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Description  |
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application contains subject matter related, in certain aspects, to the subject matter of patent application Ser. No. 07/485,793, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,173, which was a continuation of 07/127,814, now abandoned, filed Dec. 2, 1987,
entitled, "Small-Scale Workspace Representations Indicating Activities by Other Users", assigned to the same assignee herein and incorporated herein by reference thereto.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to collaboration among users in a networked workstation system, i.e. a real-time computer-based cooperative, multi-user environment, through a multi-user interface. More specifically, the invention relates to the manner in
which shared structured data objects containing some form of data is represented and controlled in a collaborative system together with means for presenting status and tracking information in a brief summary or compressed version to users so that the
users are simultaneously aware of current changes to the status and activities in regard to shared structured data objects.
In a multi-user interface in a collaborative system, there must be an interface utility that permits multi-users to participate simultaneously together and share access to information relative to their participation. Such an interface may start
from the so called WYSIWIS ("What You See Is What I See") abstraction, which is pronounced "wizzy whiz". This abstraction may be used to guide the multi-user interface design in a strict sense, i.e., where users see exactly the same image of
information, i.e., all user's images are identical, and also users can see where users are cursively pointing to and changing information. On the other hand, this abstraction may be used to guide the multi-user interface design in a relaxed sense, i.e.,
wherein the images are not necessarily all identical at the same time with respect to one or more attributes, such as, display space, currency of displayed information, time of displayed information and congruence of view. The user interface of this
invention falls in the relaxed WYSIWIS category.
A wide variety of user interface techniques are known for enabling more than one user to access a structured data object. In some techniques, a structured data object is only displayed to one user at a time, while in others, a structured data
object is displayed to a number of users at the same time.
Recently, more attention has been given to multi-user environments and collaborative type systems and their user interfaces to provide for free and friendly accessibility among different users to shared data via, for example, structured data
objects, and access and control of such shared data. An example of recent attention in collaborative environment research work was the Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW '86) held in Dec. 3-5 1986 in Austin, Tex. and the published
proceedings from that conference.
The term, "structured data object", is used herein to generically mean a data object that contains a series of other data objects linked together in a predetermined manner which may or may not include a visual representation or functional
abstraction on a display screen. Such data objects may have an associated set of operations and be linked to one another for one or more functional purposes. Examples of structured data objects are electronic versions of the following: (1) A multi-page
document wherein each page is a data object linked to both preceding and subsequent pages, which are data objects, in a predetermined order (2) A workspace or desktop, as defined by the display screen per se which contains multiple structured data
objects, e.g., file folders or documents, which, in turn, may contain other structured data objects. For example, a file folder may contain several documents, other file folders or a file drawer. A structured data object that is capable of holding
other structured data objects is also referred to in the art as a "container", e.g., a file folder is a container for documents. An example of a container is the file folder of the MacIntosh Computer of Apple Computer, Inc., which, when opened on the
display, may contain a plurality of other file folders displayed in their iconic representation of individual folders. (3) A hypertext linked structured data objects wherein individual workspaces or text window, themselves may be linked together in a
predetermined manner. In U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 030,766, filed Mar. 25, 1987, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,412 entitled, "User Interface With Multiple Workspaces For Sharing Display System Objects", assigned to the assignee herein and
incorporated herein by reference thereto, the term, "structured data objects" would include "display objects", "container" and "display system object" as defined therein.
The present invention deals with the employment of such structured data objects in a shared multi-user environment. In this context, the term "shared structure object" has reference to a structured data object that is accessible to more than one
user through network coupled display workstations.
As is known in the art, the representation and display of structured data objects in a workstation environment may take various forms. A common technique is to present the contents or entries of structured data objects in a display region or
workspace, such as a view window, on a CRT display. In order to maintain an unclustered display area in the displayed setting, however, it may be useful to provide a shrunken or small representation of the structured data object, such as an iconic
representation, when a user is not engaging in activities relating to the structured data object. Such a representation of data may take the form of iconic representations of different structured data objects positioned on a workspace of a display
screen, e.g., a display illustrating an office desktop metaphor employing various abstractions of a typical office environment, representative of real office objects, both physically accessible directly while seated at a desk or only physically
accessible by moving from a desk to another office location away from the desk. Examples of these abstractions are a desktop, inbasket, outbasket, documents file folders and "books", which contains two or more consecutive document portions which
together comprise a complete document. An example of such an office metaphor is the ViewPoint.TM. ("VP") software system available from Xerox Corporation in connection with its 8010 and 6085 display workstations. A more detailed description of this
system and iconic representation therein is found in U.S. Pat. application, Ser. No. 856,525, filed Apr. 28, 1986, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,136 assigned to the assignee herein and incorporated herein by reference thereto.
A "book" in the ViewPoint software system is a structured data object of the container type and is a special directory that creates a relationship among the document portions that are contained in the book. Consecutive documents in a book can
share a single page number series so that each document or a selected order of selected documents in the book automatically inherit sequential page numbering proceeding from document to document of the book. Also, scrolling from one document will
automatically continue into the next sequential document. Further, there is a facility to automatically create a table of contents and index for the book which will automatically include content and indexing material into the table and index created
relative to each document in the book. Lastly, the book will print as a single document. However, there is no facility in ViewPoint books for sharing the same book with other users. Each user may have a copy of the same book on his workstation, like
any other document, but there is no facility for sharing information concerning the status and tracking of revisions created by other users to a book or documents contained in a book.
The ViewPoint ("VP") software system includes a form of "shared" structured data objects in the form of the file drawer abstraction, described in "Filing", VP Series Reference Library, Version 1.0, Xerox Corporation, 1985, pp. 1-60. As
described at pages 4-7 and 20-21, a file drawer stores information on a remote file server, which is a physically remote accessible device so that the iconic representation is referred to as a reference icon on the desktop and is shown in half tone to
represent this remote state. Structured data objects, such as file folders and documents digitally stored in a file drawer, can be shared by many users, in accordance with access rights, as illustrated at pages 40-43, i.e., users with access rights can
access copies of data objects from the same file drawer. A file drawer is represented on the display by a relatively small icon with a pictorial file drawer representation with a name appearing within the representation. As explained in patent
application Ser. No. 06/856,526, now abandoned and continued as Ser. No. 07/499,196, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,033, via a sequence of keyboard and mouse signals, the user can select the icon and request an <OPEN> operation, in which case a window
appears on the display workspace showing the file drawer contents, as described and shown at pages 9-10 and 32-34. Unless covered by a window, the file drawer icon remains visible in shadow form while the file drawer window remains in its opened state.
The user can subsequently close the file drawer window, in which case, the window disappears and the icon resumes its original solid iconic appearance. The ViewPoint system also includes other reference icons described at pages 11-15, 22-25 and 49-60,
which can also be used to access in read only form "shared" structured data object.
Thus, relative to "shared" structured data objects located in a remote digital storage facility or file service represented as a file drawer abstraction of the desktop, it is important to note that access of a structured data object is possible
by multiple users having proper access rights to the file drawer for placing a digital copy of a structured data object on the user's desktop for subsequent manipulation, editing, revision, insertion of new material, etc. In this sense, several users may
access and share the same data or the same structured data objects, but individual users would be unaware of any changes made by other users unless other users restored the modified version of the structured data object back into the same file drawer
and, further, other users periodically checked to see if and when an updated version of the structured data object may have been so restored, absent an electronic or phone message to other users informing them of the restored updated revision.
Interleaf Technical Publishing Software Reference Manual, Release 3.0, Vol. 1, 1986, pp. 15-1 through 15-18 and 16-1 through 16-19 describes features of Technical Publishing Software (TPS) that can be used similarly to the ViewPoint system's
reference icons. Desktop links, described beginning at page 15-12, can be used to share files throughout a network, enabling a user to link to objects on other user's desktops, as further described at pages 15-17 and 15-18. In addition, every desktop
has access to objects in the System cabinet through "desktop links". A link icon points to a real file stored elsewhere on a user's workstation or on a remote storage facility on a local area network. Using links allows multiple users to simultaneously
change different parts of a shared data object, e.g., a publication. However, there is no efficient means available for providing information relative to shared file status and tracking.
Link permissions and ownership are described beginning at page 15-13, and the Document Locked stickup is described beginning at page 15-15 in the TPS Reference Manual. This stickup, shown in FIG. 15-9, includes a message with information about
the lock on a document, as would occur if the document were already open, either through a link or at another workstation using the same desktop. The use of desktop links in a book, a special directory that creates a relationship among documents it
contains, is described beginning at page 16-18.
There are references in the art for providing information to users of shared data about the activities of other users. S. K. Sarin et al, "Software for Interactive On-Line Conferences," Proceedings ACM-SIGOA Conference on Office Information
Systems, Toronto, Canada, Jun. 25-27, 1984, describe a real-time conferencing system, RTCAL, in which a number of conference participants can each see a shared bitmap in a screen region, as shown in FIG. 3-2. Each user has a pointing device, such as a
display cursor mouse, and when a bitmap server that supports the shared bitmap receives input indicating pointing activity by one of the users, that user's cursor is updated on every user's bitmap, as described in Section 3 at pages 15 and 18.
S. K. Sarin, Interactive On-Line Conferences, Ph.D. thesis, M.I.T. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, May 1984, also describes RTCAL, at pages 201-206. Elsewhere, at pages 47-57, Sarin describes JEDI, a real-time joint
document editing system that includes a status window showing who is in a conference and other useful information about users, as described at pages 48 and 52 in relation to FIG. 2-4 and at page 57 in relation to a participant leaving a conference.
Sarin discusses status information more generally at pages 75-78, pointing out ways in which a user can know what other users are doing and looking at. On page 78, Sarin points out that not all status information may fit on a user's screen at once, and
suggests allocating a small amount of screen space to a main summary, with more detailed information available when needed by a "pop-up" viewport. Sarin further suggests special notification of significant changes in conference status, accompanied by an
attention-getting mechanism, such as a bell ringing or flashing part of the screen, where the notification appears. Pages 206-213 describe "MBlink", in which each user can see the cursor positions of each user's workstation mouse. Pages 214-227
describe "XMBlink", a design that extends this feature.
S. K. Sarin et al, "Computer-Based Real-Time Conferencing Systems," Computer, pp. 33-45, October 1985, describe at page 34 a number of other systems providing information about activities of other users. FIG. 1 shows a summary window that
provides further information about other users in a conference and an events window that displays important changes in status, such as, when a user is leaving or joining the conference or the passing of control to others, as described at page 36.
I. Greif et al, "Atomic Data Abstractions in a Distributed Collaborative Editing System," Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages, St. Petersburg, FL, pp. 160-172, January 1986, described a distributed
collaborative editing system called "CES." The functionality and design of CES are described at pages 164-165, including the sharing of documents among multiple authors. While a "tickle" lock is held, small actions made by the owner are committed after
certain editing commands and remain visible when the lock is released. Screens of all readers of text that is being modified are updated at regular intervals as each small action commits.
Gregg Foster, CoLab, Tools for Computer-Based Cooperation, University of California, Computer Science Division, Berkeley, California, Report No. UCB/CSD 84/215, 1984, describes the use of RemoteMice, personalized images of mouse cursors active on
remote machines, at page 13. The relaxation of WYSIWIS ("What You See Is What I See"), discussed at page 8, permits differences between the views of a display object seen by different users, which could be implemented by associating windows of different
sizes or screen positions or by providing visible remote cursors only on demand.
Gregg Foster in his Ph.D. Thesis, Collaborative Systems and Multi-user Interfaces, University of California, Computer Science Division, 1986, (and later in G. Foster et al, "Cognoter, Theory and Practice of a Colab-orative Tool," Proceedings of
the Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Work, Austin, Tex. Dec. 3-5, 1986, pp. 7-15) defines a multi-user interface as a human-machine interface coordinated for several users sharing information at the same time, at page 35. At page 36,
Foster discusses the use in multi-user applications of compressed versions of windows in which general activity is discernible but details are suppressed, and suggests this as an approach to the screen space problem. FIG. 4.1 shows a shared window that
is seen on the display of each participant in a session using Cognoter, a program that provides a multi-user interface and a structured meeting process. FIG. 4.3 shows how a number of windows may appear during a Cognoter session, with some windows
overlapping others. Tables 4.1 4.2 and 4.3 show a "Scrunch" operation that shrinks a display window. At page 87, Foster discusses busy signals, illustrated in FIG. 4.9, that signal potential conflict between users by greying-out items being edited,
moved or grouped by other users.
L. N. Garrett et al, "Intermedia: Issues, Strategies, and Tactics in the Design of a Hypermedia Document System, Proceedings of the Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Work, Austin, Tex., pp. 163-174, Dec. 3-5, 1986, although not
itself prior art with respect to the present invention, describes Intermedia, a system that was publicly described in the prior art. Documents in Intermedia are linked, and a user can select a link marker and issue a command to cause the document at the
other end of the link to be activated with information presented in a window. FIG. 2 shows how a link marker can be an icon conveying the nature of the information at the end of the link. A multi-user environment for a hypermedia system is described
beginning at page 171. Options for notification of updates by other users, discussed on page 173, include immediate update, immediate notification, passive notification and no notification. One goal is a "seamless" environment over a large corpus of
documents available to multiple users. This reference also, at page 173, refers to different aspects of the notion of notification of updates in a multi-user environment in that there are four possible ways a system could respond to other users relative
to changes made to a system object: (1) provide an immediate update; (2) provide an immediate notification; (3) provide passive notification and (4) no notification. The last notion would not provide any formal notification of changes, but rather, the
next time a document is opened, changes made by the user would somehow be reflected in the reopened document.
M. Stefik et al, "Knowledge Programming in Loops: Report on an Experimental Course," The AI Magazine, pp. 3-13, Fall 1983, describe Truckin', a workstation board game in which each player has an iconic truck representation, as shown and
described in relation to FIG. 5. Each player can have a separate workstation. Gauges described at pages 6-9 indicate the fuel, weight, and volume of each player's truck, and that can be concurrently observed by other players. Stefik, M. J., Bobrow, D.
G. and Kahn, K. M., "Integrating Access-Oriented Programming into a Multiparadigm Environment," IEEE Software, pp. 10-18, January 1986 also describe gauges at pages 14-15 and Truckin' at pages 16-17.
Davids et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,779, describe a conversational video system capable of providing interactive conversational video data communications between pairs of users and that enables multiple conversations to be carried out by a given
user in real-time, as shown and described in relation to FIGS. 1-2. The display at a keystation can be divided into a plurality of areas that can include first and second conversation areas or a first conversation area and an area for retrieved data, as
shown and described in relation to FIG. 11 and FIGS. 10A-10F. Another feature is an incoming calls area of the display containing brief details of incoming calls and their interest messages, and the user may accept one of the incoming calls shown in
order to have it displayed in one of the conversation areas. A user can list others from whom he is not prepared to accept calls using a CALL INHIBIT function or can specify a list of others to whom a call is directed using a CALL LIST function, as
shown and described in relation to FIGS. 14-43.
D. B. Leblang et al, "Computer-Aided Software Engineering in a Distributed Workstation Environment," in Henderson, P., (Ed.), Proceedings of the ACM SIGSOFT/SIGPLAN Software Engineering Symposium on Practical Software Development Environments,
Pittsburgh, PA, Apr. 23-24, 1984, describe DSEE, a software development environment. As described and shown on the fifth and sixth pages, each user of a group of users can view the items completed by other users immediately, as a reference to the
completed item.
G. Foster et al, "Cognoter, Theory and practice of a Colab-orative Tool", Proceedings of the Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Work, Austin, Tex., pp. 7-15, Dec. 3-5, 1986, which is not itself prior art with respect to the present
invention, describes a computer program called "Cognoter" for use in a multi-user environment to provide collaboration among users participating in a group activity, such as a presentation, e.g., a talk or paper, wherein each user has an annotated
outline of ordered ideas and associated text in a shared user interface present at each workstation. The user interface provides a visual indication to other users that a displayed item is undergoing alteration by another user.
In the article of M. Stefik et al, "WYSIWIS Revised: Early Experiences with Multi-User Interfaces," Proceedings of the Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, Austin, Tex., pp. 276-290, Dec. 3-5, 1986, which is not itself prior art
with respect to the present invention, incorporated herein by reference thereto, there is a discussion at page 285, column one, about the problem in using the program, "Cognoter", G. Foster et al., "Cognoter, Theory and practice of a Colab-orative Tool",
supra, that, when the windows are shrunk or reduced to their static icon representation, it is no longer possible for a user to assess quickly where a group activity is from moment to moment. The suggestion is made that, unlike conventional static
icons, an icon representing the activity should somehow actively indicate when information concerning the group activity is changing. However, there no indication or suggestion in this paper as to how this suggestion would be visualized or implemented.
Relative to monitoring information among different users in a multi-user environment, there is known in the art the use of "system models" to monitor the activities of programmers working on different software modules together comprising a
software system and determine how to rebuild or compile the system when one or more modules have been changed without losing modules or pointers to their remote locations. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,413, which corresponds to the
dissertation of Eric Emerson Schmidt, entitled "Controlling Large Software Development in a Distributed Environment", University of California, Berkeley, approved November 1982, Brian T. Lewis, "Experience With a System for Controlling Software Versions
in a Distributed Environment", Proceedings of the Symposium on Application and Assessment of Automated Tools for Software Development, IEEE and University of Texas at Austin, San Francisco, Calif. Nov. 1-3, 1983, and K. Marzullo et al, "Jasmine: A
Software System Modelling Facility", Proceedings of the Symposium on Practical Software Development Environments, Palo Alto, Calif., Dec. 9-11, 1986, SIGPLAN Notices, Vol. 22(1), pp. 121- 130, January, 1987. The system models used contain unique
identifiers that are representative, for example, of a particular software module and contain pointers to information concerning its name, current version, its dependency on other software modules and its pathname to the storage facility where the module
resides. However, there is no means provided for individual users to visually access on reduced scale or summarized basis, an entry detail representation of the current status of each module or part or entry of such a system, the current activity as to
any particular module or part and whether access is available relative to a particular module or part.
A concept of a shared structured data object is disclosed in the published article of David K. Gifford, "Violet, An Experimental Decentralized System", CSL-79-12, Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, September, 1979. Violet is a decentralized
information system with implementation at the file service wherein information is shared among multi-users. The user interface disclosed pertains to a shared appointment calendar wherein a user can take control of data entry to be made in a common
appointment calendar by invoking a write transaction which sets an "intention-write lock". This lock is not final until converted into a "commit lock" so that a final write to the calendar for all users to see is arbitrated among multi-users relative to
the first to commit after set of the intention-write lock by writing data to the user's displayed representation of the calendar.
It is a principal object of this invention to provide a means in the form of a representation indicative of the status of and tracking changes to shared structured data objects accessible as a multi-user application in a real-time collaborative
environment without the need of keeping track of or identifying any of the remote instances of the representation. Thus, it is a prime objective of this invention to provide a multi-user environment and collaborative type system with a user interface
that provides for free and friendly accessibility among different users to shared structured data objects and managing the shared structured data object throughout its life cycle to permit users to concentrate more on the structured data object substance
processes and less on the management and production coordination processes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to this invention, a representation of a shared structured data object can be used to present information about the activities and status relating to the shared structured data object and its content of a plurality of structured data
objects as well as other information affecting or tracking the shared structured data object content. The present invention further provides techniques by which the WYSIWIS user interface aspects of the representation can be used to present detailed
quantitative information about the real-time extent of changes or modifications to the shared structured data object or its contents on a demand notification/update basis. Further, user access control also provides exclusivity or privacy to invoked
changes to parts of the shared structured data object without interference from other users but with an indication to the other users of access control attributes thereby providing coordinated consistency among users relative to changes to all parts of
the shared structured data object.
One aspect of the invention is based on the recognition of a basic problem in a collaborative system, i.e. a real-time computer-based cooperative environment. A user can often benefit from knowing the state of activities of other users even when
that user is not actively engaged in such activities with the other users. For example, a user may need tracking information relating to statistics or status relative to the activities of other users to make decisions about future plans for such
activities or a determination when to join in the group activities. In a collaborative system that permits concurrent access to shared data by more than one user, a user may wish to rejoin a group viewing shared data when the group has reached a certain
stage in its work or when another user joins the group activities. Or, if the system allows more than one subgroup, a user in one subgroup may need information about the progress of another subgroup. But, a conventional collaborative system does not
permit a user to conveniently monitor activities of other users unless the user is viewing the same data along with other users.
This aspect of the invention is further based on the recognition that this problem can be solved by displaying to the user a representation that includes detailed information about the activities of other users relating to shared data in a shared
structured data object utilized in a collaborative system. Because the representation is small or of reduced scale, it does not interfere with the user's view of other objects present in the workspace on the workstation display desktop. A user can
learn the current state of an activity by direct access to and view of the reduced size representation, making it unnecessary to view the shared data until the user is ready to do so or until a desired state or level of activity is reached. At that
point, the user can begin working on the shared data by selecting the reduced size representation and designating a particular entry or entries identified in the representation and open them up for view and editing in full size presentation of the
particular entry.
A variety of techniques may be used to indicate the activities of other users of the shared structured data object. When there is a change in data in a structured data object within a shared structured data object, the detailed representation
could include a flickering indicator, for example. If the shared data is presented to each user as a display object or within a workspace, such as a display window, each representation may include the current version of that display object or workspace,
with systematic distortions to enable a user to recognize it and with updating to indicate recent changes to the data. The representation could include an indication of which users are currently viewing and editing a particular entry of the shared
structured data object and which users are only viewing the representation. The representation could also include an indication of the type of activity in progress by another user on a particular entry within the shared structured data object.
Another aspect of the invention is based on the recognition that a user viewing a representation of a shared structured data object is likely to make decisions based on how much change other users have made in the shared data of the shared
structured data object or on how rapidly other users are making changes. When other users have made extensive changes, the user may wish to view the data with the changes or may wish to update a local instance of the shared structured data object. When
other users begin making changes very rapidly, the user may wish to view the contents to determine the extent and necessity of the changes. The need for such information can be solved by including in a smaller size indicator of a quantitative measure of
change that is updated as changes occur. The quantitative measure could indicate the cumulative amount of change or the current rate of change.
In the present invention, the above mentioned recognized capabilities are achieved in a multi-user collaborative system in which the contents as well as the current status of other user activity of a shared structured data object representing one
or more related structured data objects in the form of data entries can be concurrently accessed by different users respectively at different workstations connected to a common link. The WYSIWIS user interface representation of the shared structured
data object includes an ordered listing of such entries that are maintained by the structured data object and various attributes of each listed entry, inter alia, the type and class of entry; the revision number of the shared structured data object; the
number of pages and revision number of each structured data object entry; the date of creation and last revision of each such entry; whether an entry can be accessed by a user and, if not, who has prevented such access; whether a local instance of an
entry is present on a user's system; and a provision for miscellaneous notes or comments relative to each entry for view by other users. Means is provided for maintaining current information relative to the shared structured object and its entries on a
user initiated demand updated basis invoked by a user operation, which operation requires updated information to properly implement the operation. Further, means is provided for locking up one or more data entries by an individual user and thereby
prevent access of the locked entries by other users to prevent concurrent editing and other changes to the same entries by two or more users. In this connection, editing or modification cannot be performed by a user until the shared structured data
object entry or entries have been locked up. Visual indication as to the locked state of entries and other information relative to the locking user and the time of lock is updated and displayed in the shared structured data object representation present
at user workstations when a user invokes a user operation on the shared structured data object or its contents. In this manner, the updating of the representation is completely decentralized and client-based so that it is not necessary to monitor the
number and currency of shared structured data objects existing throughout the network but, rather, updating of the representation of object content, as well as any modified data content of structured data objects, is accomplished upon individual user
initial invoking of a structured data object operation.
Other objects and attainments together with a fuller understanding of the invention will become apparent and appreciated by referring to the following description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of an office information system for illustrating the shared structured data object comprising this invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates a representation of a shared structured data object having a content that includes a plurality of entries which may be viewed as a window on a workstation display shown in FIG. 1.
FIGS. 3 illustrates a property sheet for a blank shared structured data object as may be viewed on a workstation display shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 illustrates a property sheet for a previously created shared structured data object as may be viewed on a workstation display shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 illustrates a details options sheet for an unlocked entry in the shared structured data object window shown in FIG. 2 as may be viewed on a workstation display shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 6 illustrates a details options sheet for a locked entry in which a locking user views in the shared structured data object window shown in FIG. 2 as may be viewed on a workstation display shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 7 illustrates a simplified version of a shared structured data object window for the purpose of illustrating how additions may be made to a shared structured data object.
FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate a simplified version of a shared structured data object window for the purpose of illustrating the locking of an entry in a shared structured data object.
FIG. 9 illustrates the open window of the structured data object shown in FIG. 2 displaying an auxiliary menu having been previously opened.
FIG. 10 illustrates the pop-up menu for the shared structured data object shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 11 illustrates an example of an open folder of local files for the shared structured data object shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 12 illustrates an example of an open folder of remote files for the shared structured data object shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart representation of a basic algorithmic procedure performed by the implementation of this invention.
FIGS. 14 and 15 are flowchart examples of other algorithmic procedures performed by the implementation of this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A. Background Discussion and General Features.
General features of this invention can be understood with reference to the figures in explaining in detail the collaborative environment of this invention utilizing a shared structured data object as used in a publication management system
modeled after "job dockets", a common publishing shop tool. However, it should be understood that the shared structured data object representation of this invention has other applications. For example, the shared structured data object representation
of this invention could be utilized in a hypertext type system, e.g., NoteCards or a hierarchical database retrieval system.
Job dockets includes drafts of text and illustrations, galleys and page proofs, specifications for design and layout, correspondence, and production schedules. A "job sheet" is often pasted on a docket's cover to identify the job and list its
production schedule, e.g., a list of tasks to be accomplished, scheduled dates for completion, and individual worker assignments. Job dockets are passed from one worker to another as each job step is completed. Unlike a job docket, however, shared
structured data objects are intended to allow several professional users to edit or otherwise work concurrently on the same publication.
Publication or job management is a broad area encompassing topics as diverse as security, document history, and scheduling of publication jobs. There are three key categories of publication management: storage and retrieval, document binding,
and job management.
A key requirement for any publication or job management system is support for efficiently finding, retrieving, and storing the correct revisions of documents. This must include all document information. A document is more than the sum of its
parts. At the very least, the system must manage all the information necessary to reproduce the document. Beside content that belongs to just the document, this information might include style and layout rules, spelling dictionaries, boilerplate
content shared among several documents, and information obtained by following links and cross references to other publications. The publication management system should manage such related information as contracts, specifications, correspondence,
production schedules, and accounting data. The system must also manage any important derived information. This is information which is computed solely from publication entries in order to, for example, reduce the time needed for some operations.
Specific examples include symbol table information needed to resolve cross references between parts and Interpress or Postscript page description files for printing of the publication.
Publications or documents are changed, modified and updated over time, which results in a sequence of revisions over time. Some documents are short-lived while others have a long revision history in which the functionality of publication
management is paramount. These long-lived publications typically have major revisions that correspond to releases of the document. For example, a user's manual for a spreadsheet package is usually revised for each release of the package. It is
desirable for a publication management system to be able to reproduce specific older revisions of a document as well as the current revision. Some publications also have, at certain times, multiple concurrent versions. For example, a computer user's
manual might have several different versions, one for each computer model on which a software application runs. These different but related, parallel versions have their own independent revision histories which the publication management facility should
manage separately. The facility should be able to recreate specific revisions within each separate version thread. If older revisions are not likely to be retrieved often, they version thread. If older revisions are not likely to be retrieved often,
they can be archived into a slow-to-access but low cost per bit digital storage facility.
The publication or job management system in the modern office must reliably store information. It must safeguard data despite computer or network failures or attempts by unauthorized people to modify information. Loss or corruption of
information can have financial, if not sometimes also legal consequences. Often there are tight deadlines and it is unacceptable to be forced to recreate a document from other sources. The system must prevent two different users from attempting to
modify the same information at the same time. Part of the difficulty in management is in locating correct and current revisions of information and ensuring that revisions are properly distributed for review and further revision. Information can be lost
if the system does not provide long-term, global locks on shared data. The publication management system should also provide access control to prevent unauthorized access and change to documents. Also to be noted is that the access controls that are
appropriate for a publication often change over time, even among the same users. For example, no one within General Motors Corporation is allowed to alter or revise the owner's manual "safety copy" for an automobile after a draft of this publication has
been approved by the corporate legal department.
Binding a publication typically consists of numbering a publication's content and layout objects, e.g., sections, figures, footnotes, and pages, and resolving cross references to those objects. It may also include the generation of front and
back matter such as tables of contents and indexes. Binding is typically done by an editor program, not by the publication management system. However, when the publication consists of several independently edited pieces or units, the binding
functionality will require the assistance of the publication management system to obtain correct revisions of document parts and other needed information.
When several people are working on a publication, there is the problem of checking whether the publication is consistent. A publication is consistent if all of its parts, including the front and back matter, are numbered and cross referenced
consistently. In addition, the publication's parts must also refer to the same revisions of such auxiliary information as style descriptions and boilerplate content, whether that information belongs to just the publication or is "imported" from
elsewhere. Although an editor program might implement the consistency checking, the checking is a publication management function. Cross references to other publications must also be identical. The document management system can keep track of revision
and binding information for each part in order to determine efficiently if the document is consistent.
A publication management facility offers support for organizing the production of documents. It assists in planning tasks and responsibilities and in tracking the progress of work. It may also include support for estimating the cost of jobs and
for maintaining accounting and statistical information. Besides assistance for producing individual documents, a job management system may also provide between-job support. This includes peak-load reports for production departments and reports of jobs
currently in progress. The job management system should recognize that there are different work roles involved in publishing: for example, writing, designing, copy editing, and production editing. These roles often have different requirements. For
example, an illustrator rarely should be allowed to revise a job's accounting information, although the same person may sometimes perform these different roles.
Flexibility is another requirement for publication management systems. They must accommodate different production styles. Most publishing groups are highly organized and publishers will often refuse to change their existing procedures to
accommodate a new or different job management system.
In the modern office, managing long-lived, multi-part documents or publications has always required additional time for office workers. This is, in part, because the documents are produced by a team of people and undergo frequent revision. When
several people work together to produce a document, coordinating and tracking the progress of their work also requires work. This includes locating current and revised revisions of the different publication parts for further processing. Even in the
"electronic office", the publication management is still done primarily using manual techniques. Mistakes are occasionally made, which lead to increased cost, missed deadlines, and sometimes the loss of information.
The collaborative system of this invention invoking a structured data object representation supports multi-user publication management on the existing ViewPoint ("VP") software system of Xerox Corporation and its document processing environment.
A typical VP office information system consists of a number of workstations linked by an Ethernet local area network to shared file, communication, and print services. Each workstation has its own local file system. Sharing is done using files stored
on file services but files must be manually copied between workstations and servers. VP also has a distributed electronic mail system. These existing facilities help in preparing documents, but they still require manual and coordinated effort and,
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