Method for associating a discussion with a document
First Claim
1. A method for displaying a general discussion and an in-line discussion that have an association with a document, the in-line discussion including an identifier for an in-line discussion location in the document, comprising the steps of:
- detecting a request to access the document, wherein the request to access the document operates as a request to obtain any discussions associated with the document;
in response to the request, obtaining the document, the general discussion and the in-line discussion;
displaying the document;
displaying the general discussion;
determining a possible location in the document for the in-line discussion;
calculating a signature for the possible location;
determining whether the signature matches the identifier;
and if the signature matches the identifier, then displaying the in-line discussion at the possible location.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Associating a discussion with a document by associating the discussion with an identifier for the document, such as the document address. A discussion is associated with the document without modifying the document. A reply can be associated with a general discussion, an in-line discussion or another reply. General and/or in-line discussions can be associated with the document. An in-line discussion is associated with a particular portion of the document through a signature. The signature is determined by analyzing the contents of the document near the in-line discussion location.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method for displaying a general discussion and an in-line discussion that have an association with a document, the in-line discussion including an identifier for an in-line discussion location in the document, comprising the steps of:
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detecting a request to access the document, wherein the request to access the document operates as a request to obtain any discussions associated with the document;
in response to the request, obtaining the document, the general discussion and the in-line discussion;
displaying the document;
displaying the general discussion;
determining a possible location in the document for the in-line discussion;
calculating a signature for the possible location;
determining whether the signature matches the identifier;
and if the signature matches the identifier, then displaying the in-line discussion at the possible location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
determining all possible locations in the document for the in-line discussion;
calculating a signature for each of the possible locations;
determining whether any of the signatures match the identifier; and
if none of the signatures match the identifier, then displaying the in-line discussion at a default location.
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7. A method for identifying a plurality of locations in a document for an in-line discussion associated with the document, comprising the steps of:
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identifying the locations based upon locations of elements in the document;
for each of the identified locations;
calculating a signature for the location based upon document contents proximate to the location, and displaying a discussion icon at the location to indicate that an in-line discussion can be inserted at the location;
detecting a selection of the discussion icon;
receiving in-line discussion text for the in-line discussion;
displaying the in-line discussion at the location; and
associating the in-line discussion with the document through a document address. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
displaying the in-line discussion text; and
displaying an action icon following the in-line discussion text.
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13. The method of claim 12, wherein the in-line discussion has an in-line discussion identifier, further comprising the steps of:
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detecting a selection of the action icon;
receiving reply text;
creating a reply following the in-line discussion; and
associating the reply with the in-line discussion through the in-line discussion identifier.
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14. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of associating the reply with the in-line discussion comprises creating a database entry based upon the reply text and the in-line discussion identifier.
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15. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for displaying an in-line discussion associated with a document, the in-line discussion having an in-line discussion signature, comprising the steps of:
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detecting a request to access the document, wherein the request to access the document operates as a request to obtain any discussions associated with the document;
in response to the request, obtaining the document and the in-line discussion;
determining possible in-line discussion locations in the document;
calculating a signature for each of the possible in-line discussion locations;
comparing the signatures to the in-line discussion signature for a match; and
if one of the signatures is the match to the in-line discussion identifier, then displaying the in-line discussion text at the possible in-line discussion location identified by the match. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
for each of the tags, using a predetermined number of characters that precede the tag to calculate the signature.
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18. A method for associating a document and an in-line discussion, comprising the steps of:
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(a) displaying the document;
(b) receiving the discussion, the discussion including an in-line discussion and an in-line discussion signature identifying an in-line discussion location;
(c) associating the discussion with a document identifier for the document;
(d) detecting a request to access the document, wherein the request to access the document operates as a request to obtain any discussions associated with the document;
(e) in response to the request, obtaining the document and the discussion;
(f) displaying the document;
(g) determining a possible discussion location in the document;
(h) calculating a signature for the possible discussion location;
(i) determining whether the signature matches the in-line signature; and
(j) if the signature matches the in-line signature, then displaying the in-line discussion text at the possible discussion location. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for associating a reply with an in-line discussion that includes an identifier for an in-line discussion location, comprising the steps of:
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(a) detecting a request to access a document;
(b) in response to the request, obtaining the in-line discussion;
(c) displaying the in-line discussion at the in-line discussion location by;
determining a possible location in the document for the in-line discussion;
calculating a signature for the possible location;
determining whether the signature matches the identifier; and
if the signature matches the identifier, then displaying the in-line discussion at the possible location;
(d) receiving reply text for the reply;
(e) displaying the reply following the in-line discussion; and
(f) associating the reply with the parent discussion through an identifier for the parent discussion. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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Specification