Context-sensitive collaboration channels

• US 9,086,788 B2
• Filed: 11/16/2013
• Issued: 07/21/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bhogal, Kulvir S., Boss, Gregory J., Hamilton, Rick A. II, Sand, Anne R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Yohannes, Tesfay
• Application Number:
  US14/082,132
• Publication Number:
  US 20140075331A1
• Time in Patent Office: 612 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204, 709/205, 455/3, 455/75
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/103 Workflow collaboration or project management

Abstract

An apparatus and computer program product for collaborating is disclosed. Responsive to a computer system receiving a selection from a user for a portion of a document, the computer system identifies a context for the selected portion of the document. The computer system identifies a set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context. The computer system determines whether the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context is empty. The computer system then creates a new collaboration channel based on the context for the selected portion of the document responsive to the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context being empty.

Claims

1. A computer comprising:

a bus;

a processor unit connected to the bus;

a computer readable storage device connected to the bus; and

program code for collaborating, wherein the program code is stored on the computer readable storage device and is configured to be run by the processor unit to;

modify a presentation of a document that includes a plurality of portions by making each portion of the document selectable by a user;

identify a context of a user-selected portion of the document in response to receiving a selection by the user of a portion of the document;

identify a set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document;

determine whether the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document is empty;

create a new collaboration channel based on the context of the user-selected portion of the document in response to determining that the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document is empty;

select one or more of the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document in response to determining that the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document is not empty; and

establish a collaboration that communicates information about the user-selected portion of the document between the user and other users by utilizing the one or more of the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document.

2. The computer of claim 1, wherein the program code configured to be run by the processor unit to identify the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document comprises searching through a log of sent and received collaboration messages associated with each collaboration channel of a list of collaboration channels including chats, blogs, discussion forums, social networks, videoconferences, teleconferences, shared applications, electronic meetings, and email threads for a match between the log of sent and received collaboration messages and the context of the user-selected portion of the document;

and filtering each collaboration channel of the list of collaboration channels based on a computer context, a user context, and a product context automatically identified by the computer.

3. The computer of claim 2 wherein the program code is further configured to be run by the processor unit to:

determine that the plurality of portions of the document correspond to one or more collaboration channels of the list of collaboration channels; and

highlight the plurality of portions of the document for selection by the user.

4. The computer of claim 1, wherein the document is one of a web page, a presentation, and information presented on a window of an application program.

5. A computer program product for collaborating, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium;

first program code for modifying a presentation of a document that includes a plurality of portions by making each portion of the document selectable by a user;

second program code, responsive to receiving a selection by the user of a portion of the document, for identifying a context of the user-selected portion of the document;

third program code for identifying a set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document;

fourth program code for determining whether the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document is empty;

fifth program code, responsive to the determining that the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document is empty, for creating a new collaboration channel based on the context of the user-selected portion of the document;

sixth program code, responsive to determining that the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document is not empty, for selecting one or more of the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document; and

seventh program code for establishing a collaboration that communicates information about the user-selected portion of the document between the user and other users by utilizing the one or more of the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document, wherein the first program code, the second program code, the third program code, the fourth program code, the fifth program code, the sixth program code, and the seventh program code are stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage medium.

6. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein the third program code for identifying the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document comprises:

searching through a log of sent and received collaboration messages associated with each collaboration channel of a list of collaboration channels including chats, blogs, discussion forums, social networks, videoconferences, teleconferences, shared applications, electronic meetings, and email threads for a match between the log of sent and received collaboration messages and the context of the user-selected portion of the document; and

filtering each collaboration channel of the list of collaboration channels based on a computer context, a user context, and a product context automatically identified by the computer.

7. The computer program product of claim 6 further comprising:

eighth program code for determining that the plurality of portions of the document correspond to one or more collaboration channels of the list of collaboration channels; and

ninth program code for highlighting the plurality of portions of the document for selection by the user, wherein the eighth program code and the ninth program code are stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage medium.

8. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein the non-transitory computer readable storage medium is a first non-transitory computer readable storage medium, and wherein the first non-transitory computer readable storage medium is in a server data processing system, and wherein the program code is downloaded over a network to a remote data processing system for use in a second non-transitory computer readable storage medium in the remote data processing system.

9. A method for collaborating, the method comprising:

modifying, by a computer system, a presentation of a document that includes a plurality of portions by making each portion of the document selectable by a user;

responsive to receiving, by the computer system, a selection by the user of a portion of the document, identifying, by the computer system, a context of the user-selected portion of the document;

identifying, by the computer system, a set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document;

determining, by the computer system, whether the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document is empty;

responsive to the computer system determining that the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document is empty, creating, by the computer system, a new collaboration channel based on the context of the user-selected portion of the document;

responsive to the computer system determining that the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document is not empty, selecting, by the computer system, one or more of the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document; and

establishing, by the computer system, a collaboration that communicates information about the user-selected portion of the document between the user and other users by utilizing the one or more of the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

determining, by the computer system, whether the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document includes a first collaboration channel and a second collaboration channel corresponding to the context;

establishing, by the computer system, a first collaboration using the first collaboration channel and a second collaboration using the second collaboration channel responsive to the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document including the first collaboration channel and the second collaboration channel;

responsive to receiving, by the computer system, a collaboration message from the user about the user-selected portion of the document, sending, by the computer system, the collaboration message about the user-selected portion of the document to the first collaboration and the second collaboration; and

presenting, by the computer system, collaboration messages from the other users to the user received, by the computer system, from the first collaboration and the second collaboration.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

responsive to the computer system creating the new collaboration channel based on the context of the user-selected portion of the document, establishing, by the computer system, a new collaboration using the new collaboration channel;

responsive to the computer system receiving a collaboration message from the user about the user-selected portion of the document, the computer system sending the collaboration message to the new collaboration; and

presenting, by the computer system, collaboration messages from the other users to the user that the computer system receives from the new collaboration.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the identifying, by the computer system, of the set of collaboration channels corresponding to the context of the user-selected portion of the document comprises:

selecting, by the computer system, the set of collaboration channels from a list of collaboration channels including chats, blogs, discussion forums, social networks, videoconferences, teleconferences, shared applications, electronic meetings, and email threads.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the selecting, by the computer system, of the set of collaboration channels from the list of collaboration channels comprises:

searching, by the computer system, through a log of sent and received collaboration messages associated with each collaboration channel of the list of collaboration channels for a match between the log of sent and received collaboration messages and the context of the user-selected portion of the document; and

filtering, by the computer system, each collaboration channel of the list of collaboration channels based on a computer context, a user context, and a product context automatically identified by the computer system.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the receiving, by the computer system, of the selection by the user of the portion of the document comprises:

receiving, by the computer system, a highlighting of the portion of the document by the user.

15. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

determining, by the computer system, that the plurality of portions of the document correspond to one or more collaboration channels of the list of collaboration channels; and

highlighting, by the computer system, the plurality of portions of the document for selection by the user.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the plurality of portions of the document is arranged in a hierarchy, the context of the user-selected portion of the document is a first context, and the new collaboration channel is a first new collaboration channel, and further comprising:

identifying, by the computer system, a second context associated with a parent portion of the user-selected portion of the document;

identifying, by the computer system, a second set of collaboration channels corresponding to the second context associated with the parent portion of the user-selected portion of the document;

determining, by the computer system, whether the second set of collaboration channels corresponding to the second context associated with the parent portion of the user-selected portion of the document is empty; and

responsive to the computer system determining that the second set of collaboration channels corresponding to the second context associated with the parent portion of the user-selected portion of the document is empty, creating, by the computer system, a second new collaboration channel based on the second context associated with the parent portion of the user-selected portion of the document.

17. The method of claim 9, wherein the document is one of a web page, a presentation, and information presented on a window of an application program.