Structured Data Objects: US Patent 5,428,729 commenting on US Patent 5,008,853

The following quoted text is a comment on the following Patent Library entry US Patent 5,008,853: Representation of collaborative multi-user activities relative to shared structured data objects in a networked workstation environment (Xerox Corporation) Φ by inventors Roger A. Chang et al. in US Patent 5,428,729: System and method for computer aided software engineering (IBM Corporation).

• "Concepts relating to control of relationships between individuals in a networked workstation system are also of relevance to the present invention. Bly et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,853, discloses a multiuser collaborative system operating on a real-time basis. The particular focus of Bly et al. is the multiuser interface. Another aspect of Bly et al. are methods relating to access of "structured data objects". The term structured data object is used generically to denote a data object that contains a series of other data objects linked together in a predetermined manner and which may include a visual representation or a functional abstraction for a display screen. Member data objects of the structured data object may have associated sets of operations brought together for one or more functional purposes. An example of a structured data object is a word processing document with several pages, where each page is a data object and pages are preceding and subsequent pages in a predetermined order. A structured data object that is capable of holding other structured data objects is referred to as a container. Bly discloses employment of containers in a shared multiuser environment, where it is accessible to more than one user through a plurality of network coupled personal workstations.
  
  Representation of a structured data object in iconic form is discussed at column 2, lines 50-55 of Bly et al. Among the iconic representations are a container type known as a book, which is a special directory that creates a relationship among document portions within the book. Consecutive documents in a book can share a single page number series and there is a facility to automatically create a table of contents and index.
  
  Structured data objects, such as file folders and documents digitally stored in a file drawer, can be shared by many users in accordance with individually assigned access rights. This is accomplished by placing a digital copy of a structured data object on the user's desktop metaphor for the user's subsequent manipulation. Communications of revisions among users, if desired, must be specifically provided for.
  
  Bly et al. specifically relates to construction of a publication management system. (See column 11, lines 32-61). The system is implemented through the abstraction of a shared book metaphor. The desktop metaphor of each workstation includes an abstraction representing the shared data structure, which abstraction is referred to as the shared book. A new book is begun by replication of a blank shared book and naming the replicated structure. Upon opening of a shared book by a user, a listing of entries, analogous to a table of contents, is displayed. However, a shared book does not admit other container type files (see column 18, lines 50-60). Beyond the pages of text for the shared book, the shared book also includes a property sheet providing fields for items that concern the shared book as a whole. These include the shared book's name, its file service, its database, its access list, the number of remote consecutive versions among other operational details." [emphasis added]
  

Structured Data Objects: US Patent 5,388,196 commenting on US Patent 4,974,173

The following quoted text is a comment on the following Patent Library entry US Patent 4,974,173: Small-scale workspace representations indicating activities by other users (Xerox Corporation) Φ by inventors Henry G. Pajak et al. in US Patent 5,388,196: Hierarchical shared books with database (Xerox Corporation). The following is a worthy comment but it should nonetheless be considered in the context of one set of Xerox inventors commenting on previous work by another set of Xerox inventors.

• "This invention relates to collaboration among users in a networked workstation system, i.e. a real-time computer-based cooperative, multi-user environment, through a multi-user interface. More specifically, the invention relates to the manner in which shared structured, hierarchical containers and data bases are represented, accessed and controlled in a collaborative system.
  
  In a multi-user interface in a collaborative system, there must be an interface utility that permits multi-users to participate simultaneously together and share access to information relative to their participation.
  
  A wide variety of user interface techniques are known for enabling more than one user to access a structured data object. In some techniques, a structured data object is only displayed to one user at a time, while in others, a structured data object is displayed to a number of users at the same time.
  
  The term, "structured data object", is used herein to generically mean a data object that contains a series of other data objects linked together in a predetermined manner which may or may not include a visual representation or functional abstraction on a display screen. Such data objects may have an associated set of operations and be linked to one another for one or more functional purposes. An example of a structured data object is the electronic version of a multi-page document wherein each page is a data object linked to both preceding and subsequent pages, which are data objects, in a predetermined order. Another example is a workspace or desktop, as defined by the display screen containing multiple structured data objects, e.g., file folders or documents, which, in turn, may contain other structured data objects. For example, a file folder may contain several documents, other file folders or a file drawer. A structured data object that is capable of holding other structured data objects is also referred to in the art as a "container", e.g., a file folder is a container for documents. Another example is hypertext linked structured data objects wherein individual workspaces or text windows, themselves may be linked together in a predetermined manner. In U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 030,766, filed Mar. 25, 1987, [now US Patent 5,072,412] entitled, "User Interface With Multiple Workspaces For Sharing Display System Objects", assigned to the assignee herein and incorporated herein by reference thereto, the term, "structured data objects" would include "display objects", "container" and "display system object" as defined therein.
  
  The present invention deals with the employment of structured files in a shared multi-user environment, in particular, a hierarchy of containers and documents containing structured data objects such as tables, fields, graphics, and data attachments with related data bases that are shared and easily accessed. The selective exclusion of containers and documents is also included. In this context, the term "shared structure object" has reference to files and the structured data objects within them that are accessible to more than one user through network coupled display workstations.
  
  As is known in the art, the representation and display of structured data objects in a workstation environment may take various forms. A common technique is to present the contents or entries of structured data objects in a display region or workspace, such as a view window, on a CRT display. In order to maintain an unclustered display area in the displayed setting, however, it may be useful to provide a shrunken or small representation of the structured data object, such as an iconic representation, when a user is not engaging in activities relating to the structured data object. Such a representation of data may take the form of iconic representations of different structured data objects positioned on a workspace of a display screen, e.g., a display illustrating an office desktop metaphor employing various abstractions of a typical office environment, representative of real office objects, both physically accessible directly while seated at a desk or only physically accessible by moving from a desk to another office location away from the desk. Examples of these abstractions are a desktop, inbasket, outbasket, documents file folders and "books", which contains two or more consecutive document portions which together comprise a complete document. An example of such an office metaphor is the ViewPoint.TM. ("VP") software system available from Xerox Corporation in connection with its 8010 and 8065 display workstations. A more detailed description of this system and iconic representation therein is found in U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 856,525, filed Apr. 28, 1986, assigned to the assignee herein and incorporated herein by reference thereto. This application also contains subject matter related, in certain aspects, to the subject matter of patent application Ser. No. 127,814 (D/87009), filed Dec. 2, 1987, [now US Patent 4,974,173] entitled, "Small-Scale Workspace Representations Indicating Activities by Other Users", assigned to the same assignee herein and also incorporated herein by reference thereto.
  
  A "book" in the ViewPoint software system is a structured data object of the container type and is a special directory that creates a relationship among the document portions that are contained in the book. Consecutive documents in a book can share a single page number series so that each document or a selected order of selected documents in the book automatically inherit sequential page numbering proceeding from document to document of the book. Also, scrolling from one document will automatically continue into the next sequential document. Further, there is a facility to automatically create a table of contents and index for the book which will automatically include content and indexing material into the table and index created relative to each document in the book. Lastly, the book will print as a single document.
  
  The ViewPoint ("VP") software system includes a form of "shared" structured data objects in the form of the file drawer abstraction, described in "Filing", VP Series Reference Library, Version 1.0, Xerox Corporation, 1985, pp. 1-60. As described at pages 4-7 and 20-21, a file drawer stores information on a remote file server, which is a physically remote accessible device so that the iconic representation is referred to as a reference icon on the desktop and is shown in half tone to represent this remote state. Structured data objects, such as file folders and documents digitally stored in a file drawer, can be shared by many users, in accordance with access rights, as illustrated at pages 40-43, i.e., users with access rights can access copies of data objects from the same file drawer. A file drawer is represented on the display by a relatively small icon with a pictorial file drawer representation with a name appearing within the representation. As explained in patent application Ser. No. 856,526, a sequence of keyboard and mouse signals, the user can select the icon and request an <OPEN> operation, in which case a window appears on the display workspace showing the file drawer contents, as described and shown at pages 9-10 and 32-34. Unless covered by a window, the file drawer icon remains visible in shadow form while file drawer window remains in its opened state. The user can subsequently close the file drawer window, in which case, the window disappears and the icon resumes its original solid iconic appearance. The ViewPoint system also includes other reference icons described at pages 11-15, 22-25 and 49-60, which can also be used to access a "shared" structured data object.
  
  Thus, relative to "shared" structured data objects located in a remote digitally storage facility or file service represented as a file drawer abstraction of the desktop, it is important to note that access of a structured data object is possible by multiple users having proper access rights to the file drawer for placing a digital copy of a structured data object on the user's desktop for subsequent manipulation, editing, revision, insertion of new material, etc. In this sense, several users may access and share the same data or the same structured data objects, but individual users would be unaware of any changes made by other users unless other users restored the modified version of the structured data object back into the same file drawer and, further, other users periodically checked to see if and when an updated version of the structured data object may have been so restored, absent an electronic or phone message to other users informing them of the restored revision.
  
  The prior art also includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,504 to Obermarck et al. discloses a method and means for the sharing of data resources in a multiprocessing, multiprogramming environment wherein a matrix to determine compatibility between two user's requests is shown. See col. 6, lines 38-54. A variable, DBRC, keeps track of the databases usage. See col. 9, line 31-col. 10, line 5. A method to control multiple concurrent accesses to data is shown. See col. 29, lines 49-66." [emphasis added]
  

Structured Data Objects: US Patent 5,220,657 commenting on US Patent 4,974,173

The following quoted text is a comment on the following Patent Library entry US Patent 4,974,173: Small-scale workspace representations indicating activities by other users (Xerox Corporation) Φ by inventors Sara A. Bly et al. in US Patent 5,220,657: Updating local copy of shared data in a collaborative system (Xerox Corporation). The following is a worthy comment but it should nonetheless be considered in the context of one set of Xerox inventors commenting on previous work by another set of Xerox inventors.

• "Copending, coassigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/127,997, now continued as Ser. No. 07/570,984; entitled "Multiple Shared Virtual Workspaces"*, and incorporated herein by reference, relates to the sharing of information and workspaces in a collaborative environment. In addition to the explanation set forth in that patent application as well as in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07485,773, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,173, which was a continuation of 07/127,814, now abandoned, the present invention involves the notion of a particular representation of shared structured data objects. The term, "shared structure object" is used herein to refer to any structured data object that is accessible to more than one user. A representation of a shared structured data object is any way of displaying shared data represented by the object and its contents, whether as a simple display object, as the contents of the entire display screen, or as the contents of any workspace, whether the workspace is thought of as a room, a window, a blackboard, a sketchpad, a spreadsheet, a card or any other type of entity for presenting data within an area of a display. A representation may be at full scale, occupying a substantial part of the display area, in which case the details of the shared data will ordinarily be visible to a viewer, albeit in some mapped form, such as, a sequence of characters or a bitmapped graphical object. Such a body of shared structured data objects may be amenable to many different full scale representations, as when a document can be displayed page-by-page in a desired sequence. A representation may also be at a small scale, occupying a small part of the display area, in which case, the details of the shared structured data object may not be visible. A small scale representation may also be a small portion of the full scale representation of the same shared data, showing details relating in specific ways to or attributes of the shared structured data object; it could be a shrunken version of the full scale representation of a structured data object, showing some general features of the full scale representation but omitting details; a reduced scale representation could also be an icon or other small display abstraction that shows virtually none of the features or attributes of the full scale representation other than an identifier such as a name or configuration of a structured data object.
  
  Due to the limits of human perception and the typical display size, the smallest reduced scale representations of a structured data object frequently have a fixed size of about one square inch or less, e.g., an icon symbol. The size of a reduced scale representation is typically large enough to have a characteristic shape and an identifier. Such a representation may not itself enable the user to access the corresponding data, but it may typically be selected as part of an operation to obtain a full scale representation of the corresponding data. Full scale representations, on the other hand, are often variable in size and can range from a few square inches up to the full available display area, typically enabling a user to select a display object within the full scale representation upon which an operation is to be performed, resulting in access to the corresponding data. Many conventional graphical user interfaces have readily identifiable full scale and reduced scale representations of data, respectively, such as windows and icons. The structured data object representation of this invention involves attributes of both reduced scale and full scale representations." [emphasis added]
  

* A search at USPTO for TTL/"Multiple Shared Virtual Workspaces" on 12 June 2008 revealed no results.

Structured Data Objects: US Patent 6,088,702 commenting on US Patent 5,220,657

The following quoted text is a comment on both of the following Patent Library entries:

1. US Patent 5,008,853: Representation of collaborative multi-user activities relative to shared structured data objects in a networked workstation environment (Xerox Corporation) Φ, and
2. US Patent 5,220,657: Updating local copy of shared data in a collaborative system (Xerox Corporation) Φ

by inventors Scott H. Plantz et al. in US Patent 6,088,702: Group publishing system (Plantz, Scott H. et al.):

• "In U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,008,853 and 5,220,657 (the '853 and '657 patents), a real-time, WYSIWIS ("what you see is what I see") system is described for manipulation of so-called "structured data objects," including multi-page documents, wherein each page linked to other pages in a predetermined order, is considered a "structured data object" [column/line citation omitted]. Specifically excluded from the types of "structured data objects" that may be employed according to the '853 and '657 patents are hierarchical texts, such as folders, record files, books, shared books themselves, and reference icons [column/line citation omitted]. As will be seen, the present group publishing system is not so limited. In addition, from [column/line citation omitted] of the '853 patent, it appears that in order to author or edit any section of a shared data object, a copy of the section of the object must be downloaded from a file server to the particular user's desktop machine, modified, and then re-uploaded to the file server for integration into the shared data object. Accordingly, multiple copies of a given document, or sections thereof, may exist on many different computers at the same time [column/line citation omitted]. Although the referenced patent relates efforts to update all users as to current data, the fact remains that multiple copies of an existing document may exist at various locations at the same time. As will be seen, this is essentially the inverse of the present system, in which all data and modifications to a group-authored document are made by each user on a single existing document resident on a central computer, thereby avoiding the problem of multiple versions of a document on different computers at the same time. Further, it is noted that throughout, the locking of a document by a given user may be a user-specified function, as opposed to a system imposed function (see for example [column/line citation omitted] of the '853 patent; however, see also [column/line citation omitted] which seems to imply some level of automatic system lockup of documents). This raises the difficulty that when other authors or editors need to access a locked document, contact with the locking author may first be required [column/line citation omitted]. In addition, if an author or editor fails to lock a document they are working on, others may access unedited versions of the same document, thus causing confusion, loss of time and efficiency. As will be seen, in the instant system, access to a document or subsection thereof automatically prevents others from accessing the document or section until the first author or editor has completed work on that document or section. These and other differences will be apparent from a review of the complete disclosure of the present invention, which follows ...." [emphasis added]
  

Categorizing the Internet's Serious Problems

The following quoted text is taken from the statement of prior art in US patent application entitled Methods and systems for managing entities in a computing device using semantic objects filed in 2003 by Nova Spivack and Kristinn Thorisson, and assigned to Radar Networks, Inc., the provider of Twine. I've also blogged about this patent application in US Patent App 20040158455:  Methods and systems for managing entities in a computing device using semantic objects (Radar Networks) Φ. And I previously blogged about Spivack and Twine in The Funding of the Emerging Semantic Web.

This statement of prior art categorizes the Internet's serious problems into the following categories:

1. Information overload
2. Information complexity
3. Dis-integration
4. Spam
5. Lack of targeting
6. Lack of personalization
7. Lack of privacy control
8. Information deficit

Here's the quoted text:

• "Knowledge workers, teams and organizations routinely work with a large and complex array of information. This includes e-mail messages, instant messages, chats, discussion postings, calendars, contact and to-do lists, documents, photos, maps, and database records. This information also includes tacit knowledge and expertise that resides only in people's heads. The average knowledge worker interacts with several dozen information types, hundreds of Web sites, and dozens of different applications. Existing information systems are focused mainly on data, rather than on relationships between data. There is a growing need to enable applications and users to see how various types of information are related across different information systems and locations. However, there is no tool for connecting, managing and sharing this information in a unified way.
  
  The growth of the Internet, as well as the increasing amount of information it contains, are leading to serious problems for many computer users. In particular, they are leading to a problem referred to as "information overload" in which parties are overwhelmed by more information than they can effectively process, navigate, search, track, respond to, utilize, cope with, or manage given limited time and resources.
  
  A related problem is "information complexity" in which, due to the sheer volume of information choices on the Internet, and its disassociated nature, is making it overly difficult to locate particular desired information when it is needed. Another related problem is "dis-integration" that arises due to incompatible or nonstandard information and services, which leads to software and service incompatibilities, as well as obstacles to processing and managing information effectively. Another problem is "spam" that arises when Internet participants receive unsolicited, unwanted, or irrelevant information from other parties on the Internet. An additional problem that is related to spam is "lack of targeting" which arises because information providers such as publishers, advertisers, and marketers are unable to effectively distribute their information to appropriate, interested parties, due to lack of information about the interests and policies of those parties.
  
  Another related problem that is also related to spam is called "lack of personalization" which arises when parties on the Internet are unable to effectively subscribe to, filter or control the information they get from others. Another problem is "lack of privacy control" which results because Internet participants are unable to effectively control what information about themselves is shared with or by other parties on the Internet. Yet another drawback is "information deficit" that results when parties are unable to find, or do not receive, the information they need or are relevant to, even though it is available somewhere on the Internet or even on their own computers.
  
  These problems, and related problems, are becoming serious obstacles to knowledge work, commerce, collaboration, publishing, marketing, advertising, search, communications and communities. In particular these problems are reducing the productivity of Internet participants. Parties must spend increasing amounts of time and resources searching for information they seek, trying to ensure that they receive information they want from others, trying to block or delete unwanted information received from others, responding to information they receive from others, managing and organizing information they want, tracking changes to information of interest to them, trying to distribute relevant information to others appropriately and trying not to mistakenly distribute unwanted or irrelevant information to others. With the expanding and pervasive use of the Internet and its increasingly central role in relationships, interactions and transactions of all kinds, those entities that provide content and/or Internet software tools and services are searching for and implementing ways to solve the above problems. However, attempts to solve these problems face numerous obstacles. Presently the Internet is comprised of many separate infrastructures and software tools that are used for different modes of communication. For example, e-mail communication takes place via e-mail servers and client software applications that communicate via specialized e-mail messaging protocols, yet Web searching for example takes place using search engines and databases that are accessed via Web browser software and Web transaction protocols. Thus, even if one were to solve the problem of information overload for e-mail it would not necessarily solve this same problem for Web searching.
  
  A principal problem stems from present systems' inability to store, route and use meta-data about the data resources that they manipulate. It is therefore a goal of the present invention to provide a comprehensive solution to these limitations, in the areas of information overload, search, sharing, collaboration, communication, transactions, knowledge management, information distribution, and automated and manual manipulation of computer-stored data and resources, allowing information to be connected in meaningful ways.
  
  Using traditional search systems, parties seeking something enter queries that are tested against databases of information that are provided by one or more parties with things to offer. If matches are found, the seekers are notified with links to the appropriate provider. One problem with such systems, however, is that they do not work in reverse; there is no way for providers to locate seekers who want what they offer. Instead, providers must wait passively to be found by seekers. Seekers on the other hand, must do all the work. Another problem is that it offers only search by keyword; there are no mechanisms that support higher-level organization of the information.
  
  Providers who want to be found may resort to marketing in order to reach seekers. For example, many search engines provide an option to buy keyword advertising, enabling providers to market what they offer to seekers who enter relevant queries. Although they do this, they do not enable providers to search for seekers who want what they offer, nor do they help them locate seekers who are not presently searching but are still interested. Thus providers must use external marketing channels such as direct email, banner advertising, paper-based direct mail and other forms of advertising to locate interested seekers. These inefficiencies result in increased transaction costs for seekers and for providers.
  
  The present invention provides a single universal underlying infrastructure for managing information overload, distributing, locating and filtering information between information providers and recipients that works equally well across all types of Internet relationships, interactions and transactions. This single solution can be used to route and filter e-mail and instant messages, search the Internet, share files, publish and subscribe to information, market and advertise, coordinate and collaborate with others, personalize services, engage in online communities, and improve the efficiency of on-line commerce between buyers, sellers and intermediaries." (emphasis added)