Handling of content in a data processing device

• US 7,672,978 B2
• Filed: 08/20/2004
• Issued: 03/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Lehtola, Ari, Partanen, Tiina, Ojala, Markku
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong; Don
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen; Merilyn P
• Application Number:
  US10/923,650
• Publication Number:
  US 20060041600A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,020 Days
• Field of Search: 707/102, 707 1- 2, 707/10, 707200-204, 709/207, 709/217, 709/246, 709/228, 455/412.2
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/178 Techniques for file synchronisation in file systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication

Abstract

A method is shown for handling content in a data processing device, the data processing device comprising at least a first application and a data-handling module. The method comprises: synchronizing, in the control of said data-handling module, content of a first external device and at least one file residing in a specific folder of the data processing device, the file being accessible by at least one first application, and the file being generated by means of the first application or the file being directed to the first application, or both.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

obtaining information relating to a content, said information being used for synchronizing said content between a data processing device and a first external device,

transferring said content from said data processing device to said first external device by way of synchronization between said data processing device and said first external device, said content being stored in said first external device for further transmission to a second external device that does not have direct communications with said data processing device, and

controlling a transmission of said content from said first external device to said second external device,

wherein said content is generated by a content-handling application of said data processing device and stored as at least one file in a specific folder of said data processing device,

wherein said synchronizing between said data processing device and said first external device is controlled by a data-handling module of said data processing device without implementing synchronization functionality into the content-handling application,

and wherein said data-handling module provides an interface for use by said content-handling application, and the transmission of said content from said first external device to said second external device is commanded by said content-handling application via said interface.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said data-handling module is part of a second application.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said second application is a management application that is used at least for conducting communication between the data processing device and external devices.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining information relating to said content comprises:

obtaining information relating to said content by periodically polling said specific folder.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said synchronizing is implemented by means of a Synchronization Markup Language.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said content is one of the following:

an multimedia messaging service message, a short message service message, an email, a contact card and a calendar event.

7. The method for claim 1, further comprising:

controlling said first external device to receive another content from said second external device and to store said other content in said first external device for further transmission to said data processing device,

receiving said other content from said first external device by way of synchronization between said data processing device and said first external device, and

storing said other content as at least one file in said specific folder of said data processing device,

wherein said other content is generated for said content-handling application of said data processing device.

8. An apparatus, comprising:

a communication device, configured to communicate with a first external device;

a processing unit, configured to process a content-handling application and a data-handling module; and

a memory device, comprising storage space for a file system, wherein a content generated by said content-handling application is stored as at least one file in a specific folder of said file system,

wherein said data-handling module comprises a synchronization engine and an interface for use by said content-handling application, said synchronization engine is configured to;

obtain information relating to the content, said information being used for synchronizing said content between said apparatus and a first external device, and transfer said content from said apparatus to said first external device by way of synchronization between said apparatus and said first external device, said content being stored in said first external device for further transmission to a second external device that does not have direct communications with said data processing device,

wherein said synchronizing between said data processing device and said first external device is controlled by said data-handling module without implementing synchronization functionality into said content-handling application,

and wherein the further transmission of said content from said first external device to said second external device is commanded by said content-handling application via said interface of said data-handling module.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said synchronization engine is further configured to:

control said first external device to receive another content from said second external device and to store said other content in said first external device for further transmission to said data processing device, and

receive said other content from said first external device by way of synchronization between said data processing device and said first external device,

wherein said other content is generated for said content-handling application of said data processing device, and wherein said memory device is configured to store said other content as at least one file in said specific folder of said file system.

10. A computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon for execution by a data-handling module in a data processing device, wherein the computer program comprises:

program code for obtaining information relating to a content, said information being used for synchronizing said content between said data processing device and a first external device, and

program code for transferring said content from said data processing device to said first external device by way of synchronization between said data processing device and said first external device, said content being stored in said first external device for further transmission to a second external device that does not have direct communications with said data processing device,

program code for controlling a transmission of said content from said first external device to said second external device,

wherein said content is generated by a content-handling application of said data processing device and stored as at least one file in a specific folder of said data processing device, and

wherein said synchronizing between said data processing device and said first external device is controlled by said data-handling module of said data processing device without implementing synchronization functionality into the content-handling application,

wherein said data-handling module provides an interface for use by said content-handling application, and the transmission of said content from said first external device to said second external device is commanded by said content-handling application via said interface.

11. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the computer program further comprises:

program code for controlling said first external device to receive another content from said second external device and to store said content in said first external device for further transmission to said data processing device,

program code for receiving said other content from said first external device by way of synchronization between said data processing device and said first external device, and

program code for storing said other content as at least one file in a specific folder of said data processing device,

wherein said content is generated for said content-handling application of said data processing device.