SHARED ATTACHMENTS

• US 20120151379A1
• Filed: 12/08/2010
• Published: 06/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Schultz, Tracy, Swami, Sunil, Geffner, Steven, Caldwell, Gary, Yuniardi, Nino, Leonard, Peter, Paperman, Bram, Steinbok, Nicole, Kohler, Jeffrey, Tamanaha, Eli, Shih, Nina, Jacobsen, Isaac
• Granted Patent: US 9,165,285 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/752
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/08 Annexed information, e.g. attachments

Abstract

When an outgoing communication sent to one or more recipients contains a supported attachment type, a shared workspace that contains a shared version of the original attachment is provisioned. A modified version of the original outgoing communication is delivered to internal recipients including both a link to the shared document and the original attachment.

Claims

1. A method for provisioning a shared document workspace in a computing system environment, the method comprising:

receiving a communication addressed to one or more recipients at a computing device, wherein the communication includes an attachment and a link to a shared version of the attachment in a shared workspace;

retrieving recipient-specific metadata of each of the one or more recipients, the recipient-specific metadata including permissions for providing access to the shared version of the attachment;

sending a provision message for provisioning the shared version of the attachment accessible to internal recipients of the one or more recipients based on the recipient-specific metadata; and

releasing the communication to the internal recipients including the attachment and the link to the shared version of the attachment in the shared workspace.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising retrieving the recipient-specific metadata based on a recipient identification contained within the communication specific to each of the one or more recipients.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising releasing the communication to external recipients of the one or more recipients including only the attachment.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending the provision message to a provisioning service for provisioning the shared version of the attachment within the shared workspace, the provision message comprising the recipient-specific metadata and a copy of the attachment.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising defining the link to the shared version of the attachment according to a communication identification specific to the communication.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising defining the link to the shared version of the attachment according to a communication identification specific to the communication.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication is selected from a group including:

an e-mail message;

a text message; and

an instant message.

8. A computing device, comprising:

a processing unit;

a system memory connected to the processing unit, the system memory including instructions that, when executed by the processing unit, cause the processing unit to implement an application configured to provision a shared document workspace in a computing system environment, wherein the application is configured to;

receive a communication addressed to one or more recipients including first metadata, a first attachment, and a first link to a first shared document in the shared document workspace corresponding to the first attachment;

retrieve recipient-specific permissions of each of the one or more recipients based on the first metadata, the recipient-specific permissions including permissions for providing access to the first shared document;

send a first provision message to a collaboration service including a request to provision the first shared document accessible to internal recipients of the one or more recipients based on evaluation of the recipient-specific permissions; and

send a first modified communication to the internal recipients including the first attachment and the first link to the first shared document.

9. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the communication is selected from a group including:

an e-mail message;

a text message;

an SMS message; and

an instant message.

10. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the first attachment is selected from a group including:

a document file;

a program file; and

a media file.

11. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the communication is an e-mail message received from a client messaging interface configured to analyze content of the e-mail message and insert the first link therein upon evaluation of presence of the first attachment.

12. The computing device of claim 11, wherein an address of the first link is defined according to an identification specific to the communication.

13. The computing device of claim 8, wherein recipient-specific permissions are retrieved based on a recipient identification contained within the communication specific to each of the one or more recipients.

14. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the application is further configured to release the communication to external recipients of the one or more recipients including only the first attachment.

15. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the application is further configured to release the communication to external recipients of the one or more recipients including the first attachment and a link to an unsecured shared version of the first attachment.

16. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the application is further configured to:

receive a forwarded version of the communication addressed to at least one other recipient including second metadata, the first attachment, and the first link;

retrieve recipient-specific permissions of the at least one other recipient based on the second metadata;

send a second provision message to the collaboration service including a request to modify access rights to the first shared document to include the at least one other recipient based on an evaluation of the recipient-specific permissions; and

send a second modified communication to the at least one other recipient including the first attachment and the first link.

17. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the application is further configured to:

receive a forwarded version of the communication addressed to at least one other recipient including second metadata, the first attachment, the first link, a second attachment, and a second link to a second shared document in the shared document workspace corresponding to the second attachment;

retrieve recipient-specific permissions of the at least one other recipient based on the second metadata;

send a second provision message to the collaboration service including a request to modify access rights to the first shared document to include the at least one other recipient and a request to provision the second shared document accessible the at least one other recipient based on an evaluation of the recipient-specific permissions; and

send a second modified communication to the at least one other recipient including the first attachment, first link, the second attachment, and the second link.

18. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the application is further configured to periodically retrieve state metadata associated with the first document and insert the state metadata within the first modified communication.

19. The computing device of claim 18, wherein the state metadata is selected from a group including:

read activity; and

change activity.

20. A computer readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform steps comprising:

receiving a communication addressed to one or more recipients, wherein the communication includes an attachment and a link to a shared version of the attachment in a shared workspace, and wherein the communication is selected from a group including;

an e-mail message, a text message, and an instant message;

retrieving recipient-specific metadata of each of the one or more recipients based on a recipient identification contained within the communication specific to each of the one or more recipients, wherein the recipient-specific metadata including permissions for providing access to the shared version of the attachment, and the attachment is selected from a group including;

a document file, a program file, and a media file;

sending a provision message for provisioning the shared version of the attachment accessible to internal recipients of the one or more recipients based on the recipient-specific metadata;

releasing the communication to the internal recipients including the attachment and the link to the shared version of the attachment in the shared workspace; and

releasing the communication to external recipients of the one or more recipients including only the attachment.