SEARCH TOOL THAT AGGREGATES DISPARATE TOOLS UNIFYING COMMUNICATION

• US 20090007148A1
• Filed: 06/28/2007
• Published: 01/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Hough, Paul J., Ozzie, Raymond E., Curtis, Pavel, McAniff, Richard J., Gupta, Anoop, Czerwinski, Mary P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,726,297 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/320
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/36 Software reuse

Abstract

A user entering information in an application might desire functionality not supported by that application. Based on an input or a subset of the input, a functionality associated with a different application can be automatically applied within a current application. Sometimes, a particular application or mode of communication can be used to send information and reply information can be sent in a different mode of communication. The communications can be automatically associated or related to each other. A user can be presented with information relating to both communications, upon request, although the communications might be associated with different modes of communication. Constraints or parameters can be placed on a subsequent communication by either a sender or a recipient.

Claims

1. A system for applying functions across computing applications, comprising:

an analyze component that separates a received input into commands, at least one command is a request for a function not supported by a first application;

a search component that discovers a second application that implements the at least one command; and

an output component that presents the input with the at least one command implemented.

2. The system of claim 1, the search component includes a listing of applications and related functions.

3. The system of claim 1, the search component seeks the second application in a device, on a network, over the Internet or combinations thereof.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprises a confirm module that solicits verification of whether an analysis of the input is correct.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a formula module that corresponds a user-selectable operation with a desired function; and

an apply module that automatically applies the function based on the user-selectable operation included in the received input.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprises a query module that interprets a query included in the received input as a command to perform a particular operation.

7. The system of claim 1, the analysis component further associates a first input with at least a second input.

8. The system of claim 7, the analysis component associates the inputs based on at least one of a keyword, a phrase, a subject matter, a manual entry, or combinations thereof.

9. The system of claim 7, the search component gathers the first input and the at least a second input and the output component presents both inputs to a user based on a request.

10. The system of claim 7, the first input and the at least a second input are retained in a history file.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprises a mode component that controls a mode of communication for a subsequent input.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprises a constraint component that selectively applies a sender-constraint or a receiver-constraint to a subsequent input.

13. A method for aggregating communications, comprising:

receiving a first input and a second input;

determining if the second input is related to the first input;

dynamically associating the first input and the second input; and

presenting both the first input and the second input when a request is received to view either input.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving a constraint applied to either the first input or the second input; and

accepting a subsequent input if the applied constraint is not violated.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving a request for a subsequent input to be received in a defined modality;

ascertaining whether a subsequent input is received in the defined modality; and

selectively presenting the subsequent input to a user.

16. The method of claim 15, selectively presenting the subsequent input comprises transforming the input from a first modality to the defined modality.

17. The method of claim 15, the subsequent input is rejected if it is not in the defined modality.

18. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving a request within the first input for a function not supported by a current application;

accessing a different application that supports the requested function; and

dynamically applying the different application to implement the requested function.

19. A computer-implemented system for unifying communications, comprising:

means for analyzing communications received in different communication modes to determine a relationship between the communications and associating the communications if there is a relationship;

means for retrieving the associated communications when a request for at least one of the received communications is received; and

means for outputting the associated communications in the different communication modes.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

means for establishing a mode control for a subsequent communication; and

means for selectively accepting the subsequent communication based on the established mode control.