METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ANNOTATION AND CONNECTION OF ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS

• US 20170060829A1
• Filed: 09/01/2015
• Published: 03/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Branchfire, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Branchfire, Inc.
• Inventors: Bhatt, Ravi K.
• Granted Patent: US 10,380,235 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes

Abstract

A method and system for annotating and linking electronic documents is described herein. Separate annotation layers or connectors are used to store each annotation or connection associated with a document in order to improve the efficiency and robustness of collaborative annotation. When a user creates an annotation for a document, a new annotation layer is generated, containing information describing the annotation. The annotation layer is separate from the annotated document. The annotation layer may be transmitted to another user without transmission of the document, thereby reducing network traffic and avoiding metadata contamination within the document itself. This facilitates real-time collaborative annotation of electronic documents by multiple users. This also facilitates robust connections between documents or other data sources, which contain information regarding both the source and target documents.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, at one or more processors of a user computing device, an electronic document;

presenting, via a display of the user computing device, the electronic document to a user of the user computing device;

receiving, at one or more processors of the user computing device, an indication of an annotation of a portion of the electronic document from the user;

generating, by one or more processors of the user computing device, an annotation layer including information describing the annotation, wherein the annotation layer is separate from the electronic document;

applying, by one or more processors of the user computing device, the annotation layer to the electronic document such that the annotation overlays the portion of the electronic document, wherein the annotation layer and the electronic document remain separate; and

presenting, by the display of the user computing device, the electronic document and the overlaid annotation layer to the user.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the annotation layer is independent of the format of the electronic document and is stored as a separate file from the electronic document.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising communicating, via a network, the annotation layer to a second user computing device to be presented to a second user.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, further comprising receiving, at one or more processors of the user computing device, a selection of an option to transmit the annotation layer to the second user, wherein the annotation layer is communicated to the second user in response to the received selection.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein:

communicating the annotation layer to the second user computing device includes communicating the annotation layer to a server communicatively connected via the network to the user device and to the second user device;

the annotation layer includes metadata regarding the annotation layer; and

the server communicates the annotation to the second user computing device based upon the metadata of the annotation layer.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the annotation includes a reference to a portion of a second electronic document.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the reference to the portion of the second electronic document includes an annotation of the second electronic document to be overlaid over the portion of the second electronic document.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein applying the annotation layer to the electronic document includes generating a link to the portion of the second electronic document, wherein the link includes instructions that cause the portion of the second electronic document to be presented when the link is selected by the user.

9. A computer system, comprising:

one or more servers, each having one or more processors;

a program memory of at least one of the one or more servers, which program memory stores executable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more servers to;

receive an electronic document;

receive an indication of a plurality of user computing devices communicatively connected to the one or more servers via a network, each of the plurality of user computing devices having a copy of the electronic document stored in a local memory;

receive an annotation layer generated at a first user computing device of the plurality of user computing devices via the network, wherein the annotation layer is associated with the electronic document and includes information describing the annotation of the electronic document by a first user of the first user computing device;

determine a second user computing device of the plurality of user computing devices to receive the annotation layer; and

transmit the annotation layer to the second user computing device via the network, wherein transmitting the annotation layer does not include transmitting either the electronic document or a copy of the electronic document.

10. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the executable instructions further cause the one or more servers to store the received annotation layer in the program memory.

11. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the annotation layer includes a reference to second electronic document.

12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the executable instructions further cause the one or more servers to:

obtain copy of the second electronic document;

store the copy of the second electronic document in the program memory; and

transmit the copy of the second electronic document to the second user device.

13. The computer system of claim 9, wherein:

the annotation layer include metadata regarding the generation of the annotation layer; and

determining the second user computing device to receive the annotation layer is based at least in part upon the metadata.

14. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the annotation layer is independent of the format of the electronic document and is stored as a separate file from the electronic document.

15. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to:

receive an electronic document;

determine a coordinate space corresponding to the received electronic document, wherein the coordinate space indicates the dimensions of the received electronic document;

present the electronic document to a user of the computer system;

receive an indication of an annotation of a portion of the electronic document from the user;

generate an annotation layer including information describing the annotation, wherein the annotation layer has a coordinate space that corresponds to the coordinate space of the electronic document;

apply the annotation layer to the electronic document such that the annotation overlays the portion of the electronic document, wherein the annotation layer and the electronic document remain separate; and

present the electronic document and the overlaid annotation layer to the user via a display of the computer system.

16. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the annotation layer is independent of the format of the electronic document and is stored as a separate file from the electronic document.

17. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the coordinate spaces of the electronic document and the annotation layer are one of the following:

a page-based coordinate space, a canvas-based coordinate space, or a time-based coordinate space.

18. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the executable instructions further cause the computer system to:

receive, via a network connection, a second annotation layer including a description of a second annotation of a second portion of the document from a user of another computer system, wherein the second annotation layer does not include the electronic document or a copy thereof;

apply the received second annotation layer to the electronic document such that the second annotation overlays the second portion of the document; and

present the electronic document overlaid by the annotation layer and by the second annotation layer to the user via the display of the computer system.

19. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein:

the annotation layer is a member of a set comprising a plurality of annotation layers;

each member of the set of the plurality of annotation layers includes metadata corresponding the member of the set of the plurality of annotation layers;

the executable instructions further cause the computer system to receive an indication of metadata criteria corresponding to one or more members of the set of the plurality of annotation layers, wherein the one or more members of the set include the annotation layer; and

present the electronic document and the overlaid annotation layer to the user includes presenting an overlay of each member of the set of the annotation layers having metadata meeting the metadata criteria over a presentation of the electronic document, wherein any member of the set of the plurality of annotations layers having metadata not meeting the metadata criteria is not presented.

20. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the executable instructions further cause the computer system to:

receive an indication of another annotation including a link to another document;

generate another annotation layer including information describing the another annotation and including the link to the another document, wherein the another annotation layer has a coordinate space that corresponds to the coordinate space of the electronic document;

apply the another annotation layer to the electronic document such that the another annotation overlays the portion of the electronic document, wherein all of the annotation layer, the another annotation layer, and the electronic document remain separate;

present the electronic document, the overlaid annotation layer, and the another annotation layer to the user via the display; and

receive a user selection of a portion of the another annotation; and

present at least a portion of the another document to the user via the display using the received link.

21. An electronic document mark-up tool, which, when executed by one or more processors of a computer system, causes the computer system to:

receive a first electronic document;

receive from a user an indication of a connection between a portion of the first electronic document and a second electronic document;

generate a connector indicating a connection between the portion of the first electronic document and the second electronic document, wherein the connector includes a reference identifying the second electronic document and wherein the connector is separate from each of the first and second electronic documents;

apply the connector to the first electronic document such that an indication of the connection overlays the portion of the first electronic document, wherein the connector and the first electronic document remain separate;

present the first electronic document and the overlaid indication of the connection to the user via a display of the computer system;

receive from the user a selection of the indication of the connection; and

present the second electronic document to the user in response to receiving the selection of the indication of the connection.

22. The electronic document mark-up tool of claim 21, wherein the first electronic document and the second electronic document are different types of the following document types:

word processing documents, publication layout documents, unformatted text documents, web pages, image-based documents, slide presentations, or spreadsheets.

23. The electronic document mark-up tool of claim 21, wherein:

the indication of the connection includes an indication of a target portion of the second electronic document, and

the connector indicates the target portion of the second electronic document.

24. The electronic document mark-up tool of claim 21, wherein:

the connector includes information regarding the coordinate space of the first electronic document, and

applying the connector to the first electronic document is based upon the information regarding the coordinate space of the first electronic document.

25. The electronic document mark-up tool of claim 21, wherein the electronic document mark-up tool further causes the computer system to:

apply the connector to the first electronic document such that a reverse indication of the connection overlays at least a portion of the second electronic document, wherein the connector and the second electronic document remain separate;

present the second electronic document and the overlaid reverse indication of the connection to the user via the display of the computer system;

receive from the user a selection of the reverse indication of the connection; and

present the portion of the first electronic document having the overlaid indication of the connection to the user in response to receiving the selection of the reverse indication of the connection.

26. The electronic document mark-up tool of claim 21, wherein the connector includes at least one annotation layer.