Co-presence data retrieval system

• US 6,675,168 B2
• Filed: 04/04/2001
• Issued: 01/06/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Shapiro, Ehud, Rimer, Jacob, Shafrir, Avner
• Primary Examiner(s): Mizrahi; Diane D.
• Application Number:
  US09/825,066
• Publication Number:
  US 20010054037A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,007 Days
• Field of Search: 707/10,8,103 R,201,203,104.1,4 710/200 700/83
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/955 Object-oriented
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99938 Concurrency, e.g. lock management in shared database
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99952 Coherency, e.g. same view to multiple users

Abstract

A data retrieval system is described. The system includes a data server, at least one data retrieval client, a co-presence server and at elast one downloadable co-presence client. The data server retrieves at least one data object from among a plurality of data objects stored in a data repository. The data retrieval client requests at least one data object from the data server. The co-presence server includes a virtual place generator which generates one virtual place per data object retrieved from the data server and an associator which associates each virtual place with its data object once its data object is accessed. The downloadable co-presence client is operative with the data retrieval client and communicates with the co-presence server. Each co-presence client includes an object associator which associates a data object received from the co-presence server with one of the at least one virtual places in the co-presence server.

Claims

1. A co-presence server comprising:

means for generating a virtual place to be associated with a data object requested by a data retrieval client and retrieved from a data server; and

means for downloading a co-presence client, said downloading means operable in response to said data object being retrieved, said at least one co-presence client operative with said data retrieval client, for communicating with said data server, said co-presence client including object association means for associating said data object with said associated virtual place in said co-presence server.

2. A server according to claim 1 and wherein said co-presence client is implemented in one of the following languages:

Java and ActiveX.

3. A server according to claim 1 and wherein said object association means comprises means for moving to a new virtual place.

4. A co-presence client comprising:

means, operative with a data retrieval client, for communicating with a data server; and

object association means for associating a data object received from said data server with a virtual place in a co-presence server.

5. A client according to claim 4 and wherein said object association means comprises means for moving to a new virtual place.

6. A computer product readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for co-presence at a data said method steps comprising:

generating a virtual place to be associated with a data object requested by a data retrieval client and retrieved from a data server; and

downloading a co-presence client in response to said data object being retrieved, said at least one co-presence client operative with said data retrieval client, for communicating with said data server, said co-presence client including object association means for associating said data object with said associated virtual place in said co-presence server.

7. A co-presence server comprising:

means for generating one virtual place per data object retrieved from a data server and for associating each virtual place with its data object once its data object is accessed; and

means for providing each virtual place associated with each retrieved data object with a communication channel for at least two users that access said data object.

8. A server according to claim 7 and comprising a changing plurality of place processes, one for each virtual place, and a managing process for providing communication from said co-presence data retrieval clients to said place processes.

9. A computer product readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for co-presence at a data object, said method steps comprising:

generating one virtual place per data object retrieved from a data server and for associating each virtual place with its data object once its data object is accessed; and

providing each virtual place associated with each retrieved data object with a communication channel for at least two users that access said data object.

10. A product according to claim 9 and also comprising providing communication from said co-presence data retrieval clients to each said virtual place.

11. A co-presence data-retrieval client comprising:

data retrieval means for requesting a data server to retrieve a data object;

object association means for associating a virtual place with its data object once its data object is accessed; and

means for enabling communication between at least two data-retrieval clients that are associated with said at least one virtual place.

12. A client according to claim 11 and wherein said object association means comprises means for moving to a new virtual place.