Leader Technologies Inc. v. Facebook Inc.

Filing 180

DECLARATION Of Paul J. Andre re 179 Claim Construction Opening Brief by Leader Technologies Inc.. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1, # 2 Exhibit 2, # 3 Exhibit 3, # 4 Exhibit 4, PART 1, # 5 Exhibit 4 PART2, # 6 Exhibit 4 PART 3, # 7 Exhibit 4 PART 4, # 8 Exhibit 4 PART 5, # 9 Exhibit 4 PART 6, # 10 Exhibit 4 PART 7, # 11 Exhibit 4 PART 8, # 12 Exhibit 5)(Rovner, Philip) Modified on 12/11/2009 (nms).

EXHIBIT 3

United States Patent

(10)

McKibben et al.

(12)

(45)

(54) DYNAMIC ASSOCIATION OF
ELECTRONICALLY STORED
INFORMATION WITH ITERATIVE
WORKFLOW CHANGES
(75) Inventors: Michael T. McKibben, Columbus, OH
(US); Jeffrey R. Lamb, Westerville,
OH (US)
(73) Assignee: Leader Technologies, Inc., Westerville,
OH (US)
( * ) Notice:

Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
patent is extended or adjusted under 35
U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.

(21) Appl. No.: 101732,744
(22) Filed:
(65)

Dec. 10, 2003

Patent NO.:
US 7,139,761 B2
Date of Patent:
Nov. 21,2006

6,236,971
6,311,228
6,418,461
6,421,678
6,539,371
200210001301
200210078150
200210143877
200310069849
200310217096

B1
512001 Stefik et al.
B1
1012001 Ray
B1
712002 Barnhouse et al.
B1 * 712002 Smiga et al. ...............
B1
312003 Bleizeffer et al.
A1
112002 Sarkissian et al.
A1 * 612002 Thompson et al. .........
A1 * 1012002 Hackbarth et al. ..........
A1
412003 Stefik et al.
A1 * 1112003 McKelvie et al. ..........

7071102

7091204
7091205
7091202

OTHER PUBLICATIONS
International Written Opinion, PCTlUS03139421, mailed Nov. 15,
2004.
Diane Miuahi; Patent Cooperation Treaty International Search
Report; Jun. 27, 2004; Alexandria, Virginia.

* cited by examiner
Primary Examiner-Diane

Prior Publication Data
US 200410122835 A1
Jun. 24, 2004

(57)

Mizrahi

ABSTRACT

Related U.S. Application Data
-(60) Provisional application No. 601432,255, filed on Dec.
11, 2002.
(51) Int. C1.
G06F 17/30
(2006.01)
(52) U.S. C1. ........................................................ 707110
(58) Field of Classification Search .............. 70711-10,
7071106104.1; 3791202.01; 7151753; 725187,
7251112; 7091202, 204, 205
See application file for complete search history.
(56)

References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
6,154,465 A

A data management tool. The tool is a unified, horizontal
system for communications, organization, information processing, and data storage. The tool operates seamlessly with
existing platforms, and is a common workflow layer that is
automated with a scalable, relational database. The tool uses
one or both of a relational and object database engine that
facilitates at least many-to-many relationships among data
elements, The highest contextual assumption is that there
exists an entity that consists of one or more users. The data
storage model first assumes that files are associated with the
user. Thus, data generated by applications is associated with
an individual, group of individuals, and topical content and
not simply with a folder, as in traditional systems.
35 Claims, 18 Drawing Sheets

1112000 Pickett

~GL
USER DATA

104

I

CONTEXT
COMPONENT

]

I

p %a
lE
K
i i
TRACKING
COMPONENT

m
CONTEXT,

U.S. Patent

NOV.

21,2006

Sheet 1 of 18

r 110
CONTEXT
COMPONENT
CONTEXT DATA

1

4

DATA
4

r 116

v
TRACKING
COMPONENT

r

APPLICATION

FIG. 1

108

U.S. Patent

NOV.
21,2006

Sheet 2 of 18

US 7,139,761 B2

0
START

USER ASSOCIATES
WITH A FIRST CONTEXT

I
AUTO CREATE
ANDUPDATE
CONTEXT DATA

0
-

1

210 USER ASSIGNS

I-

204

I-

APPS AND DATA
ASSOCIATED WITH
NEW CONTEXT

FIG. 2

2oo

202

USER PERFORMS A
DATA OPERATION

USER CHANGES
CONTEXT

t-

*06

k

208

U.S. Patent

NOV.

21,2006

Sheet 3 of 18

FIG. 3

I
BOARD,

G
BOARD,

BOARD,

BOARD,

FIG. 4A

FIG. 4B

U.S. Patent

NOV.

Sheet 4 of 18

21,2006

9
START

GENERATE WEBS AND
BOARDS TABLE
T

502

CREATE BOARDS

CREATE CONTENT AND
ASSOCIATE WITH A BOARD

t-

CREATE COLLECTION(S)
OF BOARDS

I-

WEB AND BOARD
RELATIONSHIPS CHANGE

k

SYSTEM AUTO UPDATES
TABLE WITH CHANGES OF
CONTEXT, WEB, BOARD(S),
APPS, AND DATA, TO USER

t-

I

FIG. 5

U.S. Patent

I
USER(S)
1 :2:3

NOV.

21,2006

Sheet 5 of 18

WEBS AND BOARDS TABLE
BOARD(S)
WEB(S)
BOARD(S) P/C RELATION
B l l , B12, B14
W1
B l l : B12; B14

FIG. 6

FIG. 7

I

SERVER SYSTEM

URLs
GROUPWARE

MULTIMEDIA

STORAGE SYSTEM

U.S. Patent

NOV.

21,2006

Sheet 7 of 18

PEOPLE
CONTEXTS
WEBS
BOARDS
APPLICATIONS

FIG. 9

r 1008
FOLDER@)

FIG. 10

DATA

U.S. Patent

NOV.

21,2006

Sheet 8 of 18

FIG. 11

U.S. Patent

NOV.

21,2006

Sheet 9 of 18

MANY USERS
MANY CONTEXTS

,

MANY WORKFLOWS
MANY PROJECTS
MANY TOPICS
MANY PRIORITIES
ONE INTERFACE
MANY FILE TYPES
ONE APPLICATION
MANY TOOLS
BRIDGE 3RD PARTIES
MULTIMEDIA
PHONEIDATA

FIG. 12

U.S. Patent

NOV.

21,2006

Sheet 10 of 18

PLATFORM

3RD
PARTY APP INTEGRATION
SECURITY CAMERAS/DEVICES
PROJECT & WORKFLOW MGMT

FILE & DOCUMENT SHARING
ONLINE MEETINGS
TELECONFERENCING

FIG. 13

WIRELESS
DEVICES

XMLIXSLTISSL PROCESSOR

I

DAWfiUDt-\IYU

CONNECTION
I

WEB APPLICATION SERVER
DATABASE
SERVER

1406 J

VRU

h T E T \ I I n D'
L
uuY

SSL

1

MASS
STORAGE
L1408

u

COMMUNICATIONS

7

BROWSERS

I

1422

L1410

HI,GH-SPEED
DATA
CONNECTION

FIG. 14

aw!l
w ~ s yuo we1
m ~
W!WA lnplwwami
l~vlue
S=!ION l e b l e puss
wddns

)no601
sle!Jolnl
dla~
luud
PlOMSSed
a6ueq3
PJeog
a6eueyy
aioA

80ST 7,

orsr 2

SMaN

[M~!A
lual~nz~ l ~ oIS![ o) slua)! ON]
aq
j
-.-.-----------------------.---------.-----------.-.-.-.-.-.---.-----lS!l

--.---.----.....?l%?a--aw .P!'!Waau-.-A5E6glK6-u.wv .[iv
-----.----.--.. y5J-v-6.-.---.-.-.-------------- bi6-r.----------------*-

I

6u!puad 6u!pUad

,

q.
0
y

I

-

1s!1 ~ ~ a a y y~ a s n
~

laaw

m

M~N]

is!l

weas

spJeoq1apeal AN

a'-"Wd

E P U ~ 11n3
~ V

epua6v

OOSl

YSel
yu!l al!sqam jaqlo
1 au!lpeaq sMau V a l u!eld Jepuale3
yo01 Mau saqmnel h e d u o 3
(E) S M ~ N
asuctiaju3
POSI
SMaN

ZOSI -+
$ U ! J ~ 1!ew3

h o l s ! ~e!payy sagJonej y3~eas awoH ysaJjay
dla~

W

I

uro3.apqaM //:sdUq

SlOOl

Sal!JOAej

ssaJppv

do^

Ma!/\

l!P3

@ @
al!j

saquag Auedwoa

aw!l
uolsmfi dluo (xel
uo~smfi
UIPMP~UB mi
r6aqo~
le8ai
I!emauoddnr e w a s

$110603

O1ST 7
,

sle!do$nl
dla~

s ~ a p l oo 'sluau o
j
sdaploj o 'swa11o

W aueuatl
1
W)aueuatl

1
1

iuas
swa

2091 3

CJ

IU!J~
PJOMSSed
a6ueq3
weoa
a6eue~

I
J
WJ~PIO~
PPV

[M~!A
lua~~n3 JOJ is!l oi sulau ON ]
aql

A

1

......................................................................

aio~
seaPl
SMaN
UO!S!A!~
u!e~/
:10ed j u a ~ ~ n 3
WON
sal!j
ssnDs!a
sa'irffeuE[$ '
--.-------- al!dluo3
""al?:
pejuo.
..--laaw
1~1
--A?&
u!eW

(IU~JJ~~)
lJ!eW

M~!A J ~ P I O ~
01
palas

g

~~

---.-.-.-.-.a
..--..--...-.
.--..-.-.-.-.-.
-.-.-me.-.-

I!ew

.d - ! r o ~
? ?? r-.-=??!?a
k .
- .-a-AKnax-.--..---.--.- oq-D-v- v.D$,g9amD-u!-u-=a-s&p-$i
m
-.-.-.-.-.-.--.*--.---.-.-.

leu!?^ j.a.3- !??!?!?A

I,/

-.---me--.-

xoqul . + a a ~cafiessayy

dasn

a

1-

auolld

0091
pTi!rI

13! 01

43~eaS spJeoyapea1 AW

PiQ
y u!l al!sqaM Jaql0
1 au!lpeaq sMau lxal u!eld
yo01 Mau saqxmel Auedwog

e p u a 6 11nj
~
epua6y

F
l

(c)S M ~ N
asudaju3

YS~J.

Jepuale3
aDeSSaw

[

T

l

1-

SMaN

uro3.aJ!sqaM //:sd~y

ssaJppy

IU!J~ l!ew3 ~OIS!H e!payy saplonej q3~eas auoH qsaJjaa dols
@ @
d l a ~ S l O O l SaJ!JOAEj Ma!/\ $ 3 al!j
sacy~~as
Auedwo3

Company Services
File
Edit View

1Favorites

Tools

Help

Address

+1502

https:// website.com

News
Enterprise News (3)

y

1700

Stop Refresh Home Search Favorites Media History Email Print

@ @

Message
calendar
~~~k
Phone

j
My Leaderboards

Agenda
Full Agenda

Company launches n e w look
Plain text news headline 1
Other website link

Edit

Search

User

Manage Board> Edit
-----.---+

H
Topic1
Topic2

Meet
Contact

-Update - - --- -

E Z
@Pe~mks~on

Compile
Discuss

Files
Notes
Division
News
Ideas
Vote
Manaae
Board
Change
Password
Print

-

Help
Tutorials

General Leaderboard Attributes
w+-.-.-.-.*"-"m"--+--e-"*"".-.+.---"-----.-----"---.-----.-----?-.----

Host

Date

Time

User
Description
IMy Board
Leaderboard Name
user
Board Nickname
[Nickname
Email Address
[e-mail]

Date

Time

I
Incoming Fax Number

1

1 one

Incoming Fax Pin

1
1

External Email Properties

.................-.-~---w--

"---m---A.----------.

1IncomingVoice Mail Number
one
[None
lncoming Voice Mail Pin
[None

1

I
I
1
1510

Logout
Sand a support email
Legal Ndices
Lnv BnadwldthVerslon
~ e x only Version
t

<1702

Password
Leave messages on server

I
Time

FIG. 17

Company Services
File
Edit View

@ @
Address

II
m
Favorites

Tools

Help

Stop Refresh Home Search Favorites Media History Email Print

1800

https:1/ website.com
News

Agenda
Full Agenda

Enterprise News (3)
Message

Company launches new look

calendar Plain text news headline 1
Otherwebsite link
Task
Phone

1-1
My Leaderboards

List
-

Search
Meet
Compile
Discuss
Files
Notes
Division
News
Ideas
Vote

User

>Phone> List
*---*-----

6-C

1802
--------------- --------.--.-----.--

Select A l --------------- Remind Me -----.-Acknowledge ------------- Delete
---.-------

My New
All

Quick Call

M Z M ~
List "....-..."*...+.....*.."*...-.-.--......---.*-..-...-...-...--*-.-.-.
[No items to list for the current view]

Manage
Board
Change
Password
Print
Help
Tutorials
Logout
Ssnd a suppon emall
Legal Notices
Low EnadwidthVersion
Text Only Version

Time

FIG. 18

Company Services
File
Edit View

@ @

Tools

Help

Stop Refresh Home Search Favorites Media History Email Print

=

Address

Favorites

2000

https:l/ website.com

M Profile
My Contact

I)

News
Enterprise News (3)
Message Company launches new look
Calendar Plain text news headline 1
Other website link
Task

Agenda
Full Agenda

Phone
My Leaderboards

Meet
Contact
Compile
Discuss
Files
Notes
Division
News
Ideas
Vote
Manage
Board
Change
Password
Print
Help
Tutorials

User

List
-

Search

[Mvg
rending-

List
-

Create

Meet> List

----- .--------------------------------*--------

J- in

pi-"MY.CP-~S!---.--. * - - *
.*-.

.*
a.

.**A.

-.-

. a
- .

Remind Me Delete
-----------.-------.-----

.*.

.n?xBo2rds.......---..- -...-. ..-. --. - .- .--.
Board Name

Host

Board1
Board2
Board3

User
User2
User2

Web Name

------------"---v-"--*.--.---.---v-""..*.--"-."

Parent

Child

Admin

Administration

Special Projects Web
--.--------.--..--..--..--...-..--..--...-..--.
Parent

Child

Board6

Board4

Board4

Logout

MY-.T-QA~G~~.
$$!e$j4Ml:,,
&\n?~lg?g.e

Board2

Send a support ernail
Legal Noacm
L w Bnadwidlh Verslon
Text Onb Version

Time

FIG. 20

U.S. Patent

PROCESSING
UNIT

NOV.

US 7,139,761 B2

Sheet 18 of 18

21,2006

-

2104

,

, 2118
-

FDD

, 2144
-

Dl SK
2120

, CDDRIVE

1

-

r
INPUT
t+ DEVICE
INTERFACE 4

2

1

4

(-

MONITOR
2122

/-

r

A

KEYBOARD

, 2140
4

~

~

- r 2158

2

(

-

MODEM

~

~

r

~

/

2154

WAN
2152

t
*

2138

Dl SK

~ MOUSE ~
~ ~

r

2148

REMOTE
COMPUTER(S)

NETWORK
(WIREDIWIRELESS)
STORAGE

w
FIG. 21

~

~

~

~

)

US 7,139,761 B2
1

2

DYNAMIC ASSOCIATION OF
ELECTRONICALLY STORED
INFORMATION WITH ITERATIVE
WORKFLOW CHANGES

Data items often relate to organizational issues for which
one or more work groups need access; access that is denied
when the recipient "buries" that item in hislher personal
filing system, electronic or otherwise. Thus, the sharing of
5 knowledge in this context is prohibitive.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED
Prior art communications tools do not know the business
APPLICATIONS
andor personal context(s) within which files are created and
used. For example, a person may create three files in a word
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
processor, one relating to sales, the second relating to
Patent application Ser. NO. 601432,255 entitled "METHOD 10 operations, and the third relating to a son's football team,
FOR DYNAMIC SOCI CIA TI ON OF ~ ~ ~ C T R O N I However, the word processor itself has no way of knowing
CALLY STORED INFORMATION WITH I~ERATIVE to automatically store those three files in at least three
WORKFLOW CHANGES", filed Dee. 11, 2002; and is
different places. Insofar as security and privacy are conrelated to
Patent application Ser. No. 101731,906
cerned, the applications and associated file storage methods
entitled ONTEX TEXT PEYMNTIATED APPLICATION 15 are generally insecure, not conforming to a single, dependPROTOCOL" filed on Dec. 10, 2003.
able security model.
Known software applications create and store files outside
TECHNICAL FIELD
of a contextual framework. For example, when a user creates
a word processing file using a conventional word processor
This invention is related to management and storage of 20 application, the user typically must select a single folder
electronic information. More particularly, this invention
within which to store that file, ~h~ file may be stored in an
relates to new structures and methods for creating relationexisting folder or the user may create a new folder to receive
ships between users, applications, files, and folders.
the file. This file management method is known as LightBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

25

Digita1
presently
users in ways that are
divorced from their
business context. A particular item of communication provides little or no inherent understanding of how that com- 30
munication furthers the purpose and intent of the group Or
enterprise. In other words, an email (electronic mail) inbox
collects email messages about all topics, both business and
personal. The email application itself is not discerning about
topic, priority, or context beyond perhaps rudimentary "mes- 35
sage filters" that will look for certain key words or people,
and then place those items in target folders. Generally, the
application simply presents a sequential list of messages
received. Similarly, a fax machine receives fax pages in
sequence. The fax machine is not discerning about topic, 40
priority, or context, and simply outputs fax pages. Once
received, it remains the task of the recipient to sort, categorize, and organize these items of communication in ways
most meaningful to that person. The organization part of the
task generally occurs outside the context of the particular 45
communications tool itself.
Typical methods for organization of communications are
limited and fragmented, For
for an email, the
recipient may either leave all the email in the inbox or move
it to another electronic folder, F~~ a fax, the recipient is 50
likely to place that received fax in a file folder that is
identified by project name or name of recipient, ~h~~~
typical methods of organizing communications are wholly
inadequate for a number of reasons, ~h~ recipient must do
all the work of organization and categorization of the 55
communications rather than the system itself do that work.
~
~
t the~organization of commu~cations ~
of
~
~
t
i
~ is nonexistent, l-he linkage between business strategy and an
individual act of communication, a leadership priority, is
non-existent. With respect to categorization, the items them- 60
selves rarely apply to only one topic of interest. As such,
under current systems, the items would need to be manually
stored in multiple locations (either electronic or "brick and
mortar" folders). For example, a letter faxed to a sales
manager may contain information about contact addresses, 65
market intelligence data, specific product requests, and
financial accounting.

ion
weight Directory ~ ~ ~ l i c a tProtocol (LDAP). LDAP borrowed the physical world paper file management scheme
where a machinelapplication creates files, stores those files
in individual folders, and stores those folders in cabinets,
Under this scheme, context is completely independent of the
application, File context is limited to the decision made by
the user about the folder in which the file should be stored,
The user decision does not adequately represent or reflect
the
context of the file given that the file may contain
information that could reasonable be stored in multiple
folders,
LDAP systems are suited for smaller one-to-many and
many-to-one relationships. For example, an e-mail message
to ten recipients is a one-to-many relationship, while ten
customers sending orders to a single vendor exemplifies a
many-to-one relationship. In the case of the former, the
e-mail is stored in an Outbox, and the ten recipients store the
received message in their respective folders, called an Inbox.
In the latter case, the ten received orders are placed in an
Orders folder for the associated the product.
'ystems are designed to
users to access the same file for collaboration purposes;
however, this feature does not change the basic one-to-many
and many-to-one
paradigm.
'ystems
attempt to 'ptimize it.
Another limitation of LDAP is that little or no information
is contained within the file about the user and, the context
and circumstances of the user at the time the file was created.
The people elements of an organization are simply too
multi-dimensional for the limitations of conventional systems. Chrent Processes designed to add context to files,
such as a metadata tagging approach, involve having a
knowledge officer view files after they have been stored and
create metadata tags with additional key words associated
with the file for search Purposes.
The best that existing technology has done is to respond
to niche requirements where automation made sense: telephone switching, voice mail, e-mail, file transfer, paging,
and file storage, for example. The trend is toward a convergence of the technologies, but convergence becomes an
enormous problem with these legacy systems that are now
encumbered by outdated data handling and storage models
that are mainframe andor hierarchical in nature.

US 7,139,761 B2
3
Notwithstanding the usefulness of the above-described
methods, a need still exists for a communications tool that
associates files generated by applications with individuals,
groups, and topical context automatically.

4

As a user creates a context, or moves from one context to at
least one other context, the data created and applications
used previously by the user automatically follows the user to
the next context. The change in user context is captured
5 dynamically. All files and groups of files can be associated
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
with any other file in the system, allowing a system user the
flexibility in determining dynamic associations.
The following presents a simplified summary of the
In addition to the macro view provided by webs and
invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some
boards, the user can also create the more familiar hierarchiaspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive 10 cal folders within any board. These are virtual folders, and
overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify
nothing is physically stored in these folders.
keylcritical elements of the invention or to delineate the
In another aspect of the present invention, the tool proscope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some
vides the seamless facilitation, collection, compilation, and
concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude
distribution of data.
to the more detailed description that is presented later.
1s
In yet another aspect of the present invention, the tool
The present invention disclosed and claimed herein, in
provides links to enterprise leadership priorities.
one aspect thereof, is a data management tool that is a
In still another aspect of the present invention, the tool
performs communications tasks while simultaneously
unified, horizontal system for communications, organization, information processing, and data storage. The tool
reminding the user of hislher individual work priorities.
installs on existing platforms, and is a common workflow 20
In another aspect thereof, the tool automatically stores
layer that is automated with a scalable, relational database.
contextual information relating to an item of communication
The tool includes a relational database engine that facilitates
and utilizes that contextual information in performance of
many-to-many relationships among data elements, in addicommunication tasks.
tion to, one-to-many and many-to-many relationships.
In yet another aspect thereof, the tool integrates two or
The data management tool includes a novel architecture 25 more different applications such as telephony, unified meswhere the highest contextual assumption is that there exists
saging, decision support, document management, portals,
an entity that consists of one or more users. The data storage
chat, collaboration, search, vote, relationship management,
calendar, personal information management, profiling,
model first assumes that files are associated with the user.
directory management, executive information systems,
Thus, data generated by applications is associated with an
individual, group of individuals, and topical content, and not 30 dashboards, cockpits, tasking, meeting, conferencing, etc.,
simply with a folder, as in traditional systems.
into a common application.
When a user logs in to the system that employs the tool,
In another aspect thereof, the tool provides a structure for
the user enters into a personal workspace environment. This
defining relationships between complex collections of data.
workspace is called a board, and is associated with a user
In still another aspect of the present invention, the tool
context. From within this board, the tool makes accessible to 35 provides a process for automating workflow between multhe user a suite of applications for creating and manipulating
tiple entities.
data. Any user operating within any board has access to the
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends,
suite of applications associated with that board, and can
certain illustrative aspects of the invention are described
obtain access to any data in any form (e.g., documents and
herein in connection with the following description and the
files) created by the applications and to which he or she has 40 annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of
permission. Moreover, thereafter, the user can then move to
but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the
shared workspaces (or boards), and access the same data or
invention may be employed and the present invention is
other data.
intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.
Data created within the board is immediately associated
Other advantages and novel features of the invention may
with the user, the user's permission level, the current work- 45 become apparent from the following detailed description of
space, any other desired workspace that the user designates,
the invention when considered in conjunction with the
and the application. This association is captured in a form of
drawings.
metadata and tagged to the data being created. The metadata
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
automatically captures the context in which the data was
created as the data is being created. Additionally, the data 50
FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a system that
content is indexed to facilitate searching for the content in a
facilitates the management of data in accordance with the
number of different ways in the future by the user or other
present invention.
users. This tagging process is universal, in that, the data
FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of a process of the present
model allows for any binary data (e.g., files), as well as any
set of definable data to be accepted into the system. The 55 invention.
FIG. 3 illustrates a system employing a board and a web
system is not restricted to processing e-mail, faxes, calendar
in accordance with the present invention.
events, meetings, phone calls, etc., that are included in the
FIG. 4A illustrates a diagram of board relationships.
bundled system, but can also accommodate whatever data
FIG. 4B illustrates boardweb relationship diagram.
the user chooses to use. The system is also universal insofar
FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of a process for board and
as its user interaction can be through a browser that is 60
web generation in accordance with the present invention.
pervasively employed for use with conventional operating
FIG. 6 illustrates a sample webs-and-boards table used in
systems.
accordance with the present invention.
In that the tool supports multiple users, there can be
FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of system in accordance
multiple boards. Two or more boards (or workspace environments) can be grouped as a collection of boards, also 65 with the present invention.
called a web. Boards can exist in any number of different
FIG. 8 illustrates a more detailed block diagram of a
webs. The association of webs and boards is stored in a table.
system of the present invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates a diagram of a general structure of the
management tool system.
FIG. 10 illustrates a level flow diagram of the hierarchy
of the present invention for associating one or more users,
context, applications, and folders with data.
FIG. 11 illustrates a system operational in accordance
with the present invention.
FIG. 12 illustrates a design integration chart of the disclosed invention.
FIG. 13 illustrates one implementation of a platform
system accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 14 illustrates a general system configuration of the
present invention.
FIG. 15 illustrates a screenshot of a management tool
window of a browser used as a user interface to facilitate
user interaction with meeting information in accordance
with the present invention.
FIG. 16 illustrates a screenshot of a management tool
window of a browser used as a user interface to facilitate
user interaction with e-mail information in accordance with
the present invention.
FIG. 17 illustrates a screenshot of a management tool
window of a browser used as a user interface to facilitate
user interaction with a board management option in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 18 illustrates a screenshot of a management tool
window of a browser used as a user interface to facilitate
user interaction with a phone option in accordance with the
present invention.
FIG. 19 illustrates a screenshot of a management tool
u
window of a browser used as a user interface to facilitate
user interaction with a files option in accordance with the
present invention.
FIG. 20 illustrates a screenshot of a management tool
window of a browser used as a user interface to facilitate
user interaction with a user context in accordance with the
present invention.
FIG. 21 illustrates a block diagram of a computer operable
to execute the disclosed architecture.

5

lo

15

20

25

30

35

40

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
INVENTION
The present invention is now described with reference to
the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to
refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details
are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of
the present invention. It may be evident, however, that the
present invention may be practiced without these specific
details. In other instances, well-known structures and
devices are shown in block diagram form in order to
facilitate describing the present invention.
As used in this application, the terms "component" and
"system" are intended to refer to a computer-related entity,
either hardware, a combination of hardware and software,
software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running
on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a
thread of execution, a program, andor a computer. By way
of illustration, both an application running on a server and
the server can be a component. One or more components
may reside within a process andor thread of execution and
a component may be localized on one computer andor
distributed between two or more computers.
As used herein, the term "inference" refers generally to
the process of reasoning about or inferring states of the

45

50

55

60

65

system, environment, andor user from a set of observations
as captured via events andor data. Inference can be
employed to identify a specific context or action, or can
generate a probability distribution over states, for example.
The inference can be probabilistic-that is, the computation
of a probability distribution over states of interest based on
a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer
to techniques employed for composing higher-level events
from a set of events andor data. Such inference results in the
construction of new events or actions from a set of observed
events andor stored event data, whether or not the events are
correlated in close temporal proximity, and whether the
events and data come from one or several event and data
sources.
Referring now to FIG. 1. there is illustrated a block
u
diagram of a system 100 that facilitates the management of
data in accordance with the present invention. The data
management tool includes a novel architecture where the
highest contextual assumption is that there exists an entity
that consists of one or more users. The data management and
u
storage model first assumes that data is associated with the
user. Thus, data generated by an application employed by the
user is associated with the user, groups of users, and topical
content; and not simply with a folder, as in traditional
systems.
In support thereof, when a user logs-in to the system 100,
user data 102 is generated and associated with at least the
user and the login process. The user automatically enters
into a user workspace or a first context 104 (also denoted
CONTEXT,) or environment. This environment can be a
default user workspace, or workspace environment predesignated by the user or an administrator after login, for
example. After login, the user can perform data operations
(e.g., create and manipulate) on a data 106 in any number of
ways, including, but not limited to, viewing, editing, copying, moving, and deleting the data. Such data operations can
be performed using at least one application 108. For
example, where the data 106 is text data, a text editing or
word processing application can be employed. Many different text editor andor word processing applications exist that
can be used to create, view, edit, copy, and move the data
106, to name just a few of the operations. Where the data 106
is program code, the application 108 is one that is suitable
for providing user access and interaction therewith. Where
the data 106 is a voice file, the application 108 can be an
application suitable for playing the voice file. This all occurs
in association with the first context 104.
The system 100 also includes a context component 110 in
association with the first context 104 to monitor and generate context data 112 associated with data operations of the
user in the first context 104. The context data 112 includes
at least data representative of the user (e.g., some or all of
the user data 102), data representative of the first context
104, data representative of the data 106, and data representative of the application 108. The context data 112 can be
stored in the form of a table (or any other suitable data
structure) for access and processing, and at any location, as
desired.
The system 100 can include a plurality of the contexts,
denoted as CONTEXT,, . . . , CONTEXT, Thus, in
addition to the first context 104, there is at least a second
context 114 with which the context component 110 is
associated. This is because the user of the first context 104
can move to the second context 114, and perform many
different data operations therein which will then be associated with that user in that second context 114. The data
operations performed in the second context 114 are also
1,

US 7,139,761 B2
7

8

associated with the user and stored automatically. Such user
activities and data operations in the one or more contexts of
the system 100 and movement of the user between contexts
are tracked using a tracking component 116. Thus, data
generated by applications is associated with an individual,
group of individuals, and topical content; and not simply
with a folder, as in traditional systems.
Referring now to FIG. 2, there is illustrated a flow chart
of a Process of the Present invention. While, for Purposes of
simplicity of explanation, the one or more methodologies
~hown
herein, e.g., in the form of a flow chart, are shown and
des~ribedas a series of acts, it is to be understood and
appreciated that the present invention is not limited by the
0rder of acts, as some acts may, in xcordance with the
present invention, occur in a different order andor concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein.
For example, those skilled in the art will understand and
that a m e t h o d O 1 O ~
be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in
a state diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be
required to implement a methodology in accordance with the
present invention.
At 200, a user is associated with a first context. This can
Occur
the user logging in a system and
entering a user workspace, which workspace is associated
with the first context. At 202, the user assigns applications
for use in the user context. This can occur explicitly by the
user manually selecting the application(s) for association
with the context, or implicitly by the user launching an
application and performing data operations within the context. At 204, the user performs a data operation. At 206, the
user changes context from the first context to a second
context. At 208, the data and application(s) are then automatically associated with the second context. The process
then reaches a Stop block.
As the user performs data 'perations in the first and
the system
creates and
'Ontext
data, as indicated at 210. This occurs
transparently to the user, as indicated by the dashed line.
Referring now to FIG. 3, there is illustrated a system 300
a board 302 and a web 304 in accordance with
the present invention. In the past, intuitive, dynamic, and
changeable workflow processes have proved to be too
dynamic and expensive for automation. Boards and webs are
used to automate workflow processes and define relationships between data and applications, As users create and
change their contexts, the data (e.g., files) and applications
automatically follow, the shifts in context being captured
dynamically in the context data, As used herein, a ''board"
is defined as a collection of data and application functionality related to a user-defined topic. For example, a userdefined topic may be a department o f a company or a project
that involves the company. In the case of a project, the board
preferably includes all of the data relating to that project
including email, tasks, calendar events, ideas, discussions,
meetings, phone calls, files, contact records, people, etc.
Data and applications may be grouped in a board based on
the identity of the tag. As used herein, the term "web" refers
to a collection of interrelated boards.
As implemented, the web 304 of the system 300 can
include a plurality 306 of the boards 302 (also denoted as
BOARD,, BOARD,, . . . , BOARD,). The plurality of
boards 306 can each be associated with a single user, one
with a single user, and others with multiples users, including
or not including the user. The system 300 can also employ
a plurality of webs 308 (also denoted WEB,, WEB,, . . . ,
WEB,). The many boards 306 can be grouped in different

combinations as webs. For example, BOARD,, and
BOARDz can be grouped as WEB,. Thus, where WEB,
includes three boards all related to a single project, the
boards 306 can include finance, accounting, and resources,
for example.
Referring now to FIG. 4A, there is illustrated a diagram
400 of board relationships. Boards in a web may have, for
example, a parent-child relationship, although this is not
required. A given board can have more than one parent and
more than one child, A board cannot be its own child or its
own parent. However, boards can have various relationships
to each other. For example, a board may be part of a circular
relationship of any complexity, Illustrated herein, a first
board, BOARD,, is parent to a second board, BOARD,. The
second board, BOARD,, is parent to a third board,
BOARD,, and BOARD, is parent to the first board,
BOARD,.
Referring now to FIG. 4B, there is illustrated boardweb
relationship diagram 402, ~~~d~ can exist in any number of
webs, M~~ boards will exist in more than one web, l-he
represents a certain view of the relationships among
boards. That is, the view can be hierarchical, or the view can
be in the form o f a work-flow, ~ d d i ~ i the~relationship
~
~ l l ~ ,
between two boards on one web is independent of the
relationship between those same two boards on other webs,
A, shown, in a first web, WEB,, BOARD, is a parent to
BOARD,, yet, in a second web, WEB,, BOARD, is a
to BOARD,,
a third web, WEB,, BOARD, and BOARD,
have no relationship, but exist independent of one another.
I,, fourth web, WEB BOARD, exists, but BOARD, does
4,
not, These are but a few examples of the
relationships that can exist in accordance with the present
invention,
In accordance with the invention, webs may be used to
maintain the location of content within a complex and
changing set of boards and support automation of a workflow process, One example of automation of a changing
workflow process can be illustrated where the workflow
process to be automated initially is represented by
A jB j ,
C
and ultimately changed to A jB,C jD, Three

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

different groups of people are assigned to each item, where
the resulting distribution is A(1, 2, 3)+B(4, 5, 6)+C(7, 8, 9).
In the known LDAP
it is
for the
automation sequence to predetermine how work data flows
from A to B and C. Then the automation module for inputs
to
must be 'pelled Out and rewritten to
the
from and C. As such, the
for this workflow change will always lag behind the ability
the people
to
working with the new
workflow assumptions.
In contrast, and in accordance with the present invention,
webs and boards are the context for applications, files, and
folders. Hence, the W~i-kflow
Process may be readily reorganized by making a change to one or more of the webs and
b0ai-d~. simply adding the board D and rearranging some
BY
of the relationships of A, B, and C, the W~i-kflow quickly
is
reorganized and implemented.
The disclosed system has associated therewith a routing
algorithm, referred to herein as a "webslice." A webslice is
a relationship rule that defines a relationship between a web
and one or more boards of that web. If the web changes (e.g.,
a board is added), and meets the criteria of the rule, the
content will be on the new board as well. For example, the
rule can include a web ID, a starting board ID, and "transversal" data (i.e., the relationship rule), in the following
format:

US 7,139,761 B2
9

10

webslice (target board)=<webID; starting board ID; transversa1 data>.
Thus, if a system includes two webs, W1 and W2, where
web W1 includes five boards: A (the starting board), B, C,
D, and E, with each subsequent board a child to the previous
board (i.e., B is child ofA, C is child of B, etc.), the webslice
data "slicing" to board E will be similar to the following:
webslice (board E)=<Wl; board A; A+B+C+D+E>.
It is to be appreciated that where a child board has at least
two parent boards, the webslice data can include at least two
paths. For example, consider that A is the parent to both B
and C, with B and C the parents to D. A webslice to D can
be obtained in one of two ways:
webslice (board D)=<Wl; board A; A+B+D>, or
webslice (board D)=<Wl; board A; A+C+D>.
M
~ since the webslice to a given board of a web
~
~
~
~
~
can take at least two different paths, one path can be longer
than the other to the desired board. Consider that A is the
parent to both B and C, with B the parent to D, and c the
parent to E, and E the parent to D. A webslice to D can be
obtained in one of two ways:
webslice (board D)=<Wl; board A; A+B+D>, or
webslice (board D)=<Wl; board A; A+C+E+D>.
These examples are on]y but a few of the relationships
that can be extracted using a webslice, The webslice can also
take the forms of the following: "Just the board I
from,, (a default); ''All child boards,,; ''All sibling boards,,;
and, "All descendant boards", for example.
Thus, by using at least these three basic entities for the
webslice (i.e., the web ID, the starting board ID, and the
transversal data), the boards associated with a given content
can be ascertained. Since content is associated with context,
and the board is used in part to define the context, the system
knows the content associations whereupon a change of web
structure, the system knows with which board(s) the content
is associated, both before and after the structure change. In
keeping with one aspect of the invention, the location of the
content may be determined dynamically at runtime using the
webslice. Alternatively, the associated location of content
may be determined by detecting changes in structure, detecting the temporary location of the content on the boards in the
routing algorithm before and after the change, and adjusting
the location of the affected content as part of the change in
structure. Of course, the webslice data is not limited to the
three aspects indicated hereinabove, but may include further
information, such as at least one application ID and user ID
(that uniquely identifies the creator of the content), for
example.
~~t~ created while the user is in the board is immediately
associated with the user, the current workspace, any other
desired workspace that the user designates, and the application. This association is captured in a form of metadata
and tagged to the data being created. The metadata automatically captures the context in which the data was created
as the data is being created. Additionally, the data content is
indexed to facilitate searching for the content in number of
different ways in the future by the user or other users. This
tagging process is universal, in that, the data model allows
for any binary data (e.g., files), as well as any set of definable
data to be accepted into the system. The system is not
restricted to processing e-mail, faxes, calendar events, meetings, phone calls, etc., that are included in the bundled
system, but can also accommodate whatever data the user
chooses to define. The system is also universal insofar as
user interaction can be through a browser that is pervasively
employed for use with conventional operating systems.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is illustrated a flow chart
of a process for board and web generation in accordance
with the present invention. At 500, a webs-and-boards table
is created to track the relationship of said aspects. At 502, a
User creates a board. This can be via an administrator
initially configuring a person's user workspace, or thereafter, a user creating another workspace, for example, a shared
workspace. At 504, the user performs data operations while
in the board. The data and applications employed to operate
on the data are then included as content associated with the
user in this particular context. Given that there can be
multiple users, there can be a corresponding one or more
webs associated with the one or more users. A BOARD(S)
column lists the number of boards, and select numbers of the
boards can now be grouped in collections or webs, as
indicated ,at 506, to facilitate workflow, for example. For any
~
number of
the web and board
can be
changed, as indicated at 508. At 510, the webs-and-boards
table is automatically updated as these changes occur. The

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

process then reaches a Stop
Referring now to FIG. 6, there is illustrated a sample
webs-and-boards table 600 used in accordance with the
present invention. The table 600 includes a user information
column related to a nL,mber of Llsers (1-3 and 6-81, under the
heading of USER(S). This is because the novel invention
first begins by associating all aspects with the user. The table
600 also includes a WEB(S) column that associates one or
more webs (Wl, W2, and W3) with the one or more users.
A BOARD(S) column lists the lists the boards (e.g., B11,
B12, and B14) with a given web. Here the users 1, 2 and 3
are associated with a web W1 that comprises a collection
boards B11, B12, and B14 (where the first digit is the
associated web number, and the second digit is the board
number). The table 600 also includes a parentlchild relationships column (denoted as BOARD(S) PIC RELATION).
Here, board B11 is the parent, and board B12 is a child, and
a parent to board B14. The table 600 is not limited to the
columns provided, but can include more information, as
desired.
Referring
7, there is
a
diagram
700 in
with the present
invention. Generally, the system 700 includes an internal
network 702 on which is disposed a services system 704 and
users 706 seeking use of the services 'ystem
One Or
704. The services system 704 further
a services
component 708 and an
data
system 710
for storing data and programs. The services 'ystem 704
includes the data management tool of the present invention.
Auser at one of the user nodes 706 can access the services
System 704 via a browser over a wiredwireless ~ ~ m m u n i cation link. Given that a browser is a principal means for
access, the user node can be any type of computing device
and operating system that supports a browser, whether the
browser is a full-blown Program typically used on a deskop
computing system, or a modified or slimmed down bi-owser
interface employed in a portable computing device, e.g., a
personal data assistant (PDA), wireless computing tablet,
and cellularldigital telephone. As illustrated, the user nodes
706 also have direct access to the data storage system 710.
The user nodes 706 can also access a global communications network 712, e.g., the Internet, using conventional
communication means, thereby providing a second path for
accessing the services system 704, that further facilitates
direct access to the services 708 andor the storage system
710. This second path is most important, since a user can
access the system 704 from essentially anywhere.

The services system 704 can be utilized internal to a
socket layer) protocol). This means that data transmitted
corporate environment operating on, for example, an intrabetween the user computer and the services server is subnet, and providing such services only to corporate users. In
stantially secure. Furthermore, data shall not be cached,
which means that there is no information footprint left on the
another implementation, the system 704 can be disposed
external to the corporate environment such that the company 5 user computer after the user logs off. The user can access
subscribes to the system services via a vendor.
data securely from virtually any network node using any
type of browser. The data is stored encrypted on the storage
Referring now to FIG. 8, there is illustrated a more
detailed block diagram of a system 800 of the present
system 710.
invention. The system 800 includes the internal network 702
Referring now to FIG. 9, there is illustrated a diagram of
on which is disposed the services system 704 and the one or l o a general structure of the management tool system 900. The
more users 706 seeking use of the services of the services
structure starts at a high level with the user at a user level
902. The user level 902 is next associated with a context
component 708 provided thereby. The services of the serlevel 904 that defines all contexts in which the user can be
vices component 708 facilitate the use of the data manageincluded. Under the context level 904 is a web level 906 that
ment tool, which employs one or more webs 802 and boards
804. The tool further provides portal services 806 for 1s associates one or more of the webs with one or more of the
accessing the services from various internal and external
contexts of the context level 904. A boards level 908
network locations using the TCPIIP suite of protocols. Other
underlies the webs level 906 and provides associations of the
services provided include, but are not limited to, voice
many boards with one or more of the webs. An applications
level 910 facilitates associating one or more applications
services 808 and outside services 810. Outside services 810
facilitate including non-employees and the use of third-party 20 with a board designated at the board level 908. A database1
applications in specific projects in the system by providing
folders level 912 underlies the applications level 910, and
various levels of access to any number of data locations and
facilitates storing at least data, tables, and context informaservices. Readwrite permissions can be granularized to the
tion generated from the upper levels in folders, in the form
file level, if desired.
of, e.g., files, at an associated underlying file level 914. A
The data storage system 710 includes a number of storage 25 linking protocol 916 provides cross-level communication
for facilitating all aspects of data processing and communimethodologies 812 for handling and processing data. For
example, one methodology enables large numbers of users
cation at all levels of the data management system 900.
to organize files and documents around many projects simulReferring now to FIG. 10, there is a level flow diagram
taneously. Data of any kind and size can be uploaded to a
1000 illustrating the hierarchy of the present invention for
common shared workspace or board. Varying levels of 30 associating one or more users 1002, context 1004, applicaaccess can be provided to the uploaded data. Other methtions 1006, and folders 1008 with data 1010. The approach
odologies are associated with storing the data, archiving the
is for file storage pointers of an application to be dynamic,
data, data warehousing, library data, and an idea registry for
governed initially by the folder within which the application
tracking that aspect of the companies intellectual capital.
is launched. Additionally, the file storage pointers are then
The storage system 710 facilitates the storage and access of 35 accessible and acted upon by the same application from any
metadata libraries that linkhierarchical andnon-hierarchical
folder in the system. This is a dynamic non-linear impleLDAP folders.
mentation.
As indicated hereinabove, the management tool operates
Traditional collaborative technologies, like groupware,
seamlessly with existing computing system applications,
allow groups of users to take action on the same file
and existing system services. For example, the conventional 40 substantially simultaneously. However, in preparation for
system services can include at least the following: e-mail,
such capabilities, all users must have compatible versions of
the same application that is to be used for working with the
collaboration and groupware services 814 having an associated e-mail, collaboration and groupware storage system
file. The context for any folder is limited to a one-to-many
816, voice switching services 818 (e.g., telephone and
and many-to-one relationship. Essentially, the folder pospaging functions) having an associated voice data storage 45 sesses a singular context to the directory tree in which it
system 820; and multimedia services 822 having an assoresides.
In contrast, the disclosed architecture assumes that the
ciated multimedia storage system 824. The storage systems
816, 820, and 824 can connect to the storage system 710 to
highest contextual level is that of an entity consisting of a
facilitate data transfer and storage in accordance with the
group of users forming a many-to-many architecture. The
50 users create and use the files within the context of the
various methodologies of the storage svstem 710.
u
u
A user of the users node 706 can also access the e-mail1
workspaces or boards of one or more users, which may or
collaboration/groupware services 814, voice switching sermay not have web relationships. In this implementation, the
board is similar in function to a folder in conventional LDAP
vices 818, and multimedia services 822 indirectly through
systems.
the services system 704 using a multi-user data manipulation
engine, e.g., OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing). Alter- 55
The user then uses a suite of applications within a board,
with any file created being immediately associated with the
natively, the user can access these services 814,818, and 822
directly over the network 702, but shown separately as a
user, that board, any other board desired, and the application.
communication link 826, and through the services 708
In other words, by the person doing simply hislher work, an
without using the multi-user engine.
enormous amount of metadata about the context(s) for that
The user can also access the services 704, other services 60 work is captured automatically. Additionally, the system
814, 818, and 822, and data storage system 710 over the
indexes the content to facilitate the other ways in which the
global communications network 712 via a link 828. This is
users of the system might want to search on that file in the
facilitated through the user browser by directing the browser
future-ways and future contexts which are not and cannot
to a website using a URL (Uniform Resource Locater) or
be known by the users in advance and certainly are not
65 facilitated by conventional systems.
through an alternative Link 830.
The management tool is browser-based and incorporates
The system facilitates the use of an array of applications
that act independently of the boards from which they were
a strong-encryption scheme (e.g., using 128-bit SSL (secure
2

launched, and those boards are capable of being ordered in
in which it is received and used. This way, when a user
searches the system 1200 for information, the user not only
a myriad of collections of relationships (i.e., webs). The
applications can traverse the webs to the boards associated
gets the information sought, but also can see how the
with the information.
information is currently being used by other users and
In addition to a macro view obtained by webs and boards, 5 project groups in the whole system. Traditionally, if a
the user can also create familiar hierarchical folders within
document was to be associated with seven different projects,
any board. These are virtual folders, in that their storage is
for example, the document would be stored in seven differgoverned by the process described above. No data is physient file locations and version control could be a significant
cally stored in these folders. Finally, any file or group of files
problem. In accordance with the present invention, the
can be associated with any other file in the system, allowing l o document is seamlessly linked to all seven projects. Thus,
the users of the system infinite flexibility in determining
only one version exists, and version control is much easier
to address.
dynamic associations among the macro/micro components
of the system.
The disclosed system architecture is suited to relational
and object database structures for use on a large scale. The
Referring now to FIG. 11, there is illustrated a system
1100 operational in accordance with the present invention. 1s data management tool uses both relational and object storage
approaches to facilitate at least Internet-based data commuThe system 1100 includes a data management platform 1102
suitable for accommodating any number conventional opernications.
ating systems ( 0 s ) 1104 (also denoted OS,, OS,, OS,, . . . ,
Referring now to FIG. 13, there is illustrated one impleOS,). The system 1100 also facilitates the use of a single
mentation of a platform system 1300 in accordance with the
data storage system 1106 suitable for use with any of the 20 present invention. The platform system 1300 includes the
capability of third-party application integration, security
operating systems 1104, whereas conventionally, a given OS
may require a certain data storage file structure. The platcameras and other devices for data input, project and workflow management and, file and document sharing. The
form 1102 is 0s-independent, and provides a single point of
contact for multiple users and resources 1108.
platform system 1300 also accommodates online meetings
Referring now to FIG. 12, there is illustrated a design 25 between logged-in users, and teleconferencing between the
users, if desired. The teleconferencing can be initiated using
integration chart 1200 of the disclosed invention. At the core
of the system is a data management tool 1202 that facilitates
the platform system 1300.
all of the outlying features and capabilities. The tool 1202
Referring now to FIG. 14, there is illustrated a general
facilitates, at a second layer 1204, one interface (via a
system configuration 1400 of the present invention. The
browser), one application (the tool itself), one data store 30 system 1400 includes a platform 1402 that hosts at least the
(associate with the management tool), and one search
data management tool, here called a web application server
1404. The server 1404 provides a common layer to undermechanism for finding any data element of the data store. Of
course, any third party applications typically have their own
lying services that include a database server 1406, a VRU
search tool to search for files and folders that may also be
(voice response unit) 1408 (also called an interactive VRU
used. At a third laver 1206. the svstem 1200 facilitates a 35 or IVRU) and mass storage svstem 1410. The VRU 1408
u
secure operating environment, a scalable environment, and
facilitates interactive calling features for a user via remote
web-based. Moreover, the system 1200 can be implemented
touchtone signals and to voice data to the caller such that the
caller can make choices in response to predetermined
on any software andor hardware platform, accommodate
access from any device, and bridge to third party applicaoptions presented by the system.
The platform 1402 can utilize at least one multi-channel
tions and devices. At an outer layer 1208, the system 1200 40
facilitates one or more instances of the following: users,
data communication connection 1412 (e.g., TI, DS3) into
the VRU subsystem 1408 for communicating voice inforcontexts, workilows, projects, user-defined topics, priorities,
mation and interacting with features of the platform 1402.
file types, and tools. The system 1200 also is suitable for use
with e-mail, facsimile, and instant messaging subsystems,
As indicated previously, the invention can accommodate
multimedia services, and voice systems (e.g., phone and 45 user communication from virtually any accessible network
paging data).
node. To facilitate such an interface, the platform 1402 can
include a processor 1414 suitable for XML (extensible
The system 1200 captures and catalogs data automatically. Users, projects, permissions and communication tools
Markup Language), XSLT (XML Stylesheet Language:
can be readily configured, along with the exchange of voice
Transformations), and SSL processing. The processor 1414
information, data, and video data, seamlessly. As users 50 can also access web-based services utilizing SOAP (Simple
Object Access Protocol). SOAP employs XML syntax to
collaborate, the system 1200 captures context information,
and automatically records when and how data is shared, who
send text commands across the network using HTTP (Hyupdated the data, how often the data was accessed, what
perText Transport Protocol). Thus, there is a high-speed
additional information the data was linked to, etc. Meeting
connection 1416 (e.g., broadband) that interfaces to the
information can be stored automatically, including, but not 55 processor layer 1414 for use with multiple communication
limited to, who attended, the documents shared, instant
exchanges with remote users disposed on the global commessages captured, handouts used, slides presented, e t ~A
.
munication network 712. The remote users can access the
later search can retrieve this information along with the
platform system 1402 via a SSL connection 1418 using
context(s) within which the data was generated and used.
portable wiredwireless devices 1420, and by way of the
The system 1200 enables larger numbers of users to 60 associated browsers 1422.
organize communications around many projects substanReferring now to FIG. 15, there is illustrated a screenshot
tially simultaneously. It can relate those projects to one
of a management tool window 1500 of a browser (e.g.,
another using whatever workflow model(s) are required, and
Internet Explorer by Microsoft Corporation) used as a user
dynamically assign modular communications tools (e.g.,
interface to facilitate user interaction with meeting informae-mail, voice mail, fax, teleconferencing, document sharing, 65 tion in accordance with the present invention. The window
1500 includes an address field 1502 that indicates the default
etc.) to those many projects as desired. The system 1200
automatically indexes that information within the context(s)
protocol and URL address for accessing the data manage2

15

16

ment system of the present invention. Here, HTTP is used to
1602 that allows the user to select from a variety of different
access the server via network. The "https:" indicates the
folders (e.g., Main, Drafts) of the e-mail system. The user
connection will be to a secure port instead of a default web
can also create and sign messages with a digital signature.
As before, other user-selectable options are provided such
port. The window 1500 also includes a user area 1504 that
indicates the name of the user logged into the system. There 5 that the user can manipulate messaging information, including, but not limited to, Select All, Delete, Acknowledge,
is also provided a topic area 1506 that lists the various
boards associated with the user-defined topics. Here, the
Remind Me, Remove, MoveICopy, Forward, and Get Exteruser has defined two topics: a Topic 1 and a Topic 2.
nal Mail.
The window 1500 also includes an application (or serThere is also provided a News link that allows the user to
vices) area 1508 that lists many applications selectable by l o link to the latest corporate andor division news.
Referring now to FIG. 17, there is illustrated a screenshot
the user while in this particulate window 1500. The applications presented to the user from this window 1500 include
of a management tool window 1700 of a browser used as a
but are not limited to the following: Message, Calendar,
user interface to facilitate user interaction with a board
Task, Phone, Search, Meet, Contact, Compile, Discuss,
management option in accordance with the present invenFiles, Notes, Division, News, Ideas, Vote, Manage Board, 1s tion. The window 1700 includes many of the same fields and
Change, Password, Print, Help, Tutorial, and Logout.
informational areas of the previous windows (e.g., areas
1502, 1504, 1506, and 1508 of window 1500 of FIG. 15).
Depending on the user permissions provided by an administrator, the user may see more or fewer applications.
Here, the Manage Board option is selected to allow user
Here, the Meet application option is selected to allow user
interaction with various forms of user management of
interaction with setting up a meeting related to projects of 20 boards. The associated sub-options allow the user to Edit the
the user. The Meet application option further includes List
board attributes, and set permission levels thereto, in this
and Create sub-options. When the List sub-option is
particular implementation. Of course, many different addiselected, a center viewing area 1510 is used to present board,
tional or different options can be provided (in this window
context, web address and other information so that the user
and other windows), at the discretion of the administrator.
can review the existinn board and context information 25 The svstem allows for new attributes to be added to this
u
related to setting up a meeting. Selection the Create suboption as the need arises.
option allows the user to create a meeting in association with
The center viewing area 1510 presents general board
one or more of the boards and make changes to existing
attributes 1702 of the user (e.g., user name, data, and time),
board relationships and contexts. Other user-selectable
and several fields for entering user information, including in
options are provided such that the user can Join in a session 30 this implementation, but not limited to, board description,
with one or more other users, Move data to Archive, Select
board name, board nickname, board e-mail address, external
all objects, set a Reminder for himself or herself, and Delete
e-mail properties (e.g., POP server, user name, and passboards.
word), fax information (e.g., incoming fax number for the
The Messaging option allows the user to give out an
board and incoming fax PIN), and voice mail information
e-mail address of a project work area, enabling senders to 35 (e.g., incoming voice mail number and incoming voice mail
send the messages to right place. Thus, the user no longer
PIN).
needs to manually move the messages to the appropriate
Referring now to FIG. 18, there is illustrated a screenshot
folders once received in a personal message inbox. Addiof a management tool window 1800 of a browser used as a
tionally, incoming faxes are routed to the appropriate board
user interface to facilitate user interaction with a phone
for storage and review. Kevwords and vhrases in the fax are 40 ovtion in accordance with the vresent invention. The winautomatically indexed. Later retrieval is accommodated
dow 1800 includes many of the same fields and informasimply by performing a search for the keywords or phrases.
tional areas of the previous windows (e.g., areas 1502,1504,
Moreover, a given board can be assigned a fax number.
1506, and 1508 of window 1500 of FIG. 15). The subThus, all faxes coming in can be routed to that number, and
options include Call History, Call Setup, Quick Call, Meet
on to the associated board.
45 Me, and List. The central viewing area 1510 for this window
1800 simply includes a listing of phone-related events for
The Vote option allows the company and organizations to
communicate and gather opinions by way of voting. A
the given user.
question can be entered, and the users selected to whom the
As before, other user-selectable options are provided such
question(s) should be posed.
that the user can manipulate phone information, including,
Referring now to FIG. 16, there is illustrated a screenshot 50 but not limited to, Select All, Delete, Acknowledge, and
Remind Me. In addition, as with the other windows, there is
of a management tool window 1600 of a browser used as a
user interface to facilitate user interaction with unified
include an Agenda area 1802 for presenting any agenda
messaging, including e-mail, voice mail and fax information
information of a meeting or upcoming event.
in accordance with the present invention. The window 1600
Referring now to FIG. 19, there is illustrated a screenshot
includes many of the same fields and informational areas of 55 of a management tool window 1900 of a browser used as a
the previous windows (e.g., areas 1502, 1504, 1506, and
user interface to facilitate user interaction with a files option
1508 of window 1500 of FIG. 15). Here, the Message option
in accordance with the present invention. The window 1900
is selected to allow user interaction with various forms of
includes many of the same fields and informational areas of
messaging support by the disclosed management architecthe previous windows (e.g., areas 1502, 1504, 1506, and
ture. The Message option further includes an instant mes- 60 1508 of window 1500 of FIG. 15). Here, the sub-options
saging (IMessage) sub-option, in this particular implemeninclude List, Upload, Deleted, and Check In. Thus, data can
tation.
at least be listed, uploaded to the system andor a board,
When the Email-Inbox sub-option is selected, the center
deleted from the system andor board, and checked in from
a previous checkout process.
viewing area 1510 is used to present the user's messaging
inbox folders. The user can then open these folders to view 65
The window 1900 includes the central viewing area 1510
the e-mail, voice mail and fax messages stored therein. The
for viewing information requested or selected for presentation. There is also a user control area 1902 that facilitates
center viewing area 1510 also includes a drop-down menu

-

listing user documents that are checked out of the system or
mented in combination with other program modules andor
as a combination of hardware and software.
board. There is also provided a dropdown menu 1904 for
selecting from a number of folder viewing options.
Generally, program modules include routines, programs,
Other user-selectable options are provided such that the
components, data structures, etc., that perform particular
user can manipulate documents, including, but not limited 5 tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover,
those skilled in the art will appreciate that the inventive
to, Select All, Delete, Acknowledge, Remind Me, Remove,
MoveiCopy, Check Out and Download.
methods may be practiced with other computer system
Referring now to FIG. 20, there is illustrated a screenshot
configurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor
of a management tool window of a browser used as a user
computer systems, minicomputers, mainframe computers,
interface to facilitate user interaction with a user context in l o as well as personal computers, hand-held computing
accordance with the present invention. Here, the My Context
devices, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer
option was selected while in the Meet application option.
electronics, and the like, each of which may be operatively
Thus, the context information of the user is posted within the
coupled to one or more associated devices.
meeting space. The window 2000 also includes many of the
The illustrated aspects of the invention may also be
same fields and informational areas of the previous windows 1s practiced in distributed computing environments where cer(e.g., areas 1502, 1504, 1506, and 1508 of window 1500 of
tain tasks are performed by remote processing devices that
FIG. 15). Here, the sub-options associated with Meet
are linked through a communications network. In a distribinclude List and Create. Thus, data can at least be listed and
uted computing environment, program modules may be
created in accordance with the associated need. Note that
located in both local and remote memory storage devices.
other data can also be accessed and presented within an 20
A computer typically includes a variety of computerapplication option, for example, My Profile will show the
readable media. Computer-readable media can be any availuser profile data.
able media that can be accessed by the computer and
The window 2000 includes the central viewing area 1510
includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and
for viewing information requested or selected for presentanon-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation. Here. the user has selected the nresentation of the user 25 tion., comnuter readable media can comnrise comnuter storcontext information, which also includes board information
age media and communication media. Computer storage
and relationships. For example, board names Boardl,
media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and
Board2, and Board3 are listed, along with the hosts, User
non-removable media implemented in any method or tech(the current user) for Boardl, and User2 for both boards
nology for storage of information such as computer readable
Board2 and Board3. The web name is also listed for the 30 instructions. data structures. vropram modules or other data.
u
collection of these three boards.
Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to,
There is a Special Projects Web listed, and the associated
RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory
parentichild relationships of the associated boards. For
technology, CD-ROM, digital video disk (DVD) or other
example, Board6 is a parent to Board4, and Board4 is also
optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,
35 magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or
a parent to Board2.
Other user-selectable options are provided for the Meet
any other medium which can be used to store the desired
option, such as Join, Move to Archive, Select All, Delete,
information and which can be accessed by the computer.
Acknowledge, and Remind Me.
With reference again to FIG. 21, there is illustrated an
These are but only a few of the numerous windows
exemplary environment 2100 for implementing various
employed to facilitate user interaction, input, and control of 40 aspects of the invention that includes a computer 2102, the
the management tool system. Many other windows are
computer 2102 including a processing unit 2104, a system
memory 2106 and a system bus 2108. The system bus 2108
provided to support, for example, printing, user help, communications security, presenting user documents to other
couples system components including, but not limited to, the
users, metering user performance, dialog and discovery
system memory 2106 to the processing unit 2104. The
forums, calendar functions, task functions, leadership tools, 45 processing unit 2104 may be any of various commercially
file system management, user context, telephone services,
available processors. Dual microprocessors and other multie-mail, voicemail, faxes, video conferencing, web conferprocessor architectures may also be employed as the processing unit 2104.
encing, security video, reverse 911, voice broadcasting, first
The system bus 2108 can be any of several types of bus
response unified messaging capabilities, specialized APIs,
software development kit, conduct and store meetings, orga- 50 structure that may further interconnect to a memory bus
nizing personal contact information, enterprise webs, chat
(with or without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, and
a local bus using any of a variety of commercially available
sessions, intellectual notes and ideas, workilows, compilations, user profiles, news, searching, user alerts, integration
bus architectures. The system memory 2106 includes read
of third-party users and resources, multimedia information,
only memory (ROM) 2110 and random access memory
user permissions, system configuration, and wireless por- 55 (RAM) 2112. A basic inputloutput system (BIOS) is stored
table device interfaces, just to name a few.
in a non-volatile memory 2110 such as ROM, EPROM,
Referring now to FIG. 21, there is illustrated a block
EEPROM, which BIOS contains the basic routines that help
diagram of a computer operable to execute the disclosed
to transfer information between elements within the comarchitecture. In order to provide additional context for
puter 2102, such as during start-up. The RAM 2112 can also
various aspects of the present invention, FIG. 21 and the 60 include a high-speed RAM such as static RAM for caching
following discussion are intended to provide a brief, general
data.
description of a suitable computing environment 2100 in
The computer 2102 further includes an internal hard disk
which the various aspects of the present invention may be
drive (HDD) 2114 (e.g., EIDE, SATA), which internal hard
implemented. While the invention has been described above
disk drive 2114 may also be configured for external use in
in the general context of computer-executable instructions 65 a suitable chassis (not shown), a magnetic floppy disk drive
that may run on one or more computers, those skilled in the
(FDD) 2116, (e.g., to read from or write to a removable
art will recognize that the invention also may be implediskette 2118) and an optical disk drive 2120, (e.g., reading
L

,.

US 7,139,761 B2
19

20

a CD-ROM disk 2122 or, to read from or write to other high
capacity optical media such as the DVD). The hard disk
drive 2114, magnetic disk drive 2116 and optical disk drive
2120 can be connected to the system bus 2108 by a hard disk
drive interface 2124, a magnetic disk drive interface 2126
and an optical drive interface 2128, respectively. The interface 2124 for external drive implementations includes at
least one or both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE
1394 interface technologies.
The drives and their associated computer-readable media
provide nonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executable instructions, and so forth. For the computer
2102, the drives and media accommodate the storage of any
data in a suitable digital format. Although the description of
computer-readable media above refers to a HDD, a removable magnetic diskette, and a removable optical media such
as a CD or DVD, it should be appreciated by those skilled
in the art that other types of media which are readable by a
computer, such as zip drives, magnetic cassettes, flash
memory cards, cartridges, and the like, may also be used in
the exemplary operating environment, and further, that any
such media may contain computer-executable instructions
for performing the methods of the present invention.
~~~~b~~ ofprogram modules can be stored in the drives
and RAM 2112, including an operating system 2130, one or
more application programs 2132, other program modules
2134 and program data 2136, ~ 1or portions ofthe operating
1
system, applications, modules, andor
data can also be
cached in the RAM 2112.
It is appreciated that the present invention can be implemented with various commercially available operating systems or combinations of operating systems.
A user can enter commands and
into the
'Omputer 2102 through One Or
wiredwireless input
devices, e.g., a
2138 and a pointing device, such
as a
2140. Other
devices (not shown) may
include a microphone, an IR remote control, a joystick, a
game pad, a sty1us pen, touch screen, Or the like. These and
other
devices are often connected to the processing
unit 2104 through an input device interface 2142 that is
to the 'ystem bus 2108, but may be connected
other interfaces, such as a parallel port, an IEEE 1394 serial
port, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, etc.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 2102 is connected to the local network 2152 through
a wired andor wireless communication network interface or
adapter 2156. The adaptor 2156 may facilitate wired or
wireless communication to the LAN 2152, which may also
include a wireless access point disposed thereon for communicating with the wireless adaptor 2156. When used in a
WAN networking environment, the computer 2102 can
include a modem 2158, or is connected to a communications
server on the LAN, or has other means for establishing
~~mmunications the WAN 2154, such as by way of the
over
Internet. The n~odem
2158, which may be internal or external and a wired or wireless device, is connected to the
system bus 2108 via the serial Port interface 2142. In a
networked environment, program modules depicted relative
to the computer 2102, or portions thereof, may be stored in
the remote memo~/storage
device 2150. It will be aPPreciated that the network ~ ~ n n e c t i o n s o w n exemplary
~h
are
and other means of establishing a communications link
between the computers may be used.
The computer 2102 is operable to ~ ~ m m u n i c awith any
te
wireless devices or entities operably disposed in wireless
communication, e.g., a printer, scanner, desktop andor
portable computer, portable data assistant, communications
satellite, any piece of equipment or location associated with
a wirelessl~
tag (e.g., a
news
restroom), and telephone. This includes at least Wi-Fi and
BluetoothTM
wireless technologies. Thus, the communication may be a predefined structure as with conventional
network or simply an ad hoc communication between at
least two devices.
Wi-Fi or Wireless Fidelity, allows connection to the
Internet from a couch at home, a bed in a hotel room or a
conference room at work, without wires. Wi-Fi is a wireless
technology like a cell phone that enables such devices, e.g.,
computers, to send and receive data indoors and out, and
anywhere within the range of a base station, Wi-Fi networks
use radio technologies called IEEE 802.11 (a, b, g, etc,) to
provide secure, reliable, fast wireless
A Wi-Fi
network can be used to connect computers to each other, to
the Internet, and to wired networks (which use IEEE 802,3
or Ethernet), Wi-Fi networks operate in the unlicensed 2.4
and GHz radio bands, with an 11 Mbps (802,11a) or 54
Mbps (802.11b) data rate or with products that contain both
bands (dual band), so the networks can provide real-world
performance similar to the basic lOBaseT wired Ethernet
networks used in many offices,
What has been described above includes examples of the
present invention. It is, of course, not possible to describe
every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the present invention, but
one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many
further combinations and permutations of the present invention are possible. Accordingly, the present invention is
intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and
variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the
appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term
"includes" is used in either the detailed description or the
claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner
similar to the term "comprising" as "comprising" is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.
What is claimed is:
1. A computer-implemented network-based system that
facilitates management of data, comprising:
a computer-implemented context component of the network-based system for capturing context information
associated with user-defined data created by user inter-

A monitor 2144 or other type of, display device is also
~ ~ n n e c t e d the system bus 2108 via an interface, such as
to
a video adapter 2146. In addition to the monitor 2144, a
computer typically includes other peripheral output devices
(not shown), such as speakers, printers, etc.
The computer 2102 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections via wired andor wireless
communications to one or more remote computers, such as
a remote computer(s) 2148. The remote computer(s) 2148
may be a workstation, a server computer, a router, a personal
computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainment appliance, a peer device or other common network
node, and typically includes many or all of the elements
described relative to the computer 2102, although, for purposes of brevity, only a memory storage device 2150 is
illustrated. The logical connections depicted include wired
wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN) 2152
andor larger networks, e.g., a wide area network (WAN)
2154. Such LAN and WAN networking environments are
commonplace in offices, and companies, and facilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all of
which may connect to a global communication network,
e.g., the Internet.

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

US 7,139,761 B2
21

22

action of a user in a first context of the network-based
system, the context component dynamically storing the
context information in metadata associated with the
user-defined data, the user-defined data and metadata
stored on a storage component of the network-based
system; and
a computer-implemented tracking component of the network-based system for tracking a change of the user
from the first context to a second context of the
network-based system and dynamically updating the
stored metadata based on the change, wherein the user
accesses the data from the second context.
2. The system of claim 1, the context component is
associated with a workspace, which is a collection of data
and application functionality related to the user-defined data.
3, ~h~ system of claim 1, the context component is
associated with a web, which web is a collection of interrelated workspaces, the web maintains a location of data of
the respective interrelated workspaces when one or more of
the interrelated workspaces are moved into a different workspace interrelationship.
4. The system of claim 1, the context information includes
a relationship between the user and at least one of an
application, application data, and user environment.
5. The system of claim 1, the context component captures
context information of the first context and context information related to at least one other context.
6. The system of claim 5, the context information of the
at least one other context is at least one of stipulated by the
user and suggested
the system based up0n
search and association criteria set by the user.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein data created in the first
context is associated with data created in the second context.
8. The system of claim 1, the context information is
tagged to the user-defined data via the metadata when the
user-defined data is created.
9. A computer-implemented method of managing data,
comprising computer-executable acts of
creating data within a user environment of a web-based
computing platform via user interaction with the user
environment by a user using an application, the data in
the form of at least files and documents;
dynamically associating metadata with the data, the data
and metadata stored on a storage component of the
web-based computing platform, the metadata includes
information related to the user, the data, the application,
and the user environment;
tracking movement of the user from the user environment
of the web-based computing platform to a second user
environment of the web-based computing platform;
and
dynamically updating the stored metadata with an association of the data, the
and the second user
environment wherein the user employs at least one of
the
and the data from the second environment.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising capturing
context information of the user.
11. The method of claim 9, further comprising indexing
content of the user environment such that a plurality of users
can access the content from an associated plurality of user
environments.
12. The method of claim 9, the least one of the data and
the application is associated automatically with the second
user environment.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising accessing
the user environment and the second user environment using
a browser.
14. The method of claim 9, further comprising communicating with the user environment using a TCPIIP communication protocol.
15. The method of claim 9, further comprising locating
the user environment from a remote location using a URL
address.
16. The method of claim 9, further comprising accessing
the user environment via a portable wireless device.
17. A computer-implemented method of managing data,
comprising computer-executable acts of
generating a plurality of user mvii-onments in a webbased system;
ordering two or more of the plurality of user environments
according to different arrangements of the user environments;
providing a plurality
for generating and
processing data in the user environments, data of a user
environment is dynamically associated with the user
environment in metadata that corresponds to the data;
creating an association of the data with a second user
environment when the data is accessed from the second
user environment;
dynamically storing the association of the data and the
second user environment in the metadata;
storing in a storage component ordering information
related to the ordering of the two or more of the
plurality of user environments; and
traversing the different arrangements of the user environments with one or more of the applications based on the
ordering information to locate the data associated with
the user environments.
18. The method of claim 17, the act of traversing is
performed using a webslice that includes traversal information for locating the data associated with a given user
environment.
19. The method of claim 18, the traversal information
includes at least a collection ID, a user environment ID, and
a routing path to the location of the environment data.
20. The method of claim 17, the different arrangements,
user environments, and associated data cany both hierarchical and non-hierarchical associations simultaneously
within the plurality
21. A computer-readable medium for storing computerexecutable instructions for a method of managing data, the
method comprising:
creating data related to user interaction of a user within a
workspace
a web-based
platform
using an application;
dynamically associating metadata with the data, the data
and metadata stored on the web-based computing platform, the metadata includes information related to the
user of the user workspace, to the data, to the application and to the user workspace;
tracking movement of the user from the user workspace to
a second user workspace of the web-based computing
platform;
dynamically associating the data and the application with
the second user workspace in the metadata such that the
user employs the application and data from the second
user workspace; and
indexing the data created in the user workspace such that
a plurality of different users can access the data via the
metadata from a corresponding plurality of different
user workspaces.

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

60

65

US 7,139,761 B2
23

24

22. A computer-implemented system that facilitates manaccessible via the second user workspace when the user
agement of data, comprising:
moves from the first user workspace to the second user
computer-implemented means for creating data by interworkspace.
action of a user within a user workspace of a server
27. The system of claim 23, wherein context data relating
using an application;
5 to an item of communication is automatically stored and
computer-implemented means for associating metadata
used in performance of communication tasks.
with the data, the metadata stored in association with
28, l-he system of claim 23, wherein the context cornPothe data on storage m a n s of the server, the metadata
nent captures data and application functionality related to a
includes information related to a user of the user
user-defined topic of the first user workspace, and includes
workspace, to the data, to the application and to the user 10 the data and application functionality in the metadata.
workspace;
29. The system of claim 23, wherein when the data
cOm~uter-im~lemented
means for tracking
created in the first user workspace is accessed from the
the user from the user workspace
a
user
second user workspace, in response to which the context
workspace of the server; and
component adds information to the metadata about the
computer-implemented means for dynamically associat- 1s second user workspace,
ing the data and the
with the second user
30, The system of claim 23, wherein the first user workworkspace in the metadata such that the user can
space is associated with a plurality of different applications,
the
and data from the second user
the plurality of different applications comprising telephony,
workspace.
unified messaging, decision support, document manage23. A computer-implemented 'ystem that
man- 20 ment, portals, chat, collaboration, search, vote, relationship
agement of data, comprising:
management, calendar, personal information management,
a computer-implemented 'Ontext
component of a webprofiling, directory management, executive information sysbased server for defining a first user workspace of the
tems, dashboards, cockpits, tasking, meeting and, web and
web-based server, assigning one or more applications
video conferencing,
to the first user workspace, capturing context data 25
31. The system of claim 23, wherein the storage compoassociated with user interaction of a user while in the
nent stores the data and the metadata according to at least
first user workspace, and for dynamically storing the
one of a relational and an object storage methodology.
context data as metadata on a storage component of the
32. The 'ystem of
23, wherein storing of the
web-based server, whichmeta&ta is dynamically associated with data created in the first user workspace; and 3o metadata in the storage component in association with data
facilitates many-to-many functionality of the data via the
a computer-implemented tracking component of the webmetadata.
based server for tracking change information associ33. The system of claim 23, wherein the first user workated with a change in access of the user from the first
space provides access to at least one communications tool,
user workspace to a second user workspace, and
dynamically storing the change information on the 35 which includes e-mail, voicemail, fax, teleconferencing,
instant message, chat, contacts, calendar, task, notes, news,
storage component as part of the rnetadata, wherein the
ideas,
web and video conferencing, and document
user accesses the data from the second user workspace.
sharing
24. The system of claim 23, wherein the tracking com3 4 The system of claim 23, wherein one or more appliponent automatically creates the metadata when the user
40 cations include file storage pointers that are dynamic and
accesses the first user workspace.
associated with the first user workspace.
25. The system of claim 23, wherein the context compo35. The system of claim 23, wherein the context component captures relationship data associated with a relationship
nent facilitates encryption of the data generated in the first
between the first user workspace and at least one other user
workspace.
user workspace.
26. The system of claim 23, wherein an application 45
* * * * *
associated with the first user workspace is automatically