Dynamically configurable lists for including multiple content types
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented list management system for managing a list of a plurality of elements, the list comprising elements of a plurality of element types, each element having at least one property associated with a property name, a property type, and a value, wherein the list management system, upon receiving instructions to accept an element of a new element type not already included in the list of elements:
- determines one or more properties of the new element type, each of the one or more properties of the new element type including a property name and a property type;
determines whether the one or more property names of the new element type are already included in the list;
for each of the one or more properties of the new element type having a property name not already included in the list, adds the property to the list, wherein when the property is added to the list, the property is also added as a new property for each of the plurality of elements of the list;
for each of the one or more properties of the new element type having a property name already included in a corresponding property of an existing element of the list, determines whether the property type for such property of the new element type matches the property type associated with the corresponding existing element of the list, and, if not, adds such property of the new element type to the list, including added such property as a new property for each of the plurality of elements of the list;
adds at least one property of existing elements of the list as a new property for the new element type; and
displays the list including at least some of the plurality of elements with at least some of the properties of the list available to each element in the list.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A dynamically configurable list management system that supports list elements of multiple content types is presented. Each list element is associated with an element type via an element type identifier. The element type identifier uniquely identifies the element type to the list management system. Each property associated with each element type is included in the list. Each property is identified by a unique property identifier. When adding a list element of a new element type to an existing list that does not include any elements of the new element type, the list management system identifies every property associated with the new element type. For each property associated with the new element type, the list management system determines which properties are not already included in the list, and adds those properties that are not already including to the list.
35 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented list management system for managing a list of a plurality of elements, the list comprising elements of a plurality of element types, each element having at least one property associated with a property name, a property type, and a value, wherein the list management system, upon receiving instructions to accept an element of a new element type not already included in the list of elements:
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determines one or more properties of the new element type, each of the one or more properties of the new element type including a property name and a property type; determines whether the one or more property names of the new element type are already included in the list; for each of the one or more properties of the new element type having a property name not already included in the list, adds the property to the list, wherein when the property is added to the list, the property is also added as a new property for each of the plurality of elements of the list; for each of the one or more properties of the new element type having a property name already included in a corresponding property of an existing element of the list, determines whether the property type for such property of the new element type matches the property type associated with the corresponding existing element of the list, and, if not, adds such property of the new element type to the list, including added such property as a new property for each of the plurality of elements of the list; adds at least one property of existing elements of the list as a new property for the new element type; and displays the list including at least some of the plurality of elements with at least some of the properties of the list available to each element in the list. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method, implemented on a computing device, for adding a new element type to an existing list of elements not of the new element type, the method comprising:
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receiving an instruction to add the new element type to the existing list of elements, wherein each existing element of the list of elements has one or more properties associated with a property name, a property type, and a value; determining one or more properties of the new element type, each of the one or more properties of the new element type including a property name and a property type; determining whether the one or more property names of the new element type are already included in the list; for each of the one or more properties of the new element type having a property name not already included in the list, adding that property of the new element type to the list and adding that property as a new property for each of the existing elements of the list; for each of the one or more properties of the new element type having a property name already included in a corresponding property of one of the existing elements of the list, determining whether the property type for such property of the new element type matches the property type associated with the corresponding existing element of the list, and, if not, adding such property of the new element type to the list, including adding such property as a new property for each of the plurality of existing elements of the list; adding one or more properties of the existing elements of the list as new properties of the new element type; and displaying the existing list including the newly added element type and the newly added properties. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A computer storage medium bearing computer-executable instructions which, when executed on a computing device, carry out a method for adding a list element of a new element type to an existing list comprising existing elements not of the new element type, each element in the existing list having at least one property associated with a value, the method comprising:
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receiving an instruction to add the list element of the new element type to the list of existing elements, wherein each element of the list of existing elements has one or more properties associated with a property name, a property type, and a value; determining properties of the new element type, each of the one or more properties of the new element type including a property name and a property type; for each property of the new element type having a property name not already included in the list, adding the property to the list and adding the property as a new property for each of the existing elements of the list; for each of the one or more properties of the new element type having a property name already included in a corresponding property of one of the existing elements of the list, determining whether the property type for such property of the new element type matches the property type associated with the corresponding existing element of the list, and, if not, adding such property of the new element type to the list, including adding such property as a new property for each of the plurality of existing elements of the list; adding the list element of the new element type to the existing list and adding the properties of the existing elements of the list as new properties for the list element of the new element type; and displaying the existing list including at least some of the elements of the list with at least some of the properties of the list available to each element in the list. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification