Messaging including standard and custom characters

A method for receiving and displaying messages including both standard and custom characters, the method comprising:

• (a) a client device receiving message data from a second client device,
• wherein
• the message data includes one or more standard characters, one or more unique custom character references, and a tag word associated with each of the unique custom character reference(s),
• each of the standard character(s) is included within a Unicode Standard, and
• each of the unique custom character references is associated with a corresponding custom character that is not included within the Unicode Standard;
• (b) the client device obtaining, for each of the unique custom character reference(s) included in the received message data, image data for the custom character associated with the unique custom character reference, wherein the client device obtaining the image data for the custom character(s) associated with the unique custom character reference(s) comprises:
• (b.1) the client device determining, for each unique custom character reference of the one or more unique custom character references the is/are received by the client device from the second client device, whether image data associated with the unique custom character reference is stored in a local data store of the client device;
• (b.2) for each unique custom character reference for which the client device determines that the image data associated therewith is stored in the local data store of the client device, the client device obtaining that image data associated therewith from the local data store of the client device without the client device issuing a remote query for the image data associated therewith to a remote server;
• (b.3) for each unique custom character reference for which the client device determines that the image data associated therewith is not stored in the local data store of the client device, the client device issuing a remote query for the image data associated therewith to a remote server and receiving the image data associated therewith from the remote server;
• and
• (b.4) the client device saving in the local data store thereof the image data received in response to issuing the remote query therefor to the remote server, so that the saved image data is thereafter available to the client device at a later time without the client device needing to issue another remote query therefor to the remote server;
• wherein the client device obtaining the image data for the custom character(s) associated with the unique custom character reference(s) is performing without the client device receiving the image data associated with the custom character(s) from the second client device;
• and
• (c) displaying, via a user interface of the client device, the one or more standard characters received from the second client device and the one or more custom characters that is/are associated with the one or more unique custom character references included in the received message data.

One or more processor readable storage devices having instructions encoded thereon which when executed cause one or more processors of a client device to provide a client messaging application operable to:

• provide a messaging user interface for the device;
• store, within a local data store of the client device, a unique custom character reference for each of a plurality of custom characters, image data for each of the plurality of custom characters for which the unique custom character reference is stored, and one or more tag words for each of the plurality of custom characters for which the unique custom character reference is stored;
• accept and display, via the messaging user interface of a client device, a message within a message entry field;
• issue both a local query to the local data store of the client device and a remote query to a remote server, each time a standard character is selected for inclusion in the message entry field via the user interface of the client device, to thereby identify unique custom character references that have a tag word associated with the accepted standard character or a sequence of standard characters including the accepted standard character, if any exist;
• compare the unique custom character reference(s) that is/are returned in response to the local query to the unique custom character reference(s) that is/are returned in response to the remote query to thereby identify which custom character image data is not yet stored in the local data store of the client device;
• obtain, from the local data store of the client device, the image data for each of the unique custom character reference(s) identified in response to the local query;
• obtain, from the remote server, and save in the local data store of the client device, the image data for each of the unique custom character reference(s) identified as not yet having been stored in the local data store of the client device;
• and
• display, in a custom character tray, the one or more custom characters for which the image data is obtained from the local data store of the client device and/or from the remote server;
• accept an indication that the user of the client device wants to send the message being displayed within the message entry field to a second user of a second client device;
• send, from the client device to the second client device in response to the indication being accepted, message data that includes the following:
• the one or more standard characters included in the message entry field when the indication is accepted,
• the unique custom character reference associated with each of one or more custom characters included in the message entry field when the indication is accepted, and
• the at least one tag word associated with each of the custom character(s) included in the message entry field when the indication is accepted,
• wherein each of the standard character(s) is included within a Unicode Standard, and
• wherein each of the custom character(s) is not included within the Unicode Standard.

A server system, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• one or more data stores configured to store
• client data for each of a plurality of clients that are each associated with a respective client device;
• a unique custom character reference, one or more tag words, and image data associated with each of a plurality of custom characters;
• and
• a server messaging application including instructions that are executable by the one or more processors, the server messaging application operable to:
• receive a unique custom character reference query including one or more standard characters from a said client device, and in response thereto, identify one or more of the unique custom character references that have a tag word associate therewith that includes the one or more standard characters included in the unique custom character reference query;
• send to the client device from which the unique custom character reference query was received, a list of the identified one or more of the unique custom character references that have a tag word associate therewith that includes the one or more standard characters included in the unique custom character reference query;
• receive an image data query including a unique custom character reference from the client device, and in response thereto, identify image data for a custom character associated with the unique custom character reference included in the image data query;
• and
• send to the client device from which the image data query was received, image data for the custom character associated with the unique custom character reference included in the image data query;
• wherein the standard characters that are included within the Unicode Standard are selectable by the user of the client device via a virtual keyboard of the user interface of the client device;
• wherein image data for the standard characters that are included within the Unicode Standard are provided by the operating system of the client device, which is stored in a local data store of the client device;
• and
• wherein the image data for each of the custom character(s) is not provided by the operating system of the client device.