IDENTIFYING UNSTRUCTURED ELEMENTS OF A COLLABORATIVE PLACE IN A HIERARCHICALLY STRUCTURED MANNER

• US 20090006426A1
• Filed: 06/27/2007
• Published: 01/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Goelzer, Andreas P.
• Granted Patent: US 9,372,861 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/13 File access structures, e.g. distributed indices arrangements of input from, or output to, record carriers G06F3/06

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to element identification for elements in a collaborative computing environment and provide a method, system and computer program product for identifying unstructured elements of a collaborative place in a hierarchically structured manner. In one embodiment of the invention, a method for locating an unstructured element in a collaborative computing environment can be provided. The method can include receiving a request for an unstructured element in the collaborative environment, extracting a hierarchy of unique identifiers from the request, locating a last folder referenced by the hierarchy of unique identifiers, and returning a reference to the folder as a location of the unstructured element.

Claims

1. A method for locating an unstructured element in a collaborative computing environment comprises:

receiving a request for an unstructured element in the collaborative environment;

extracting a hierarchy of unique identifiers from the request;

locating a last folder referenced by the hierarchy of unique identifiers; and

,

returning a reference to the folder as a location of the unstructured element.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a request for an unstructured element in the collaborative environment, comprises receiving a request for a collaborative document selected from the group consisting of a memo, calendar item, document, and task.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein extracting a hierarchy of unique identifiers from the request, comprises extracting a hierarchy of unique identifiers from the request, each of the unique identifiers comprising an attribute type for an attribute of the unstructured element and a name for the attribute.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the attribute type for an attribute of the unstructured element comprises an attribute type selected from the group consisting of a collaborative place, room, folder, document, attachment, comment and version.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein returning a reference to the folder as a location of the unstructured element comprises:

additionally extracting a name hierarchy for the unstructured element;

resolving a folder as a child of the folder referenced by the hierarchy of unique identifiers based upon the name hierarchy; and

,

returning a reference to the resolved folder as a location of the unstructured element.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein resolving a folder as a child of the folder referenced by the hierarchy of unique identifiers based upon the name hierarchy, comprises:

locating an existing folder as a child of the folder referenced by the hierarchy of unique identifiers based upon the name hierarchy; and

,

otherwise creating a folder as a child of the folder referenced by the hierarchy of unique identifiers based upon the name hierarchy if the created folder had not previously existed.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the computer usable program code for extracting a hierarchy of unique identifiers from the request, comprises computer usable program code for extracting a hierarchy of unique identifiers from the request, each of the unique identifiers comprising an attribute type for an attribute of the unstructured element and a name for the attribute.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the attribute type for an attribute of the unstructured element comprises an attribute type selected from the group consisting of a collaborative place, room, folder, document, attachment, comment and version.

7. A collaborative computing data processing system configured for locating an unstructured element, the system comprising:

at least one collaborative server communicatively coupled to a plurality of collaborative clients; and

,

element naming logic coupled to each of the collaborative clients, the element naming logic comprising program code enabled to receive a request for an unstructured element in the collaborative environment, extract a hierarchy of unique identifiers from the request, locate a last folder referenced by the hierarchy of unique identifiers, and return a reference to the folder as a location of the unstructured element.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the collaborative element is a collaborative document selected from the group consisting of a memo, calendar item, document, and task.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein each of the unique identifiers comprises an attribute type for an attribute of the unstructured element and a name for the attribute.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the attribute type for an attribute of the unstructured element comprises an attribute type selected from the group consisting of a collaborative place, room, folder, document and attachment.

11. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium embodying computer usable program code for locating an unstructured element in a collaborative computing environment, the computer program product comprising:

computer usable program code for receiving a request for an unstructured element in the collaborative environment;

computer usable program code for extracting a hierarchy of unique identifiers from the request;

computer usable program code for locating a last folder referenced by the hierarchy of unique identifiers; and

,

computer usable program code for returning a reference to the folder as a location of the unstructured element.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the computer usable program code for receiving a request for an unstructured element in the collaborative environment, comprises computer usable program code for receiving a request for a collaborative document selected from the group consisting of a memo, calendar item, document, and task.

15. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the computer usable program code for returning a reference to the folder as a location of the unstructured element comprises:

computer usable program code for additionally extracting a name hierarchy for the unstructured element;

computer usable program code for resolving a folder as a child of the folder referenced by the hierarchy of unique identifiers based upon the name hierarchy; and

,

computer usable program code for returning a reference to the resolved folder as a location of the unstructured element.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the computer usable program code for resolving a folder as a child of the folder referenced by the hierarchy of unique identifiers based upon the name hierarchy, comprises:

computer usable program code for locating an existing folder as a child of the folder referenced by the hierarchy of unique identifiers based upon the name hierarchy; and

,

computer usable program code for otherwise creating a folder as a child of the folder referenced by the hierarchy of unique identifiers based upon the name hierarchy if the created folder had not previously existed.