Task grouping by context

• US 9,542,234 B2
• Filed: 11/03/2015
• Issued: 01/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Boenisch, Volker M., Buendgen, Reinhard, Geisert, Franziska, Lang, Jakob C., Lattermann, Mareike, Nunez Mencias, Angel
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, VAN H
• Application Number:
  US14/930,741
• Publication Number:
  US 20160055039A1
• Time in Patent Office: 434 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/48 Program initiating; Program switching, e.g. by interrupt
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4843 by program, e.g. task dispatcher, supervisor, operating system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4881 Scheduling strategies for dispatcher, e.g. round robin, multi-level priority queues
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/50 Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5011 the resources being hardware resources other than CPUs, Servers and Terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/52 Program synchronisation; Mutual exclusion, e.g. by means of semaphores

Abstract

In an approach to grouping tasks initialized by a first user, one or more computer processors receive a first task initialization by a first user. The one or more computer processors determine whether one or more additional tasks contained in one or more task groups are in use by the first user. Responsive to determining one or more additional tasks contained in one or more task groups are in use, the one or more computer processors determine whether the first task is related to at least one task of the one or more additional tasks. Responsive to determining the first task is related to at least one task of the one or more additional tasks, the one or more computer processors add the first task to the task group containing the at least one related task of the one or more additional tasks.

Claims

1. A method for grouping tasks initialized by a first user, the method comprising:

receiving, by one or more computer processors, a first task initialization by a first user wherein a task is at least one of;

an application, a tab within a window, or a process that has a user interface, and wherein a task represents a work unit that belongs to a work assignment of the first user;

determining, by the one or more computer processors, whether one or more additional tasks contained in one or more task groups are in use by the first user;

responsive to determining one or more additional tasks contained in one or more task groups are in use, determining, by the one or more computer processors, whether the first task is related to at least one task of the one or more additional tasks, wherein the first task and the at least one task are related by sharing one or more resources; and

responsive to determining the first task is related to at least one task of the one or more additional tasks, adding, by the one or more computer processors, the first task to the task group containing the at least one related task of the one or more additional tasks.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first task is in focus at first task initialization and wherein only one task is in focus at a particular point in time.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to determining the first task is not related to at least one task of the one or more additional tasks, determining, by the one or more computer processors, whether an event is detected;

responsive to determining an event is detected, generating, by the one or more computer processors, a new task group; and

adding, by the one or more computer processors, the first task to the new task group.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising, responsive to determining an event is not detected, adding, by the one or more computer processors, the first task to a task group that contains a second task, wherein the second task is in focus immediately prior to the first task initialization.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein an event includes an action initiated by a computing system of the first user, an action initiated by a second user, an action defined by the first user as an event, a break in activity of the first user, and closing a task group by the first user.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to determining one or more additional tasks contained in one or more task groups are not in use, generating, by the one or more computer processors, a new task group; and

adding, by the one or more computer processors, the first task to the new task group.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to determining the first task is related to at least one of the one or more additional tasks, determining, by the one or more computer processors, whether the first task is related to at least one task in a first task group and at least one task in a second task group; and

responsive to determining the first task is related to at least one task in a first task group and at least one task in a second task group, merging, by the one or more computer processors, the first and the second task groups into a merged task group, wherein the merged task group includes at least the first task and the first and the second task groups.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first task is related to one or more additional tasks by a common work assignment of the first user that includes one or more of:

a shared subject matter and a shared one or more resources, wherein a resource includes at least one of a directory, a file, a folder, a network port, a semaphore, a socket, a pipe, and a tag.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the one or more computer processors, at least one of the one or more tasks of the one or more task groups are inactive for a pre-defined threshold of time; and

alerting, by the one or more computer processors, the first user of the inactivity.