Method and system for in-document markup in support of information sharing

• US 20080288862A1
• Filed: 05/15/2007
• Published: 11/20/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center, Inc. (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Smetters, Diana K., Churchill, Elizabeth F., Nelson, Lester D.
• Granted Patent: US 8,966,362 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/255
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/117 Tagging; Marking up details of markup languages G06F40/143; Designating a block; Setting of attributes style sheets, e.g. eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformation [XSLT], G06F40/154
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes

Abstract

A system is provided to facilitate content dissemination. During operation, the system allows a user to add a tag to a first document, wherein the tag indicates an operation to be performed on a portion of the document. The system then processes the tag and performs the operation on the document portion based on the tag.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating content dissemination, the method comprising:

allowing a user to add a tag to a first document, wherein the tag indicates an operation to be performed on a portion of the document;

processing the tag; and

performing the operation on the document portion based on the tag.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the tag specifies one or more of:

an action;

the portion of the document; and

a receiving entity corresponding to the action.

3. The method of claim 2,

wherein the action comprises one or more of:

a showing of, sharing of, copying of, request of comment for, and a request of approval for the document portion with respect to the receiving entity;

wherein the document portion may include a paragraph, a section, and/or a specific text location; and

wherein the receiving entity can be identified by at least one of;

one or more user identifiers,

one or more group identifiers,

one or more email addresses,

one or more network addresses, and

one or more pathnames.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein allowing the user to add the tag comprises allowing the user to insert the tag inline within the document.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein allowing the user to insert the tag in the document comprises:

providing the user with a visual representation of a collection of tags; and

allowing the user to select one or more tags from the collection of tags.

6. The method of claim 1,

wherein the operation includes sending the document portion to a second user;

and

wherein the method further comprises;

receiving a second document or document portion in response to the operation performed; and

modifying the first document based on the second document or document portion.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a user command which triggers the processing of the tag.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing of the tag is performed at pre-determined times.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising triggering the processing of the tag based on one or more events.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the operation on the document portion comprises:

encrypting a copy of the document portion; and

sending the encrypted copy to the receiving entity.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the operation on the document portion comprises:

authenticating a copy of the document portion by signing the copy with a digital signature; and

sending the authenticated copy to the receiving entity.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a part of the tag is formulated in natural language or contains an abstract specification which can be used to identify at least one portion of the first document.

13. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for facilitating content dissemination, the method comprising:

allowing a user to add a tag to a first document, wherein the tag indicates an operation to be performed on a portion of the document;

processing the tag; and

performing the operation on the document portion based on the tag.

14. The storage medium of claim 13, wherein the tag specifies one or more of:

an action;

the portion of the document; and

a receiving entity corresponding to the action.

15. The storage medium of claim 14,

wherein the action comprises one or more of:

a showing of, sharing of, copying of, request of comment for, and a request of approval for the document portion with respect to the receiving entity;

wherein the document portion may include a paragraph, a section, and/or a specific text location; and

wherein the receiving entity can be identified by at least one of;

one or more user identifiers,

one or more group identifiers,

one or more email addresses,

one or more network addresses, and

one or more pathnames.

16. The storage medium of claim 13, wherein allowing the user to add the tag comprises allowing the user to insert the tag inline within the document.

17. The storage medium of claim 16, wherein allowing the user to insert the tag in the document comprises:

providing the user with a visual representation of a collection of tags; and

allowing the user to select one or more tags from the collection of tags.

18. The storage medium of claim 13,

wherein the operation includes sending the document portion to a second user;

and

wherein the method further comprises;

receiving a second document or document portion in response to the operation performed; and

modifying the first document based on the second document or document portion.

19. The storage medium of claim 13, further comprising receiving a user command which triggers the processing of the tag.

20. The storage medium of claim 13, wherein the processing of the tag is performed at pre-determined times.

21. The storage medium of claim 13, further comprising triggering the processing of the tag based on one or more events.

22. The storage medium of claim 13, wherein performing the operation on the document portion comprises:

encrypting a copy of the document portion; and

sending the encrypted copy to the receiving entity.

23. The storage medium of claim 13, wherein performing the operation on the document portion comprises:

authenticating a copy of the document portion by signing the copy with a digital signature; and

sending the authenticated copy to the receiving entity.

24. The storage medium of claim 13, wherein at least a part of the tag is formulated in natural language or contains an abstract specification which can be used to identify at least one portion of the first document.

25. A computer system that facilitates content dissemination, the computer system comprising:

a processor;

a memory;

a tagging mechanism to allow a user to add a tag to a first document, wherein the tag indicates an operation to be performed on a portion of the document; and

a tag processing mechanism to process the tag and perform the operation on the document portion based on the tag.