COLLABORATIVE, FLEXIBLE, INTERACTIVE REAL-TIME DISPLAYS

• US 20070208992A1
• Filed: 05/09/2007
• Published: 09/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dov Koren
• Original Assignee: Dov Koren
• Inventors: Koren, Dov
• Granted Patent: US 8,255,791 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/212
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3438 monitoring of user actions tracking the activity of the user H04L67/535
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/176 Support for shared access to files; File sharing support
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2119 Authenticating web pages, e.g. with suspicious links
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2149 Restricted operating environment
• 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: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing information in an easily customizable, interactive and collaborative format. The invention can be looked at as the combination of one or more functional components in one aspect, the invention features aggregating raw data on at least one DataServer connected to a communication network; performing analysis of that data using at least one AnalyticalServer that is connected to the network; maintaining a cache of the most recent data and analysis of that data from the AnalyticalServers on at least one ViewServer connected to the network; maintaining communications with the network for accessibility by users over the network; and maintaining an ApplicationServer on the network that, based either on requests of the user through the web server, or through an automatic refresh, generates display data using, for example, the cached information on the ViewServer. Various manipulations of the data, including, for example, flexibly sorting, movement, aggregation, filtering, charting/graphing, etc. of rows and columns of a display can be effected. The system can also provide redundancy and views of the data can be shared among plural sites.

Claims

1. A method for sharing content, the method comprising:

generating, within a system, content for one or more application displays to be displayed on a first computing device for a first user;

sending, to at least one second computing device of at least one second user, a sharing message to the at least one second user to share sharable content;

wherein the sharable content includes at least a portion of content from the one or more application displays that were generated for the first user;

wherein the sharing message includes an access identifier;

wherein the at least one second computing device is different from said first computing device of the first user;

in response to the at least one second user accepting the sharing message, the system using the access identifier to share with the at least one second user said sharable content that was generated for the first user.

2. The method of claim 1 where said access identifier is generated by the system.

3. The method of claim 1 where access identifier is provided by a first user.

4. The method of claim 1 where sending the sharing message is done through email.

5. The method of claim 1 where sending the sharing message is done by sending a markup language code.

6. The method of claim 1 where the system includes at least one of each of

a) a Web Server

b) an Application Server

that execute on one or more system computing devices connected to a network.

7. The method of claim 6 where the system includes at least one Application Service that executes on one or more system computing devices connected to the network.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the first computing device and the at least one second computing device are connected over a network, and wherein the first user and the at least one second user use the system to share the sharable content over the network.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the access identifier provides to the at least one second user access rights to the sharable content that are different than the access rights of the first user to the sharable content.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the access identifier sent to at least one second user is different than at least one of

a) the access identifier used by first user to access sharable content, and

b) the access identifier used by the system to present application display for the first user.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising the system using the access identifier to determine which content within the system to share with the at least one second user.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of sending a sharing message is performed in response to input received by the system from the first user.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the input identifies the at least one second user and indicates that the sharable content to be shared with said at least one second user.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the input identifies which portion of the one or more application displays content to share with said at least one second user.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the input identifies which of the one or more application displays content to share with said at least one second user.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein a plurality of computing devices, including the first computing device and the at least one second computing device, share said sharable content, the method further comprising:

while the at least portion of the content is being displayed at the a particular computing device of the plurality of computing devices, receiving, at the system, a request from the particular computing device to change said sharable content; and

in response to the request, the system sending to at least one other computing device of the plurality of computing devices data that reflects said change.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the data that reflects the change is at least in part in the form of markup language code that is interpreted by a browser on the at least one other computing device.

18. The method of claim 17 where the said markup language code includes code that automatically generates a new request for content from the system on a periodic basis.

19. The method of claim 16 where changed content displayed on at least one other computing devices in response to receiving input by at least one second user on at least one of the other computing devices.

20. The method of claim 17 wherein the markup language code is HTML.

21. The method of claim 18 where code that automatically generates a new request for content from the system on a periodic basis includes at least an HTML refresh tag.

22. The method of claim 16 wherein the data that reflects the change is used by a process that results from JAVA code executing on the at least one other computing device.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein one or more application displays include a window in a browser.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein one or more application displays include a window in application.

25. The method of claim 1 wherein one or more application displays include a window in an applet.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein the shared system causes at least one of (a) the first computing device and (b) the at least one second computing device to generate application displays by sending data to an applet executing on the computing device.

27. The method of claim 1 wherein the shared system causes at least one of the first and at least one second computing devices to generate application displays by sending data to an application that is installed at and executing on the computing device.

28. The method of claim 16 wherein:

the particular computing device is a first computing device; and

the method further comprises the steps of

receiving, at the system, a request from the at least one second computing

device of the plurality of computing devices to change the sharable content currently displayed at the at least one second computing device; and

in response to the request, the system sending, to each of the plurality of computing devices that is allowed to receive the change, data representing the change.

29. The method of claim 1 wherein the sharable content includes content from one or more table views.

30. The method of claim 1 wherein the sharable content includes content from one or more chart views.

31. The method of claim 1 wherein the sharable content includes content from one or more alert views.

32. The method of claim 1, wherein the sharable content includes content from one or more of news views.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein the sharable content includes content from one or more of message views.

34. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the sharable content is associated with one or more views generated by one or more application service instances; and

each of the one or more application service instances has a configuration that determines the content for one or more views.

35. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the sharable content is associated with one or more views generated by one or more application service instances; and

each of the one or more application service instances has a configuration that determines the functionality of one or more views.

36. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more application displays include at least one of a window and a mark-up language page.

37. The method of claim 1 wherein the system includes an application service which provides sharable content that is executed as an operating system process.

38. The method of claim 1 wherein the system includes an application service which provides sharable content that is executed as operating system thread.

39. The method of claim 1 wherein the system includes an application service which provides sharable content that is executed as a module within an operating system process or thread.

40. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the users that share the sharable content constitute a sharing group, and

the system allows users to join and leave the sharing group at any time.

41. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the sharable content is associated with one or more views generated by one or more application service instances; and

the method further comprises automatically creating a new application service instance by the system if an application service instance for required content does not yet exist.

42. The method of claim 1 further comprising

comprising steps of:

initiating the sharing of the sharable content in response to user input, said input including sharing parameters,

said system creating said access identifier and storing the access identifier in association with the sharing parameters;

the system sending a sharing message to the recipients, to allow said recipients to view the sharing message and use the access identifier get access to the sharable content;

wherein the user that initiated the sharing and the recipients share the system in whole or in part.

43. The method of claim 42 wherein said sharing parameters include parameters that indicate with whom to share the sharable content.

44. The method of claim 42 wherein said sharing parameters include parameters that indicate what content to share.

45. The method of claim 42 wherein said sharing parameters include parameters that indicate how to share the sharable content.

46. The method of claim 42 wherein said sharing parameters include parameters that indicate how long to share the sharable content.

47. The method of claim 1 wherein the access identifier is a user identifier that allows one user to have sharing access.

48. The method of claim 1 wherein the access identifier is a group identifier that allows a plurality of users to have sharing access.

49. The method of claim 1 wherein the access identifier contains at least a URL.

50. The method of claim 1 wherein the access identifier contains at least a User Name.

51. The method of claim 1 wherein the access identifier contains at least a User Name and Password combination.

52. The method of claim 1 where changes made to the sharable content in first computing device are available for display on the at least one second computing device.

53. The method of claim 52 method further comprising:

receiving one or more changes to the sharable content made by the first computing device;

propagating the changes to the system; and

propagating the changes to the display on the at least one second computing device.

54. The method of claim 52 method further comprising

receiving one or more changes to the sharable content made by at least one second computing device;

propagating the changes to the system; and

propagating the changes to at least the display on the first computing device.

55. The method of claim 16 further comprising the system displaying at least part of sharable content on the at least one other computing device based on the way the sharable content is displayed on the particular computing device.

56. The method of claim 55 further comprising:

receiving data in response to interaction with application service content on said particular computing device, wherein the interaction results in application content rearranged and redisplayed on the particular device; and

displaying, at least in part, such rearranged content on said at least one other computing device of said plurality of computing devices.

57. The method of claim 55 wherein:

the system includes an application service; and

the same application service is providing content for the particular computing device and said at least one other computing device.

58. The method of claim 16 wherein the sharable content includes table view content.

59. The method of claim 16 wherein the sharable content includes a table view that includes interactive controls for applying operations on a table and managing table data.

60. The method of claim 59, where said operations applied to a table view include one or more of sorting, moving, charting, filtering, aggregating and hiding of table view rows and/or columns.

61. The method of claim 59 further comprising applying said operations to the table view on particular computing device, and redisplaying the table view as a result of operations on the particular computing device and at said at least one other computing device.

62. The method of claim 61 further comprising displaying table view on at least one other computing device accordingly to displaying table view on a particular device.

63. The method of claim 61 further comprising rearranging the data view correspondent to the table view in said system.

64. The method of claim 58 further comprising applying operation on content presentable in markup language, including at least the steps of

a) receiving user input that selects an operation on a table view displayed in the browser;

b) the web server passing instruction to perform the operation to an application server;

c) the application server passing instruction to perform the operation to an application service;

d) the application service applies the instruction to its content;

e) an application server retrieves content from application service and generates page that contains at least markup language code and passes said page to a web server, wherein the web server passes the said page to a user browser, thereby allowing the user to see the said page according to updated content.

65. The method of claim 64 further comprising propagating the update to one or more of said at least one second computing device.

66. The method of claim 65 where the said markup language code includes code that automatically generates a new request for content from the system on a periodic basis.

67. The method of claim 65 where changed content displayed on at least one of the second computing devices in response to receiving input by at least one second user on at least one of the second computing devices.

68. The method of claim 64 wherein the markup language code is HTML.

69. The method of claim 66 where code that automatically generates a new request for content from the system on a periodic basis includes at least HTML refresh tag.

70. The method of claim 58 further comprising applying operation on content presentable in applet or client application including at least steps of

a) receiving user input that selects operation on a table view;

b) the operation is applied to the table view;

c) the system is passing instruction to perform operation to an application service; and

d) the application service applies the instruction to its content.

71. The method of claim 70 further comprising propagating the update to at least one or more at least one second computing devices.

72. The method of claim 58 further comprising the system storing table view content in a table format.

73. The method of claim 1 wherein the sharable content is presented in a markup language table, and the first computing device and the at least one second computing device bi-laterally share interaction through the markup language table.

74. The method of claim 17 wherein the markup language code is HTML.

75. The method of claim 1 wherein the sharable content is displayed by client-installed applications, and the first computing device and the at least one second computing device bi-laterally share interaction with the sharable content displayed by the client-installed applications.

76. The method of claim 1 wherein:

a plurality of computing devices, including said first computing device and said at least one second computing device, share said sharable content; and

the sharable content is filtered for at least some users of the plurality of computing devices.

77. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one or more of second users are given access to different subsets of system content.

78. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one or more of second users are given access to different subsets of system functionality.

79. The method of claim 1 where one or more second users are allowed or not allowed to effect system content.

80. The method of claim 79 where one or more second users are allowed or not allowed to effect the table view based content.

81. The method of claim 79 where one or more second users are allowed or not allowed to effect the table view based content by performing one or more from operations on columns or rows of the table view.

82. The method of claim 76 wherein:

the application service provides all of the content for each application display; and

an Application Server filters the information for each user.

83. The method of claim 76 wherein the content filtering is implemented by the application service.

84. The method of claim 76 wherein filtering parameters specify what content will be accessible to one or more second users.

85. The method of claim 76 wherein filtering parameters specify what content will not be accessible to one or more second users.

86. The method of claim 84 wherein the filtering parameters specify accessibility, on a per-user or per user-group basis, relative to particular information slices.

87. The method of claim 84 wherein the filtering parameters specify accessibility, on a per-user or per user-group basis, relative to particular views.

88. The method of claim 84 wherein the filtering parameters specify accessibility, on a per-user basis or per user-group, relative to particular view groups.

89. The method of claim 84 wherein the filtering parameters specify accessibility, on a per-user basis or per user-group, relative to particular columns within a view.

90. The method of claim 84 wherein the filtering parameters specify accessibility, on a per-user basis or per user-group, relative to particular chart/graph types.

91. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the step of sending the sharing message is performed in response to selection of a shortcut; and

selection of the shortcut causes one or more of

providing to the system at least some parameters required for sharing; and

providing an interface to specify parameters required for sharing.

92. The method of claim 91 wherein the parameters are provided from a combination of default values.

93. The method of claim 91 wherein the parameters are provided from a previous usage history for the parameter.

94. The method of claim 91 wherein the parameters are provided by user.

95. The method of claim 91 wherein the system provides a mechanism that allows users to create the shortcuts and store them in the system for future use.

96. The method of claim 91 where shortcut is basic shortcut that contains all the parameters required for sharing.

97. The method of claim 96 further comprising initiating sharing using a basic shortcut under control of one action.

98. The method of claim 97 wherein the basic shortcut contains access identifier for sharing.

99. The method of claim 91 where shortcut contains one or more parameters that specify what part of the application service to share.

100. The method of claim 91 where shortcut contains one or more parameters that specify with whom to share application service.

101. The method of claim 91 further comprising initiating sharing using said shortcut under control of one action.

102. The method of claim 91 wherein the shortcut is a “

View Help”

shortcut and, upon shortcut activation, a specified view is shared with technical support.

103. The method of claim 91, where the action is performed by click of a mouse.

104. The method of claim 91, where the action is performed by voice command.

105. The method of claim 96 further comprising the steps of, prior to sending the sharing message, creating a basic shortcut, wherein the step of creating includes at least one of

receiving parameters from a first user, the parameters indicating one or more of

with whom to share the sharable content,

what to share as sharable content,

how to share the sharable content,

for how long to share the sharable content;

creating an access identifier, storing the access identifier with related parameters, embedding the access identifier in shortcut, and providing the shortcut to at least first user for subsequent use.

106. The method of claim 96 wherein:

receiving input indicating that a user has activated the shortcut by one action;

extracting an access identifier from shortcut; and

sending a sharing message that includes access identifier to the at least one second user, allowing in response to the at least one second user accepting the sharing message, the system to share with the with the at least one second user said sharable content according to the access identifier.

107. The method of claim 91 wherein the shortcut is a parameterized shortcut that contains at least some of the parameters required for sharing.

108. The method of claim 107 further comprising:

receiving input indicating that a first user has activated the parameterized shortcut;

receiving input indicating user entry of required parameters;

creating the access identifier the parameters received from the first user;

sending a sharing message that includes access identifier to the at least one second user, allowing in response to the at least one second user accessing the sharing message, the system to share with the with the at least one second user said sharable content according to the access identifier.

109. The method of claim 106 where the sending of sharing message is done through email.

110. The method of claim 106 where sending of sharing message is done by sending at least markup language code.

111. The method of claim 106 wherein the access identifier contains at least a URL.

112. The method of claim 106 wherein the access identifier contains at least a User Name.

113. The method of claim 106 wherein the access identifier contains at least a User Name and Password combination.

114. The method of claim 108 wherein the step of receiving input indicating user entry of required parameters includes receiving an instruction from a first user computing device, wherein such an instruction is a shortcut that indicates what parts of sharable content to share.

115. The method of claim 114 where said shortcut is Share Application shortcut.

116. The method of claim 114 where said shortcut is Share Page shortcut.

117. The method of claim 114 where said shortcut is Share View Group shortcut.

118. The method of claim 114 where said shortcut is Share View shortcut.

119. The method of claim 114 where said an instruction is further parameterized.

120. The method of claim 107 where the parameterized shortcut contains one or more parameters that specify what part(s) of the application to share.

121. The method of claim 120 where said shortcut has a “

Share View”

parameter and upon activation of the shortcut, the specified view is shared with one or more specified second users.

122. The method of claim 121 where said shared view is a view in the same application display as a said shortcut.

123. The method of claim 120 where said shortcut has a “

Share Page”

parameter and, upon activation of the shortcut, the specified page is shared with one or more specified participants.

124. The method of claim 123 where said shared page is the page where said shortcut is displayed

125. The method of claim 120 where said shortcut has a “

Share Application”

parameter and upon activation of the shortcut the specified application is shared with one or more specified second users.

126. The method of claim 125 where said application is an application where said shortcut is displayed.

127. The method of claim 1 where sharing of said sharable content is performed through an initial login procedure.

128. The method of claim 127 where the login procedure requires a user name and a password.

129. The method of claim 127 where the login procedure requires only a password.

130. The method of claim 127 where the login procedure allows a one or more second users to login and share the system which is accessible by the login procedure.

131. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the first and at least one second user are sharing participants of the system; and

the method further includes monitoring use of the system by the sharing participants.

132. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the first and at least one second user are sharing participants of the system; and

the method further includes monitoring use of the system by the first user only.

133. The method of claim 131 further comprising dynamically changing one or more parameters associated with sharing the system, and in response to changing the parameters, changing the nature of sharing between the sharing participants.

134. The method of claim 1 method further comprising

making one or more changes to the content of the system;

and

propagating changes, to the display on the first computing device, to one or more other computing devices.

135. The method of claim 134 wherein the changes are propagated in the form of mark-up language code.

136. The method of claim 134 wherein the changes are propagated by sending information to an applet on the one or more other computing devices.

137. The method of claim 134 wherein the changes are propagated by sending information to an application installed locally on the one or more other computing devices.

138. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further comprising the steps of

connecting to the system by providing the access identifier;

if the access identifier requires either a user identifier and/or password, then receiving this information from a user;

if access is granted and the access identifier does not indicate a data sharing mode, then checking for the existence of an instance of a required application service instance;

if the required application service instance exists, then establishing connection to an existing application service instance;

if no required application service instance exists, then creating a new application service instance using the configuration associated with the access identifier, and establishing connection to the application service instance.

139. The method of claim 138 further comprising the system creating required application displays using configuration information associated with the access identifier.

140. The method of claim 1 wherein at least part of the sharable content is transferred to or from the system using a request/reply mechanism.

141. The method of claim 1 wherein at least part of the sharable content is transferred to or from the system using a publish/subscribe mechanism;

142. The method of claim 139, wherein, after transferring the sharable content from the application service in the system, the sharable content is filtered prior to providing the information to computing devices that are sharing the sharable content.

143. The method of claim 1 where sharing attributes can be changed dynamically, thereby dynamically changing how sharing is performed.

144. The method of claim 143 where only the first user can change sharing attributes.

145. The method of claim 1 wherein dynamic sharing of a change involves changing the attributes associated with the access identifier.

146. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least part of a system is executed on the first computing device.

147. The method of claim 146 further comprising:

determining whether a locally-installed system exists on a local device; and

if the locally-installed system does not currently exist on the local device, then downloading the system or a missing components of a system to the local device from an application storage.

148. The method of claim 147 where the first computing device is one of a computer, a laptop and wireless PDA.

149. The method of claim 1 wherein the sharable content includes content from one or more table views and at least one or more of second users are given access to different subsets of said table views.

150. The method of claim 1, wherein system maintaining a shared content in cache.

151. The method of claim 1, wherein the system allows the said users to chat with each other to discuss shared content as the said users concurrently view shared content.

152. The method of claim 1 wherein the sharable content contains at least in part financial information.

153. The method of claim 1 wherein the sharable content contains at least in part dynamically updated information.

154. The method of claim 1 wherein the sharable content contains, at least in part, real-time information.

155. A computer-readable medium carrying instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 1.

156. An apparatus for sharing content, the apparatus including a plurality of means, wherein the plurality of means includes means for performing each step of the method recited in claim 1.

157. A method for sharing content over a network comprising:

maintaining a cache in volatile memory of the most up-to-date data from a server connected to the network;

wherein a plurality of users are connected to said network;

generating pages, using the cached information on the server, automatically or in response to user requests;

providing the pages to users to allow users to share the data on said server;

whereby a change made by one user in a view of said data can be viewed automatically by all authorized users enabled to display said view.

158. The method of claim 157 wherein said change comprises at least one of sorting, aggregating, filtering, overriding, moving, charting/graphing and locking said data in said views.

159. The method of claim 158 further comprising providing real-time information.

160. A method of sharing content associated with one or more conditions, comprising:

receiving input that specifies one or more associations between (a) one or more conditions, (b) one or more views, and (c) specified users;

monitoring, by a system, for the occurrence of said one or more conditions;

when said one or more conditions occurs, the system causes the one or more views to be displayed on computing devices of the specified users; and

the system providing a mechanism that allows collaboration among the specified users.

161. The method of claim 160 wherein the mechanism automatically updates views displayed on at least one of the computing devices based on changes made to views at another of the computing devices.

162. The method of claim 160 wherein:

the system creates and stores an identifier and the associated information for one or more conditions;

the system causes the views to be displayed on the computing devices of the specified users by sending to the specified users the access identifier; and

the views are displayed upon activation of the access identifier.

163. The method of claim 160 wherein input further specifies at least one of size and location of the views to be displayed.

164. The method of claim 160 wherein input further specifies whether to display these views automatically or under control of the user.

165. The method of claim 162 where views are displayed automatically.

166. The method of claim 162 where views are displayed under user control.

167. The method of claim 162 further comprising modifying the attributes of access identifier by a user.

168. A method for interactively sharing financial content, the method comprising:

generating, within a system, content for one or more table views to be displayed on a first computing device for a first user;

sending, to at least one second computing device of at least one second user, a sharing message to the at least one second user to share sharable content;

wherein the sharable content includes at least a portion of content from the one or more table views that were generated for the first user;

wherein the sharing message includes an access identifier;

wherein the at least one second computing device is different from said first computing device of the first user;

in response to the at least one second user accepting the sharing message, the system using the access identifier to share with the at least one second user said sharable content that was generated for the first user.

169. A method for sharing information between users, the method comprising:

receiving input that selects, through a web service, a group of participants,

providing the web-based service that allows one or more data views to be shared among the group of participants;

wherein the web-based service allows the group of participants to chat with each other through a text view to discuss the one or more data views as the participants of the group concurrently view the one or more data views;

wherein text entered through the text view is propagated to all members of the selected group.

170. A method of claim 169 wherein at least one of data views is a table view.

171. A method of claim 169 wherein at least one of data views is a table view.

172. A method of claim 169 further comprising populating the one or more data views with values, wherein at least some of the values used to populate the one or more data views are calculated using an analytical program that executes on a server that is remote relative to participants.

173. A method for sharing access to table views over a communication network, the method comprising:

receiving first input from a first user, through a first interface executing on a first computing device;

wherein the first input selects one or more second users with whom to share one or more table views that are accessible to and viewable by the first user using the first interface;

creating a URL which, when activated by said one or more second users, allows said one or more second users to access the one or more table views;

receiving from a second computing device, in response to an action performed by a second user that is one of said one or more second users, second input that activates the URL;

wherein the URL was communicated to said second computing device by email;

wherein the second computing device is different than the first computing device; and

in response to the second user input, sending data that defines a table view of said one or more table views to a second interface on the second computing device to cause the table view to be displayed by the second interface.

174. The method of claim 173 further comprising:

displaying the table view in the first interface; and

when the table view is displayed on the second interface after an update made to the table view in the first interface, automatically causing the table view displayed by the second interface to reflect the updates made to the table view in the first interface.

175. The method of claim 173 further comprising subscribing the second interface to receive user modifications to the table view.

176. The method of claim 173 further comprising subscribing a Java applet on the second computing device to receive updates and change the display of the table view in the second interface based on the updates.

177. The method of claim 173 wherein:

the first input selects the one or more second users by selecting a user group; and

said user group receives said URL by email.

178. The method of claim 174 further comprising:

receiving third input from the first user that sorts a column in the table view in the first interface on the first computing device, and

based on the third input, redisplaying the sorted table view on the first computing device and on at least one other computing device.

179. The method of claim 173 further comprising populating the table view with values, wherein at least some of the values used to populate the table view are calculated using an analytical program that executes on a server that is remote relative to both the first computing device and the second computing device.

180. The method of claim 174 further comprising:

receiving third input from the first user that moves a column in the table view in the first interface on the first computing device, and

based on the third input, redisplaying the table view with the moved column on the first computing device and on at least one other computing device.

181. A method for sharing access to table views over a communication network, the method comprising:

on a first computing device, receiving first input from a first user through a first interface;

wherein the first input selects one or more second users with whom to share one or more table views that are accessible to and viewable by the first user using the first interface;

wherein the first input causes creation of a URL which is communicated to said one or more second users by email;

wherein the URL that is communicated to the one or more second users is a URL which, when activated by said one or more second users, allows said one or more second users to access the one or more table views in interfaces executing on computing devices that are separate from said first computing device.

182. A method for obtaining access to table views over a communication network, the method comprising:

at a second computing device, receiving an email that was sent in response to first input received from a first user through the first interface executing on a first computing device;

wherein the first input selected one or more second users with whom to share one or more table views that are accessible to and viewable by the first user using the first interface;

wherein the email includes a URL which, when activated, allows said one or more second users to access the one or more table views;

at the second computing device, receiving second input that activates the URL;

wherein the second computing device is different than the first computing device; and

in response to the second user input, receiving in a second interface executing on the second computing device data that defines a table view of said one or more table views to cause the table view to be displayed by the second interface.

183. A method for sharing access to one or more table views, the method comprising:

sending, to a plurality of interfaces on a plurality of computing devices, data that defines one or more table views and a text view, to cause the one or more table views and the text view to be concurrently displayed on said plurality of interfaces on said plurality of computing devices;

subscribing interfaces associated with users to the one or more table views so that changes made to the one or more table views are reflected on every correspondent table view in every interface of the plurality of interfaces; and

causing text entered in the text view on any interface of said plurality of interfaces to be displayed in the text view of every other interface of said plurality of interfaces.

184. The method of claim 183 wherein data for one or more table views is loaded from a file.

185. The method of claim 184 where the file is a spreadsheet.

186. The method of claim 183 wherein access to the one or more table views is activated for said users by receiving input, from said users, that selects a URL.

187. The method of claim 186 where the URL is delivered to said users by email.

188. The method of claim 186 where the URL is displayed on a web page that is delivered to said users.

189. The method of claim 183 further comprising causing a change entered on any interface of said plurality of interfaces to be displayed in every other interface of said plurality of interfaces, where said change is sorting data in one of the one or more table views.

190. The method of claim 183 further comprising causing a change entered on any interface of said plurality of interfaces to be displayed in every other interface of said plurality of interfaces, where said change is moving a column in one of the one or more table views.

191. A method for sharing access to table views over a communication network, the method comprising:

receiving first input from a first user, through a first browser executing on a first computing device;

wherein the first input selects one or more second users with whom to share one or more table views that are accessible to and viewable by the first user using the first browser;

creating a URL which, when activated by said one or more second users, allows said one or more second users to access the one or more table views;

receiving from a second computing device, in response to an action performed by a second user that is one of said one or more second users, second input that activates the URL;

wherein the URL was communicated to said second computing device by email;

wherein the second computing device is different than the first computing device; and

in response to the second user input, sending data that defines a table view of said one or more table views to a second browser on the second computing device to cause the table view to be displayed by the second browser;

while one or more shared table views are being displayed in the first browser and the second browser, causing a

text view to be concurrently displayed in both the first browser and the second browser;

causing any text entered into the text view

at one of said first browser and said second browser to be displayed the text view at the other of said first browser and said second browser;

at one of said first browser and said second browser, receiving third input that sorts data in said table view based on a particular sorting criteria; and

in response to the third input, causing the table view to be sorted based on said particular sorting criteria at the other of said first browser and said second browser.

192. The method of claim 191 further comprising populating the table view with financial data.

193. The method of claim 191 further comprising:

receiving input that specifies a spreadsheet; and

in response to the input, loading data from the spreadsheet into the table view.

194. The method of claim 191 further comprising populating the table views with values, wherein at least some of the values are calculated using an analytical program that executes on a server that is remote relative to both the first computing device and the second computing device.

195. The method of claim 191 further comprising receiving input from the first user that enters user-provided data into a cell of a table view, transferring said user-provided data to the system and displaying table view on the first and second computing devices with new data.

196. The method of claim 195 further comprising recalculating data dependent on user-provided data and displaying table view with new data.

197. A method for sharing access to one or more table views over a communication network, the method comprising:

initiating an invitation to cause a system to invite users to subscribe to the one or more table views;

wherein, after said users are subscribed to said one or more table views, the system sends data that defines said one or more table views and a text view to a plurality of interfaces associated with said users, to cause the one or more table views and the text view to be concurrently displayed on said plurality of interfaces;

wherein the system causes changes to the one or more table views by one of said users to be automatically reflected when at least one other of said users views said one or more table views; and

wherein the system causes text entered in the text view on at least one browser of said plurality of interfaces to be displayed in the text view of at least one other interface of said plurality of browsers.

198. A method for accessing one or more shared table views, the method comprising:

accepting an invitation sent by a system to invite users to subscribe to the one or more table views;

after accepting said invitation, receiving from said system data that defines said one or more table views and a text view;

wherein said data that defines said one or more table views and said text view is sent by the system to a plurality of interfaces associated with users subscribed to said one or more table views, to cause the one or more table views and the text view to be concurrently displayed on said plurality of interfaces;

wherein the system causes changes to the one or more table views by one of said users to be automatically reflected when at least one other of said users views said one or more table views; and

wherein the system causes text entered in the text view on at least one interface of said plurality of interfaces to be displayed in the text view of at least one other browser of said plurality of browsers.

199. A method for sharing information between users, the method comprising:

providing a web-based service that allows one or more table-based views to be shared among a group of participants;

wherein the web-based service allows a user to control (a) who is allowed to view the one or more table-based views, and (b) who is allowed to modify the one or more table-based views; and

wherein the web-based service allows the group of participants to chat with each other to discuss the one or more table-based views as the participants of the group concurrently view the one or more table-based views.

200. The method of claim 199 wherein data loaded in one or more table views is at least in part loaded from spreadsheet.

201. The method of claim 199 wherein data loaded in one or more table views is at least in part loaded from Web page.

202. The method of claim 199 where sharing is activated by receiving input that selects URL.

203. A method for sharing content over a communication network, the method comprising:

generating, within a system, content for one or more table views to be displayed on a first computing device for a first user;

accepting first input from the first user that modifies one or more table views;

accepting second input from the first user;

in response to the second input, sending, to at least one second computing device of at least one second user, a sharing message to the at least one second user to share at least a portion of the one or more modified table views;

wherein the at least one second computing device is different from said first computing device of the first user;

in response to the at least one second user accepting the sharing message, the system sharing with the at least one second user at least a portion of one or more modified table views.

204. The method of claim 203, wherein first input that modifies one or more table views includes input the causes one or more of sorting, moving, charting, filtering, aggregating and hiding of table view rows and/or columns.