Method for sharing groups of objects

• US 7,840,543 B2
• Filed: 03/31/2008
• Issued: 11/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Ryder, Scott, Maury, Sébastien, Guiheneuf, Bertrand, Jalon, Julien, Gutknecht, Olivier
• Primary Examiner(s): Vital; Pierre M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Raab; Christopher J
• Application Number:
  US12/060,146
• Publication Number:
  US 20080243948A1
• Time in Patent Office: 967 Days
• Field of Search: 707/203, 707/695, 707/638, 717/707, 717/122, 715/205, 713/171
• US Class Current: 707/695
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99954 Version management

Abstract

A method of sharing a group of one or more objects between a plurality of users, in which one or more of said plurality of users is able to change parameter data of at least one said object. The method comprises storing at least one version of each said object; when an object is changed, creating a new version of the object, the new version of the object comprising additional data relating to the creation of the new version; storing the new version of the object together with any version of that object before the change; providing all versions of the object to each of said plurality of users; and using the additional data provided for each version of the object to determine how to display the object. The group may be a calendar and each object may be an event in the calendar. In that case, the object parameter data may comprise a start time of the event, an end time of the event, a description of the event, a status of the event, whether the event is to be repeated and the persons attending the event. The additional data may comprise an identification of the user who made the change, a time at which the change was made, a description of the change, a user comment relating to the change and an identification of the previous version of the event from which the present version was created.

Claims

1. A method of sharing a group of one or more calendar events, comprising:

storing, using one or more processors, at least one version of each calendar event, wherein the group is a calendar, wherein each event is an event in the calendar, and wherein each event has corresponding parameter data including at least one of a start time of the calendar event, an end time of the calendar event, and a description of the calendar event;

modifying a calendar event, wherein modifying includes creating a new version of the calendar event, and wherein the new version includes additional data;

storing the new version of the calendar event together with at least one unmodified version of the calendar event; and

transmitting the new version of the calendar event, wherein receiving the new version of the calendar event includes;

using the additional data to compare a remote version of the calendar event with the new version of the calendar event,

using the comparison to determine a sequence relationship between the remote version of the calendar event and the new version of the calendar event, wherein one version is a previous version of the calendar event, and one version is a recent version of the calendar event, and

displaying the calendar event according to the sequence relationship.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the parameter data corresponding to an event further includes at least one of status of the event, whether the event is reoccurring, and event attendees.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the additional data includes at least one of an origin of the modification, a time of the modification, a description of the modification, a comment corresponding to the modification, and a version associated with the calendar event prior to the modification.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote version includes parameter data including a time of creation, wherein the new version includes additional data including a time of modification, and wherein the version corresponding to the earlier of the time of creation or the time of modification is the previous version.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote version includes parameter data including a time of creation, wherein the new version includes additional creation data including a time of modification, and wherein the version corresponding to the later of the time of creation or the time of modification is the recent version.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the sequence relationship.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the remote version includes parameter data, wherein the new version includes additional data, and wherein displaying the sequence relationship includes displaying the parameter data and the additional data.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

deleting a calendar event, wherein deleting includes creating a new version of the calendar event, wherein the new version includes deletion data, and wherein a display of the new version includes an indication that the calendar event has been deleted; and

storing the new version of the deleted calendar event together with at least one unmodified version of the calendar event.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

reinstating the calendar event, wherein reinstating includes creating a new version of the calendar event, wherein the new version includes deletion data and reinstate data.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

deleting a calendar event, wherein deleting includes replacing all versions of the calendar event with a token indicating that the calendar event has been deleted.

11. A system for sharing a group of one or more calendar events, comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more computer-readable storage mediums containing instructions configured to cause the one or more processors to perform operations including;

storing at least one version of each calendar event, wherein the group is a calendar, wherein each event is an event in the calendar, and wherein each event has corresponding parameter data including at least one of a start time of the calendar event, an end time of the calendar event, and a description of the calendar event;

modifying a calendar event, wherein modifying includes creating a new version of the calendar event, and wherein the new version includes additional data;

storing the new version of the calendar event together with at least one unmodified version of the calendar event; and

transmitting the new version of the calendar event, wherein receiving the new version of the calendar event includes;

using the additional data to compare a remote version of the calendar event with the new version of the calendar event,

using the comparison to determine a sequence relationship between the remote version of the calendar event and the new version of the calendar event, wherein one version is a previous version of the calendar event, and one version is a recent version of the calendar event, and

displaying the calendar event according to the sequence relationship.

12. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that when executed on one or more processors within a computer system perform a method sharing a group of one or more calendar events, comprising:

storing at least one version of each calendar event, wherein the group is a calendar, wherein each event is an event in the calendar, and wherein each event has corresponding parameter data including at least one of a start time of the calendar event, an end time of the calendar event, and a description of the calendar event;

modifying a calendar event, wherein modifying includes creating a new version of the calendar event, and wherein the new version includes additional data;

storing the new version of the calendar event together with at least one unmodified version of the calendar event; and

transmitting the new version of the calendar event, wherein receiving the new version of the calendar event includes;

using the additional data to compare a remote version of the calendar event with the new version of the calendar event,

using the comparison to determine a sequence relationship between the remote version of the calendar event and the new version of the calendar event, wherein one version is a previous version of the calendar event, and one version is a recent version of the calendar event, and

displaying the calendar event according to the sequence relationship.