Groupware system providing facilitated data transfer among common and individual work areas

• US 5,692,141 A
• Filed: 04/04/1995
• Issued: 11/25/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/1991
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kamisango, Maki, Katsurabayashi, Hiroshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Amsbury, Wayne
• Assistant Examiner(s): Alam, Hosain T.
• Application Number:
  US08/416,250
• Time in Patent Office: 966 Days
• Field of Search: 395/600, 395/200.03, 395/200.08, 395/200.09, 395/200.15, 395/329, 395/331, 395/608, 395/617, 395/712, 379/58, 455/39, 455/53.1, 455/54.1
• US Class Current: 715/751
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1813 for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A groupware system in which, by specifying a destination by means of simple data transmission destination information, an individual person is able to rewrite data in a common work space and an operator is able to transmit and receive data between work stations with ease. The system comprises an input/output management device for controlling input from and output to an operator, a communication control device, a transmission destination management table for indicating correspondence between a simple expression style of information to specify a transmission destination and the address information of the transmission destination, a data transmission destination decision device for referring to the transmission destination management table to find the address information of the transmission destination from the transmission destination specification information input through the input/output management device, a communication data creating device for creating communication data, a communication data analysis device for identifying and separating the content of the communication data from the address information, a transfer destination management table for managing permission or prohibition of transfer of data to the respective pieces of application software in the groupware system, and a data transmission destination decision device for referring to the transfer destination management table to decide the application software of the transfer destination.

Claims

1. A groupware system comprising:

a plurality of data processing systems connected through a network to perform a cooperative operation with shared data;

each of said data processing systems having;

a memory for storing group software;

input/output management means for managing a display output to an operator and an input from the operator;

input/output management means for managing a display output to an operator and an input from the operator;

communication control means for controlling a procedure for communication with other operative data processing systems connected to the network;

transmission data storage means for storing content data inputs from said input/output management means for transmission;

a transmission destination management table for determining an address for a transmission destination, said transmission destination management table storing relationship data on relationships between positions on said display output and pieces of address data of transmission destinations;

data transmission destination decision means referring to said transmission destination management table to find address information on the transmission destination based on a position said display output specified by the operator through said input/output management means;

communication data creation means creating first communication data from said transmission destination address information obtained by said data transmission destination decision means and the content data to be transmitted that is stored in said transmission data storage means and transmitting the first communication data to said communication control means for output to at least one of the other operative data processing systems;

communication data analysis means for analyzing second communication data input therein from said communication control means and for identifying and separating input content data and input address information of said input second communication data from each other;

communication data storage means for storing said content data of said second communication data identified and separated by said communication data analysis means;

a transfer destination management table for managing whether input content data can be transferred to respective pieces of application software in said group software memory in any one of said data processing systems; and

data transfer destination decision means referring to said transfer destination management table according to said input address information identified and separated by said communication data analysis means to decide whether the input content data can be transferred to the application software stored in said group software memory.

2. The data processing apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said input/output management means comprises a display means and a position specifying means and has a function to input a data transmission destination as position information by specifying a given area of said display means by said position specifying means.

3. The data processing apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said transmission destination management table is a table which corresponds one bit of said transmission destination specification information to two or more bits of transmission destination address information, in order that a plurality of data transmission destinations can be specified simultaneously.

4. The data processing apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said transfer destination management table sets transmission permission to two or more pieces of application software, so that a plurality of data transmission destinations can be specified simultaneously.

5. The data processing apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said transmission destination management table comprises an erasable memory.

6. The data processing apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said transfer destination management table comprises an erasable memory.