Document management system user interfaces

• US 8,122,070 B1
• Filed: 12/29/2005
• Issued: 02/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: USAA (United Services Automobile Association)
• Original Assignee: United States Automobile Association (United Services Automobile Association)
• Inventors: Eshkenazi, Nikolay B., Ahmed, Muqtadar
• Primary Examiner(s): Chbouki, Tarek
• Application Number:
  US11/321,478
• Time in Patent Office: 2,245 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/822
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/168 Details of user interfaces specifically adapted to file systems, e.g. browsing and visualisation, 2d or 3d GUIs query results presentation G06F16/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/182 Distributed file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/183 Provision of network file services by network file servers, e.g. by using NFS, CIFS network file access protocols H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources

Abstract

Systems, methods, and software to provide document management system user interfaces to clients. Some embodiments include an intermediary server to provide document management system indexing data to a client in a form that is displayable within an existing client file browsing user interface, such as Windows Explorer.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving Server Message Block (SMB) data through a Java SMB intermediary server from a document indexing database copy, maintained separate from and outside of the document management system, derived from a document management system index database stored within a document management system;

reducing latency compared to receiving the data from the document management system index database via receiving the data through the Java SMB intermediary server from the document indexing database copy;

providing at least one of load-balancing or failover robustness between a number of Java SMB intermediary servers, including the Java SMB intermediary server, via a load-balancing/fail-over switch implemented in front of the Java SMB intermediary server;

modifying a number of file operations in the Java SMB intermediary server to make a number of corresponding calls to a DocBroker;

displaying the SMB data within an operating system user interface that provides access to files stored in a networked environment; and

wherein the data provides a handle to a document stored by the document management system, wherein the handle includes a drag-and-drop action, wherein the data includes data stored in a hierarchal drive/folder/file fashion that enables a hierarchical display of a drive, a folder within the drive, and a file within the folder.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising requesting the SMB data.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein requesting the SMB data includes providing one or more user data access credentials, further wherein receiving the SMB data includes receiving only data to which the user data access credentials provides access.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the data to which the data access credentials provides access includes data representative of documents to which the user data access credential provide read-only access.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating system is an operating system from the Microsoft Windows operating system family.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the SMB data is requested and received from a network resource other than the document management system.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the SMB data within an operating system user interface includes:

displaying the SMB data in an expandable and contractible tree-view display of data, wherein the tree-view display is representative of document indexing within the document management system.

8. A machine-readable storage medium, with instructions thereon which when processed, result in a machine:

receiving the SMB data through a Java SMB intermediary server from a document indexing database copy, maintained separate from and outside of the document management system, derived from a document management system index database stored within a document management;

reducing latency compared to receiving the data from the document management system index database via receiving the data through the Java SMB intermediary server from the document indexing database copy;

providing at least one of load-balancing or failover robustness between a number of Java SMB intermediary servers, including the Java SMB intermediary server, via a load-balancing/fail-over switch implemented in front of the SMB intermediary server;

modifying a number of file operations in the Java SMB intermediary server to make a number of corresponding calls to a DocBroker;

displaying the SMB data within an operating system user interface that provides access to files stored in a networked environment; and

wherein the data provides a handle to a document stored by the document management system, wherein the handle includes a drag-and-drop action, wherein the data includes data stored in a hierarchal drive/folder/file fashion that enables a hierarchical display of a drive, a folder within the drive, and a file within the folder.

9. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions when processed, further result in the machine requesting the SMB data.

10. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein requesting the SMB data includes providing one or more user data access credentials, further wherein receiving the SMB data includes receiving only data to which the user data access credentials provides access.

11. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the data to which the data access credentials provides access includes data representative of documents to which the user data access credential provide read-only access.

12. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the operating system is an operating system from the Microsoft Windows operating system family.

13. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the SMB data is requested and received from a network resource other than the document management system.

14. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein displaying the SMB data within an operating system user interface includes:

displaying the SMB data in an expandable and contractible tree-view display of data, wherein the tree-view display is representative of document indexing within the document management system.

15. A system comprising:

a processor operable to execute instructions;

a memory holding data including instructions operable on the processor to instantiate data processing modules, the data processing modules including;

a data reception module to receive the SMB data through a Java SMB intermediary server from a document indexing database copy, maintained separate from and outside of the document management system, derived from a document management system index database stored within a document management system;

a data reception module to reduce latency compared to receiving the data from the document management system index database via receiving the data through the Java SMB intermediary server from the document indexing database copy;

a load-balancing/fail-over switch in front of the Java SMB intermediary server to provide at least one of load-balancing or failover robustness between a number of SMB intermediary servers, including the Java SMB intermediary server;

a modification module to modify a number of file operations in the Java SMB intermediary server to make a number of corresponding calls to a DocBroker;

a data display module to display the SMB data within an operating system user interface that provides access to files stored in a networked environment; and

wherein the data provides a handle to a document stored by the document management system, wherein the handle includes a drag-and-drop action, wherein the data includes data stored in a hierarchal drive/folder/file fashion that enables a hierarchical display of a drive, a folder within the drive, and a file within the folder.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising a data request module request the SMB data.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the SMB data request by the data request module includes one or more user data access credentials, further wherein the data reception module receives only the Server Message Block data to which the user data access credentials provides access.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the operating system is an operating system from the Microsoft Windows operating system family.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the data request module requests and the data reception modules receives data from a network resource other than the document management system.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the data display module to display the SMB data within an operating system user interface displays the SMB data in an expandable and contractible tree-view display of data, wherein the tree-view display is representative of document indexing within the document management system.