EFFICIENTLY SHARING WINDOWS DURING ONLINE COLLABORATIVE COMPUTING SESSIONS

• US 20100262925A1
• Filed: 04/08/2009
• Published: 10/14/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Huang, He, Sheng, Hailei, Liu, Guangbing, Gu, Jiannong
• Granted Patent: US 8,185,828 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/759
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1053 IP private branch exchange [PBX] functionality entities or arrangements circuit switched PBXs H04M3/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4015 where at least one of the additional parallel sessions is real time or time sensitive, e.g. white board sharing, collaboration or spawning of a subconference
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355

Abstract

In one embodiment, a presenter device may determine displayed windows of applications, and may provide individual window sharing selectability (e.g., shared or unshared), as well as entire application sharing selectability (shared, unshared, or neither). In particular, the entire application sharing selectability takes priority over individual window sharing selections (i.e., all windows of shared applications are shared and all windows of unshared applications are unshared). Based on individual window sharing selections and entire application sharing selections, a set of presenter device windows that are to be shared with the attendee devices may be determined, as well as a set of unshared windows that are not to be shared with the attendee devices, and the presenter device may share the set of shared windows with the attendee devices, without sharing the set of unshared windows.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

participating in an online collaborative computing session by a presenter device to share applications executing at the presenter device with one or more attendee devices;

determining one or more displayed windows on the presenter device, wherein a window is a graphical user interface element generated by an application;

providing individual window sharing selectability for the presenter device, each individual window being selected as shared or unshared;

providing entire application sharing selectability for the presenter device, each application being selected as shared, unshared, or neither shared nor unshared, the entire application sharing selectability taking priority over individual window sharing selections, wherein all windows of a shared application are shared windows and all windows of an unshared application are unshared windows regardless of the individual window sharing selections of the corresponding windows for the respective parent applications;

determining a set of shared windows of the presenter device that are to be shared with the attendee devices and a set of unshared windows of the presenter device that are not to be shared with the attendee devices based on individual window sharing selections and entire application sharing selections; and

sharing the set of shared windows at the presenter device with the attendee devices, without sharing the set of unshared windows.

2. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

generating a list of the one or more displayed windows at the presenter device;

providing the individual window sharing and entire application sharing selectability through the list; and

determining the set of shared windows and set of unshared windows based on the individual window sharing selections and entire application sharing selections within the list.

3. The method as in claim 2, wherein prompting comprises:

providing at least one of a checkbox, an option selection, a drop-down menu, and a clickable option within the list for each individual window and application.

4. The method as in claim 1, wherein providing selectability comprises:

prompting a presenter to select whether each individual window and each application is to be shared or not shared.

5. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

determining that an unshared window covers a portion of a shared window; and

hiding the portion of the shared window covered by the unshared window from the attendee devices.

6. The method as in claim 1, wherein sharing comprises:

determining a shared visual region of a shared window; and

transmitting that shared visual region to the attendee devices.

7. The method as in claim 6, further comprising:

determining an unshared visual region of unshared windows; and

blocking that unshared visual region from being shared if that unshared visual region covers the shared visual region.

8. The method as in claim 6, wherein determining the shared visual region comprises:

monitoring visual function calls for an application to draw a particular window; and

determining where the application draws the window based on the visual function calls.

9. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a new window is created on the presenter device; and

in response,

prompting a presenter to address a sharing selection of the new window if the new window is created by a parent application that has not been selected as either shared or unshared.

10. The method as in claim 9, wherein the presenter is prompted prior to sharing the new window with the attendee devices.

11. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

rendering individual window sharing selectability inoperative in response to a shared or unshared selection of a corresponding parent application.

12. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

graying out each of one or more unshared windows on a display of the presenter device.

13. The method as in claim 1, wherein providing individual window sharing selectability comprises:

providing individual parent window sharing selectability, each individual parent window being selected as individually shared, individually unshared, entirely shared, or entirely unshared;

providing individual child window sharing selectability, each individual child window being selected as shared or unshared, a parent window selection as entirely shared or entirely unshared taking priority over individual child window sharing selections, wherein all child windows of an entirely shared parent window are shared windows and all child windows of an entirely unshared parent window are unshared windows regardless of the corresponding individual child window sharing selections.

14. The method as in claim 13, further comprising:

rendering individual child window sharing selectability inoperative in response to an entirely shared or entirely unshared selection of a corresponding parent window.

15. The method as in claim 13, further comprising:

providing individual parent window sharing selectability and individual child window sharing selectability through a generated list of the one or more displayed windows at the presenter device.

16. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more network interfaces adapted to transmit and receive data on a computer network;

a processor coupled to the network interfaces and adapted to execute one or more processes; and

a memory configured to store a presenter collaboration process executable by the processor, the presenter collaboration process when executed operable to;

participate in an online collaborative computing session to share executed applications with one or more attendee devices;

determine one or more displayed windows of the applications, wherein a window is a graphical user interface element generated by an application;

provide individual window sharing selectability, each individual window being selected as shared or unshared;

provide entire application sharing selectability, each application being selected as shared, unshared, or neither shared nor unshared, the entire application sharing selectability taking priority over individual window sharing selections, wherein all windows of a shared application are shared windows and all windows of an unshared application are unshared windows regardless of the individual window sharing selections of the corresponding windows for the respective parent applications;

determine a set of shared windows that are to be shared with the attendee devices and a set of unshared windows that are not to be shared with the attendee devices based on individual window sharing selections and entire application sharing selections; and

share the set of shared windows at the presenter device with the attendee devices, without sharing the set of unshared windows.

17. The apparatus as in claim 16, wherein the presenter collaboration process when executed to share is further operable to:

determine a shared visual region of shared windows;

determine an unshared visual region of unshared windows;

transmit the shared visual region to the attendee devices; and

block the unshared visual region from being shared if that unshared visual region covers the shared visual region.

18. The apparatus as in claim 16, wherein the presenter collaboration process when executed is further operable to:

determine that a new window is created; and

in response,

prompt a sharing selection of the new displayed window if the new window is created by a parent application that has not been selected as either shared or unshared.

19. The apparatus as in claim 16, wherein the presenter collaboration process when executed is further operable to:

render individual window sharing selectability inoperative in response to a shared or unshared selection of a corresponding parent application.

20. The apparatus as in claim 16, wherein the presenter collaboration process when executed to provide individual window sharing selectability is further operable to:

provide individual parent window sharing selectability, each individual parent window being selected as individually shared, individually unshared, entirely shared, or entirely unshared;

provide individual child window sharing selectability, each individual child window being selected as shared or unshared, a parent window selection as entirely shared or entirely unshared taking priority over individual child window sharing selections, wherein all child windows of an entirely shared parent window are shared windows and all child windows of an entirely unshared parent window are unshared windows regardless of the corresponding individual child window sharing selections.

21. The apparatus as in claim 16, wherein the presenter collaboration process when executed is further operable to:

generate a list of the one or more displayed windows at the presenter device;

provide sharing selectability through the list; and

determine the set of shared windows and set of unshared windows based on the sharing selections within the list.

22. A tangible computer-readable media having software encoded thereon, the software when executed on a device operable to:

participate in an online collaborative computing session to share executed applications with one or more attendee devices;

determine one or more displayed windows of the applications, wherein a window is a graphical user interface element generated by an application;

provide individual window sharing selectability, each individual window being selected as shared or unshared;

provide entire application sharing selectability, each application being selected as shared, unshared, or neither shared nor unshared, the entire application sharing selectability taking priority over individual window sharing selections, wherein all windows of a shared application are shared windows and all windows of an unshared application are unshared windows regardless of the individual window sharing selections of the corresponding windows for the respective parent applications;

determine a set of shared windows that are to be shared with the attendee devices and a set of unshared windows that are not to be shared with the attendee devices based on individual window sharing selections and entire application sharing selections; and

share the set of shared windows at the presenter device with the attendee devices, without sharing the set of unshared windows.

23. The computer-readable media as in claim 22, wherein the software when executed to provide individual window sharing selectability is further operable to:

provide individual parent window sharing selectability, each individual parent window being selected as individually shared, individually unshared, entirely shared, or entirely unshared;

provide individual child window sharing selectability, each individual child window being selected as shared or unshared, a parent window selection as entirely shared or entirely unshared taking priority over individual child window sharing selections, wherein all child windows of an entirely shared parent window are shared windows and all child windows of an entirely unshared parent window are unshared windows regardless of the corresponding individual child window sharing selections.

24. The computer-readable media as in claim 22, wherein the software when executed is further operable to:

generate a list of the one or more displayed windows at the device;

provide sharing selectability through the list; and

determine the set of shared windows and set of unshared windows based on the sharing selections within the list.