Sharing Material in a Master-Slave Configuration Using an Instant Messaging Infrastructure

• US 20090182833A1
• Filed: 01/15/2008
• Published: 07/16/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Balasubramanian, Swaminathan
• Granted Patent: US 7,792,904 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/208
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1822 Conducting the conference, e.g. admission, detection, selection or grouping of participants, correlating users to one or more conference sessions, prioritising transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4641 Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]

Abstract

A method for utilizing an IM system enables presenters and participants to interact with material in a master-slave configuration. Both the presenter and participants access the material locally on their computers. The material on the participants'"'"' computer interacts with the presenter'"'"'s computer using an existing instant messaging infrastructure. As the presenter interacts with local material, events are broadcast to slave material as instant messages, such that these events are reproduced as interactions.

Claims

1. A method of using an instant messaging (IM) infrastructure in a master-slave configuration to transmit events that alter the visual state of material, the method comprising:

starting a master application in a master system;

connecting, via a chat server, the master system to one or more registered slave systems;

fin response to the master application detecting an event that alters the visual state of the material in the master system, converting the event into a serialized command that is transmittable by the chat server;

adding the serialized command to a master event queue in the master system;

transmitting the serialized command from the master event queue in the master system to a slave event queue in one or more of the registered slave systems that are running a slave application, wherein the slave application is a copy of the master application;

fetching, in each registered slave system, the serialized command from the slave event queue within each registered authorized slave system;

reconstituting, in each registered slave system, the serialized command into an executable event command; and

executing the executable event command in each of the slave applications in the registered slave systems, wherein executing the executable event command alters a visual state of a copy of the material in the slave system.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, at the master application in the master system, if the event is insignificant; and

in response to the master application in the master system determining that the event is insignificant, blocking the adding of the serialized command to the master event queue.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, at the master application in the master system, if the event is insignificant; and

in response to the master application in the master system determining that the event is insignificant, blocking the converting of the event into the serialized command.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

initializing a chat registry in the master system, wherein the chat registry registers an identity of authorized users who are authorized to participate in a virtual meeting in which the material is interactively shared between the master system and the registered slave systems.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the material is the master application, and wherein the event alters a visual state of the master application.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the material is a master document that operates under the master application, and wherein the event alters a visual state of the master document, and wherein the executable event command alters a visual state of a slave document that is running in one of the slave systems, wherein the slave document is a cloned copy of the master document.

7. A system comprising:

a processor;

a data bus coupled to the processor;

a memory coupled to the data bus; and

a computer-usable medium embodying computer program code, the computer program code comprising instructions executable by the processor and configured for using an instant messaging (IM) infrastructure in a master-slave configuration to transmit changes to a visual appearance of material by performing the steps of;

starting a master application in a master system;

connecting, via a chat server, the master system to one or more registered slave systems;

in response to the master application detecting an event that changes a visual appearance of the material in the master system, converting the event into a serialized command that is transmittable by the chat server;

adding the serialized command to a master event queue in the master system;

transmitting the serialized command from the master event queue in the master system to a slave event queue in one or more of the registered slave systems that are running a slave application, wherein the slave application is a copy of the master application;

fetching, in each registered slave system, the serialized command from the slave event queue within each registered authorized slave system;

reconstituting, in each registered slave system, the serialized command into an executable event command; and

executing the executable event command in each of the slave applications in the registered slave systems, wherein executing the executable event command changes the visual appearance of a copy of the material in the slave system.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the instructions are further configured for:

determining, at the master application in the master system, if the event is insignificant; and

in response to the master application in the master system determining that the event is insignificant, blocking the converting of the event into the serialized command.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the instructions are further configured for:

determining, at the master system, whether the event is insignificant;

in response to the master system determining that the event is insignificant, blocking the converting of the event into the serialized command.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the instructions are further configured for:

initializing a chat registry in the master system, wherein the chat registry registers an identity of authorized users who are authorized to participate in a virtual meeting in which the material is interactively shared between the master system and the registered slave systems.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the material is the master application, and wherein the event changes a visual appearance of the master application.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the material is a master document that operates under the master application, and wherein the event changes a visual appearance of the master document, and wherein the executable event command changes a visual appearance of a slave document that is running in one of the slave systems, wherein the slave document is a cloned copy of the master document.

13. A computer-readable medium embodying computer program code, the computer program code comprising instructions executable by the processor and configured for using an instant messaging (IM) infrastructure in a master-slave configuration to transmit events that alter a state of material by performing the steps of:

starting a master application in a master system;

connecting, via a chat server, the master system to one or more registered slave systems;

in response to the master application detecting an event that changes the state of the material in the master system, converting the event into a serialized command that is transmittable by the chat server;

adding the serialized command to a master event queue in the master system;

transmitting the serialized command from the master event queue in the master system to a slave event queue in one or more of the registered slave systems that are running a slave application, wherein the slave application is a copy of the master application;

fetching, in each registered slave system, the serialized command from the slave event queue within each registered authorized slave system;

reconstituting, in each registered slave system, the serialized command into an executable event command; and

executing the executable event command in each of the slave applications in the registered slave systems, wherein executing the executable event command alters a state of a copy of the material in the slave system.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions are further configured for:

determining, at the master application in the master system, if the event is insignificant; and

in response to the master application in the master system determining that the event is insignificant, blocking the adding of the serialized command to the master event queue.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions are further configured for:

determining, at the master application in the master system, if the event is insignificant; and

in response to the master application in the master system determining that the event is insignificant, blocking the converting of the event into the serialized command.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions are further configured for:

initializing a chat registry in the master system, wherein the chat registry registers an identity of authorized users who are authorized to participate in a virtual meeting in which the material is interactively shared between the master system and the registered slave systems.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the material is the master application, and wherein the event changes a state of the master application.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the material is a master document that operates under the master application, and wherein the event alters a state of the master document, and wherein the executable event command changes a state of a slave document that is running in one of the slave systems, wherein the slave document is a cloned copy of the master document.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the computer-usable medium is a component of a remote server, and wherein the computer executable instructions are deployable to a supervisory computer from the remote server.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the computer executable instructions are capable of being provided by a service provider to a customer on an on-demand basis.