Computer implemented method for integrating services in a calendar application via meeting request e-mails

• US 8,352,303 B2
• Filed: 11/23/2009
• Issued: 01/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/23/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Lehmann, Jens, Sommer, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Singh, Gurkanwaljit
• Application Number:
  US12/623,759
• Publication Number:
  US 20110125545A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,142 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/7.19
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06314 Calendaring for a resource
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for integrating services in a calendar application via the meeting request functionality of calendar programs comprising:

• • initiating one or multiple services, wherein the initiation may involve the transmission of calendar event information from the calendar application to the service, the service requests being sent as meeting request e-mails to one or more service e-mail addresses, each service e-mail address representing a service,
  • receiving the update requests generated by the one or multiple services, the update requests being meeting request response e-mails or one or multiple second meeting request e-mails
  • processing the received update requests, and
  • updating the calendar application.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for integrating services in a calendar application displayed on a computer, comprising:

specifying an event within an electronic calendar of a calendar application on the computer, the calendar application configured to send and receive e-mails, wherein the event is being taken from the group consisting of singular events and recurring events, the recurring events being events with a certain recurrence pattern, the events being data objects in an electronic calendar of the calendar application;

analyzing the event and the recurring events in the electronic calendar;

predicting required events based on a temporal proximity to the event and the recurring events in the electronic calendar;

submitting a service request to a service, the service request comprising the specification of the event, the service request being sent in the form of an e-mail to a service e-mail address by the calendar application, wherein the service e-mail address represents the service, and wherein the e-mail is a meeting request e-mail;

receiving, from a processor, the service request sent to the service e-mail address of the service being represented by the service e-mail address;

determining, by the processor, if the service is operable to process the service request based on network connectivity and compatibility between the service and the meeting request e-mail;

flagging the meeting request e-mail as acceptable if the service is determined to be operable and flagging the meeting request e-mail as rejected if the service is determined to be inoperable;

executing, by the processor, the service after the delivery of the service request e-mail to the service e-mail address of the service, wherein the execution is decoupled from submission of the meeting request e-mail;

returning an update request by the service, the update request comprising a result generated by the requested service, the update request being an e-mail sent to the e-mail address used by the calendar application for sending the service request, the update request e-mail being a meeting request response e-mail or a second meeting request e-mail;

receiving, from the processor, the update request from the requested service by the calendar application; and

executing, by the processor, the received update request by the calendar application, resulting in an automatic update of the electronic calendar of the calendar application;

wherein the requested service is configured to map general and user-specific tags within text of the service request e-mail to unequivocal addresses, the mapping information being derived from the set consisting of tag mapping information of a user profile and tag mapping information contained within the service request e-mail, wherein the user profile corresponds to the user of the calendar application sending the service request.

2. The computer implemented method according to claim 1, comprising:

submitting multiple service requests to multiple services, each service request comprising the specifications of the event, each service request being sent by the calendar application in the form of an e-mail to a service e-mail address representing the service, wherein the e-mail is a meeting request e-mail;

receiving, from the processor, the update requests from the multiple requested services by the calendar application; and

executing, by the processor, the received update requests by the calendar application, resulting in an automatic update of the electronic calendar of the calendar application.

3. A computer implemented method comprising:

receiving, from a processor, a service request sent to a service e-mail address of a service, the service being represented by the service e-mail address, the service request comprising specifications of an event within an electronic calendar of a calendar application, the service request being a meeting request e-mail, the service request being sent by a calendar application configured to send and receive e-mails;

determining, by the processor, if the service is operable to process the service request based on network connectivity and compatibility between the service and the meeting request e-mail;

flagging the meeting request e-mail as acceptable if the service is determined to be operable and flagging the meeting request e-mail as rejected if the service is determined to be inoperable;

executing, by the processor, the service, the execution being initiated after the delivery of the service request e-mail to the service e-mail address of the service, wherein the execution is decoupled from submission of the meeting request e-mail; and

returning an update request by the service, the update request comprising a result generated by the requested service, the update request being an e-mail sent to the e-mail address used by the calendar application for sending the service request, the update request e-mail being a meeting request response e-mail or a second meeting request e-mail, the update request being adapted to automatically update the electronic calendar of the calendar application receiving the update request;

wherein the requested service is configured to map general and user-specific tags within text of the service request e-mail to unequivocal addresses, the mapping information being derived from the set consisting of tag mapping information of a user profile and tag mapping information contained within the service request e-mail, wherein the user profile corresponds to the user of the calendar application sending the service request.

4. The computer implemented method according to claim 3, wherein the specifications of the event within the service request have been explicitly specified by a user of the calendar application sending the service request, wherein the user explicitly defines at least time and date of the event and selects the service e-mail address representing the service.

5. The computer implemented method according to claim 3, wherein the user profiles available for the service are derived from the group consisting of social communities, employee profiles of companies, LDAP directories and user profile lists.

6. The computer implemented method according to claim 3,

wherein the meeting request e-mail comprises at least one tag representing the place of departure and one tag representing the destination, the tags being contained within the location field of the meeting request e-mail,

wherein the requested service is a trip sharing service, the execution of the trip sharing service comprising the steps of:

extracting calendar event-associated information from the service request, the calendar event-associated information comprising at least the sender e-mail address, the location, date and time of the calendar event),

mapping the sender e-mail address to a user profile of the trip sharing service having the same e-mail address,

creating a new trip entry,

assigning the user profile to the new trip entry

processing the text content of the location field of the meeting request e-mail, the processing comprising the mapping of general and user-specific tags within the text content to unequivocal addresses, the user-specific mapping information being derived from the user-profile, wherein the departure and destination addresses are derived from the departure and destination tags within the location field of the meeting request e-mail, wherein the starting time and the ending time the meeting-request, specify a time window within which the user sending the meeting request e-mail is prepared to take the trip, wherein the route from the departure address to the destination address is calculated,

storing the new trip entry in a first database, and

searching for appropriate trip accompanies, the appropriateness depending on matching parameters specified in the user profile and the text of the meeting-request e-mail, the matching parameters comprising at least the driver/co-driver preference of the user.

7. The computer implemented method according to claim 6, wherein the meeting request e-mail comprises at least one tag representing an unequivocal route.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions configured to be executed by a processor, the instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the performance of a method, comprising:

receiving a service request sent to a service e-mail address of a service, the service being represented by the service e-mail address, the service request comprising specifications of an event within an electronic calendar of a calendar application, the service request being a meeting request e-mail, the service request being sent by a calendar application being operable to send and receive e-mails;

determining if the service is operable to process the service request based on network connectivity and compatibility between the service and the meeting request e-mail;

flagging the meeting request e-mail as acceptable if the service is determined to be operable and flagging the meeting request e-mail as rejected if the service is determined to be inoperable;

executing the service, the execution being initiated after the delivery of the service request e-mail to the service e-mail address of the service, wherein the execution is decoupled from submission of the meeting request e-mail; and

returning an update request by the service, the update request comprising a result generated by the requested service, the update request being an e-mail sent to the e-mail address used by the calendar application for sending the service request, the update request e-mail being a meeting request response e-mail or a second meeting request e-mail, the update request being adapted to automatically update the electronic calendar of the calendar application receiving the update request;

wherein the requested service is configured to map general and user-specific tags within text of the service request e-mail to unequivocal addresses, the mapping information being derived from the set consisting of tag mapping information of a user profile and tag mapping information contained within the service request e-mail, wherein the user profile corresponds to the user of the calendar application sending the service request.

9. The medium according to claim 8, wherein the specifications of the event within the service request have been explicitly specified by a user of the calendar application sending the service request, wherein the user explicitly defines at least time and date of the event and selects the service e-mail address representing the service.

10. The medium according to claim 8, wherein the user profiles available for the service are derived from the group consisting of social communities, employee profiles of companies, LDAP directories and user profile lists.

11. The medium according to claim 8,

wherein the meeting request e-mail comprises at least one tag representing the place of departure and one tag representing the destination, the tags being contained within the location field of the meeting request e-mail,

wherein the requested service is a trip sharing service, the execution of the trip sharing service comprising the steps of:

extracting calendar event-associated information from the service request, the calendar event-associated information comprising at least the sender e-mail address, the location, date and time of the calendar event),

mapping the sender e-mail address to a user profile of the trip sharing service having the same e-mail address,

creating a new trip entry,

assigning the user profile to the new trip entry

processing the text content of the location field of the meeting request e-mail, the processing comprising the mapping of general and user-specific tags within the text content to unequivocal addresses, the user-specific mapping information being derived from the user-profile, wherein the departure and destination addresses are derived from the departure and destination tags within the location field of the meeting request e-mail, wherein the starting time and the ending time the meeting-request, specify a time window within which the user sending the meeting request e-mail is prepared to take the trip, wherein the route from the departure address to the destination address is calculated,

storing the new trip entry in a first database, and

searching for appropriate trip accompanies, the appropriateness depending on matching parameters specified in the user profile and the text of the meeting-request e-mail, the matching parameters comprising at least the driver/co-driver preference of the user.

12. The medium according to claim 11, wherein the meeting request e-mail comprises at least one tag representing an unequivocal route.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions configured to be executed by a processor, the instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the performance of a method, comprising:

specifying an event within an electronic calendar of a calendar application, the calendar application configured to send and receive e-mails, wherein the event is being taken from the group consisting of singular events and recurring events, the recurring events being events with a certain recurrence pattern, the events being data objects in an electronic calendar of the calendar application;

analyzing the event and the recurring events in the electronic calendar;

predicting required events based on a temporal proximity to the event and the recurring events in the electronic calendar;

submitting a service request to a service, the service request comprising the specification of the event, the service request being sent in the form of an e-mail to a service e-mail address by the calendar application, wherein the service e-mail address represents the service, and wherein the e-mail is a meeting request e-mail;

receiving the service request sent to the service e-mail address of the service being represented by the service e-mail address;

determining, by the processor, if the service is operable to process the service request based on network connectivity and compatibility between the service and the meeting request email;

flagging the meeting request e-mail as acceptable if the service is determined to be operable and flagging the meeting request e-mail as rejected if the service is determined to be inoperable;

executing the service after the delivery of the service request e-mail to the service e-mail address of the service, wherein the execution is decoupled from submission of the meeting request e-mail;

returning an update request by the service, the update request comprising a result generated by the requested service, the update request being an e-mail sent to the e-mail address used by the calendar application for sending the service request, the update request e-mail being a meeting request response e-mail or a second meeting request e-mail;

receiving the update request from the requested service by the calendar application; and

executing the received update request by the calendar application, resulting in an automatic update of the electronic calendar of the calendar application;

wherein the requested service is configured to map general and user-specific tags within text of the service request e-mail to unequivocal addresses, the mapping information being derived from the set consisting of tag mapping information of a user profile and tag mapping information contained within the service request e-mail, wherein the user profile corresponds to the user of the calendar application sending the service request.

14. The medium according to claim 13, comprising:

submitting multiple service requests to multiple services, each service request comprising the specifications of the event, each service request being sent by the calendar application in the form of an e-mail to a service e-mail address representing the service, wherein the e-mail is a meeting request e-mail;

receiving the update requests from the multiple requested services by the calendar application; and

executing the received update requests by the calendar application, resulting in an automatic update of the electronic calendar of the calendar application.