Time line display of chat conversations
AssigneeGoogle Inc.
InventorsMichael Sego, Aaron Whyte, Braden Kowitz, Keith Coleman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
GP-707-02: Chat messages in a chat session may be displayed in a timeline view. Messages are displayed in a first display region. Timestamps of the chat messages are displayed in a second region. The messages are aligned with their respective timestamps, akin to a timeline. Timestamps for all messages need not be displayed; a timestamp may be omitted if the corresponding message occurs in the “same” time as another message. Breaks of no messaging activity that are longer than a predefined amount of time are shown with graphical objects such as a line. The objects also indicate the length of the break.
Claims14
A graphical user interface for displaying chat messages in a chat session, comprising:
- a first column for displaying chat messages in a chat session;
- a second column, spaced from the first column, for displaying timestamps associated with at least a subset of the chat messages in the chat session;
- and
- a graphical object to be displayed between pairs of consecutive chat messages in the chat session that have a timestamp difference greater than a predefined amount.
A method of displaying chat messages, comprising:
- receiving and sending a plurality of chat messages in a chat session;
- displaying the chat messages in a first display region;
- displaying timestamps for a subset of the chat messages in a second display region;
- and
- displaying a graphical object between pairs of consecutive chat messages in the chat session that have a timestamp difference greater than a predefined amount.
A system for displaying chat messages, comprising:
- a message display module comprising instructions:
- to display a plurality of chat messages of a chat session in a first display region;
- to display timestamps for at least a subset of the chat messages in a second display region;
- and
- to display a graphical object between pairs of consecutive chat messages in the chat session that have a timestamp difference greater than a predefined amount.
A computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising instructions for:
- displaying a plurality of chat messages of a chat session in a first display region;
- displaying timestamps for at least a subset of the chat messages in a second display region;
- and
- displaying a graphical object pairs of consecutive chat messages in the chat session that have a timestamp difference greater than a predefined amount.
A system for displaying chat messages, comprising:
- means for displaying a plurality of chat messages of a chat session in a first display region;
- means for displaying timestamps for at least a subset of the chat messages in a second display region;
- and
- means for displaying a graphical object pairs of consecutive chat messages in the chat session that have a timestamp difference greater than a predefined amount.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.