Automatic sharing of online resources in a multi-user computer system

• US 20070150551A1
• Filed: 12/28/2005
• Published: 06/28/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Ramaiah, Satish, Krishnan, Kalyanaraman, Yasa, Bhaskar
• Granted Patent: US 7,774,710 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/218
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A software tool assists users of a computer network to share items from each others'"'"' personal workspaces without requiring manual interaction on the users'"'"' part to receive and store items therein. An authoring user enters a command to share the object with “target recipients” and identifies the target recipients. Thereafter, the computer system creates records corresponding to the shared object in the workspaces of the target recipients. The records include pointers to the shared object. When a target recipient elects to open the records, it causes the computer system to access the author'"'"'s workspace and create a copy of the personal object for the target recipient, who is then free to interact with the copy as if it were in his own personal workspace. Significantly, the target recipient does not participate in the distribution of the personal object from the author'"'"'s workspace to his own. There is no administrative overhead as is required commonly in e-mail distribution systems.

Claims

1. A method of sharing data items among users of a computer network comprising:

responsive to a share command by a first user, creating a shared object in a private workspace of a target user,

wherein the shared object shares a common a look and feel with the target user'"'"'s own objects stored in his private workspace and

wherein the shared object contains a pointer to a source object in the first user'"'"'s workspace being shared with the target user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the creating occurs automatically without manual interaction by the target user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the shared object is provided in a segregated area of the target user'"'"'s workspace that is dedicated to storage of shared items/links.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the shared object is an item created by a groupware application.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the shared object is a document.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the private workspace is an area of a file system.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the private workspace is a folder.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the private workspace is an area of storage devoted to a groupware application.

9. A method of accessing a data item shared among two users of a computer network, comprising:

responsive to a command from a target user to open a shared item in his own private workspace, retrieving a pointer from the shared item,

opening a source object referenced by the pointer from a private workspace of another user who shared the item with the target user,

displaying contents from the source object to the target user.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the target user'"'"'s command and displayed contents are provided using a common look and feel as for opening and displaying contents of similar items that are locally authored and stored by the target user.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the shared item is provided in the target user'"'"'s private workspace automatically without interaction by the target user.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the private workspaces are storage areas devoted to each user'"'"'s groupware applications (or any application requiring storage?).

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the private workspaces are storage areas of a file system.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the target user'"'"'s private workspace is a storage area dedicated to storage of shared items/links to resources.

15. A directory server for a computer network, comprising:

storage for a plurality of user profiles of network users, and the list of links to shared resources with each link having an ACL identifying items shared by the respective user with other network users, and

a share agent, responsive to a share command received from an authoring user, to add a universal resource identifier included in the share command and referencing an item in a private workspace of the authoring user to a shared items list of another user, the other user also identified in the share command.

16. The directory server of claim 15, wherein the share agent occurs in a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol server.

17. The directory server of claim 15, wherein the universal resource identifier takes the form shown in Table 1.

18. A computer system comprising:

a plurality of workspaces, each assigned to a system user and each maintained private from the other users,

a data object stored in a workspace of a first user comprising a pointer to a workspace of a second user that, when opened, causes contents of a data record in the workspace of the second user be opened for use by the first user.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the private workspaces are storage areas devoted to each user'"'"'s groupware applications.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the private workspaces are storage areas of a file system.

21. Computer readable medium having stored thereon computer instructions that, when executed by a terminal, cause the terminal to:

create, in response to a share command by a first user, a shared object in a private workspace of a target user,

wherein the shared object shares a common a look and feel with the target user'"'"'s own objects stored in his private workspace and

wherein the shared object contains a pointer to a source object in the first user'"'"'s workspace being shared with the target user.

22. The medium of claim 21, wherein the private workspaces are storage areas devoted to each user'"'"'s groupware applications.

23. The medium of claim 21, wherein the private workspaces are storage areas of a file system.