Method and apparatus for automatic detection of display sharing and alert generation in instant messaging

• US 20060161853A1
• Filed: 01/20/2005
• Published: 07/20/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Twitter Inc (X Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Walker, Keith Raymond, Handy-Bosma, John Hans, Chen, Yen-Fu, Selvage, Mei Yang
• Granted Patent: US 7,747,685 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/758
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A method and apparatus is provided for automatically detecting display sharing, setting display sharing status, and generating alerts in instant messaging. If the display is shared, the present invention intercepts an instant message before it is displayed and generates alerts to senders. Senders have options to display the message, delete the message, or allow the message to be queued until display is no longer shared. Alternatively, if the sender'"'"'s instant messaging application supports the functionality, the mechanism of the present invention may present the user with options to display the message or allow the message to be queued until display is no longer shared without sending an alert message. A privacy list of contacts may be automatically built when integrated with a calendar system for controlling instant messaging access and behavior.

Claims

1. A method in a data processing system for automatic detection of display sharing and alert generation, the method comprising:

detecting environment of the data processing system for a display sharing tool;

determining if a user is sharing a display of the data processing system using the display sharing tool;

setting an online status for the user if the user is sharing the display;

intercepting an instant message;

queuing the instant message in a queue; and

automatically sending an alert to a sender of the instant message.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to receiving instructions embedded in a return message from the sender of the instant message, identifying a sender preference from the embedded instructions; and

if the sender preference indicates displaying the instant message, removing the instant message from the queue and displaying the instant message on the display.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

if the sender preference indicates canceling the instant message, removing the instant message from the queue and deleting the instant message from the data processing system; and

if no sender preference is identified in the return message, continuing to queue the instant message in the queue.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

displaying the instant message on the display in response to one of determining that the user is not sharing the display, the user manually requests the instant message to be displayed, and the user closes the display sharing tool.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting step comprises:

polling an operating system of the data processing system for a status of the display sharing tool, wherein the display sharing tool is identified by a set of footprints; and

determining if the display sharing tool is currently executing on the data processing system as a process based on the status.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if no environment of the data processing system is detected, the user manually initiates the determining step and the intercepting step.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the set of footprints is defined by the user.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining step comprises:

examining a number of factors in the environment of the data processing system, wherein the number of factors includes a window title of the display sharing tool, a registry of the data processing system, and a network port usage of the data processing system.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the intercepting step comprises:

determining if a desired behavior is defined by the user for receiving the instant message; and

if a desired behavior is defined, performing the desired behavior.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the desired behavior includes one of hiding and queuing the instant message from a foreground of the display, blinking an instant messaging application on the display, and displaying a name of the sender of the instant message on the display.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the intercepting step comprises:

determining if the sender is recognized;

if the sender is recognized, retrieving a sender preference for the sender;

bypassing the automatically sending step; and

using the sender preference responsive to receiving a return message from the sender of the instant message.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatically sending step comprises:

generating the alert with instructions to the sender, wherein the instructions include displaying the instant message on the display, canceling the instant message, and queuing the message if no action is taken by the sender.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining if sender of the instant message is in a privacy list;

if the sender of the instant message is not in the privacy list, sending a return message requesting the sender to indicate a sender preference, wherein the sender preference includes one of displaying the instant message on the display and queuing the instant message; and

hiding the online status of the user from the sender.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

if the sender of the instant message is in the privacy list, displaying the message to the sender without sending a return message.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the privacy list is built by the user, and wherein the user builds the privacy list by one of manually adding a number of contacts from a contact list to the privacy list and setting a template.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein setting a template includes specifying a period of time, a number of contacts, and one of a date and a number of dates.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the privacy list is built by:

locating a list of invitees in a calendar system;

searching for an instant message identifier for each invitee in the list of invitees; and

adding each invitee to the privacy list using the instant messaging identifier.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the searching step comprises:

locating one of a central database and distributed directories; and

mapping each invitee in the list of invitees to an instant messaging identifier.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the privacy list is built by:

determining a list of participants sharing the display using the display sharing tool;

locating each participant in the list of participants using a list of invites in a calendar system;

mapping each invitee in the list of invitees to an instant messaging identifier; and

adding each invitee to the privacy list using the instant messaging identifier.

20. A data processing system for automatic detection of display sharing and alert generation, the data processing system comprising:

detecting means for detecting environment of the data processing system for a display sharing tool;

determining means for determining if a user is sharing a display of the data processing system using the display sharing tool;

setting means for setting an online status for the user if the user is sharing the display;

intercepting means for intercepting an instant message;

queuing means for queuing the instant message in a queue; and

automatically sending means for automatically sending an alert to a sender of the instant message.

21. The data processing system of claim 20, further comprising:

responsive to receiving instructions embedded in a return message from the sender of the instant message, identifying means for identifying a sender preference from the embedded instructions; and

if the sender preference indicates displaying the instant message, removing means for removing the instant message from the queue and displaying the instant message on the display.

22. The data processing system of claim 21, further comprising:

if the sender preference indicates canceling the instant message, removing means for removing the instant message from the queue and deleting means for deleting the instant message from the data processing system; and

if no sender preference is identified in the return message, continuing means for continuing to queue the instant message in the queue.

23. The data processing system of claim 22, further comprising:

displaying means for displaying the instant message on the display in response to one of determining that the user is not sharing the display, the user manually requests the instant message to be displayed, and the user closes the display sharing tool.

24. The data processing system of claim 20, wherein the intercepting means comprises:

determining means for determining if the sender is recognized;

if the sender is recognized, retrieving means for retrieving a sender preference for the sender;

bypassing means for bypassing the automatically sending step; and

using means for using the sender preference responsive to receiving a return message from the sender of the instant message.

25. The data processing system of claim 20, wherein the automatically sending means comprises:

generating means for generating the alert with instructions to the sender, wherein the instructions include displaying the instant message on the display, canceling the instant message, and queuing the message if no action is taken by the sender.

26. The data processing system of claim 20, further comprising:

determining means for determining if sender of the instant message is in a privacy list;

if the sender of the instant message is not in the privacy list, sending means for sending a return message requesting the sender to indicate a sender preference, wherein the sender preference includes one of displaying the instant message on the display and queuing the instant message; and

hiding means for hiding the online status of the user from the sender.

27. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for automatic detection of display sharing and. alert generation, the computer program product comprising:

first instructions for detecting environment of the data processing system for a display sharing tool;

second instructions for determining if a user is sharing a display of the data processing system using the display sharing tool;

third instructions for setting an online status for the user if the user is sharing the display;

fourth instructions for intercepting an instant message;

fifth instructions for queuing the instant message in a queue; and

sixth instructions means for automatically sending an alert to a sender of the instant message.

28. The computer program product of claim 27, further comprising:

responsive to receiving instructions embedded in a return message from the sender of the instant message, seventh instructions for identifying a sender preference from the embedded instructions; and

if the sender preference indicates displaying the instant message, eighth instructions for removing the instant message from the queue and displaying the instant message on the display.

29. The computer program product of claim 28, further comprising:

if the sender preference indicates canceling the instant message, ninth instructions for removing the instant message from the queue and tenth instructions for deleting the instant message from the data processing system; and

if no sender preference is identified in the return message, eleventh instructions for continuing to queue the instant message in the queue.

30. The computer program product of claim 29, further comprising:

twelfth instructions for displaying the instant message on the display in response to one of determining that the user is not sharing the display, the user manually requests the instant message to be displayed, and the user closes the display sharing tool.

31. The computer program product of claim 27, wherein the fourth instructions comprises:

first sub-instructions for determining if the sender is recognized;

if the sender is recognized, second sub-instructions for retrieving a sender preference for the sender;

third sub-instructions for bypassing the automatically sending step; and

fourth sub-instructions for using the sender preference responsive to receiving a return message from the sender of the instant message.

32. The computer program product of claim 27, wherein the sixth instructions comprises:

first sub-instructions for generating the alert with instructions to the sender, wherein the instructions include displaying the instant message on the display, canceling the instant message, and queuing the message if no action is taken by the sender.

33. The computer program product of claim 27, further comprising:

seventh instructions for determining if sender of the instant message is in a privacy list;

if the sender of the instant message is not in the privacy list, eighth instructions for sending a return message requesting the sender to indicate a sender preference, wherein the sender preference includes one of displaying the instant message on the display and queuing the instant message; and

ninth instructions for hiding the online status of the user from the sender.