Method and apparatus for providing attributes of a collaboration system in an operating system folder-based file system

• US 7,734,690 B2
• Filed: 09/05/2003
• Issued: 06/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Moromisato, George P., Halvorsen, Patrick M., Taylor-Paris, Pamela J., Shekhel, Jerry J., Szamrej, Mark R., Klabish, Gregory S., Ozzie, Raymond E., Patey, Eric M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chea; Philip J
• Application Number:
  US10/656,904
• Publication Number:
  US 20090138808A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,468 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204, 709/205, 715751-753, 707/203
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/273 Asynchronous replication or reconciliation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A conventional operating system folder or directory based file system is implemented with, or enhanced to provide, attributes of shared collaborative workspaces. In particular, the conventional file system is connected to either a server based or a distributed collaboration system and the user interface of the operating system file system is augmented to allow it to control aspects of the collaboration system. Each folder or directory can be synchronized and treated as a “workspace” that can be viewed and shared with other users or groups of users. Folder can also be provided with “awareness” information that indicates collaborators that are present and those that are sharing the workspace.

Claims

1. A method for providing information and services of a collaboration system adapted for communicating changes to at least one shared space in a data change format that allows a plurality of members to interact collaboratively in a shared folder in a folder-based file system that is part of an operating system with a user interface, the method comprising:

(a) including a collaborative interface in the operating system user interface of a first computer, the collaborative interface adapted to receive user input identifying a synchronized file;

(b) receiving at the first computer, from the collaboration system, information regarding members of the plurality of members collaborating within the context of a shared folder containing the synchronized file through the use of the collaboration system and using the collaborative interface to display the information;

(c) within the operating system, automatically determining changes made to information stored as a file in the folder-based file system and providing a notification of a determined changed to the collaboration system;

(d) in response to the notification of the determined change, determining, within the collaboration system, whether the change relates to the synchronized file;

(e) when the change relates to the at least one synchronized file, communicating the change to the plurality of members collaborating within the context of the shared folder, the change being communicated via a first data change message formatted in accordance with the data change format of the collaboration system;

(f) receiving at the first computer a second data change message formatted in accordance with the data change format of the collaboration system, the second data change message communicating a change made to the synchronized file by a user of a second computer; and

(g) changing the synchronized file within the operating system on the first computer based on the second data change message.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein a portion of the user interface is implemented as the collaborative interface.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the user interface is enhanced to include the collaborative interface.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein a portion of the user interface is replaced with the collaborative interface.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, in response to the user input identifying a synchronized file received using the collaborative interface, creating a shared space within the collaboration system associated with the synchronized file.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising using the collaborative interface to initiate sending an invitation by the collaboration system to a member of the plurality of members to join the shared space.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein step (b) comprises displaying information regarding members in the shared space.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein:

the method further comprises receiving from the collaboration system awareness information that indicates whether each member is on-line and available; and

the information regarding members in the shared space includes the awareness information.

9. The method of claim 5 wherein step (c) comprises, for each synchronized file in the folder-based file system, maintaining, within the shared space, a snapshot that contains sufficient information to allow a determination to be made whether that file has changed.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein step (d) further comprises in response to the notification, examining each file snapshot to determine which file has changed.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein step (c) comprises connecting the operating system to the collaborative system via a web services interface.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein step (e) comprises maintaining, within the shared space, a list of members who are in the shared folder.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein step (e) further comprises for each member who is in the shared folder, maintaining, within the shared space, information indicating whether that member has a copy of contents of at least one synchronized file in the shared folder.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising providing a stub file to each shared folder member who does not have the contents of the at least one synchronized file.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising, at a computing device of a user who is in the shared folder and does not have a copy of the contents of a synchronized file, displaying a stub file in a user interface.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising downloading file contents from a source when a user selects the stub file display.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the source comprises a server.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the source comprises a computer of another member.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein step (e) comprises using the collaborative system to disseminate file changes to members in the shared folder.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the file changes are disseminated as compressed representations of the file changes represented as binary differences.

21. The method of claim 5, further comprising, on a computer used by a receiving member of the members collaborating with the context of the shared folder, creating a copy of the shared space;

and

wherein the method further comprises;

receiving a data change message;

forwarding the data change message to a document share engine in the shared space; and

using the document share engine to make the file change to a corresponding file in a folder-based file system on the computer used by the receiving member.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein using the document share engine comprises using a file synchronizer in the collaborative system that makes change specified in the data change message in the folder based file system under control of the document share engine.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein step (e) comprises using a document share engine within a shared space of the collaboration system to notify each of the plurality of members that the change has occurred.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

using the document share engine to provide, for display in the collaborative interface, a list of the plurality of members and an indicator showing which of the plurality of members has opened a selected synchronized file.

25. The method of claim 1 wherein the collaborative interface comprises an on-line chat mechanism.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein the collaborative interface comprises a mechanism for creating and storing comments related to a selected file.

27. An apparatus at a first end point of a collaboration system for providing information and services that allows a plurality of members to interact collaboratively in a shared folder in a folder-based file system that is part of an operating system on a first computer, the apparatus comprising:

a processor;

means for displaying a collaborative interface, the collaborative interface providing a mechanism through which a user may select at least one file in the folder-based file system as a synchronized file;

an interface that connects the collaborative interface to the collaboration system in order to retrieve and display information from the collaboration system regarding the members in the user interface;

a file synchronizer that receives a notification from the operating system of a change made in the folder-based file system; and

a document share engine within the collaboration system on the first computer that;

communicates the change to the plurality of members of the collaboration system;

receives changes to the synchronized file from at least one of the plurality of members accessing the collaboration system on a second computer; and

applies the received change to a file in the folder-based file system on the first computer.

28. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the means for displaying the collaborative interface is designed and implemented as a portion of a user interface of the operating system.

29. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the means for displaying the collaborative interface comprises an enhancement of a user interface of the operating system to include the collaborative interface.

30. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the means for displaying the collaborative interface comprises a replacement of a portion of a user interface of the operating system with an interface specifically intended to support collaborative activity.

31. The apparatus of claim 27 further comprising a web services interface that allows the collaborative interface to interact with the collaboration system to create a shared space.

32. The apparatus of claim 31 further comprising a web services interface that allows the collaborative interface to interact with the collaboration system to invite one of the plurality of members to join the shared space.

33. The apparatus of claim 32 wherein the collaborative interface comprises means for displaying information regarding the plurality of members in the shared space.

34. The apparatus of claim 33 wherein the information regarding members in the shared space includes awareness information obtained from the collaboration system that indicates whether each member is on-line and available.

35. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the file synchronizer comprises means for maintaining for each of the at least one synchronized file in the folder-based file system in response to changes made by any of the plurality of members, a snapshot that contains sufficient information to allow a determination to be made whether the at least one synchronized file has changed.

36. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein the file synchronizer further comprises a file RAMP that receives a notification from the folder-based file system that the change has been made to the folder-based file system and means responsive to the notification for examining each file snapshot to determine which file has changed.

37. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the file synchronizer comprises a web services interface that connects to the collaboration system.

38. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the interface comprises a web services interface that allows the collaborative interface to interact with the collaboration system to create a shared space and wherein the document share engine comprises means for maintaining a list of members who are in the shared space.

39. The apparatus of claim 38 wherein the document share engine further comprises means for maintaining for each member who is in the shared space information indicating whether that member has contents of the at least one synchronized file in the shared space.

40. The apparatus of claim 39 further comprising means for creating a stub file and providing the stub file to each shared space member who does not have the contents of the at least one synchronized file.

41. The apparatus of claim 40 further comprising means for displaying the stub file in the user interface.

42. The apparatus of claim 41 further comprising means for downloading file contents from a source when a user selects the stub file display.

43. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein the source comprises a server.

44. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein the source comprises a computer of another member.

45. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the document share engine comprises means for determining changes in the at least one file and means for providing that changes to the collaboration system so that the changes are distributed to members in the shared folder.

46. The apparatus of claim 45 wherein the document share engine provides the file changes to the collaboration system as binary differences.

47. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein:

the interface comprises a web services interface that allows the collaborative interface to interact with the collaboration system to create a shared space and wherein the document share engine is located in the shared space and the document share engine further comprises means for receiving a change made in the shared space to a file; and

the apparatus further comprises means for communicating the change to the file synchronizer.

48. The apparatus of claim 47 wherein the file synchronizer comprises means for making the change in the folder based file system.

49. The apparatus of claim 47 wherein the document share engine comprises means for notifying each of the plurality of members that a file change has occurred.

50. The apparatus of claim 47 further comprising means cooperating with the document share engine and comprising means for displaying in the collaborative interface a list of the plurality of members and an indicator showing which of the plurality of members has opened a selected synchronized file.

51. The apparatus of claim 27 further comprising an on-line chat mechanism in the document share engine controlled by the collaborative interface.

52. The apparatus of claim 27 further comprises means controlled by the collaborative interface for creating and storing comments related to a selected file.

53. A computer program product for providing information and services of a collaboration system that allows a plurality of members to interact collaboratively in a shared folder in a folder-based file system that is part of an operating system, the computer program product comprising a computer storage medium having computer readable program code thereon, including:

program code for presenting a collaborative interface through which a user may select at least one shared folder;

program code for using the collaborative interface to display information regarding the plurality of members collaborating within the context of the shared folder through the use of the collaborative system;

program code within the collaboration system for receiving from the operating system on a first computer an event notification indicating a change within the folder-based file system;

program code within the collaboration system for determining whether the change made in the folder-based file system relates to the at least one shared folder, the program code for determining comprises program code for maintaining a snapshot of at least one file in the shared folder;

program code for communicating the change to other members via the collaboration system;

program code for receiving an indication of a second change relating to the at least one shared folder from a member of the other members of the collaboration system accessing the collaboration system from a second computer; and

program code for applying the second change to the folder-based file system on the first computer, whereby the shared folder is synchronized among the members of the collaboration system.