Method, system, and computer program product for searching documents in a computer network

• US 8,082,249 B2
• Filed: 05/04/2010
• Issued: 12/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Inventors: Dayon, Alexandre
• Primary Examiner(s): Colin, Carl
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rashid, Harunur
• Application Number:
  US12/773,689
• Publication Number:
  US 20100287503A1
• Time in Patent Office: 595 Days
• Field of Search: 709/218, 707/802, 707/736, 715/234
• US Class Current: 707/736
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/105 Multiple levels of security
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program product for accessing web pages on a network are provided. In use, different users are provided access to a plurality of sections of a document selected by the different users based on a community value for at least one community dimension assigned to each section of document selected by the different users. In particular, a user is conditionally provided access to a section of a document selected by the user, based on a comparison of a user value indicating a community with which the user is associated to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the section of the document selected by the user.

Claims

1. A method for searching documents in a computer network, the method comprising:

defining a plurality of content dimensions, each of the plurality of content dimensions having one or more content dimension values;

maintaining a plurality of documents;

assigning one or more of the content dimension values to each of the plurality of documents;

storing the plurality of documents in a retrievable form;

indicating the plurality of content dimensions to a user of a computer;

accepting input from the user of the computer specifying one or more of the content dimension values associated with one or more of the content dimensions;

identifying one or more of the documents that meet one or more of the content dimension values associated with one or more of the content dimensions specified by the user of the computer;

accepting input from the user of the computer selecting one of the documents from the one or more identified documents; and

identifying to the user of the computer the one of the documents selected by the user;

wherein different users are provided access to a plurality of sections of the one of the documents selected by the different users based on a community value for at least one community dimension assigned to each section of the one of the documents selected by the different users by;

identifying a first user value for at least one community dimension to which a first user is associated, the first user value indicating a first community with which the first user is associated;

for a first section of the one of the documents selected by the first user, comparing the first user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the first user;

conditionally providing the first user access to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the first user, based on the comparison of the first user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the first user;

for a second section of the one of the documents selected by the first user, comparing the first user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the second section of the one of the documents selected by the first user;

conditionally providing the first user access to the second section of the one of the documents selected by the first user, based on the comparison of the first user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the second section of the one of the documents selected by the first user;

identifying a second user value for at least one community dimension to which a second user is associated, the second user value indicating a second community with which the second user is associated;

for the first section of the one of the documents selected by the second user, comparing the second user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the second user;

conditionally providing the second user access to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the second user, based on the comparison of the second user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the second user;

for the second section of the one of the documents selected by the second user, comparing the second user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the second section of the one of the documents selected by the second user; and

conditionally providing the second user access to the second section of the one of the documents selected by the second user, based on the comparison of the second user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the second section of the one of the documents selected by the second user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is implemented using a plurality of instances of a software program.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of content dimensions and the content dimension values are defined by a system administrator.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

accepting input from the first user specifying at least one theme; and

filtering the one or more documents identified according to the at least one theme specified by the first user.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying the one or more documents further comprises grouping the documents by theme.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of the documents make up a face book.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first user is provided access to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the first user in response to a determination from the comparison that the first user value matches the value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the first user.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first user is denied access to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the first user in response to a determination from the comparison that the first user value does not match the value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the first user.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first community to which the first user is associated is a community to which the first user is assigned.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein for each section of the one of the documents selected by the user, a file creator selects the community value for the at least one community dimension, such that the selection creates the assignment of the community value for the at least one community dimension to the section of the one of the documents selected by the user.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the sections of the one of the documents selected by the user is assigned multiple different sets of a community value for the at least one community dimension.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein each of the sets of a community value for the at least one community dimension indicates a different community.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein for each section of the one of the documents, the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the section of the one of the documents is specified for granting access to the section of the one of the documents to users associated with the community value.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein for each section of the one of the documents, the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the section of the one of the documents is specified for denying access to the section of the one of the documents to users associated with the community value.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the dimensions include a geographic location category, a department category and a time period category.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein a community to which each section of the one of the documents is assigned categorizes the section of the one of the documents according to a corporate structure using the geographic location category and the department category, and further categorizes the section of the one of the documents according to a timeframe using the time period category.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein a community to which each section of the one of the documents selected by the first user is assigned and the first community to which the first user is associated are within a corporate structure.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein a community to which each section of the one of the documents selected by the first user is assigned and the first community to which the first user is associated includes a geographic location and a department.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the department includes a department of the corporate structure to which each section of the one of the documents concerns.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to each section of the one of the documents defines a publication date associated with the section of the one of the documents.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the community to which each section of the one of the documents selected by the first user is assigned and the first community to which the first user is associated each include a group of people.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising accepting signals provided by a file creator via a user input device to assign a theme to each section of the one of the documents, the theme associated with at least one of the community values for the at least one community dimension assigned to each section of the one of the documents.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein for the section of the one of the documents associated with the theme, the at least one of the community values associated with the theme is automatically assigned to the section of the one of the documents based on the assignment of the theme to the section of the one of the documents.

24. A system for searching documents in a computer network comprising:

a processor for;

defining a plurality of content dimensions, each of the plurality of content dimensions having one or more content dimension values;

maintaining a plurality of documents;

assigning one or more of the content dimension values to each of the plurality of documents;

storing the plurality of documents in a retrievable form;

indicating the plurality of content dimensions to a user of a computer;

accepting input from the user of the computer specifying one or more of the content dimension values associated with one or more of the content dimensions;

identifying one or more of the documents that meet one or more of the content dimension values associated with one or more of the content dimensions specified by the user of the computer;

accepting input from the user of the computer selecting one of the documents from the one or more identified documents; and

identifying to the user of the computer the one of the documents selected by the user;

wherein different users are provided access to a plurality of sections of the one of the documents selected by the different users based on a community value for at least one community dimension assigned to each section of the one of the documents selected by the different users by;

identifying a first user value for at least one community dimension to which a first user is associated, the first user value indicating a first community with which the first user is associated;

for a first section of the one of the documents selected by the first user, comparing the first user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the first user;

conditionally providing the first user access to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the first user, based on the comparison of the first user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the first user;

for a second section of the one of the documents selected by the first user, comparing the first user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the second section of the one of the documents selected by the first user;

conditionally providing the first user access to the second section of the one of the documents selected by the first user, based on the comparison of the first user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the second section of the one of the documents selected by the first user;

identifying a second user value for at least one community dimension to which a second user is associated, the second user value indicating a second community with which the second user is associated;

for the first section of the one of the documents selected by the second user, comparing the second user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the second user;

conditionally providing the second user access to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the second user, based on the comparison of the second user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the second user;

for the second section of the one of the documents selected by the second user, comparing the second user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the second section of the one of the documents selected by the second user; and

conditionally providing the second user access to the second section of the one of the documents selected by the second user, based on the comparison of the second user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the second section of the one of the documents selected by the second user.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the system is implemented using a plurality of instances of a software program.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein the system is operable such that the plurality of content dimensions and the content dimension values are defined by a system administrator.

27. The system of claim 24, wherein the processor is further for:

accepting input from the first user specifying at least one theme; and

filtering the one or more documents identified according to the at least one theme specified by the first user.

28. The system of claim 24, wherein the system is operable such that the identifying the one or more documents further comprises grouping the documents by theme.

29. The system of claim 24, wherein the system is operable such that the plurality of the documents make up a face book.

30. A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method for searching documents in a computer network, the method comprising:

defining a plurality of content dimensions, each of the plurality of content dimensions having one or more content dimension values;

maintaining a plurality of documents;

assigning one or more of the content dimension values to each of the plurality of documents;

storing the plurality of documents in a retrievable form;

indicating the plurality of content dimensions to a user of a computer;

accepting input from the user of the computer specifying one or more of the content dimension values associated with one or more of the content dimensions;

identifying one or more of the documents that meet one or more of the content dimension values associated with one or more of the content dimensions specified by the user of the computer;

accepting input from the user of the computer selecting one of the documents from the one or more identified documents; and

identifying to the user of the computer the one of the documents selected by the user;

wherein different users are provided access to a plurality of sections of the one of the documents selected by the different users based on a community value for at least one community dimension assigned to each section of the one of the documents selected by the different users by;

identifying a first user value for at least one community dimension to which a first user is associated, the first user value indicating a first community with which the first user is associated;

for a first section of the one of the document selected by the first user, comparing the first user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the first user;

conditionally providing the first user access to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the first user, based on the comparison of the first user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the first user;

for a second section of the one of the documents selected by the first user, comparing the first user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the second section of the one of the documents selected by the first user;

conditionally providing the first user access to the second section of the one of the documents selected by the first user, based on the comparison of the first user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the second section of the one of the documents selected by the first user;

identifying a second user value for at least one community dimension to which a second user is associated, the second user value indicating a second community with which the second user is associated;

for the first section of the one of the documents selected by the second user, comparing the second user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the second user;

conditionally providing the second user access to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the second user, based on the comparison of the second user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the first section of the one of the documents selected by the second user;

for the second section of the one of the documents selected by the second user, comparing the second user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the second section of the one of the documents selected by the second user; and

conditionally providing the second user access to the second section of the one of the documents selected by the second user, based on the comparison of the second user value to the community value for the at least one community dimension assigned to the second section of the one of the documents selected by the second user.

31. The computer program product claim 30, wherein the computer program product is implemented using a plurality of instances of a software program.

32. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the plurality of content dimensions and the content dimension values are defined by a system administrator.

33. The computer program product of claim 30, further comprising:

accepting input from the first user specifying at least one theme; and

filtering the one or more documents identified according to the at least one theme specified by the first user.

34. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the identifying the one or more documents further comprises grouping the documents by theme.

35. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the plurality of the documents make up a face book.