Leader Technologies Inc. v. Facebook Inc.

Filing 410

MEMORANDUM in Support re 408 MOTION for Summary Judgment of Validity of U.S. Patent No. 7,139,761 Based on Anticipation Under 35 U.S.C. Section 102(b), filed by Facebook Inc.(a Delaware corporation).Answering Brief/Response due date per Local Rules is 6/1/2010. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B - Part 1, # 3 Exhibit B - Part 2, # 4 Exhibit C)(Caponi, Steven) Modified on 5/17/2010 (nms).

EXHIBIT A

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
US007139761B2

(54)

(75)

United States Patent

(10)

McKibben et al.

(12)

(45)

DYNAMIC ASSOCIATION OF
ELECTRONICALLY STORED
INFORMATION WITH ITERATIVE
WORKFLOW CHANGES
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 tenn of this
patent is extended or adjusted under 35
U.S.c. 154(b) by 0 days.

(21)

Appl. No.: 101732,744

(22)

Filed:

Dec. 10, 2003

US 2004/0122835 Al

6,236,971
6,311,228
6,418,461
6,421,678
6,539,371
2002/0001301
2002/0078150
2002/0143877
2003/0069849
2003/0217096

Bl
5/2001 Stefik et al.
Bl
10/2001 Ray
Bl
7/2002 Barnhouse et al.
Bl * 7/2002 Smiga et al.
Bl
3/2003 Bleizeffer et al.
Al
112002 Sarkissian et al.
Al * 6/2002 Thompson et al.
Al * 10/2002 Hackbarth et al
4/2003 Stefik et al.
Al
Al * 11/2003 McKelvie et al.

707/102

709/204
709/205
709/202

OTHER PUBLICATIONS
International Written Opinion, PCT/US03/39421, mailed Nov. 15,
2004.
Diane Mizrahi; Patent Cooperation Treaty International Search
Report; Jun. 27, 2004; Alexandria, Virginia.

* cited by examiner

Prior Publication Data

(65)

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

Jun. 24, 2004

Primary Examiner-Diane Mizrahi

ABSTRACT

(57)

Related U.S. Application Data
(60)

Provisional application No. 60/432,255, filed on Dec.
11, 2002.

(51)

Int. Cl.
G06F 17/30
(2006.01)
U.S. Cl.
707/10
Field of Classification Search
707/1-10,
707/100-104.1; 379/202.01; 715/753; 725/87,
725/112; 709/202,204,205
See application file for complete search history.

(52)
(58)

References Cited

(56)

A data management tool. The tool is a unified, horizontal
system for communications, organization, infonnation processing, and data storage. The tool operates seamlessly with
existing platfonns, 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.

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

35 Claims, 18 Drawing Sheets

11/2000 Pickett

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CONTEXT\

DATA

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Sheet 1 of 18

Nov. 21, 2006

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Sheet 2 of 18

Nov. 21, 2006

US 7,139,761 B2

START

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AUTO CREATE
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CONTEXT DATA

USER ASSOCIATES
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APPS AND DATA
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Sheet 3 of 18

Nov. 21, 2006

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Nov. 21, 2006

START

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CREATE CONTENT AND V- 504
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SYSTEM AUTO UPDATES
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CONTEXT, WEB, BOARD(S),
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Sheet 5 of 18

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Sheet 7 of 18

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Sheet 8 of 18

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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 his/her personal
filing system, electronic or otherwise. Thus, the sharing of
knowledge in this context is prohibitive.
Prior art communications tools do not know the business
and/or personal context(s) within which files are created and
used. For example, a person may create three files in a word
processor, one relating to sales, the second relating to
operations, and the third relating to a son's football team.
However, the word processor itself has no way of knowing
to automatically store those three files in at least three
different places. Insofar as security and privacy are concerned, the applications and associated file storage methods
are generally insecure, not conforming to a single, dependable security model.
Known software applications create and store files outside
of a contextual framework. For example, when a user creates
a word processing file using a conventional word processor
application, the user typically must select a single folder
within which to store that file. The file may be stored in an
existing folder or the user may create a new folder to receive
the file. This file management method is known as Lightweight Directory Application Protocol (LDAP). LDAP borrowed the physical world paper file management scheme
where a machine/application 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 true 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.
Conventional systems are designed to allow multiple
users to access the same file for collaboration purposes;
however, this feature does not change the basic one-to-many
and many-to-one storage paradigm. Conventional systems
only attempt to optimize it.
Another limitation ofLDAP is that little or no information
is contained within the file about the user and, the context
and circumstances ofthe user at the time the file was created.
The people elements of an organization are simply too
multi-dimensional for the limitations of conventional systerns. Current 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 and/or hierarchical in nature.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED
APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Patent application Ser. No. 60/432,255 entitled "METHOD
FOR DYNAMIC ASSOCIATION OF ELECTRONICALLY STORED INFORMATION WITH ITERATIVE
WORKFLOW CHANGES", filed Dec. 11, 2002; and is
related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/731,906
entitled "CONTEXT INSTANTIATED APPLICATION
PROTOCOL" filed on Dec. 10,2003.

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TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention is related to management and storage of
electronic information. More particularly, this invention
relates to new structures and methods for creating relationships between users, applications, files, and folders.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Digital communications presently supply solutions to
users in ways that are completely divorced from their
business context. A particular item of communication provides little or no inherent understanding of how that communication 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 "message 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,
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
communications tool itself.
Typical methods for organization of communications are
limited and fragmented. For example, for an email, the
recipient may either leave all the email in the inbox or move
it to another electronic folder. For a fax, the recipient is
likely to place that received fax in a file folder that is
identified by project name or name of recipient. These
typical methods of organizing communications are wholly
inadequate for a number of reasons. The recipient must do
all the work of organization and categorization of the
communications rather than the system itself do that work.
Automation of the organization of communications is nonexistent. The linkage between business strategy and an
individual act of communication, a leadership priority, is
non-existent. With respect to categorization, the items themselves 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,
market intelligence data, specific product requests, and
financial accounting.

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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.

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
dynamically. All files and groups of files can be associated
with any other file in the system, allowing a system user the
flexibility in determining dynamic associations.
In addition to the macro view provided by webs and
boards, the user can also create the more familiar hierarchical folders within any board. These are virtual folders, and
nothing is physically stored in these folders.
In another aspect of the present invention, the tool provides the seamless facilitation, collection, compilation, and
distribution of data.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, the tool
provides links to enterprise leadership priorities.
In still another aspect of the present invention, the tool
performs communications tasks while simultaneously
reminding the user of his/her individual work priorities.
In another aspect thereof, the tool automatically stores
contextual information relating to an item of communication
and utilizes that contextual information in performance of
communication tasks.
In yet another aspect thereof, the tool integrates two or
more different applications such as telephony, unified messaging, decision support, document management, portals,
chat, collaboration, search, vote, relationship management,
calendar, personal information management, profiling,
directory management, executive information systems,
dashboards, cockpits, tasking, meeting, conferencing, etc.,
into a common application.
In another aspect thereof, the tool provides a structure for
defining relationships between complex collections of data.
In still another aspect of the present invention, the tool
provides a process for automating workflow between multiple entities.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends,
certain illustrative aspects of the invention are described
herein in counection with the following description and the
aunexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of
but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the
invention may be employed and the present invention is
intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.
Other advantages and novel features of the invention may
become apparent from the following detailed description of
the invention when considered in conjunction with the
drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The following presents a simplified summary of the
invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some
aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive
overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify
key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the
scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some
concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude
to the more detailed description that is presented later.
The present invention disclosed and claimed herein, in
one aspect thereof, is a data management tool that is a
unified, horizontal system for communications, organization, information processing, and data storage. The tool
installs on existing platforms, and is a common workflow
layer that is automated with a scalable, relational database.
The tool includes a relational database engine that facilitates
many-to-many relationships among data elements, in addition to, one-to-many and many-to-many relationships.
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 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.
When a user logs in to the system that employs the tool,
the user enters into a personal workspace environment. This
workspace is called a board, and is associated with a user
context. From within this board, the tool makes accessible to
the user a suite of applications for creating and manipulating
data. Any user operating within any board has access to the
suite of applications associated with that board, and can
obtain access to any data in any form (e.g., documents and
files) created by the applications and to which he or she has
permission. Moreover, thereafter, the user can then move to
shared workspaces (or boards), and access the same data or
other data.
Data created within the board is immediately associated
with the user, the user's permission level, 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 a
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 use. The system is also universal insofar
as its user interaction can be through a browser that is
pervasively employed for use with conventional operating
systems.
In that the tool supports multiple users, there can be
multiple boards. Two or more boards (or workspace environments) can be grouped as a collection of boards, also
called a web. Boards can exist in any number of different
webs. The association ofwebs and boards is stored in a table.

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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a system that
facilitates the management of data in accordance with the
present invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of a process of the present
invention.
FIG. 3 illustrates a system employing a board and a web
in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 4A illustrates a diagram of board relationships.
FIG. 4B illustrates board/web relationship diagram.
FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of a process for board and
web generation in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 6 illustrates a sample webs-and-boards table used in
accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of system in accordance
with the present invention.
FIG. 8 illustrates a more detailed block diagram of a
system of the present invention.

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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 platfonn
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 infonnation 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
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.

system, enviroument, and/or user from a set of observations
as captured via events and/or 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 and/or data. Such inference results in the
construction of new events or actions from a set of observed
events and/or 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
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
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 1) 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 and/or word processing applications exist that
can be used to create, view, edit, copy, and move the data
106, to name just a few ofthe 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 fonn 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 CONTEXTu . . . , CONTEXTN" 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 perfonned in the second context 114 are also

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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 fonn 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, and/or 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 and/or thread of execution and
a component may be localized on one computer and/or
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

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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
shown herein, e.g., in the form of a flow chart, are shown and
described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and
appreciated that the present invention is not limited by the
order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance with the
present invention, occur in a different order and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein.
For example, those skilled in the art will understand and
appreciate that a methodology could alternatively 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 by the user logging in to a system and automatically
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 operations in the first and
second contexts, the system automatically creates and
updates context 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
employing 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 of 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 l , BOARD 2 , . . . , BOARDN ). 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 WEBl' WEB 2 , . . . ,
WEBx ). The many boards 306 can be grouped in different

combinations as webs. For example, BOARD u and
BOARD, can be grouped as WEB 2 . Thus, where WEBl
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 u is parent to a second board, BOARD 2 . The
second board, BOARD 2 , is parent to a third board,
BOARD 3 , and BOARD 3 is parent to the first board,
BOARD l ·
Referring now to FIG. 4B, there is illustrated board/web
relationship diagram 402. Boards can exist in any number of
webs. Many boards will exist in more than one web. The
web represents a certain view of the relationships among
boards. That is, the view can be hierarchical, or the view can
be in the form of a work-flow. Additionally, the relationship
between two boards on one web is independent of the
relationship between those same two boards on other webs.
As shown, in a first web, WEB u BOARD l is a parent to
BOARD 2 . Yet, in a second web, WEB 2 , BOARD l is a child
to BOARD 2 . In a third web, WEB 3 , BOARD l and BOARD 2
have no relationship, but exist independent of one another.
In a fourth web, WEB 4 , BOARD l exists, but BOARD 2 does
not. These are but a few examples of the weblboard 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---;>B---;>C, and ultimately changed to A---;>B/C---;>D. Three
different groups of people are assigned to each item, where
the resulting distribution is A(l, 2, 3)+B(4, 5, 6)+C(7, 8, 9).
In the known LDAP environment, it is necessary for the
automation sequence to predetermine how work data flows
from A to Band C. Then the automation module for inputs
to D must be spelled out and rewritten to consolidate the
split inputs from B and C. As such, the automation support
for this workflow change will always lag behind the ability
of the people involved to start 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 workflow process may be readily reorganized by making a change to one or more of the webs and
boards. By simply adding the board D and rearranging some
of the relationships of A, B, and C, the workflow is quickly
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 ofthat 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:

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webslice (target board)=<webID; starting board ID; transversal data>.
Thus, if a system includes two webs, WI and W2, where
web WI 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 ofB, etc.), the webslice
data "slicing" to board E will be similar to the following:
webslice (board E)=<W1; 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 Band C the parents to D. A webslice to D can
be obtained in one of two ways:
webslice (board D)=<W1; board A; A~B~D>, or
webslice (board D)=<W1; board A; A~C~D>.
Moreover, 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 Band 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)=<W1; board A; A~B~D>, or
webslice (board D)=<W1; board A; A~C~E~D>.
These examples are only but a few of the relationships
that can be extracted using a webslice. The webslice can also
take the fonns of the following: "Just the board I started
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 detennined dynamically at runtime using the
webslice. Alternatively, the associated location of content
may be determined by detecting changes in structure, detecting the temporary location ofthe 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.
Data 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 ofthe
boards can now be grouped in collections or webs, as
indicated at 506, to facilitate workflow, for example. For any
number of reasons, the web and board relationships can be
changed, as indicated at 508. At 510, the webs-and-boards
table is automatically updated as these changes occur. The
process then reaches a Stop block.
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 infonnation
column related to a number of users (1-3 and 6--8), 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) colunm that associates one or
more webs (WI, 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 WI 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 parent/child relationships colunm (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 now to FIG. 7, there is illustrated a block
diagram of system 700 in accordance with the present
invention. Generally, the system 700 includes an internal
network 702 on which is disposed a services system 704 and
one or more users 706 seeking use of the services system
704. The services system 704 further includes a services
component 708 and an associated data storage system 710
for storing data and programs. The services system 704
includes the data management tool of the present invention.
A user at one of the user nodes 706 can access the services
system 704 via a browser over a wired/wireless communication 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 desktop
computing system, or a modified or slimmed down browser
interface employed in a portable computing device, e.g., a
personal data assistant (PDA), wireless computing tablet,
and cellular/digital 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 and/or the storage system
710. This second path is most important, since a user can
access the system 704 from essentially anywhere.

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The services system 704 can be utilized internal to a
corporate environment operating on, for example, an intranet, and providing such services only to corporate users. In
another implementation, the system 704 can be disposed
external to the corporate environment such that the company
subscribes to the system services via a vendor.
Referring now to FIG. 8, there is illustrated a more
detailed block diagram of a system 800 of the present
invention. The system 800 includes the internal network 702
on which is disposed the services system 704 and the one or
more users 706 seeking use of the services of the services
component 708 provided thereby. The services of the services component 708 facilitate the use of the data management tool, which employs one or more webs 802 and boards
804. The tool further provides portal services 806 for
accessing the services from various internal and external
network locations using the TCP/IP suite of protocols. Other
services provided include, but are not limited to, voice
services 808 and outside services 810. Outside services 810
facilitate including non-employees and the use ofthird-party
applications in specific projects in the system by providing
various levels of access to any number of data locations and
services. Read/write permissions can be granularized to the
file level, if desired.
The data storage system 710 includes a number of storage
methodologies 812 for handling and processing data. For
example, one methodology enables large numbers of users
to organize files and documents around many projects simultaneously. Data of any kind and size can be uploaded to a
common shared workspace or board. Varying levels of
access can be provided to the uploaded data. Other methodologies are associated with storing the data, archiving the
data, data warehousing, library data, and an idea registry for
tracking that aspect of the companies intellectual capital.
The storage system 710 facilitates the storage and access of
metadata libraries that link hierarchical and non-hierarchical
LDAP folders.
As indicated hereinabove, the management tool operates
seamlessly with existing computing system applications,
and existing system services. For example, the conventional
system services can include at least the following: e-mail,
collaboration and groupware services 814 having an associated e-mail, collaboration and groupware storage system
816, voice switching services 818 (e.g., telephone and
paging functions) having an associated voice data storage
system 820; and multimedia services 822 having an associated multimedia storage system 824. The storage systems
816, 820, and 824 can connect to the storage system 710 to
facilitate data transfer and storage in accordance with the
various methodologies of the storage system 710.
A user of the users node 706 can also access the e-mail/
collaboration/groupware services 814, voice switching services 818, and multimedia services 822 indirectly through
the services system 704 using a multi-user data manipulation
engine, e.g., OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing). Alternatively, the user can access these services 814, 818, and 822
directly over the network 702, but shown separately as a
commnnication link 826, and through the services 708
without using the multi-user engine.
The user can also access the services 704, other services
814, 818, and 822, and data storage system 710 over the
global communications network 712 via a link 828. This is
facilitated through the user browser by directing the browser
to a website using a URL (Uniform Resource Locater) or
through an alternative Link 830.
The management tool is browser-based and incorporates
a strong-encryption scheme (e.g., using 12S-bit SSL (secure

socket layer) protocol). This means that data transmitted
between the user computer and the services server is substantially secure. Furthermore, data shall not be cached,
which means that there is no information footprint left on the
user computer after the user logs off. The user can access
data securely from virtually any network node using any
type of browser. The data is stored encrypted on the storage
system 710.
Referring now to FIG. 9, there is illustrated a diagram of
a general structure of the management tool system 900. The
structure starts at a high level with the user at a user level
902. The user level 902 is next associated with a context
level 904 that defines all contexts in which the user can be
included. Under the context level 904 is a web level 906 that
associates one or more of the webs with one or more of the
contexts of the context level 904. A boards level 908
underlies the webs level 906 and provides associations ofthe
many boards with one or more of the webs. An applications
level 910 facilitates associating one or more applications
with a board designated at the board level 908. A database/
folders level 912 nnderlies the applications level 910, and
facilitates storing at least data, tables, and context information generated from the upper levels in folders, in the form
of, e.g., files, at an associated underlying file level 914. A
linking protocol 916 provides cross-level communication
for facilitating all aspects of data processing and communication at all levels of the data management system 900.
Referring now to FIG. 10, there is a level flow diagram
1000 illustrating the hierarchy of the present invention for
associating one or more users 1002, context 1004, applications 1006, and folders 1008 with data 1010. The approach
is for file storage pointers of an application to be dynamic,
governed initially by the folder within which the application
is lannched. Additionally, the file storage pointers are then
accessible and acted upon by the same application from any
folder in the system. This is a dynamic non-linear implementation.
Traditional collaborative technologies, like groupware,
allow groups of users to take action on the same file
substantially simultaneously. However, in preparation for
such capabilities, all users must have compatible versions of
the same application that is to be used for working with the
file. The context for any folder is limited to a one-to-many
and many-to-one relationship. Essentially, the folder possesses a singular context to the directory tree in which it
resides.
In contrast, the disclosed architecture assumes that the
highest contextual level is that of an entity consisting of a
group of users forming a many-to-many architecture. The
users create and use the files within the context of the
workspaces or boards of one or more users, which mayor
may not have web relationships. In this implementation, the
board is similar in function to a folder in conventional LDAP
systems.
The user then uses a suite of applications within a board,
with any file created being immediately associated with the
user, that board, any other board desired, and the application.
In other words, by the person doing simply his/her work, an
enormous amonnt of metadata about the context(s) for that
work is captured automatically. Additionally, the system
indexes the content to facilitate the other ways in which the
users of the system might want to search on that file in the
future-ways and future contexts which are not and cannot
be known by the users in advance and certainly are not
facilitated by conventional systems.
The system facilitates the use of an array of applications
that act independently of the boards from which they were

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launched, and those boards are capable of being ordered in
a myriad of collections of relationships (i.e., webs). The
applications can traverse the webs to the boards associated
with the information.
In addition to a macro view obtained by webs and boards,
the user can also create familiar hierarchical folders within
any board. These are virtual folders, in that their storage is
governed by the process described above. No data is physically stored in these folders. Finally, any file or group of files
can be associated with any other file in the system, allowing
the users of the system infinite flexibility in determining
dynamic associations among the macro/micro components
of the system.
Referring now to FIG. 11, there is illustrated a system
1100 operational in accordance with the present invention.
The system 1100 includes a data management platform 1102
suitable for accommodating any number conventional operating systems (OS) 1104 (also denoted OSu OS2' OS3' ... ,
OSN)' The system 1100 also facilitates the use of a single
data storage system 1106 suitable for use with any of the
operating systems 1104, whereas conventionally, a given OS
may require a certain data storage file structure. The platform 1102 is OS-independent, and provides a single point of
contact for multiple users and resources 1108.
Referring now to FIG. 12, there is illustrated a design
integration chart 1200 of the disclosed invention. At the core
of the system is a data management tool 1202 that facilitates
all of the outlying features and capabilities. The tool 1202
facilitates, at a second layer 1204, one interface (via a
browser), one application (the tool itself), one data store
(associate with the management tool), and one search
mechanism for finding any data element of the data store. Of
course, any third party applications typically have their own
search tool to search for files and folders that may also be
used. At a third layer 1206, the system 1200 facilitates a
secure operating environment, a scalable environment, and
web-based. Moreover, the system 1200 can be implemented
on any software and/or hardware platform, accommodate
access from any device, and bridge to third party applications and devices. At an outer layer 1208, the system 1200
facilitates one or more instances of the following: users,
contexts, workflows, projects, user-defined topics, priorities,
file types, and tools. The system 1200 also is suitable for use
with e-mail, facsimile, and instant messaging subsystems,
multimedia services, and voice systems (e.g., phone and
paging data).
The system 1200 captures and catalogs data automatically. Users, projects, permissions and communication tools
can be readily configured, along with the exchange of voice
information, data, and video data, seamlessly. As users
collaborate, the system 1200 captures context information,
and automatically records when and how data is shared, who
updated the data, how often the data was accessed, what
additional information the data was linked to, etc. Meeting
information can be stored automatically, including, but not
limited to, who attended, the documents shared, instant
messages captured, handouts used, slides presented, etc. A
later search can retrieve this information along with the
context(s) within which the data was generated and used.
The system 1200 enables larger numbers of users to
organize communications around many projects substantially simultaneously. It can relate those projects to one
another using whatever workflow modeles) are required, and
dynamically assign modular communications tools (e.g.,
e-mail, voice mail, fax, teleconferencing, document sharing,
etc.) to those many projects as desired. The system 1200
automatically indexes that information within the context(s)

in which it is received and used. This way, when a user
searches the system 1200 for information, the user not only
gets the information sought, but also can see how the
information is currently being used by other users and
project groups in the whole system. Traditionally, if a
document was to be associated with seven different projects,
for example, the document would be stored in seven different file locations and version control could be a significant
problem. In accordance with the present invention, the
document is seamlessly linked to all seven projects. Thus,
only one version exists, and version control is much easier
to address.
The disclosed system architecture is suited to relational
and object database structures for use on a large scale. The
data management tool uses both relational and object storage
approaches to facilitate at least Internet-based data communications.
Referring now to FIG. 13, there is illustrated one implementation of a platform system 1300 in accordance with the
present invention. The platform system 1300 includes the
capability of third-party application integration, security
cameras and other devices for data input, project and workflow management and, file and document sharing. The
platform system 1300 also accommodates online meetings
between logged-in users, and teleconferencing between the
users, if desired. The teleconferencing can be initiated using
the platform system 1300.
Referring now to FIG. 14, there is illustrated a general
system configuration 1400 of the present invention. The
system 1400 includes a platform 1402 that hosts at least the
data management tool, here called a web application server
1404. The server 1404 provides a common layer to underlying services that include a database server 1406, a VRU
(voice response unit) 1408 (also called an interactive VRU
or IVRU) and mass storage system 1410. The VRU 1408
facilitates interactive calling features for a user via remote
touchtone signals and to voice data to the caller such that the
caller can make choices in response to predetermined
options presented by the system.
The platform 1402 can utilize at least one multi-chaunel
data communication connection 1412 (e.g., Tl, DS3) into
the VRU subsystem 1408 for communicating voice information and interacting with features of the platform 1402.
As indicated previously, the invention can accommodate
user communication from virtually any accessible network
node. To facilitate such an interface, the platform 1402 can
include a processor 1414 suitable for XML (eXtensible
Markup Language), XSLT (XML Stylesheet Language:
Transformations), and SSL processing. The processor 1414
can also access web-based services utilizing SOAP (Simple
Object Access Protocol). SOAP employs XML syntax to
send text commands across the network using HTTP (HyperText Transport Protocol). Thus, there is a high-speed
connection 1416 (e.g., broadband) that interfaces to the
processor layer 1414 for use with multiple communication
exchanges with remote users disposed on the global communication network 712. The remote users can access the
platform system 1402 via a SSL connection 1418 using
portable wired/wireless devices 1420, and by way of the
associated browsers 1422.
Referring now to FIG. 15, there is illustrated a screenshot
of a management tool window 1500 of a browser (e.g.,
Internet Explorer by Microsoft Corporation) used as a user
interface to facilitate user interaction with meeting information in accordance with the present invention. The window
1500 includes an address field 1502 that indicates the default
protocol and URL address for accessing the data manage-

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ment system of the present invention. Here, HTTPisused to
access the server via network. The "https:" indicates the
connection will be to a secure port instead of a default web
port. The window 1500 also includes a user area 1504 that
indicates the name of the user logged into the system. There
is also provided a topic area 1506 that lists the various
boards associated with the user-defined topics. Here, the
user has defined two topics: a Topic I and a Topic 2.
The window 1500 also includes an application (or services) area 1508 that lists many applications selectable by
the user while in this particulate window 1500. The applications presented to the user from this window 1500 include
but are not limited to the following: Message, Calendar,
Task, Phone, Search, Meet, Contact, Compile, Discuss,
Files, Notes, Division, News, Ideas, Vote, Manage Board,
Change, Password, Print, Help, Tutorial, and Logout.
Depending on the user permissions provided by an administrator, the user may see more or fewer applications.
Here, the Meet application option is selected to allow user
interaction with setting up a meeting related to projects of
the user. The Meet application option further includes List
and Create sub-options. When the List sub-option is
selected, a center viewing area 1510 is used to present board,
context, web address and other information so that the user
can review the existing board and context infonnation
related to setting up a meeting. Selection the Create suboption allows the user to create a meeting in association with
one or more of the boards and make changes to existing
board relationships and contexts. Other user-selectable
options are provided such that the user can Join in a session
with one or more other users, Move data to Archive, Select
all objects, set a Reminder for himself or herself, and Delete
boards.
The Messaging option allows the user to give out an
e-mail address of a project work area, enabling senders to
send the messages to right place. Thus, the user no longer
needs to manually move the messages to the appropriate
folders once received in a personal message inbox. Additionally, incoming faxes are routed to the appropriate board
for storage and review. Keywords and phrases in the fax are
automatically indexed. Later retrieval is accommodated
simply by perfonning a search for the keywords or phrases.
Moreover, a given board can be assigned a fax number.
Thus, all faxes coming in can be routed to that number, and
on to the associated board.
The Vote option allows the company and organizations to
communicate and gather opinions by way of voting. A
question can be entered, and the users selected to whom the
question(s) should be posed.
Referring now to FIG. 16, there is illustrated a screenshot
of a management tool window 1600 of a browser used as a
user interface to facilitate user interaction with unified
messaging, including e-mail, voice mail and fax infonnation
in accordance with the present invention. The window 1600
includes many of the same fields and infonnational areas of
the previous windows (e.g., areas 1502, 1504, 1506, and
1508 of window 1500 of FIG. 15). Here, the Message option
is selected to allow user interaction with various forms of
messaging support by the disclosed management architecture. The Message option further includes an instant messaging (IMessage) sub-option, in this particular implementation.
When the Email-Inbox sub-option is selected, the center
viewing area 1510 is used to present the user's messaging
inbox folders. The user can then open these folders to view
the e-mail, voice mail and fax messages stored therein. The
center viewing area 1510 also includes a drop-down menu

1602 that allows the user to select from a variety of different
folders (e.g., Main, Drafts) of the e-mail system. The user
can also create and sign messages with a digital signature.
As before, other user-selectable options are provided such
that the user can manipulate messaging infonnation, including, but not limited to, Select All, Delete, Acknowledge,
Remind Me, Remove, Move/Copy, Forward, and Get External Mail.
There is also provided a News link that allows the user to
link to the latest corporate and/or division news.
Referring now to FIG. 17, there is illustrated a screenshot
of a management tool window 1700 of a browser used as a
user interface to facilitate user interaction with a board
management option in accordance with the present invention. The window 1700 includes many ofthe same fields and
informational areas of the previous windows (e.g., areas
1502, 1504, 1506, and 1508 of window 1500 of FIG. 15).
Here, the Manage Board option is selected to allow user
interaction with various fonns of user management of
boards. The associated sub-options allow the user to Edit the
board attributes, and set permission levels thereto, in this
particular implementation. Of course, many different additional or different options can be provided (in this window
and other windows), at the discretion of the administrator.
The system allows for new attributes to be added to this
option as the need arises.
The center viewing area 1510 presents general board
attributes 1702 of the user (e.g., user name, data, and time),
and several fields for entering user infonnation, including in
this implementation, but not limited to, board description,
board name, board nickname, board e-mail address, external
e-mail properties (e.g., POP server, user name, and password), fax information (e.g., incoming fax number for the
board and incoming fax PIN), and voice mail infonnation
(e.g., incoming voice mail number and incoming voice mail
PIN).
Referring now to FIG. 18, there is illustrated a screenshot
of a management tool window 1800 of a browser used as a
user interface to facilitate user interaction with a phone
option in accordance with the present invention. The window 1800 includes many of the same fields and informational areas of the previous windows (e.g., areas 1502,1504,
1506, and 1508 of window 1500 of FIG. 15). The suboptions include Call History, Call Setup, Quick Call, Meet
Me, and List. The central viewing area 1510 for this window
1800 simply includes a listing of phone-related events for
the given user.
As before, other user-selectable options are provided such
that the user can manipulate phone information, including,
but not limited to, Select All, Delete, Acknowledge, and
Remind Me. In addition, as with the other windows, there is
include an Agenda area 1802 for presenting any agenda
information of a meeting or upcoming event.
Referring now to FIG. 19, there is illustrated a screenshot
of a management tool window 1900 of a browser used as a
user interface to facilitate user interaction with a files option
in accordance with the present invention. The window 1900
includes many of the same fields and infonnational areas of
the previous windows (e.g., areas 1502, 1504, 1506, and
1508 of window 1500 of FIG. 15). Here, the sub-options
include List, Upload, Deleted, and Check In. Thus, data can
at least be listed, uploaded to the system and/or a board,
deleted from the system and/or board, and checked in from
a previous checkout process.
The window 1900 includes the central viewing area 1510
for viewing infonnation requested or selected for presentation. There is also a user control area 1902 that facilitates

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listing user documents that are checked out of the system or
board. There is also provided a dropdown menu 1904 for
selecting from a number of folder viewing options.
Other user-selectable options are provided such that the
user can manipulate documents, including, but not limited
to, Select All, Delete, Acknowledge, Remind Me, Remove,
Move/Copy, Check Out and Download.
Referring now to FIG. 20, there is illustrated 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. Here, the My Context
option was selected while in the Meet application option.
Thus, the context information ofthe user is posted within the
meeting space. The window 2000 also includes many of the
same fields and informational areas ofthe previous windows
(e.g., areas 1502, 1504, 1506, and 1508 of window 1500 of
FIG. 15). Here, the sub-options associated with Meet
include List and Create. Thus, data can at least be listed and
created in accordance with the associated need. Note that
other data can also be accessed and presented within an
application option, for example, My Profile will show the
user profile data.
The window 2000 includes the central viewing area 1510
for viewing information requested or selected for presentation. Here, the user has selected the presentation of the user
context information, which also includes board information
and relationships. For example, board names Boardl,
Board2, and Board3 are listed, along with the hosts, User
(the current user) for Boardl, and UserZ for both boards
Board2 and Board3. The web name is also listed for the
collection of these three boards.
There is a Special Projects Web listed, and the associated
parent/child relationships of the associated boards. For
example, Board6 is a parent to Board4, and Board4 is also
a parent to Board2.
Other user-selectable options are provided for the Meet
option, such as Join, Move to Archive, Select All, Delete,
Acknowledge, and Remind Me.
These are but only a few of the numerous windows
employed to facilitate user interaction, input, and control of
the management tool system. Many other windows are
provided to support, for example, printing, user help, communications security, presenting user documents to other
users, metering user performance, dialog and discovery
forums, calendar functions, task functions, leadership tools,
file system management, user context, telephone services,
e-mail, voicemail, faxes, video conferencing, web conferencing, security video, reverse 911, voice broadcasting, first
response unified messaging capabilities, specialized APIs,
software development kit, conduct and store meetings, organizing personal contact information, enterprise webs, chat
sessions, intellectual notes and ideas, workflows, compilations, user profiles, news, searching, user alerts, integration
of third-party users and resources, multimedia information,
user permissions, system configuration, and wireless portable device interfaces, just to name a few.
Referring now to FIG. 21, there is illustrated a block
diagram of a computer operable to execute the disclosed
architecture. In order to provide additional context for
various aspects of the present invention, FIG. 21 and the
following discussion are intended to provide a brief, general
description of a suitable computing environment 2100 in
which the various aspects of the present invention may be
implemented. While the invention has been described above
in the general context of computer-executable instructions
that may run on one or more computers, those skilled in the
art will recognize that the invention also may be imple-

mented in combination with other program modules and/or
as a combination of hardware and software.
Generally, program modules include routines, programs,
components, data structures, etc., that perform particular
tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover,
those skilled in the art will appreciate that the inventive
methods may be practiced with other computer system
configurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor
computer systems, minicomputers, mainframe computers,
as well as personal computers, hand-held computing
devices, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer
electronics, and the like, each of which may be operatively
coupled to one or more associated devices.
The illustrated aspects of the invention may also be
practiced in distributed computing environments where certain tasks are performed by remote processing devices that
are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be
located in both local and remote memory storage devices.
A computer typically includes a variety of computerreadable media. Computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by the computer and
includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and
non-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media can comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage
media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and
non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable
instructions, data structures, program modules or other data.
Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to,
RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory
technology, CD-ROM, digital video disk (DVD) or other
optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,
magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or
any other medium which can be used to store the desired
information and which can be accessed by the computer.
With reference again to FIG. 21, there is illustrated an
exemplary environment 2100 for implementing various
aspects of the invention that includes a computer 2102, the
computer 2102 including a processing unit 2104, a system
memory 2106 and a system bus 2108. The system bus 2108
couples system components including, but not limited to, the
system memory 2106 to the processing unit 2104. The
processing unit 2104 may be any of various commercially
available processors. Dual microprocessors and other multiprocessor architectures may also be employed as the processing unit 2104.
The system bus 2108 can be any of several types of bus
structure that may further interconnect to a memory bus
(with or without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, and
a local bus using any of a variety of commercially available
bus architectures. The system memory 2106 includes read
only memory (ROM) 2110 and random access memory
(RAM) 2112. A basic input/output system (BIOS) is stored
in a non-volatile memory 2110 such as ROM, EPROM,
EEPROM, which BIOS contains the basic routines that help
to transfer information between elements within the computer 2102, such as during start-up. The RAM 2112 can also
include a high-speed RAM such as static RAM for caching
data.
The computer 2102 further includes an internal hard disk
drive (HDD) 2114 (e.g., EIDE, SATA), which internal hard
disk drive 2114 may also be configured for external use in
a suitable chassis (not shown), a magnetic floppy disk drive
(FDD) 2116, (e.g., to read from or write to a removable
diskette 2118) and an optical disk drive 2120, (e.g., reading

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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.
A number of program 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. All or portions ofthe operating
system, applications, modules, and/or 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 information into the
computer 2102 through one or more wired/wireless input
devices, e.g., a keyboard 2138 and a pointing device, such
as a mouse 2140. Other input devices (not shown) may
include a microphone, an IR remote control, a joystick, a
game pad, a stylus pen, touch screen, or the like. These and
other input devices are often connected to the processing
unit 2104 through an input device interface 2142 that is
coupled to the system bus 2108, but may be connected by
other interfaces, such as a parallel port, an IEEE 1394 serial
port, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, etc.
A monitor 2144 or other type of display device is also
connected to the system bus 2108 via an interface, such as
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 and/or 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
and/or 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.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 2102 is connected to the local network 2152 through
a wired and/or 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
communications over the WAN 2154, such as by way of the
Internet. The modem 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 memory/storage device 2150. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary
and other means of establishing a communications link
between the computers may be used.
The computer 2102 is operable to communicate with any
wireless devices or entities operably disposed in wireless
communication, e.g., a printer, scanner, desktop and/or
portable computer, portable data assistant, communications
satellite, any piece of equipment or location associated with
a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk, news stand,
restroom), and telephone. This includes at least Wi-Fi and
Bluetooth™ 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 connectivity. 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 5 GHz radio bands, with an 11 Mbps (802.11a) or 54
Mbps (802.11 b) data rate or with products that contain both
bands (dual band), so the networks can provide real-world
performance similar to the basic IOBaseT 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-

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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. The 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 automatically by the system based upon
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 application, and the second user
environment wherein the user employs at least one of
the application 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 TCP/IP 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 environments in a webbased system;
ordering two or more ofthe plurality of user environments
according to different arrangements of the user environments;
providing a plurality of applications 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 carry both hierarchical and non-hierarchical associations simultaneously
within the plurality of applications.
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
user workspace of a web-based computing 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.

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22. A computer-implemented system that facilitates management of data, comprising:
computer-implemented means for creating data by interaction of a user within a user workspace of a server
using an application;
computer-implemented means for associating metadata
with the data, the metadata stored in association with
the data on storage means of the server, the metadata
includes infonnation related to a user of the user
workspace, to the data, to the application and to the user
workspace;
computer-implemented means for tracking movement of
the user from the user workspace to a second user
workspace of the server; and
computer-implemented means for dynamically associating the data and the application with the second user
workspace in the metadata such that the user can
employ the application and data from the second user
workspace.
23. A computer-implemented system that facilitates management of data, comprising:
a computer-implemented context component of a webbased server for defining a first user workspace of the
web-based server, assigning one or more applications
to the first user workspace, capturing context data
associated with user interaction of a user while in the
first user workspace, and for dynamically storing the
context data as metadata on a storage component of the
web-based server, which metadata is dynamically associated with data created in the first user workspace; and
a computer-implemented tracking component of the webbased server for tracking change information associated with a change in access of the user from the first
user workspace to a second user workspace, and
dynamically storing the change infonnation on the
storage component as part of the metadata, wherein the
user accesses the data from the second user workspace.
24. The system of claim 23, wherein the tracking component automatically creates the metadata when the user
accesses the first user workspace.
25. The system of claim 23, wherein the context component captures relationship data associated with a relationship
between the first user workspace and at least one other user
workspace.
26. The system of claim 23, wherein an application
associated with the first user workspace is automatically

accessible via the second user workspace when the user
moves from the first user workspace to the second user
workspace.
27. The system of claim 23, wherein context data relating
to an item of communication is automatically stored and
used in performance of communication tasks.
28. The system of claim 23, wherein the context component captures data and application functionality related to a
user-defined topic of the first user workspace, and includes
the data and application functionality in the metadata.
29. The system of claim 23, wherein when the data
created in the first user workspace is accessed from the
second user workspace, in response to which the context
component adds information to the metadata about the
second user workspace.
30. The system of claim 23, wherein the first user workspace is associated with a plurality of different applications,
the plurality of different applications comprising telephony,
unified messaging, decision support, document management, portals, chat, collaboration, search, vote, relationship
management, calendar, personal information management,
profiling, directory management, executive infonnation systems, dashboards, cockpits, tasking, meeting and, web and
video conferencing.
31. The system of claim 23, wherein the storage component stores the data and the metadata according to at least
one of a relational and an object storage methodology.
32. The system of claim 23, wherein storing of the
metadata in the storage component in association with data
facilitates many-to-many functionality of the data via the
metadata.
33. The system of claim 23, wherein the first user workspace provides access to at least one communications tool,
which includes e-mail, voicemail, fax, teleconferencing,
instant message, chat, contacts, calendar, task, notes, news,
ideas, vote, web and video conferencing, and document
sharing functionality.
34. The system of claim 23, wherein one or more applications include file storage pointers that are dynamic and
associated with the first user workspace.
35. The system of claim 23, wherein the context component facilitates encryption of the data generated in the first
user workspace.

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