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

• US 8,082,254 B2
• Filed: 05/04/2010
• Issued: 12/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• 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:
  US12/773,781
• Publication Number:
  US 20100218117A1
• Time in Patent Office: 595 Days
• Field of Search: 709/218, 709/217, 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 based on a community value for at least one community dimension assigned to each section of the document. In particular, a user is conditionally provided access to a section of a document, 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.

Claims

1. A method for dynamically generating a section of a web page in a computer network based on client preferences, comprising:

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

maintaining a plurality of documents;

assigning at least one of the content dimension values to each of the plurality of documents;

storing the plurality of documents in a retrievable form, wherein the retrievable form includes a relational database;

indicating the plurality of content dimensions to a client computer;

accepting input from the client computer specifying preferences regarding one or more of the content dimension values associated with one or more of the content dimensions; and

dynamically generating a section of a web page which identifies one or more documents that meet the one or more of the content dimension values associated with the client preferences;

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

conditionally providing the first user access to the first section of the one of the documents, 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;

for a second section of the one of the documents, 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;

conditionally providing the first user access to the second section of the one of the documents, 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;

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, 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;

conditionally providing the second user access to the first section of the one of the documents, 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;

for the second section of the one of the documents, 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; and

conditionally providing the second user access to the second section of the one of the documents, 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.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the content dimensions is defined using a web browser.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the content dimension includes at least one of geographic location, corporate department, employee classification, and time period.

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

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

6. 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 according to the at least one theme specified by the first user.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more documents are grouped by theme.

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

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first user is provided access to the first section of the one of the documents 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.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first user is denied access to the first section of the one of the documents 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.

11. 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.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein for each section of the one of the documents, 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.

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

14. The method of claim 13, wherein each of the sets of a community value for the at least one community dimension indicates a different community.

15. 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.

16. 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.

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

18. The method of claim 17, 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.

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

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

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the department includes a department of the corporate structure to which each section of the one of the documents concerns.

22. 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.

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

24. 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.

25. The method of claim 24, 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.

26. A system for dynamically generating a section of a web page in a computer network based on client preferences, comprising:

a processor for;

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

maintaining a plurality of documents;

assigning at least one of the content dimension values to each of the plurality of documents;

storing the plurality of documents in a retrievable form, wherein the retrievable form includes a relational database;

indicating the plurality of content dimensions to a client computer;

accepting input from the client computer specifying preferences regarding one or more of the content dimension values associated with one or more of the content dimensions; and

dynamically generating a section of a web page which identifies one or more documents that meet the one or more of the content dimension values associated with the client preferences;

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

conditionally providing the first user access to the first section of the one of the documents, 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;

for a second section of the one of the documents, 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;

conditionally providing the first user access to the second section of the one of the documents, 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;

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, 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;

conditionally providing the second user access to the first section of the one of the documents, 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;

for the second section of the one of the documents, 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; and

conditionally providing the second user access to the second section of the one of the documents, 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.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the system is operable such that at least one of the content dimensions is defined using a web browser.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the content dimension includes at least one of geographic location, corporate department, employee classification, and time period.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein the system is operable such that the system is implemented using a plurality of instances of a software program.

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

31. 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 dynamically generating a section of a web page in a computer network based on client preferences, the method comprising:

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

maintaining a plurality of documents;

assigning at least one of the content dimension values to each of the plurality of documents;

storing the plurality of documents in a retrievable form, wherein the retrievable form includes a relational database;

indicating the plurality of content dimensions to a client computer;

accepting input from the client computer specifying preferences regarding one or more of the content dimension values associated with one or more of the content dimensions; and

dynamically generating a section of a web page which identifies one or more documents that meet the one or more of the content dimension values associated with the client preferences;

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

conditionally providing the first user access to the first section of the one of the documents, 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;

for a second section of the one of the documents, 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;

conditionally providing the first user access to the second section of the one of the documents, 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;

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, 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;

conditionally providing the second user access to the first section of the one of the documents, 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;

for the second section of the one of the documents, 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; and

conditionally providing the second user access to the second section of the one of the documents, 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.

32. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein at least one of the content dimensions is defined using a web browser.

33. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the content dimension includes at least one of geographic location, corporate department, employee classification, and time period.

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

35. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the plurality of content dimensions and the content dimension values are defined by a system administrator.