Aggregating content from multiple services

• US 8,745,481 B1
• Filed: 02/27/2008
• Issued: 06/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Ulm, Joshua S.
• Primary Examiner(s): DYER, ANDREW R
• Application Number:
  US12/038,506
• Time in Patent Office: 2,288 Days
• Field of Search: 715/209, 715/201, 715/202, 715/205, 715/235, 715/243, 715/248, 715/249
• US Class Current: 715/209
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/103 Formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents automatic justification G06F40/189; automatic line break hyphenation G06F40/191
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/106 Display of layout of documents; Previewing

Abstract

An exemplary embodiment involves receiving, by a processor, a selection of a contact from a requestor. The exemplary embodiment further involves identifying, by the processor, multiple services to which the contact subscribes and to which the requestor subscribes. Subscribing to each service comprises creating a profile comprising authentication information and associating with the profile one or more content items provided by the service. Identifying the multiple services comprises identifying, for each service that a first profile of the contact is associated with a second profile of the requestor. The exemplary embodiment further involves communicating, by the processor, with the multiple services to identify content to identify content that is provided by one or more of the multiples services and that is associated with the contact. The exemplary embodiment further involves generating, by the processor, a preview indicating the content associated with the contact.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a processor, a selection of a contact from a requestor;

identifying, by the processor, multiple services to which both the selected contact and the requestor subscribes, wherein subscribing to each service comprises creating a respective profile comprising authentication information and wherein at least one content item associated with the respective profile is provided by the service based on subscribing to the service, wherein identifying the multiple services comprises identifying, for each service, that a profile of the selected contact is associated with a profile of the requestor;

communicating, by the processor, with the multiple services to identify associated content, wherein the associated content is provided by at least one of the multiple services and is associated with the selected contact;

identifying, by the processor, that the selected contact has specified at least one first display rule for an aggregation application and that the requestor has specified at least one second display rule for the aggregation application, wherein each of the at least one first display rule and the at least one second display rule specify how the aggregation application is to display the associated content aggregated from the multiple services by the aggregation application in a preview included in a graphical interface of the aggregation application; and

generating, by the processor, the preview based on the at least one first display rule and the at least one second display rule, wherein the preview comprises at least some of the associated content aggregated by the aggregation application that is grouped based on a respective content type of the associated content;

displaying the preview in the graphical user interface of the aggregation application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating with the multiple services includes:

retrieving a first set of content references from a first service of the multiple services to identify first content that has been associated with the selected contact; and

retrieving a second set of content references from a second service of the multiple services to identify second content that has been associated with the selected contact;

wherein generating the preview includes initiating display of the first set of content references to the first content and the second set of content references to the second content in the graphical interface.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the selected contact is a first contact, the method further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, a selection of a second contact; and

communicating, by the processor, with at least one of the first service and the second service to retrieve an additional set of content references associated with the second contact, wherein the additional set of content references specifies additional content;

wherein generating the preview includes initiating display of the additional content along with the first content and second content in the graphical interface.

4. The method of claim 1,

wherein communicating with the multiple services includes retrieving a link from at least one service of the multiple services, the link pointing to a corresponding portion of the associated content;

and

wherein generating the preview includes;

rendering the preview to include a selectable display region,

associating the link with the selectable display region,

receiving a subsequent selection of the selectable display region enabling retrieval and playback of the associated content via use of the link.

5. The method of claim 4,

wherein communicating with the multiple services includes retrieving an additional link from an additional service of the multiple services, the additional link pointing to an additional corresponding portion of the associated content;

and

wherein generating the preview includes;

rendering the preview to include an additional selectable display region; and

associating the additional link with the additional selectable display region, a subsequent selection of the additional display region enabling retrieval and playback of the associated content via use of the additional link.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating with the multiple services includes:

providing requestor authentication information to a service, wherein the requestor authentication information is associated with the profile of the requestor and is specific to the service; and

generating the preview by accessing content information that is provided by the service and that is associated with the selected contact.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the preview includes:

displaying references to the associated content such that a first region of the preview includes at least one first reference to first content associated with a first content type and a second region of the preview includes at least one second reference to second content associated with a second content type.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein generating the preview further comprises sub-grouping the references to the associated content based on, for each reference, a respective service providing the respective content via the references, wherein the references are also displayed based on sub-grouping the references.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

initiating, by the processor, display of the associated content in the preview according to an identification of preferred content as specified by the at least one first display rule and the at least one second display rule.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, a selection of a content reference displayed in the preview, the content reference specifying at least a portion of the associated content;

in response to receiving the selection of the content reference, initiating, by the processor, retrieval of corresponding associated content; and

displaying, by the processor, a rendition of the corresponding associated content in the graphical interface.

11. The method as in claim 1, wherein communicating with the multiple services includes:

retrieving first content information from a first web-based social networking service to which the selected contact subscribes, wherein the first content information is associated with the selected contact, wherein the first content information comprises a first link to a first portion of the associated content; and

retrieving second content information from a second web-based social networking service to which the selected contact subscribes, wherein the second content information is associated with the selected contact, wherein the second content information comprises a second link to a second portion of the associated content.

12. The method as in claim 11, wherein generating the preview includes:

initiating display of a first selectable display region in the preview, the first selectable display region representing the first portion of the associated content; and

initiating display of a second selectable display region in the preview, the second selectable display region representing the second portion of the associated content.

13. The method as in claim 12 further comprising:

associating, by the processor, the first link with the first selectable display region;

associating, by the processor, the second link with the second selectable display region;

in response to detecting selection of the first selectable display region in the preview, utilizing, by the processor, the first link to retrieve and display the first portion of the associated content; and

in response to detecting selection of the second selectable display region in the preview, utilizing, by the processor, the second link to retrieve and display the second portion of the associated content.

14. A computer program product including a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon for processing data information, such that the instructions, when carried out by a processing device, cause the processing device to perform operations of:

receiving a selection of a contact from a requestor;

identifying multiple services to which both the selected contact and the requestor subscribe, wherein subscribing to each service comprises creating a respective profile comprising authentication information and wherein at least one content item associated with the respective profile is provided by the service based on subscribing to the service, wherein identifying the multiple services comprises identifying, for each service, that a profile of the contact is associated with a profile of the requestor;

communicating with the multiple services to identify associated content, wherein the associated content is provided by at least one of the multiple services and that is associated with the contact;

identifying, by the processor, that the selected contact has specified at least one first display rule for an aggregation application and that the requestor has specified at least one second display rule for the aggregation application, wherein each of the at least one first display rule and the at least one second display rule specify how the aggregation application is to display the associated content aggregated from the multiple services by the aggregation application in a preview included in a graphical interface of the aggregation application; and

generating the preview based on the at least one first display rule and the at least one second display rule, wherein the preview comprises at least some of the associated content that is grouped based on a respective content type of the associated content;

displaying the preview in the graphical user interface of the aggregation application.

15. The computer program product as in claim 14, wherein communicating with the multiple services includes:

retrieving a first set of content references from a first service of the multiple services to identify first content associated with the contact; and

retrieving a second set of content references from a second service of the multiple services to identify second content associated with the contact;

wherein generating the preview includes initiating display of the first set of references to the first content and the second set of content references to the second content in the graphical interface.

16. The computer program product as in claim 14,

wherein communicating with the multiple services includes retrieving a link from at least one service of the multiple services, the link pointing to a corresponding portion of the associated content associated with the selected contact;

and

wherein generating the preview includes;

rendering the preview to include a selectable display region,

associating the link with the selectable display region,

receiving a selection of the selectable display region enabling retrieval and playback of the associated content via use of the link.

17. The computer program product as in claim 16,

wherein communicating with the multiple services includes retrieving an additional link from an additional service of the multiple services, the additional link pointing to an additional corresponding portion of the associated content;

and

wherein generating the preview includes;

rendering the preview to include an additional selectable display region; and

associating the additional link with the additional selectable display region, a subsequent selection of the additional display region enabling retrieval and playback of the associated content via use of the additional link.

18. A computer system comprising:

a processor;

a memory unit that stores instructions associated with an application executed by the processor; and

an interconnect coupling the processor and the memory unit, enabling the computer system to execute the application and perform operations of;

receiving a selection of a contact from a requestor;

identifying multiple services to which both the selected contact and the requestor subscribe, wherein subscribing to each service comprises creating a respective profile comprising authentication information and wherein at least one content item associated with the respective profile are provided by the service based on subscribing to the service, wherein identifying the multiple services comprises identifying, for each service, that a profile of the selected contact is associated with a profile of the requestor;

communicating with the multiple services to identify associated content, wherein the associated content is provided by at least one of the multiple services and that is associated with the selected contact;

identifying, by the processor, that the selected contact has specified at least one first display rule for an aggregation application and that the requestor has specified at least one second display rule for the aggregation application, wherein each of the at least one first display rule and the at least one second display rule specify how the aggregation application is to display the associated content aggregated from the multiple services by the aggregation application in a preview included in a graphical interface of the aggregation application; and

generating a preview based on the at least one first display rule and the at least one second display rule, wherein the preview comprises at least some of the associated content that is grouped based on a respective content type of the associated content;

displaying the preview in the graphical user interface of the aggregation application.

19. The computer system of claim 18, wherein communicating with the multiple services includes:

retrieving a first set of content references from a first service of the multiple services to identify first content that has been associated with the selected contact;

retrieving a second set of content references from a second service of the multiple services to identify second content that has been associated with the selected contact; and

wherein generating the preview includes initiating display of the first set of references to the first content and the second set of content references to the second content in the graphical interface.

20. The computer system of claim 19, wherein the selected contact is a first contact, the computer system further supporting operations of:

receiving a selection of a second contact;

communicating with at least one of the first service and the second service to retrieve an additional set of content references associated with the second contact, wherein the additional set of content references specifies additional content, wherein the additional content is associated with the selected contact; and

wherein generating the preview includes initiating display of references to the additional content in the graphical interface.

21. The computer system of claim 18, wherein communicating with the multiple services includes retrieving the associated content from one of the multiple services;

and

wherein generating the preview includes initiating display of the associated content as retrieved from the one of the multiple services.