Reviewing and merging electronic documents

• US 7,401,291 B2
• Filed: 10/04/2004
• Issued: 07/15/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Serdy, Valerie D., McAteer, Sean E., Ramaley, Alan, Olsen, Thomas W., Tharamal, Suresh
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong; Stephen
• Assistant Examiner(s): Campbell; Joshua D.
• Application Number:
  US10/958,471
• Publication Number:
  US 20050044492A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,380 Days
• Field of Search: 715/511, 715/530, 715/531, 715/540, 715/229, 715/255, 715/256, 715/271, 715/764, 715/771
• US Class Current: 715/255
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/174 Form filling; Merging
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A system and method for reviewing an electronic document. A copy of an electronic document is sent to a reviewer, the copy of the electronic document having a first property identifying the location of the electronic document in the memory and indicating that review of the copy has been requested. The reviewer uses an application program to open the copy of the electronic document. The application program detects properties and in response to the first property, automatically displays a review toolbar. The edited electronic document is then sent back to the author having at least a first property. The application program executed by the author detects the properties and in response to the first property, retrieves the original electronic document from the memory and automatically prompts the author to merge the edited electronic document into the electronic document.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for reviewing and editing the electronic document, the method comprising:

receiving from the first computer a copy of the electronic document having a first property identifying a location of the electronic document in the memory of the first computer;

in response to receiving the copy of the electronic document, opening the copy of the electronic document within an application program and displaying the copy of the electronic document on a display device;

determining whether a review identifier associated with the copy of the electronic document is included in a registry, wherein the inclusion of the review identifier in the registry indicates the presence of the electronic document on the first computer;

in response to detecting the first property with the application program and determining that the review identifier is not in the registry, displaying on the display device a review toolbar;

editing the copy of the electronic document to create an edited electronic document; and

sending the edited electronic document to the first computer, said edited electronic document having said first property and the review identifier.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first property comprises a unique identification number identifying the location of the electronic document in the memory.

3. The method in claim 1, wherein the first property is a custom OLE document property.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the copy of the electronic document was received via electronic mail;

and wherein the copy of the electronic document further comprises a second property indicating an electronic mail address from which the copy of the electronic document was sent.

5. The method in claim 4, wherein said second property is a custom OLE document property.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first property is created in response to attaching said electronic document to an electronic mail message.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first property is created in response to detecting that a selectable control element corresponding to the electronic document has been dragged into an electronic mail message body.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first property is created in response to detecting that the copy of the electronic document has been pasted into an electronic mail message body.

9. The method in claim 1, wherein the review toolbar is continuously displayed until the review toolbar is removed from the display device.

10. A computer system for reviewing an electronic document, the system comprising:

a memory for storing an electronic document; and

a processing unit functionally coupled to the memory, for executing computer-executable instructions operable for;

sending to a computer a copy of the electronic document, said copy having a first property identifying the location of the electronic document in the memory and indicating that review of the copy has been requested,

receiving from the computer an edited electronic document, said edited electronic document comprising an edited version of the electronic document, and said edited electronic document having said first property and the review identifier,

determining whether the review identifier is in a registry, wherein the inclusion of the review identifier in the registry indicates that the electronic document is a reviewed document;

when the review identifier is in the registry, retrieving the electronic document from the memory according to the first property, and automatically merging the edited electronic document into the electronic document; and

when the review identifier is not in the registry, not performing a merge operation.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the first property is created in response to attaching said electronic document to an electronic mail message.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the first property is created in response to detecting that a selectable control element corresponding to the electronic document has been dragged into an electronic mail message body.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the first property is created in response to detecting that the copy of the electronic document has been pasted into an electronic mail message body.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the first property comprises a unique identification number identifying the location of the electronic document in the memory.

15. The system in claim 10, wherein the first property is a custom OLE document property.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the copy is received via electronic mail;

and wherein the copy further comprises a second property indicating an electronic mail address from which the copy was sent.

17. The system in claim 16, wherein said second property is a custom OLE document property.

18. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions for storing an electronic document, the instructions comprising:

receiving an edited electronic document from a computer, said edited electronic document comprising an edited version of the electronic document, said edited electronic document having a first property identifying a location of the electronic document in the memory and a review identifier that indicates that review of the copy has been requested;

determining whether the review identifier is in a registry, wherein the inclusion of the review identifier in the registry indicates that the electronic document is a reviewed document;

when the review identifier is in the registry, retrieving the electronic document from the memory according to the first property, and automatically merging the edited electronic document into the electronic document; and

when the review identifier is not in the registry, not performing a merge operation.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the first property comprises a unique identification number.

20. The computer-readable storage medium in claim 18, wherein the first property is a custom OLE document property.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the copy of the electronic document was received by the computer via electronic mail;

and wherein the copy of the electronic document further comprises a second property indicating an electronic mail address from which the copy of the electronic document was sent.

22. The computer-readable storage medium in claim 21, wherein said second property is a custom OLE document property.