Method and apparatus for telephone proof of documents

• US 5,761,420 A
• Filed: 02/28/1995
• Issued: 06/02/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Johnson, William, Weber, Owen
• Primary Examiner(s): Harvey, Jack B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Seto, Jeffrey K.
• Application Number:
  US08/396,296
• Time in Patent Office: 1,190 Days
• Field of Search: 395/733, 395/887, 395/200.34, 395/200.66, 395/200.76, 395/200.57, 395/200.35, 379/93.01, 379/93.09
• US Class Current: 709/205
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A method and apparatus that enables modification of a document via telephone. One user is defined as a Driver and another user is defined as a Passenger. The Driver then determines the changes to be made to the document, and the changes are reflected in both versions of the document. Further, it is not necessary that both Driver and Passenger use the same application program.

Claims

1. A method in a data processing system for providing coordinated maintenance of data between an application in the data processing system and a partner data processing system, the method comprising the steps of:

establishing communications between the data processing system and the partner data processing system,

executing a keyboard interrupt program in said data processing system,

executing an interchange command handler program in said data processing system,

setting a mode in said data processing system, and

coordinating commands between the data processing system and the partner data processing system according to the mode in accordance with a command map table to affect data in the application in the partner data processing system from the data processing system.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein establishing communications involves establishing a plurality of sessions.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of executing a keyboard interrupt program further comprises the steps of:

receiving input destined for a standard keyboard handler function from the data processing system to the partner data processing system,

determining the mode of the data processing system,

searching the command map table for the input destined for a standard keyboard handler function in accordance with the mode, the command map table including a command sequence field,

sending commands to the partner data processing system in accordance with the mode, and

sending the input destined for a standard keyboard handler function to the standard keyboard handler function in the partner data processing system.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the step of sending commands to the partner data processing system further comprises the steps of:

retrieving a native command associated with a match of the input to the command map table, and

transmitting the native command to the partner data processing system.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the step of sending commands to the partner data processing system further comprises the step of building a FIFO queue of pending keystrokes which form a complex command when no match is found in the command map table.

6. The method of claim 3 wherein the step of searching a command map table is performed by comparing a single input to each command sequence field in the command map table.

7. The method of claim 3 wherein the step of searching a command map table is performed by comparing a single input to every subset of each command sequence field in the command map table.

8. The method of claim 3 wherein the step of searching a command map table is performed by comparing a FIFO queue of entered input built over time to every subset of each command sequence field in the command map table.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of executing an interchange command handler program further comprises the steps of:

receiving a command from the partner data processing system,

determining the mode of the data processing system,

searching a command map table for a native command in accordance with the mode, and

sending keyboard input to a standard keyboard handler function in accordance with the mode.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of searching a command map table is performed by comparing the native command with each native command field in the command map table.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of receiving a command involves receiving a native command.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of receiving a command involves receiving a mode change command.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the mode is a driver mode.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the mode is a passenger mode.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the mode is a normal operation mode.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein the driver mode is a pending string search.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein the driver mode is a pending string edit.

18. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of receiving a keyboard input from the data processing system in the partner data processing system, wherein the keyboard input to a standard keyboard handler function in accordance with the mode is sending an associated command sequence from a command map table after a match is found.

19. A data processing system for providing coordinated maintenance of data between an application in the data processing system and a partner data processing system, the system comprising:

means for establishing communications between the data processing system and a partner data processing system,

means for executing a keyboard interrupt program in said data processing system,

means for executing an interchange command handler program in said data processing system,

means for setting a mode in said data processing system, and

means for coordinating commands between the data processing system and the partner data processing system according to the mode in accordance with a command map table to affect data in the application in the partner data processing system from the data processing system.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the means for establishing communications comprises a means for establishing a multiplicity of sessions.

21. The system of claim 19 wherein the means for executing a keyboard interrupt program comprises:

means for receiving input destined for a standard keyboard handler function,

means for determining the mode of the data processing system,

means for searching the command map table for the input destined for a standard keyboard handler function in accordance with the mode,

means for sending commands to the partner data processing system in accordance with the mode, and

means for sending the input destined for a standard keyboard handler function to the standard keyboard handler function.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein the means for sending commands to the partner data processing system comprises:

means for retrieving a native command associated with a match of the input to the command map table, and

means for transmitting the native command to the partner data processing system.

23. The system of claim 21 wherein the means for sending commands to the partner data processing system comprises means for building a FIFO queue of pending keystrokes which form a complex command when no match is found in the command map table.

24. The system of claim 21 wherein the means for searching a command map table comprises means for comparing a single input to each command sequence field in the command map table.

25. The system of claim 21 wherein the means for searching a command map table comprises means for comparing a single input to every subset of each command sequence field in the command map table.

26. The system of claim 21 wherein the means for searching a command map table comprises means for comparing a FIFO queue of entered input built over time to every subset of each command sequence field in the command map table.

27. The system of claim 19 wherein the means for executing an interchange command handler program comprises:

means for receiving a command from the partner data processing system,

means for determining the mode of the data processing system,

means for searching a command map table for a native command in accordance with the mode, and

means for sending keyboard input to a standard keyboard handler function in accordance with the mode.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein the means for searching a command map table comprises means for comparing the native command with each native command field in the command map table.

29. The system of claim 27 wherein the means for receiving a command comprises means for receiving a native command.

30. The system of claim 27 wherein the means for receiving a command comprises means for receiving a mode change command.

31. The system of claim 19 wherein the mode is a driver mode.

32. The system of claim 19 wherein the mode is a passenger mode.

33. The system of claim 19 wherein the mode is a normal operation mode.

34. The system of claim 31 wherein the driver mode is a string search.

35. The system of claim 31 wherein the driver mode is a string edit.

36. The system of claim 31 wherein the keyboard input to a standard keyboard handler function in accordance with the mode is sending associated command sequence from command map table after a match is found.