Digital media asset management system and process

• US 6,947,959 B1
• Filed: 03/01/1999
• Issued: 09/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Quark Software Inc. (Quark Holding Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Quark Incorporated (Quark Holding Corp.)
• Inventors: Gill, Timothy
• Primary Examiner(s): Alam, Hosain T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kindred, Alford W.
• Application Number:
  US09/259,947
• Time in Patent Office: 2,395 Days
• Field of Search: 707 1- 10, 707102-206, 707500-526, 707/530, 714/100, 353/26
• US Class Current: 715/202
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

An application for managing digital assets regardless of type or format. The application allows assets to be check-in, either on an individual asset basis or on a group basis, and check-out. Information regarding assets is stored in a data-base to enable searching for the assets without searching the assets themselves. The user is provided features for organizing assets retrieved in accordance with supplied criteria and for performing actions on assets in a batch mode. Digital assets are retrieved from the storage servers by queries. The query results are displayed in a user-customizable Query Palette. User Views are provided to group references or icons representing selected assets to organize the references to the assets without affecting the organization of the assets themselves. Methods and processes are applied to optimize asset management across a distributed architecture by monitoring and balancing the load and usage of the server and the storage entities.

Claims

1. A method for managing digital assets in a computer system, said method comprising the steps of:

checking the digital asset into said computer system by;

inputting information about individual digital assets into a searchable storage entity;

inputting the individual digital asset into a storage entity;

searching information on said searchable storage entity for digital assets meeting user-supplied criteria;

displaying the results of such searches on a graphical display device;

managing selected digital assets from said storage entity by selection from the results displayed on said graphical display device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of inputting information about individual assets into a searchable storage entity further includes the steps of:

using the computer system to automatically gather information about the individual digital assets; and

using the computer system to automatically input the information about the individual digital assets into said searchable storage entity.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of inputting information about individual assets into a searchable storage entity further includes the steps of:

requiring the user to input information about the individual digital assets into said searchable storage entity.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of inputting information about individual digital assets into a searchable storage entity further includes:

defining header fields in said searchable storage entity for the information about the individual digital assets; and

inputting the information about the digital assets into said defined header fields.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of inputting information about individual digital assets into a searchable storage entity further includes:

defining sets of attributes for digital assets; and

associating digital assets with the defined sets of attributes of which the digital assets possess.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of inputting information about individual digital assets into a searchable storage entity further includes:

establishing relationships between defined sets of attributes whereby each lower level named set of attributes includes the attributes defined for the next upper level set of attributes.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein said step of defining sets of attributes for digital assets includes:

naming each defined set of attributes.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein said step of defining sets of attributes for digital assets includes:

defining header fields for each of the attributes.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of checking a digital asset into the computer system further includes:

checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection as a single digital asset.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said step of checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection as a single digital asset further includes:

assigning a name to the entire collection as a group;

checking in the group as a single digital asset under the assigned name.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein said step of checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection as a single digital asset further includes:

establishing relationships between individual assets of the collection of digital assets;

maintaining the relationships between the individual assets of the collection as information in the searchable database.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein said step of checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection as a single digital asset further includes:

establishing relationships between selected individual assets of the collection of digital assets; and

checking in groups of selected related individual assets as subgroups within the collection of digital assets.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of checking in a digital asset into the computer system further includes:

checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in each member of the collection as individual digital assets.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of checking in a digital asset into the computer system further includes:

checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection of digital assets as a single digital asset; and

checking in each member of the collection of digital assets as individual assets as well.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein said step of checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection of digital assets further includes:

establishing relationships between selected digital assets; and

maintaining information about said relationships in said searchable storage entity.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein said step of checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection of digital assets further includes:

establishing relationships between selected digital assets; and

checking in selected digital assets as subgroups as well.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of displaying the results of such searches on a graphical display device includes the step of:

displaying the results in a hierarchical format displaying the relationships between the digital assets meeting the user supplied criteria.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of displaying the results of such searches on a graphical display device includes the step of:

displaying the results in a reverse hierarchical format displaying the relationships between the digital assets meeting the user supplied criteria and the asset classes.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of displaying the results of such searches on a graphical display device includes the step of:

displaying the results of the searches grouped by information about the individual digital assets meeting the user supplied criteria.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of displaying the results of such searches on a graphical display device includes the steps of:

defining header fields for each digit asset;

displaying said header fields of each digital asset meeting the user supplied criteria.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of displaying the results of such searches on a graphical display device includes the step of:

displaying the results of the searches in a user customized format.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of displaying the results of such searches on a graphical display device includes the step of:

displaying the results of the searches in a low-resolution thumbnail view format.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of displaying the results of such searches on a graphical display device includes the step of:

displaying information relating to revisions of each of the digital assets meeting the user supplied criteria.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of displaying the results of such searches on a graphical display device includes the step of:

displaying references to each of the digital assets meeting the user-supplied criteria; and

organizing said references without affecting the organization of the digital assets stored in the storage entity.

25. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of checking out the digital asset from the computer system further includes:

selecting the individual digital asset from the searchable storage entity to be checked out;

copying the selected individual digital asset from the searchable storage entity into a local computer device.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein said method further comprises the steps of:

configuring scripted actions to be executed on selected digital assets;

associating said scripted actions with said selected digital assets; and

monitoring processed activities and/or errors occurred during the execution of said scripted actions.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein said step of configuring scripted actions includes the steps of:

scheduling the action for a specific time.

28. The method of claim 26 wherein said step of configuring scripted actions includes the steps of:

scheduling the action for periodic action at recurring times.

29. The method of claim 26 wherein said step of associating said scripted actions with said selected digital assets includes:

creating a folder on said computer system;

associating said scripted action with the contents of said folder; and

designating references to said selected digital assets as the contents of said folder so that said scripted actions are executed on the digital assets relating to said references in said folder.

30. The method of claim 26 wherein said step of monitoring processed activities and/or errors occurred during the execution of said scripted actions includes the steps of:

inputting information about said processed activities and/or errors in the searchable storage entity; and

displaying information about said processed activities and/or errors on a graphical display device.

31. The method of claim 1 wherein said method further includes the steps of:

defining a set of storage rules for the management of the digital assets in the computer system;

configuring a main server application at a central location to manage the digital assets throughout the system;

configuring at least one server agent at a second location for storing digital assets at a local storage entity; and

operating said main server application in accordance with said defined set of storage rules to manage the digital assets in the computer system so that the load and usage of the digital assets is balanced throughout the system.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein the step of defining a set of storage rules includes:

storing digital assets at the location of highest usage.

33. The method of claim 31 wherein said method further includes the steps of:

providing client applications for checking, searching and retrieval of the digital assets.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein said client applications include:

providing an administrator component for configuring the computer system for use.

35. The method of claim 33 wherein said client applications include:

providing a stand-alone client for checking digital assets into and out of the system and for searching for digital assets without a host application.

36. The method of claim 33 wherein said client applications include:

providing a host application for checking digital assets into and out of the system and for searching for digital assets.

37. A method of managing distributed assets on a computer system having a central location and at least one other location;

said method comprising the steps of;

configuring a main application at said central location to manage the digital assets for storage, searches and retrieval throughout the system;

configuring an agent application at each of the other locations for managing the storage of digital assets in local storage entities;

defining a set of storage rules for the storage of digital assets in the system; and

operating said main application in accordance with said defined set of storage rules to balance the storage of the digital assets throughout the system.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein said step of defining a set of storage rules includes the step of:

defining the storage rules so that digital assets are stored in the location of highest usage.

39. The method of claim 37 wherein said step of configuring an agent application includes the step of:

configuring one or more storage entities as a single logical storage entity.

40. The method of claim 37 wherein said method further comprises the steps of:

configuring a searchable storage unit at said central location;

storing information about each of the individual digital assets regardless of location in said searchable storage unit;

searching for digital assets stored in said system by searching said searchable storage unit for information about the digital assets based on user-supplied criteria;

selecting digital assets for retrieval based on the results of the searches in said searchable storage unit based on user-supplied criteria; and

retrieving the selected digital assets from the storage entity in which the selected digital assets are stored.

41. A method for managing digital assets in a computer system, the method comprising the steps of:

defining sets of attributes for digital assets;

associating digital assets with said defined sets of attributes which possess the attributes of the digital assets;

storing information about the digital assets including said defined sets of attributes to which said digital assets have been associated with in a searchable database; and

searching for selected digital assets by searching said stored information based on user supplied criteria.

42. The method of claim 41 wherein said step of defining sets of attributes includes:

naming each defined set of attributes.

43. The method of claim 41 wherein said step of defining sets of attributes for digital assets includes:

defining header fields for each of the attributes.

44. The method of claim 41 wherein said step of defining sets of attributes for digital assets includes:

establishing hierarchical relationships between defined sets of attributes whereby each lower level named set of attributes includes the attributes defined for the next upper level set of attributes.

45. The method of claim 44 wherein said step of associating digital assets with said defined sets of attributes includes the step of:

associating a defined set of attributes with digital assets at more than one location in said hierarchical relationship.

46. The method of claim 41 wherein said step of defining sets of attributes includes the step of:

defining said sets of attributes by using system defined sets of attributes.

47. The method of claim 41 wherein said step of defining sets of attributes includes the step of:

defining said sets of attributes by using user-defined sets of attributes.

48. A method for managing digital assets stored in a computer system wherein said method comprises the steps of:

storing digital assets into a storage entity controlled by said computer system by checking the digital assets into the computer system;

checking the digital assets into the computer system by storing information about the digital assets in a searchable storage entity;

checking individual digital assets into the system;

checking in collections of digital assets; and

storing each of the digital assets into the storage entity.

49. The method of claim 48 wherein said step of checking the digital assets into the computer system includes the step of:

checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection as a single digital asset.

50. The method of claim 49 wherein said step of checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection as a single digital asset further includes:

assigning a name to the entire collection as a group;

checking in the group as a single digital asset under the assigned name.

51. The method of claim 49 wherein said step of checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection as a single digital asset further includes:

establishing relationships between individual assets of the collection of digital assets;

maintaining the relationships between the individual assets of the collection as information in the searchable database.

52. The method of claim 49 wherein said step of checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection as a single digital asset further includes:

establishing relationships between selected individual assets of the collection of digital assets; and

checking in groups of selected related individual assets as subgroups within the collection of digital assets.

53. The method of claim 48 wherein said step of checking in a digital asset into the computer system further includes:

checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in each member of the collection as individual digital assets.

54. The method of claim 48 wherein said step of checking in a digital asset into the computer system further includes:

checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection of digital assets as a single digital asset; and

checking in each member of the collection of digital assets as individual assets as well.

55. The method of claim 54 wherein said step of checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection of digital assets further includes:

establishing relationships between selected digital assets; and

maintaining information about said relationships in said searchable storage entity.

56. The method of claim 54 wherein said step of checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection of digital assets further includes:

establishing relationships between selected digital assets; and

checking in selected digital assets as subgroups as well.

57. The method of claim 48 wherein said method further includes a step of checking out digital assets from the computer system;

said step of checking out digital assets includes;

selecting the individual digital asset from the searchable storage entity to be checked out;

copying the selected individual digital asset from the searchable storage entity into a local computer device.

58. A system for managing digital assets, said system comprising:

means for storing digital assets in their original format;

means for checking digital assets into said means for storing digital assets;

said means for checking digital assets into said means for storing digital assets includes;

a searchable database;

means for inputting information about individual digital assets into

said searchable database;

means for retrieving the stored digital assets from the means for storing digital assets based on the information stored about the stored digital assets in said database; and

means for checking out the digital assets from said means for storing digital assets;

said means for checking out digital assets from said means for storing digital assets includes;

a searchable database;

a local computer device; and

means for loading individual digital assets from the searchable database into said local computer device.

59. The system of claim 58 wherein said means for storing digital assets includes:

one or more storage entities.

60. The system of claim 58 wherein said means for storing digital assets includes:

said searchable database.

61. The system of claim 58 wherein said means for inputting information includes:

header fields in said database for storing said information.

62. The system of claim 58 wherein said means for storing information includes:

means for defining header fields in said database for receiving said information.

63. The system of claim 62 wherein said means for defining said header fields includes:

system definable header fields.

64. The system of claim 62 wherein said means for defining said header fields includes:

user-definable header fields.

65. The system of claim 58 wherein said means for inputting said information includes:

means for said system to automatically gather information about the digital asset.

66. The system of claim 65 wherein said means for said system to automatically gather information includes:

means for said system to gather file specific information about the digital asset.

67. The system of claim 58 wherein said means for inputting said information includes:

means for a user to input information about the digital asset.

68. The system of claim 58 whereby said means for retrieving stored digital assets includes:

means for searching the information in said database based on user supplied criteria;

means for graphically displaying references to digital assets stored in said system having information stored in said database which match the user supplied criteria; and

means for retrieving digital assets from storage based on the selection of references displayed on said means for graphically displaying references.

69. The method of claim 58 wherein said means for checking out the digital asset from said means for storing digital assets includes:

means for selecting the individual digital asset from the searchable storage entity to be checked out;

means for copying the selected individual digital asset from the searchable storage entity into a local computer device.

70. A system for managing digital assets, said system having means for storing digital assets and a database for storing information about the stored digital assets;

said system comprising;

means for defining sets of attributes for digital assets; and

means for associating digital assets with defined sets of attributes which possess the attributes of the digital asset;

means for storing information about said defined sets of attributes associated with a digital asset in said database; and

means for searching for selected digital assets by searching said stored information about said defined sets of attributes in said database.

71. The system of claim 70 wherein said means for defining sets of attributes includes:

establishing hierarchical relations between defined sets of attributes whereby each lower level named set of attributes includes the attributes defined for the next upper level set of attributes.

72. The system of claim 70 wherein said means for defining sets of attributes includes:

means for naming each defined set of attributes.

73. The system of claim 70 wherein said means for defining sets of attributes for digital assets includes:

means for defining header fields for each of the attributes.

74. The system of claim 70 wherein said means for defining sets of attributes for digital assets includes:

means for establishing hierarchical relationships between defined sets of attributes whereby each lower level named set of attributes includes the attributes defined for the next upper level set of attributes.

75. The system of claim 70 wherein said means for associating digital assets with said defined sets of attributes includes:

means for associating a defined set of attributes with digital assets at more than one location in said hierarchical relationship.

76. The system of claim 70 wherein said means for defining sets of attributes includes:

means for defining said sets of attributes by using system defined sets of attributes.

77. The system of claim 70 wherein said means for defining sets of attributes includes:

means for defining said sets of attributes by using user-defined steps of attributes.

78. A computer system for managing digital assets, wherein said system comprising:

a searchable database;

a local computer device;

means for checking the digital asset s into the computer system by storing information about the digital assets in a said searchable database;

said means for checking the digital assets Into the computer system includes;

means for checking in individual digital assets into the system;

means for checking in collections of digital assets;

means for storing the digital assets into a storage entity controlled by said computer system;

means for searching for digital assets by searching the information about the digital assets in said searchable database;

means for managing said stored digital assets based on the results of searched performed by said means for searching for digital assets.

79. The system of claim 78 wherein said means for checking in collections of digital assets into the computer system includes:

means for checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection as a single digital asset.

80. The system of claim 79 wherein said means for checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection as a single digital asset further includes:

means for assigning a name to the entire collection as a group; and

means for checking in the group as a single digital asset under the assigned name.

81. The system of claim 79, wherein said means for checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection as a single digital asset further includes:

means for establishing relationships between individual assets of the collection of digital assets; and

means for maintaining the relationships between the individual assets of the collection as information in the searchable database.

82. The system of claim 79 wherein said means for checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection as a single digital asset further includes:

means for establishing relationships between selected individual assets of the collection of digital assets; and

means for checking in groups of selected related individual assets as subgroups within the collection of digital assets.

83. The system of claim 78 wherein said means for checking in a digital asset into the computer system further includes:

means for checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in each member of the collection as individual digital assets.

84. The system of claim 78 wherein said means for checking in a digital asset into the computer system further includes:

means for checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection of digital assets as a single digital asset; and

means for checking in each member of the collection of digital assets as individual assets as well.

85. The system of claim 78 wherein said means for checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection of digital assets further includes:

means for establishing relationships between selected digital assets; and

means for maintaining information about said relationships in said searchable storage entity.

86. The system of claim 78 wherein said means for checking in a collection of digital assets by checking in the entire collection of digital assets further includes:

means for establishing relationships between selected digital assets; and

means for checking in selected digital assets as subgroups as well.

87. The system of claim 78 wherein said means for managing the digital assets further includes:

means for selecting the individual digital asset from the searchable storage entity to be checked out;

means for copying the selected individual digital asset from the searchable storage entity into a local computer device.

88. A system for managing digital assets stored in a computer system, the system comprising:

means for creating references to digital assets stored in the computer system;

means for graphically displaying said references to selected digital assets stored in the computer system;

means for organizing the display of said references on said graphic display in a user customizable format without affecting the organization of the digital assets relating to said references stored in the computer system; and

means for retrieving the selected digital assets stored in the computer system by selecting the references relating to said selected digital assets from said display of references.

89. The system of claim 88 wherein said means for organizing the display of said references includes the step of:

means for storing said references to selected digital assets in said computer system.

90. The system of claim 88 wherein said means for organizing the display of said references includes:

means for sharing said references displayed with other users of said computer system.

91. A system for managing distributed assets on a computer system having a central location and at least one other location;

said system comprising;

means for configuring a main application at said central location to manage the digital assets for storage, searches and retrieval throughout the system;

means for configuring an agent application at each of the other locations for managing the storage of digital assets in local storage entities;

a set of storage rules for managing the storage of digital assets throughout the system;

means for defining said set of storage rules for the storage of digital assets in the system; and

means for operating said main application in accordance with said defined set of storage rules to balance the storage of the digital assets throughout the system.

92. The system of claim 91 wherein said means for defining said set of storage rules includes:

means for defining the storage rules so that digital assets are stored in the location of highest usage.

93. The system of claim 91 wherein said means for configuring an agent application includes:

means for configuring one or more storage entities as a single logical storage entity.

94. The system of claim 91 wherein said system further comprises:

means for configuring a searchable storage unit at said central location;

means for storing information about each of the individual digital assets regardless of location in said searchable storage unit;

means for searching for digital assets stored in said system by searching said searchable storage unit for information about the digital assets based on user-supplied criteria;

means for selecting digital assets for retrieval based on the results of the searches in said searchable storage unit based on user-supplied criteria; and

means for retrieving the selected digital assets from the storage entity in which the selected digital assets are stored.