Method for associating a discussion with a document
AssigneeMicrosoft Corporation
InventorsMichael Joseph Morton, David Serge Ebbo, Samudra Sengupta
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Associating a discussion with a document by associating the discussion with an identifier for the document, such as the document address. A discussion is associated with the document without modifying the document. A reply can be associated with a general discussion, an in-line discussion or another reply. General and/or in-line discussions can be associated with the document. An in-line discussion is associated with a particular portion of the document through a signature. The signature is determined by analyzing the contents of the document near the in-line discussion location.
Claims28
A method for displaying a general discussion and an in-line discussion that have an association with a document, the in-line discussion including an identifier for an in-line discussion location in the document, comprising the steps of:
- detecting a request to access the document, wherein the request to access the document operates as a request to obtain any discussions associated with the document;
- in response to the request, obtaining the document, the general discussion and the in-line discussion;
- displaying the document;
- displaying the general discussion;
- determining a possible location in the document for the in-line discussion;
- calculating a signature for the possible location;
- determining whether the signature matches the identifier;
- and if the signature matches the identifier, then displaying the in-line discussion at the possible location.
A method for identifying a plurality of locations in a document for an in-line discussion associated with the document, comprising the steps of:
- identifying the locations based upon locations of elements in the document;
- for each of the identified locations:
- calculating a signature for the location based upon document contents proximate to the location, and
- displaying a discussion icon at the location to indicate that an in-line discussion can be inserted at the location;
- detecting a selection of the discussion icon;
- receiving in-line discussion text for the in-line discussion;
- displaying the in-line discussion at the location;
- and
- associating the in-line discussion with the document through a document address.
A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for displaying an in-line discussion associated with a document, the in-line discussion having an in-line discussion signature, comprising the steps of:
- detecting a request to access the document, wherein the request to access the document operates as a request to obtain any discussions associated with the document;
- in response to the request, obtaining the document and the in-line discussion;
- determining possible in-line discussion locations in the document;
- calculating a signature for each of the possible in-line discussion locations;
- comparing the signatures to the in-line discussion signature for a match;
- and
- if one of the signatures is the match to the in-line discussion identifier, then displaying the in-line discussion text at the possible in-line discussion location identified by the match.
A method for associating a document and an in-line discussion, comprising the steps of:
- (a) displaying the document;
- (b) receiving the discussion, the discussion including an in-line discussion and an in-line discussion signature identifying an in-line discussion location;
- (c) associating the discussion with a document identifier for the document;
- (d) detecting a request to access the document, wherein the request to access the document operates as a request to obtain any discussions associated with the document;
- (e) in response to the request, obtaining the document and the discussion;
- (f) displaying the document;
- (g) determining a possible discussion location in the document;
- (h) calculating a signature for the possible discussion location;
- (i) determining whether the signature matches the in-line signature;
- and
- (j) if the signature matches the in-line signature, then displaying the in-line discussion text at the possible discussion location.
A method for associating a reply with an in-line discussion that includes an identifier for an in-line discussion location, comprising the steps of:
- (a) detecting a request to access a document;
- (b) in response to the request, obtaining the in-line discussion;
- (c) displaying the in-line discussion at the in-line discussion location by:
- determining a possible location in the document for the in-line discussion;
- calculating a signature for the possible location;
- determining whether the signature matches the identifier;
- and
- if the signature matches the identifier, then displaying the in-line discussion at the possible location;
- (d) receiving reply text for the reply;
- (e) displaying the reply following the in-line discussion;
- and
- (f) associating the reply with the parent discussion through an identifier for the parent discussion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.