Managing item access in a collaborative workspace
First Claim
1. A method executed at least in part in a computing device for managing item access in a network environment, the method comprising:
- providing an interactive user interface through a display for enabling one or more users to collaborate on one or more items associated with a collaborative workspace, wherein the collaborative workspace defines a linked collection of one or more of;
members, permissions, items, activities, notifications, and messages and wherein items include one or more of;
word processing document items, spreadsheet document items, presentation-related document items, data items, discussion items;
displaying on the display a menu part on the interactive user interface presenting a plurality of functions available for managing the collaborative workspace;
displaying on the display a list of users associated with the collaborative workspace on the interactive user interface;
displaying on the display the one or more items associated with the collaborative workspace in an item presentation part of the interactive user interface, wherein the workspace stores the items as one or more of;
an actual copy included in the workspace and a virtual copy with a reference pointer pointing to where the items are stored;
enabling a user with administrative rights to add and remove items from the collaborative workspace utilizing a workspace management module wherein addition of an item to the collaborative workspace places the item in a shared location;
displaying on the display tasks associated with the collaborative workspace on an activity panel implemented by an activity management module on the interactive user interface for enabling the user with administrative rights to set up tasks for one or more users associated with the collaborative workspace;
displaying on the display a message thread in a discussion management module on the interactive user interface for enabling the one or more users associated with the collaborative workspace to exchange messages; and
upon detection of an instruction through an input device from the user with administrative rights to manage the one or more items associated with the collaborative workspace, providing an item user interface in a separate window overlapping with the interactive user interface on the display enabling the user with administrative rights to view one or more candidate items for associating with the collaborative workspace without losing a context associated with the collaborative workspace.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An approach is described for managing item access in a collaborative workspace. A user interacts with the collaborative workspace through a workspace user interface presentation. The approach entails presenting an item user interface presentation to the user without losing a context associated with the workspace user interface presentation. The user can enter searching and filtering selections into the item user interface presentation to narrow an initial set of items provided by that presentation. Upon locating a desired item, the user can add it to the collaborative workspace using a drag-and-drop operation or other technique.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method executed at least in part in a computing device for managing item access in a network environment, the method comprising:
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providing an interactive user interface through a display for enabling one or more users to collaborate on one or more items associated with a collaborative workspace, wherein the collaborative workspace defines a linked collection of one or more of;
members, permissions, items, activities, notifications, and messages and wherein items include one or more of;
word processing document items, spreadsheet document items, presentation-related document items, data items, discussion items;displaying on the display a menu part on the interactive user interface presenting a plurality of functions available for managing the collaborative workspace; displaying on the display a list of users associated with the collaborative workspace on the interactive user interface; displaying on the display the one or more items associated with the collaborative workspace in an item presentation part of the interactive user interface, wherein the workspace stores the items as one or more of;
an actual copy included in the workspace and a virtual copy with a reference pointer pointing to where the items are stored;enabling a user with administrative rights to add and remove items from the collaborative workspace utilizing a workspace management module wherein addition of an item to the collaborative workspace places the item in a shared location; displaying on the display tasks associated with the collaborative workspace on an activity panel implemented by an activity management module on the interactive user interface for enabling the user with administrative rights to set up tasks for one or more users associated with the collaborative workspace; displaying on the display a message thread in a discussion management module on the interactive user interface for enabling the one or more users associated with the collaborative workspace to exchange messages; and upon detection of an instruction through an input device from the user with administrative rights to manage the one or more items associated with the collaborative workspace, providing an item user interface in a separate window overlapping with the interactive user interface on the display enabling the user with administrative rights to view one or more candidate items for associating with the collaborative workspace without losing a context associated with the collaborative workspace. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computing device for managing item access in a network environment, comprising:
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a memory storing instructions; a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to execute; a workspace management module configured to; manage set-up and operation of a collaborative workspace; and employ an interface component to provide an interactive user interface for enabling one or more users to collaborate on one or more items associated with the collaborative workspace within a context of the network environment, wherein the administrative rights with respect to the workspace include one or more of;
set up, manage, and terminate the collaborative workspace;a presentation module coupled to the workspace management module, the presentation module configured to; display a menu part providing a plurality of available functions for interacting with the collaborative workspace provided by the interactive user interface; display a list of users associated with the collaborative workspace on the interactive user interface; display the one or more items associated with the collaborative workspace in an item presentation part of the interactive user interface; and an item management module configured to; enable the user with administrative rights to add and remove items from the collaborative workspace, wherein addition of an item to the collaborative workspace places the item in a shared location to be accessed and acted upon by members of the workspace in a manner defined by respective permissions of the members; display a documents option on the menu part of the interactive user interface for allowing the user to view items that can be added to the collaborative workspace; enable the user to select the documents option for executing the instruction to manage items associated with the collaborative workspace; upon detection of an instruction from a user to manage items associated with the collaborative workspace, provide an item user interface in a separate window overlapping with the interactive user interface enabling the user to view one or more candidate items for associating with the collaborative workspace without losing a context associated with the collaborative workspace; and an activity management module configured to; enable the user with administrative rights to set up and assign one or more tasks to the one or more users associated with the collaborative workspace; display the one or more tasks assigned to the one or more users in an activity panel associated with the collaborative workspace; and provide notifications and alerts regarding the status of the one or more tasks to the one or more users associated with the collaborative workspace; an item indexing module coupled to the item management module, the item indexing module configured to; apply a dynamic analysis to determine one or more observed characteristics of the collaborative workspace and to select an item store from which to index the items suitable for the collaborative workspace based on the observed characteristics; and enable the user with administrative rights to instruct the item indexing module to index items that the user has chosen to share in the past in a context of any workspace and in particular types of workspaces, regardless of where the items are presently stores; and a discussion management module configured to display a message thread for enabling the one or more users associated with the collaborative workspace to exchange messages, reply to an existing message, and start a new message thread. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A computer-readable memory device with instructions stored thereon for managing item access in a network environment, instructions comprising:
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providing an interactive user interface through a display viewable on a plurality of electronic devices accessible over a network for enabling one or more users to collaborate on one or more items associated with a collaborative workspace, wherein at least a portion of a functionality and information provided on the interactive user interface are implemented on a local device and at least a portion of a functionality and information provided on the interactive user interface are implemented at a network accessible location; displaying on the display a menu part on the interactive user interface presenting a plurality of functions available for managing the collaborative workspace, wherein the collaborative workspace defines a linked collection of one or more of;
members, permissions, items, activities, notifications, and messages and wherein items include one or more of;
word processing document items, spreadsheet document items, presentation-related document items, data items, discussion items;displaying on the display a list of users associated with the collaborative workspace on the interactive user interface; displaying on the display the one or more items associated with the collaborative workspace in an item presentation part of the interactive user interface, wherein the workspace stores the items as one or more of;
an actual copy and a virtual copy with a reference pointer pointing to where the items are stored;enabling a user with administrative rights to add and remove items from the item presentation part utilizing a workspace management module; displaying on the display one or more tasks assigned to one or more users associated with the collaborative workspace on an activity panel implemented by an activity management module on the interactive user interface and providing notifications to the one or more users associated with the collaborative workspace related to the status of the one or more tasks; displaying on the display a message thread in a discussion management module on the interactive user interface for enabling the one or more users associated with the collaborative workspace to exchange messages; enabling the user with administrative rights to select a documents option displayed on the menu part of the interactive user interface for executing the instruction to manage items associated with the collaborative workspace; upon detection of the selection of the documents option; identifying at least one data store storing one or more candidate items relevant to the collaborative workspace; selecting one or more candidate items from the data store for presenting in an item user interface; and presenting the selected candidate items from the data store in a list of candidate items in the item user interface in a separate window overlapping with the interactive user interface enabling the user to view one or more candidate items for associating with the collaborative workspace without losing a context associated with the collaborative workspace; enabling the user to select one or more of the candidate items from the list of candidate items for associating with the collaborative workspace; adding the one or more selected candidate items from the list of candidate items to the item presentation part of the interactive user interface, wherein addition of the one or more selected candidate items to the collaborative workspace places the selected candidate item in a shared location to be accessed and acted upon by members of the workspace in a manner defined by respective permissions of the members; and displaying on the display a list of items on the display wherein the list of items includes additional information associated with each item including one or more of;
a name associated with the item, a status of the item, an online status of a person associated with the item, a group associated with the item, and a last activity associated with the item. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification