feature, and an audit logging feature.