CLIENT APPLICATION INTEGRATION FOR WORKFLOWS

• US 20130185348A1
• Filed: 01/17/2012
• Published: 07/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/17/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Hall, Gabriel J., Lim, JongHwa, Son, Seung Wook, Dandekar, Chetan, Yoon, TaeSuk
• Granted Patent: US 9,208,122 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0633 Workflow analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/103 Workflow collaboration or project management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/18 Commands or executable codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/23 Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

A method for providing client application integration for workflow management includes receiving a verification file, accessing a file through a client application, determining, based on the verification file, whether the accessed file includes a reference to a workflow component of a workflow stored on a server, retrieving the workflow component from the server, and displaying the workflow component referenced by the accessed file via an in-line user interface of the client application, further including displaying at least one selectable workflow management option for managing the workflow component using the client application.

Claims

1. A method for providing client application integration for workflow management comprising:

receiving a verification file;

accessing a file through a client application;

determining, based on the verification file, whether the accessed file includes a reference to a workflow component of a workflow stored on a server;

retrieving the workflow component from the server; and

displaying the workflow component referenced by the accessed file via an in-line user interface of the client application, further including displaying at least one selectable workflow management option for managing the workflow component using the client application.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

verifying a match between the compared file information and the verification file criteria to verify that the accessed file is an eligible file for execution using the client application.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising parsing at least one of a header or a body of the accessed file and comparing parsed header information or parsed body information against the verification file to determine if the accessed file includes a workflow component.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the client application comprises:

one of a stand-alone personal data management client application and a web-based personal data management client application.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the accessed file is a notification message regarding the workflow component within the client application from a shared application platform.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the client application is a rich client application.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the workflow component of the accessed file via the in-line user interface of the client application comprises displaying the workflow component in a single window along with components of the client application.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the in-line user interface includes providing a task completion interface within the client application.

9. The method of claim 1, further including providing a user interface for providing an electronic signature interface for signing the accessed file.

10. A system for providing client application integration for workflow management, comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory, operatively connected to the at least one processor and containing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, comprise a client application configured to;

compare at least a portion of an accessed file with a verification file received from a server to determine whether the accessed file includes a reference to a workflow component;

retrieve the workflow component from the server; and

display the workflow component referenced by the accessed file via an in-line user interface, the accessed file including at least one selectable workflow management option for managing the workflow action using the client application.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the client application is configured to verify that the accessed file is an eligible file for execution using the client application.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the client application is configured to compare at least one of a header or a body of the accessed file against the verification file to determine if the accessed file includes a reference to a workflow component.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the client application is configured to display the workflow component by displaying the workflow component in a single window along with components of the client application.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the client application is one of a stand-alone personal data management client application and a web-based personal data management client application.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the client application is a rich client application.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the accessed file is at least one of an e-mail, a document, a spreadsheet and a presentation.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the workflow component comprises a workflow task configured to processed via the in-line user interface of the client application.

18. A computer-readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, provide client application integration for workflow management, the computer-readable medium including instructions executable by the processor for:

comparing file information included in at least a portion of a file accessed through a client application with a verification file received from a server, the verification file including criteria used to determine whether the accessed file includes a workflow component of a workflow stored on a server, further including parsing at least a portion of the accessed file and comparing parsed portion against the verification file to determine if the accessed file includes a reference to a workflow component;

verifying a match between the compared file information and the verification file criteria;

verifying that the accessed file is an eligible file for execution using the client application;

activating the verification file and a workflow management extension of the client application;

retrieving the workflow component from the server; and

displaying the workflow component referenced by the accessed file via an in-line user interface of the client application, further including displaying at least one selectable workflow management options for managing the workflow component using the client application.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the client application comprises one of:

a stand-alone personal data management client application, a rich client application, and a web-based personal data management client application.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein displaying the workflow component comprises displaying the workflow component in a single window along with components of the client application.