U.S. patent application number 15/802460 was filed with the patent office on 2019-05-09 for spreadsheet comment navigation.
The applicant listed for this patent is Dropbox, Inc.. Invention is credited to Constance Gwendolyn Duong, Andrew Udell.
Application Number | 20190138589 15/802460 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 66328581 |
Filed Date | 2019-05-09 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20190138589 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Udell; Andrew ; et
al. |
May 9, 2019 |
SPREADSHEET COMMENT NAVIGATION
Abstract
A collaborative content management system allows for the
mutual-synchronization of content within a spreadsheet and within a
document in which a set of spreadsheet cells are embedded. When a
user modifies the embedded set of cells, the spreadsheet is updated
to reflect the modification. A set of tasks, for instance each
associated with descriptive text and one or more interactive
elements, can be incorporated into a set of spreadsheet cells such
that a user can interact with the tasks. A data value from a
spreadsheet cell can be embedded into a document such that when the
spreadsheet is updated and the data value changes, the
corresponding embedded data value within the document can be
changed. Spreadsheets can also include comments that can be
navigated using a movable interface element that changes position
within the spreadsheet based on a location of a set of cells
corresponding to a comment.
Inventors: |
Udell; Andrew; (San
Francisco, CA) ; Duong; Constance Gwendolyn;
(Seattle, WA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Dropbox, Inc. |
San Francisco |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
66328581 |
Appl. No.: |
15/802460 |
Filed: |
November 3, 2017 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 40/18 20200101;
G06F 40/169 20200101; G06F 40/197 20200101; G06Q 10/103
20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/24 20060101
G06F017/24; G06Q 10/10 20060101 G06Q010/10 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: receiving, by a device and from a
collaborative content management system, a spreadsheet stored by
the collaborative content management system, the spreadsheet
including a set of cells organized into one or more columns and one
or more rows, wherein each of a plurality of subsets of cells of
the set of cells is associated with a comment; displaying, by the
device, the spreadsheet such that one or more of the subsets of
cells are displayed; receiving, by the device, a request to view a
first comment associated with a displayed first subset of cells;
displaying, by the device, an interface element in a first location
within the spreadsheet associated with the first subset of cells,
the interface element including the first comment associated with
the first subset of cells and including one or more navigation
buttons; receiving, by the device, an interaction with a navigation
button included in the interface element to request to view a
second comment associated with a second subset of cells; and
moving, by the device, the displayed interface element to a second
location within the spreadsheet associated with the second subset
of cells, the interface element including the second comment
associated with the second subset of cells.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the comments associated with the
plurality of subsets of cells are ordered, and wherein the request
to view the second comment associated with the second subset of
cells comprises one of a request to view a next comment within the
ordered comments and a previous comment within the ordered
comments.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein a representative first cell in
the first subset of cells is associated with a first location
within the spreadsheet, wherein a representative second cell in the
second subset of cells is associated with a second location within
the spreadsheet, and wherein no other subset of cells of the
plurality of subsets of cells includes a representative cell
associated with a comment at a column within the spreadsheet closer
to a column of the first location than a column of the second
location.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first subset of cells is
associated with a first row of the spreadsheet, wherein the second
subset of cells is associated with a second row of the spreadsheet,
and wherein no other subset of cells of the plurality of subsets of
cells is associated with a row between the first row and the second
row.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first row and the second row
comprise different rows, wherein the request to view the second
comment associated with the second subset of cells comprises a
request to view a next comment, and wherein the second row is
located below the first row within the spreadsheet.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein the first row and the second row
comprise different rows, wherein the request to view the second
comment associated with the second subset of cells comprises a
request to view a previous comment, and wherein the second row is
located above the first row within the spreadsheet.
7. The method of claim 4, wherein the first row and the second row
comprise the same row, wherein the first subset of cells is
associated with a first column of the spreadsheet, wherein the
second subset of cells is associated with a second column of the
spreadsheet, and wherein no other subset of cells of the plurality
of subsets of cells is both associated with the first row and
associated with a column between the first column and the second
column.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first subset of cells is
associated with a first column of the spreadsheet, wherein the
second subset of cells is associated with a second column of the
spreadsheet, and wherein no other subset of cells of the plurality
of subsets of cells is associated with a column between the first
column and the second column.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first column and the second
column comprise different columns, wherein the request to view the
second comment associated with the second subset of cells comprises
a request to view a next comment, and wherein the second column is
located to the right of the first column within the
spreadsheet.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the first column and the second
column comprise different columns, wherein the request to view the
second comment associated with the second subset of cells comprises
a request to view a previous comment, and wherein the second column
is located to the left of the first column within the
spreadsheet.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein each subset of cells of the
plurality of subsets of cells is associated with a time, wherein
the first subset of cells is associated with a first time, and
wherein the second subset of cells is associated with a second time
such that no other subset of cells of the plurality of subsets of
cells is associated with a time between the first time and the
second time.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the second comment associated
with the second subset of cells is selected based on one or more
of: a most recent edit to the spreadsheet, a most recent comment on
the spreadsheet, an author of the second comment associated with
the second subset of cells, a number of comments associated with
the second subset of cells, a task associated with the second
subset of cells, and an identity of a user tagged in association
with the second subset of cells.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request to view a
second comment associated with the second subset of cells comprises
receiving an interaction with an interface element corresponding to
one of a next comment and a previous comment.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the second comment associated
with the second subset of cells is selected automatically in
response to receiving the interaction with the interface element
corresponding to the next comment or the previous comment.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein a portion of the spreadsheet
displayed on the device shifts in response to moving the displayed
interface element and based on a location of the second subset of
cells.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the displayed interface element
is overlaid onto the spreadsheet such that portions of the
displayed spreadsheet surround the interface element.
17. The method of claim 1, wherein a size of the interface element
corresponds to an amount of description associated with the
comment.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein a size of the interface element
corresponds to a number of comments associated with the first
subset of cells, and wherein a plurality of the number of comments
are displayed within the interface element.
19. A system comprising: a processor; and a non-transitory
computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer
instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the
processor to perform steps comprising: accessing a spreadsheet
stored by the collaborative content management system, the
spreadsheet including a set of cells organized into one or more
columns and one or more rows, wherein each of a plurality of
subsets of cells of the set of cells is associated with a comment;
causing display of the spreadsheet such that one or more of the
subsets of cells are displayed; receiving a request to view a first
comment associated with a displayed first subset of cells; causing
display of an interface element in a first location within the
spreadsheet associated with the first subset of cells, the
interface element including the first comment associated with the
first subset of cells and including one or more navigation buttons;
receiving an interaction with a navigation button included in the
interface element to request to view a second comment associated
with a second subset of cells; and causing movement of the
displayed interface element to a second location within the
spreadsheet associated with the second subset of cells, the
interface element including the second comment associated with the
second subset of cells.
20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing
executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause
the processor to perform steps comprising: receiving a spreadsheet
stored by the collaborative content management system, the
spreadsheet including a set of cells organized into one or more
columns and one or more rows, wherein each of a plurality of
subsets of cells of the set of cells is associated with a comment;
displaying the spreadsheet such that one or more of the subsets of
cells are displayed; receiving a request to view a first comment
associated with a displayed first subset of cells; displaying an
interface element in a first location within the spreadsheet
associated with the first subset of cells, the interface element
including the first comment associated with the first subset of
cells and including one or more navigation buttons; receiving an
interaction with a navigation button included in the interface
element to request to view a second comment associated with a
second subset of cells; and moving the displayed interface element
to a second location within the spreadsheet associated with the
second subset of cells, the interface element including the second
comment associated with the second subset of cells.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The disclosed embodiments generally relate to features of
spreadsheets, and specifically to the implementation and management
of spreadsheets in a collaborative online environment.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The online, collaborative sharing of documents is typically
provided by a network-based file-sharing computer system that
allows multiple users to access and edit the files. Generally,
documents are created and edited by a specific type of native
application, such as a word processor or spreadsheet application.
However, online or networked implementations of spreadsheets
generally limit collaborative functionality, reducing the
usefulness of the spreadsheet to a group of users.
SUMMARY
[0003] In some embodiments, a collaborative content management
system accesses a collaborative content item. The collaborative
content management system receives a selected portion of a
spreadsheet and embeds it into the accessed collaborative content
item. The collaborative content item is displayed within an
interface of a device display such that the selected portion of a
spreadsheet is displayed. The collaborative content management
system receives an edit to data included within the selected
portion of the spreadsheet via the collaborative content item. The
collaborative content management system updates the spreadsheet
based on the received edit on the collaborative content item.
[0004] The collaborative content management system may receive a
request to add a set of tasks to a set of one or more cells of the
spreadsheet. The collaborative content management modifies the set
of cells to include the set of tasks. The collaborative content
management system provides the modified set of cells to a device
configured to display the modified set of cells. A user can
interact with a task of the set of tasks, for instance by marking
it completed, or by tagging another user in the task. The
collaborative content management system modifies a set of cells
corresponding to the task based on the interaction.
[0005] In some embodiments, the collaborative content management
system receives a request to embed a first data value included
within a first cell of a spreadsheet into a document. The
collaborative content management system modifies the document to
include text corresponding to the first data value, for instance
without incorporating structure of the spreadsheet itself. The
collaborative content management system displays the document
within an interface of a device display such that the first data
value is displayed within the document. The collaborative content
management system can receive an edit to one or more cells included
within the spreadsheet that modify the first data value of the
first cell to a second data value. The collaborative content
management system then automatically updates the document (for
instance, in real-time or after the edits to the spreadsheet are
synced with the collaborative content management system) by
replacing the first data value included within the document to the
second data value.
[0006] A device receives a spreadsheet from a collaborative content
management system. The spreadsheet includes sets of cells each
associated with a comment. The device displays the spreadsheet such
that one or more of the sets of cells are displayed. The device
receives a request to view a comment associated with a displayed
first set of cells. The device displays an interface element
including the comment in a first location within the spreadsheet
associated with the first subset of cells. When the device receives
a request to view a second comment associated with a second subset
of cells, the device moves the displayed interface element to a
second location within the spreadsheet associated with the second
subset of cells.
[0007] The features and advantages described in this summary and
the following detailed description are not all-inclusive. Many
additional features and advantages will be apparent to one of
ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings, specification,
and claims hereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 shows a diagram of a system environment of a content
management system and a collaborative content management system,
according to example embodiments.
[0009] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of components of a client
device, according to example embodiments.
[0010] FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a content management system,
according to example embodiments.
[0011] FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a collaborative content
management system, according to example embodiments.
[0012] FIG. 5A shows an example user interface of a collaborative
content item page including various comments, according to example
embodiments.
[0013] FIG. 5B shows an example user interface with a file-level
comment associated with the title of the collaborative content
item, according to example embodiments.
[0014] FIG. 6 shows an example portion of a spreadsheet, according
to example embodiments.
[0015] FIG. 7 shows a selected portion of a spreadsheet embedded in
a collaborative content item, according to example embodiments.
[0016] FIG. 8 is a flow chart that illustrates a process of
embedding a selected portion of a spreadsheet in a collaborative
content item, according to example embodiments.
[0017] FIG. 9 shows a set of tasks included within the cells of a
spreadsheet, according to example embodiments.
[0018] FIG. 10 shows a flow chart that illustrates a process of
managing tasks in a spreadsheet, according to example
embodiments.
[0019] FIG. 11 shows data from a spreadsheet cell embedded in a
document within a collaborative content management system,
according to example embodiments.
[0020] FIG. 12 shows a flow chart that illustrates a process of
embedding data from a spreadsheet into a document, according to
example embodiments.
[0021] FIGS. 13A through 13C illustrate the navigation of comments
within a spreadsheet, according to example embodiments.
[0022] FIG. 14 shows a flow chart that illustrates a process of
navigating comments within a spreadsheet, according to example
embodiments.
[0023] The figures depict various example embodiments of the
present technology for purposes of illustration only. One skilled
in the art will readily recognize from the following description
that other alternative example embodiments of the structures and
methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from
the principles of the technology described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0024] System Overview
[0025] FIG. 1 shows a system environment including content
management system 100, collaborative content management system 130,
and client devices 120a, 120b, and 120c (collectively or
individually "120"). Content management system 100 provides
functionality for sharing content items with one or more client
devices 120 and synchronizing content items between content
management system 100 and one or more client devices 120.
[0026] The content stored by content management system 100 can
include any type of content items, such as documents, spreadsheets,
collaborative content items, text files, audio files, image files,
video files, webpages, executable files, binary files, placeholder
files that reference other content items, etc. In some
implementations, a content item can be a portion of another content
item, such as an image that is included in a document. Content
items can also include collections, such as folders, namespaces,
playlists, albums, etc., that group other content items together.
The content stored by content management system 100 may be
organized in one configuration in folders, tables, or in other
database structures (e.g., object oriented, key/value etc.).
[0027] In some example embodiments, the content stored by content
management system 100 includes content items created by using third
party applications, e.g., word processors, video and image editors,
database management systems, spreadsheet applications, code
editors, and so forth, which are independent of content management
system 100.
[0028] In some example embodiments, content stored by content
management system 100 includes content items, e.g., collaborative
content items, created using a collaborative interface provided by
collaborative content management system 130. In various
implementations, collaborative content items can be stored by
collaborative content item management system 130, with content
management system 100, or external to content management system
100. A collaborative interface can provide an interactive content
item collaborative platform whereby multiple users can
simultaneously create and edit collaborative content items, comment
in the collaborative content items, and manage tasks within the
collaborative content items.
[0029] Users may create accounts at content management system 100
and store content thereon by sending such content from client
device 120 to content management system 100. The content can be
provided by users and associated with user accounts that may have
various privileges. For example, privileges can include permissions
to: see content item titles, see other metadata for the content
item (e.g. location data, access history, version history,
creation/modification dates, comments, file hierarchies, etc.),
read content item contents, modify content item metadata, modify
content of a content item, comment on a content item, read comments
by others on a content item, or grant or remove content item
permissions for other users.
[0030] Client devices 120 communicate with content management
system 100 and collaborative content management system 130 through
network 110. The network may be any suitable communications network
for data transmission. In some example embodiments, network 110 is
the Internet and uses standard communications technologies and/or
protocols. Thus, network 110 can include links using technologies
such as Ethernet, 802.11, worldwide interoperability for microwave
access (WiMAX), 3G, 4G, digital subscriber line (DSL), asynchronous
transfer mode (ATM), InfiniBand, PCI Express Advanced Switching,
etc. Similarly, the networking protocols used on network 110 can
include multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), the transmission
control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), the User Datagram
Protocol (UDP), the hypertext transport protocol (HTTP), the simple
mail transfer protocol (SMTP), the file transfer protocol (FTP),
etc. The data exchanged over network 110 can be represented using
technologies and/or formats including the hypertext markup language
(HTML), the extensible markup language (XML), JavaScript Object
Notation (JSON), etc. In addition, all or some of links can be
encrypted using conventional encryption technologies such as the
secure sockets layer (SSL), transport layer security (TLS), virtual
private networks (VPNs), Internet Protocol security (IPsec), etc.
In some example embodiments, the entities use custom and/or
dedicated data communications technologies instead of, or in
addition to, the ones described above.
[0031] In some example embodiments, content management system 100
and collaborative content management system 130 are combined into a
single system. The system may include one or more servers
configured to provide the functionality discussed herein for the
systems 100 and 130.
[0032] Client Device
[0033] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the components of a client
device 120 according to example embodiments. Client devices 120
generally include devices and modules for communicating with
content management system 100 and a user of client device 120.
Client device 120 includes display 210 for providing information to
the user, and in certain client devices 120 includes a touchscreen.
Client device 120 also includes network interface 220 for
communicating with content management system 100 via network 110.
There are additional components that may be included in client
device 120 but that are not shown, for example, one or more
computer processors, local fixed memory (RAM and ROM), as well as
optionally removable memory (e.g., SD-card), power sources, and
audio-video outputs.
[0034] In certain example embodiments, client device 120 includes
additional components such as camera 230 and location module 240.
Location module 240 determines the location of client device 120,
using, for example, a global positioning satellite signal, cellular
tower triangulation, or other methods. Location module 240 may be
used by client application 200 to obtain location data and add the
location data to metadata about a content item.
[0035] Client devices 120 maintain various types of components and
modules for operating the client device and accessing content
management system 100. The software modules can include operating
system 250 or a collaborative content item editor 270.
Collaborative content item editor 270 is configured for creating,
viewing and modifying collaborative content items such as text
documents, code files, mixed media files (e.g., text and graphics),
presentations or the like. Operating system 250 on each device
provides a local file management system and executes the various
software modules such as content management system client
application 200 and collaborative content item editor 270. A
contact directory 290 stores information on the user's contacts,
such as name, telephone numbers, company, email addresses, physical
address, website URLs, and the like.
[0036] Client devices 120 access content management system 100 and
collaborative content management system 130 in a variety of ways.
Client device 120 may access these systems through a native
application or software module, such as content management system
client application 200. Client device 120 may also access content
management system 100 through web browser 260. As an alternative,
the client application 200 may integrate access to content
management system 100 with the local file management system
provided by operating system 250. When access to content management
system 100 is integrated in the local file management system, a
file organization scheme maintained at the content management
system is represented at the client device 120 as a local file
structure by operating system 250 in conjunction with client
application 200.
[0037] Client application 200 manages access to content management
system 100 and collaborative content management system 130. Client
application 200 includes user interface module 202 that generates
an interface to the content accessed by client application 200 and
is one means for performing this function. The generated interface
is provided to the user by display 210. Client application 200 may
store content accessed from a content storage at content management
system 100 in local content 204. While represented here as within
client application 200, local content 204 may be stored with other
data for client device 120 in non-volatile storage. When local
content 204 is stored this way, the content is available to the
user and other applications or modules, such as collaborative
content item editor 270, when client application 200 is not in
communication with content management system 100. Content access
module 206 manages updates to local content 204 and communicates
with content management system 100 to synchronize content modified
by client device 120 with content maintained on content management
system 100, and is one means for performing this function. Client
application 200 may take various forms, such as a stand-alone
application, an application plug-in, or a browser extension.
[0038] Content Management System
[0039] FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the content management
system 100 according to example embodiments. To facilitate the
various content management services, a user can create an account
with content management system 100. The account information can be
maintained in user account database 316, and is one means for
performing this function. User account database 316 can store
profile information for registered users. In some cases, the only
personal information in the user profile is a username and/or email
address. However, content management system 100 can also be
configured to accept additional user information, such as password
recovery information, demographics information, payment
information, and other details. Each user is associated with a
userID and a user name. For purposes of convenience, references
herein to information such as collaborative content items or other
data being "associated" with a user are understood to mean an
association between a collaborative content item and either of the
above forms of user identifier for the user. Similarly, data
processing operations on collaborative content items and users are
understood to be operations performed on derivative identifiers
such as collaborativeContentItemID and userIDs. For example, a user
may be associated with a collaborative content item by storing the
information linking the userID and the collaborativeContentItemID
in a table, file, or other storage formats. For example, a database
table organized by collaborativeContentItemIDs can include a column
listing the userID of each user associated with the collaborative
content item. As another example, for each userID, a file can list
a set of collaborativeContentItemID associated with the user. As
another example, a single file can list key values pairs such as
<userID, collaborativeContentItemID> representing the
association between an individual user and a collaborative content
item. The same types of mechanisms can be used to associate users
with comments, threads, text elements, formatting attributes, and
the like.
[0040] User account database 316 can also include account
management information, such as account type, e.g. free or paid;
usage information for each user, e.g., file usage history; maximum
storage space authorized; storage space used; content storage
locations; security settings; personal configuration settings;
content sharing data; etc. Account management module 304 can be
configured to update and/or obtain user account details in user
account database 316. Account management module 304 can be
configured to interact with any number of other modules in content
management system 100.
[0041] An account can be used to store content items, such as
collaborative content items, audio files, video files, etc., from
one or more client devices associated with the account. Content
items can be shared with multiple users and/or user accounts. In
some implementations, sharing a content item can include
associating, using sharing module 310, the content item with two or
more user accounts and providing for user permissions so that a
user that has authenticated into one of the associated user
accounts has a specified level of access to the content item. That
is, the content items can be shared across multiple client devices
of varying type, capabilities, operating systems, etc. The content
items can also be shared across varying types of user accounts.
[0042] Individual users can be assigned different access privileges
to a content item shared with them, as discussed above. In some
cases, a user's permissions for a content item can be explicitly
set for that user. A user's permissions can also be set based on: a
type or category associated with the user (e.g., elevated
permissions for administrator users or manager), the user's
inclusion in a group or being identified as part of an organization
(e.g., specified permissions for all members of a particular team),
and/or a mechanism or context of a user's accesses to a content
item (e.g., different permissions based on where the user is, what
network the user is on, what type of program or API the user is
accessing, whether the user clicked a link to the content item,
etc.). Additionally, permissions can be set by default for users,
user types/groups, or for various access mechanisms and
contexts.
[0043] In some implementations, shared content items can be
accessible to a recipient user without requiring authentication
into a user account. This can include sharing module 310 providing
access to a content item through activation of a link associated
with the content item or providing access through a globally
accessible shared folder.
[0044] The content can be stored in content storage 318, which is
one means for performing this function. Content storage 318 can be
a storage device, multiple storage devices, or a server.
Alternatively, content storage 318 can be a cloud storage provider
or network storage accessible via one or more communications
networks. In one configuration, content management system 100
stores the content items in the same organizational structure as
they appear on the client device. However, content management
system 100 can store the content items in its own order,
arrangement, or hierarchy.
[0045] Content storage 318 can also store metadata describing
content items, content item types, and the relationship of content
items to various accounts, folders, or groups. The metadata for a
content item can be stored as part of the content item or can be
stored separately. In one configuration, each content item stored
in content storage 318 can be assigned a system-wide unique
identifier.
[0046] Content storage 318 can decrease the amount of storage space
required by identifying duplicate files or duplicate segments of
files. Instead of storing multiple copies of an identical content
item, content storage 318 can store a single copy and then use a
pointer or other mechanism to link the duplicates to the single
copy. Similarly, content storage 318 stores files using a file
version control mechanism that tracks changes to files, different
versions of files (such as a diverging version tree), and a change
history. The change history can include a set of changes that, when
applied to the original file version, produces the changed file
version.
[0047] Content management system 100 automatically synchronizes
content from one or more client devices, using synchronization
module 312, which is one means for performing this function. The
synchronization is platform agnostic. That is, the content is
synchronized across multiple client devices 120 of varying type,
capabilities, operating systems, etc. For example, client
application 200 synchronizes, via synchronization module 312 at
content management system 100, content in client device 120's file
system with the content in an associated user account on system
100. Client application 200 synchronizes any changes to content in
a designated folder and its sub-folders with the synchronization
module 312. Such changes include new, deleted, modified, copied, or
moved files or folders. Synchronization module 312 also provides
any changes to content associated with client device 120 to client
application 200. This synchronizes the local content at client
device 120 with the content items at content management system
100.
[0048] Conflict management module 314 determines whether there are
any discrepancies between versions of a content item located at
different client devices 120. For example, when a content item is
modified at one client device and a second client device, differing
versions of the content item may exist at each client device.
Synchronization module 312 determines such versioning conflicts,
for example by identifying the modification time of the content
item modifications. Conflict management module 314 resolves the
conflict between versions by any suitable means, such as by merging
the versions, or by notifying the client device of the
later-submitted version.
[0049] A user can also view or manipulate content via a web
interface generated by user interface module 302. For example, the
user can navigate in web browser 260 to a web address provided by
content management system 100. Changes or updates to content in
content storage 318 made through the web interface, such as
uploading a new version of a file, are synchronized back to other
client devices 120 associated with the user's account. Multiple
client devices 120 may be associated with a single account and
files in the account are synchronized between each of the multiple
client devices 120.
[0050] Content management system 100 includes communications
interface 300 for interfacing with various client devices 120, and
with other content and/or service providers via an Application
Programming Interface (API), which is one means for performing this
function. Certain software applications access content storage 318
via an API on behalf of a user. For example, a software package,
such as an app on a smartphone or tablet computing device, can
programmatically make calls directly to content management system
100, when a user provides credentials, to read, write, create,
delete, share, or otherwise manipulate content. Similarly, the API
can allow users to access all or part of content storage 318
through a web site.
[0051] Content management system 100 can also include authenticator
module 306, which verifies user credentials, security tokens, API
calls, specific client devices, etc., to determine whether access
to requested content items is authorized, and is one means for
performing this function. Authenticator module 306 can generate
one-time use authentication tokens for a user account.
Authenticator module 306 assigns an expiration period or date to
each authentication token. In addition to sending the
authentication tokens to requesting client devices, authenticator
module 306 can store generated authentication tokens in
authentication token database 320. After receiving a request to
validate an authentication token, authenticator module 306 checks
authentication token database 320 for a matching authentication
token assigned to the user. Once the authenticator module 306
identifies a matching authentication token, authenticator module
306 determines if the matching authentication token is still valid.
For example, authenticator module 306 verifies that the
authentication token has not expired or was not marked as used or
invalid. After validating an authentication token, authenticator
module 306 may invalidate the matching authentication token, such
as a single-use token. For example, authenticator module 306 can
mark the matching authentication token as used or invalid, or
delete the matching authentication token from authentication token
database 320.
[0052] In some example embodiments, content management system 100
includes a content management module 308 for maintaining a content
directory that identifies the location of each content item in
content storage 318, and allows client applications to request
access to content items in the storage 318, and which is one means
for performing this function. A content entry in the content
directory can also include a content pointer that identifies the
location of the content item in content storage 318. For example,
the content entry can include a content pointer designating the
storage address of the content item in memory. In some example
embodiments, the content entry includes multiple content pointers
that point to multiple locations, each of which contains a portion
of the content item.
[0053] In addition to a content path and content pointer, a content
entry in some configurations also includes user account identifier
that identifies the user account that has access to the content
item. In some example embodiments, multiple user account
identifiers can be associated with a single content entry
indicating that the content item has shared access by the multiple
user accounts.
[0054] In some example embodiments, the content management system
100 can include a mail server module 322. The mail server module
322 can send (and receive) collaborative content items to (and
from) other client devices using the collaborative content
management system 100. The mail server module can also be used to
send and receive messages between users in the content management
system.
[0055] Collaborative Content Management System
[0056] FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of the collaborative content
management system 130, according to example embodiments.
Collaborative content items can be files that users can create and
edit using a collaborative content items editor 270 and can contain
collaborative content item elements. Collaborative content item
elements may include any type of content such as text; images,
animations, videos, audio, or other multi-media; tables; lists;
references to external content; programming code; tasks; tags or
labels; comments; or any other type of content. Collaborative
content item elements can be associated with an author identifier,
attributes, interaction information, comments, sharing users, etc.
Collaborative content item elements can be stored as database
entities, which allows for searching and retrieving the
collaborative content items. As with other types of content items,
collaborative content items may be shared and synchronized with
multiple users and client devices 120, using sharing 310 and
synchronization 312 modules of content management system 100. Users
operate client devices 120 to create and edit collaborative content
items, and to share collaborative content items with other users of
client devices 120. Changes to a collaborative content item by one
client device 120 are propagated to other client devices 120 of
users associated with that collaborative content item.
[0057] In example embodiments of FIG. 1, collaborative content
management system 130 is shown as separate from content management
system 100 and can communicate with it to obtain its services. In
other example embodiments, collaborative content management system
130 is a subsystem of the component of content management system
100 that provides sharing and collaborative services for various
types of content items. User account database 316 and
authentication token database 320 from content management system
100 are used for accessing collaborative content management system
130 described herein.
[0058] Collaborative content management system 130 can include
various servers for managing access and edits to collaborative
content items and for managing notifications about certain changes
made to collaborative content items. Collaborative content
management system 130 can include proxy server 402, collaborative
content item editor 404, backend server 406, and collaborative
content item database 408, access link module 410, copy generator
412, collaborative content item differentiator 414, settings module
416, metadata module 418, revision module 420, notification server
422, and notification database 424. Proxy server 402 handles
requests from client applications 200 and passes those requests to
the collaborative content item editor 404. Collaborative content
item editor 404 manages application level requests for client
applications 200 for editing and creating collaborative content
items, and selectively interacts with backend servers 406 for
processing lower level processing tasks on collaborative content
items, and interfacing with collaborative content items database
408 as needed. Collaborative content items database 408 contains a
plurality of database objects representing collaborative content
items, comment threads, and comments. Each of the database objects
can be associated with a content pointer indicating the location of
each object within the CCI database 408. Notification server 422
detects actions performed on collaborative content items that
trigger notifications, creates notifications in notification
database 424, and sends notifications to client devices.
[0059] Client application 200 sends a request relating to a
collaborative content item to proxy server 402. Generally, a
request indicates the userID ("UID") of the user, and the
collaborativeContentItemID ("NID") of the collaborative content
item, and additional contextual information as appropriate, such as
the text of the collaborative content item. When proxy server 402
receives the request, the proxy server 402 passes the request to
the collaborative content item editor 404. Proxy server 402 also
returns a reference to the identified collaborative content items
proxy server 402 to client application 200, so the client
application can directly communicate with the collaborative content
item editor 404 for future requests. In alternative example
embodiments, client application 200 initially communicates directly
with a specific collaborative content item editor 404 assigned to
the userID.
[0060] When collaborative content item editor 404 receives a
request, it determines whether the request can be executed directly
or by a backend server 406. When the request adds, edits, or
otherwise modifies a collaborative content item the request is
handled by the collaborative content item editor 404. If the
request is directed to a database or index inquiry, the request is
executed by a backend server 406. For example, a request from
client device 120 to view a collaborative content item or obtain a
list of collaborative content items responsive to a search term is
processed by backend server 406.
[0061] The access module 410 receives a request to provide a
collaborative content item to a client device. In some example
embodiments, the access module generates an access link to the
collaborative content item, for instance in response to a request
to share the collaborative content item by an author. The access
link can be a hyperlink including or associated with the
identification information of the CCI (i.e., unique identifier,
content pointer, etc.). The hyperlink can also include any type of
relevant metadata within the content management system (i.e.,
author, recipient, time created, etc.). In some example
embodiments, the access module can also provide the access link to
user accounts via the network 110, while in other example
embodiments the access link can be provided or made accessible to a
user account and is accessed through a user account via the client
device. In some example embodiments, the access link will be a
hyperlink to a landing page (e.g., a webpage, a digital store
front, an application login, etc.) and activating the hyperlink
opens the landing page on a client device. The landing page can
allow client devices not associated with a user account to create a
user account and access the collaborative content item using the
identification information associated with the access link.
Additionally, the access link module can insert metadata into the
collaborative content item, associate metadata with the
collaborative content item, or access metadata associated with the
collaborative content item that is requested.
[0062] The access module 410 can also provide collaborative content
items via other methods. For example, the access module 410 can
directly send a collaborative content item to a client device or
user account, store a collaborative content item in a database
accessible to the client device, interact with any module of the
collaborative content management system to provide modified
versions of collaborative content items (e.g., the copy generator
412, the CCI differentiator 414, etc.), sending content pointer
associated with the collaborative content item, sending metadata
associated with the collaborative content item, or any other method
of providing collaborative content items between devices in the
network. The access module can also provide collaborative content
items via a search of the collaborative content item database
(i.e., search by a keyword associated with the collaborative
content item, the title, or a metadata tag, etc.).
[0063] The copy generator 412 can duplicate a collaborative content
item. Generally, the copy generator duplicates a collaborative
content item when a client device selects an access link associated
with the collaborative content item. The copy generator 412
accesses the collaborative content item associated with the access
link and creates a derivative copy of the collaborative content
item for every request received. The copy generator 412 stores each
derivative copy of the collaborative content item in the
collaborative content item database 408. Generally, each copy of
the collaborative content item that is generated by the copy
generator 412 is associated with both the client device from which
the request was received and the user account associated with the
client device requesting the copy. When the copy of the
collaborative content item is generated it can create a new unique
identifier and content pointer for the copy of the collaborative
content item. Additionally, the copy generator 412 can insert
metadata into the collaborative content item, associate metadata
with the copied collaborative content item, or access metadata
associated with the collaborative content item that was requested
to be copied.
[0064] The collaborative content item differentiator 414 determines
the difference between two collaborative content items. In some
example embodiments, the collaborative content item differentiator
414 determines the difference between two collaborative content
items when a client device selects an access hyperlink and accesses
a collaborative content item that the client device has previously
used the copy generator 412 to create a derivative copy. The
content item differentiator can indicate the differences between
the content elements of the compared collaborative content items.
The collaborative content item differentiator 414 can create a
collaborative content item that includes the differences between
the two collaborative content items, i.e. a differential
collaborative content item. In some example embodiments, the
collaborative content item differentiator provides the differential
collaborative content item to a requesting client device 120. The
differentiator 414 can store the differential collaborative content
item in the collaborative content item database 408 and generate
identification information for the differential collaborative
content item. Additionally, the differentiator 414 can insert
metadata into the accessed and created collaborative content items,
associate metadata with the accessed and created collaborative
content item, or access metadata associated with the collaborative
content items that were requested to be differentiated.
[0065] The settings and security module 416 can manage security
during interactions between client devices 120, the content
management system 100, and the collaborative content management
system 130. Additionally, the settings and security module 416 can
manage security during interactions between modules of the
collaborative content management system. For example, when a client
device 120 attempts to interact within any module of the
collaborative content management system 100, the settings and
security module 416 can manage the interaction by limiting or
disallowing the interaction. Similarly, the settings and security
module 416 can limit or disallow interactions between modules of
the collaborative content management system 130. Generally, the
settings and security module 416 accesses metadata associated with
the modules, systems 100 and 130, devices 120, user accounts, and
collaborative content items to determine the security actions to
take. Security actions can include: requiring authentication of
client devices 120 and user accounts, requiring passwords for
content items, removing metadata from collaborative content items,
preventing collaborative content items from being edited, revised,
saved or copied, or any other security similar security action.
Additionally, settings and security module can access, add, edit or
delete any type of metadata associated with any element of content
management system 100, collaborative content management system 130,
client devices 120, or collaborative content items.
[0066] The metadata module 418 manages metadata within with the
collaborative content management system. Generally, metadata can
take three forms within the collaborative content management
system: internal metadata, external metadata, and device metadata.
Internal metadata is metadata within a collaborative content item,
external metadata is metadata associated with a CCI but not
included or stored within the CCI itself, and device metadata is
associated with client devices. At any point the metadata module
can manage metadata by changing, adding, or removing metadata.
[0067] Some examples of internal metadata can be: identifying
information within collaborative content items (e.g., email
addresses, names, addresses, phone numbers, social security
numbers, account or credit card numbers, etc.); metadata associated
with content elements (e.g., location, time created, content
element type; content element size; content element duration,
etc.); comments associated with content elements (e.g., a comment
giving the definition of a word in a collaborative content item and
its attribution to the user account that made the comment); or any
other metadata that can be contained within a collaborative content
item.
[0068] Some examples of external metadata can be: content tags
indicating categories for the metadata; user accounts associated
with a CCI (e.g., author user account, editing user account,
accessing user account etc.); historical information (e.g.,
previous versions, access times, edit times, author times, etc.);
security settings; identifying information (e.g., unique
identifier, content pointer); collaborative content management
system 130 settings; user account settings; or any other metadata
that can be associated with the collaborative content item.
[0069] Some examples of device metadata can be: device type; device
connectivity; device size; device functionality; device sound and
display settings; device location; user accounts associated with
the device; device security settings; or any other type of metadata
that can be associated with a client device 120.
[0070] The collaborative content item revision module 420 manages
application level requests for client applications 200 for revising
differntial collaborative content items and selectively interacts
with backend servers 406 for processing lower level processing
tasks on collaborative content items, and interfacing with
collaborative content items database 408 as needed. The revision
module can create a revised collaborative content item that is some
combination of the content elements from the differential
collaborative content item. The revision module 420 can store the
revised collaborative content item in the collaborative content
item database or provide the revised collaborative content item to
a client device 120. Additionally, the revision module 420 can
insert metadata into the accessed and created collaborative content
items, associate metadata with the accessed and created
collaborative content item, or access metadata associated with the
collaborative content items that were requested to be
differentiated.
[0071] Content management system 100 and collaborative content
management system 130 may be implemented using a single computer,
or a network of computers, including cloud-based computer
implementations. The operations of content management system 100
and collaborative content management system 130 as described herein
can be controlled through either hardware or through computer
programs installed in computer storage and executed by the
processors of such server to perform the functions described
herein. These systems include other hardware elements necessary for
the operations described here, including network interfaces and
protocols, input devices for data entry, and output devices for
display, printing, or other presentations of data, but which are
not described herein. Similarly, conventional elements, such as
firewalls, load balancers, collaborative content items servers,
failover servers, network management tools and so forth are not
shown so as not to obscure the features of the system. Finally, the
functions and operations of content management system 100 and
collaborative content management system 130 are sufficiently
complex as to require implementation on a computer system, and
cannot be performed in the human mind simply by mental steps.
[0072] Comment Management User Interface
[0073] Referring now to FIG. 5A, there is shown an example user
interface of a page of a collaborative content item 502 entitled
"Draft Speech" in which several comments 504 associated with the
collaborative content item have been made. In this example, a
collaborative content item 502 is composed of content such as lines
of text, which can be arranged such as in paragraph blocks 508, and
may include any other form of media, such as images, videos,
spreadsheets, executable or interpretable code, and so forth.
[0074] Content Level Comments
[0075] A collaborative content item 502 can have zero or more
content level comments 504. Content level comments can be
associated with specific portions of a collaborative content item.
The presence of content level comments 504 within the content item
may be indicated by underlined (or colored underlined) portions 510
of content, though any other formatting may be used to indicate the
presence of a content level comment 504 (e.g., lines connecting the
content level comments to the content item, comment numbers in
superscript form, highlighting, a "hover over" display indicator
etc.). The portion 510 of content with which a content level
comment is associated is also called a span. Content level comments
504 can be associated with overlapping spans; the first and second
content level comments 504a, 504b are applied to the span "Now we
are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or
any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure" and the
third comment 504c is associated with just the span "This we may,
in all propriety do."
[0076] The content level comments 504 can be arranged in a comment
pane 512 positioned to the side of the body of the collaborative
content item 502. Each content level comment 504 has an author 514
(indicated by user name) and a creation date and time. A collection
of comments that together form an exchange between users with
respect to a single span is a thread 518. Threads are displayed
proximate the span that is associated with the thread. In the
example of FIG. 5A, there are three threads, 518a, 518b, and 518c;
thread 518a has a total of four comments (two shown, and "2 more
comments" as indicated) and the other threads have one comment
each.
[0077] A user may create a new comment or reply to existing
comment. To create a comment, a user selects a span in the content
item, and activates a comment function, for example via button 522,
menu or other input. The new comment 504 is displayed in the
comment pane 512, indicating the user name and creation time, and
the user may then enter text for the comment therein. The user can
apply text formatting to the text of the comment as done for
formatting the text of the collaborative content item. A user may
also create a comment to include in a thread by entering text into
a reply field 516 in one of the comments 504, such as the most
recent comment in a thread 518.
[0078] When a user opens a collaborative content item initially,
the comment pane 512 can be closed such that the comments therein
are hidden. The user can activate the comment pane 512 to show the
content level comments by selecting text (e.g., double clicking)
that is formatted or otherwise indicated as having an associated
comment. In some implementations, the comment pane 512 can be
visible when a collaborative content item is opened. The pane 512
includes a counter 524 of the current number of content level
comments in the collaborative content item that are visible to the
user. Each comment can have a state, as to whether the comment is
active or resolved. The counter 524 serves as a menu that the user
can select from to filter the comments so as to show all comments,
active comments or resolved comments.
[0079] A collaborative content item may also include a share icon
526 that allows a user to share the collaborative content item with
other users of the content management system 100. Upon clicking on
the share icon 526 a sharing interface is displayed to the user.
The sharing interface can include a field for adding user names or
email addresses to the list of users with which the collaborative
content item is to be shared. The sharing interface may also
include a text field to allow the sharing user to send a message to
users receiving the request to share the collaborative content
item.
[0080] User Primitives
[0081] In some example embodiments, the collaborative content
management system 130 is configured to recognize particular text
patterns as functional primitives that activate various functions
of the collaborative content management system 130. One type of
functional primitive is a user primitive. A user primitive is
indicated by a predetermined token followed by the user name of a
user. The user primitive is used in the text or comments of a
collaborative content item to programmatically associate a specific
user with the collaborative content item or comment. Colloquially,
the appearance of a user primitive identifying a user name is
called a mention of a user.
[0082] In some example embodiments, the user primitive takes the
form of @username where the "@" symbols is a predetermined token
indicates to the collaborative content management system 130 that
the following string username is the user name of a system user.
Referring to FIG. 5A, several examples of user primitives 520 are
illustrated. First in the text of the collaborative content item,
the first sentence includes the user primitives "@Bill_Seward" and
"@John_Hay. The user primitive "@Bill_Seward" is also shown in the
text of comment 504d. The collaborative content management system
130 recognizes these primitives as it processes the text of the
collaborative content item and comments.
[0083] When a user primitive indicating a specific user appears in
the span for a thread, or the text of a comment, the collaborative
content management system 130 includes the userID for the indicated
user in the audience for thread containing the comment. This allows
the mentioned user to see the entire thread in which they are
mentioned when accessing the collaborative content item (since
access to the thread when opening a collaborative content item is
determined by presence of a user's ID in the audience), as well for
a mechanism to notify the user, as next described.
[0084] In some example embodiments, when a user primitive occurs
elsewhere in the collaborative content item, but outside of the
span for the thread, the userID for the mentioned user is included
in the audience. For example, if a user is mentioned in the same
paragraph as the span for a thread, the userID for the user is
included in the audience.
[0085] Contextual Primitives
[0086] In addition to user primitives, the collaborative content
management system 130 may also support contextual primitives.
Contextual primitives function in a similar way to user primitives,
however, instead of adding a single user to the audience of a
thread, contextual primitives can add a group of users, or user(s)
assigned to a specific role (e.g., owner, editor, etc.), to the
audience of a thread using document context. A contextual primitive
is indicated by a predetermined token followed by a predetermined
text string. Each predefined text string may incur different
functionality from the collaborative content management system 130.
A user inserts the contextual primitive as they are editing the
content item.
[0087] In some implementations, including the @doc primitive can
cause every user with access to the collaborative content item to
be included in the audience of a thread that includes the
primitive. An algorithm to achieve this functionality is as
follows. The collaborative content management system 130 detects
the "@doc" text string in the span of a thread or in a comment
content and accesses the collaborative content item index of the
collaborative content item database 408. The collaborative content
management system 130 determines the userIDs with viewing
privileges for the collaborative content item according to the
collaborative content item index and adds those userIDs to the
audience_list for the thread. Alternatively, as discussed below,
the system can include an entry in the collaborative content item
audience list indicating that multiple users such as all users,
authenticated users, users that are part of a particular group,
etc., should be included as audience members. When the
collaborative content item is subsequently accessed, the thread
including the "@doc" primitive will be visible to all users viewing
the collaborative content item. Additionally, any notification
generating activity in the thread will be reported to all users in
the collaborative content item.
[0088] In some example embodiments, the "@doc" primitive is dynamic
such that any users that are added to the collaborative content
item even after the thread has been created will be able to view
the comment thread. This may be accomplished by reevaluating the
span of a thread and the comment text of a thread each time the
collaborative content item is compiled. Alternatively, instead of
adding userIDs to the audience_list of a thread directly, the
collaborative content management system 130 may create a special ID
value indicating that the "@doc" primitive has been used.
Therefore, during compilation of the collaborative content item,
the collaborative content management system 130 checks to see if a
particular thread should be displayed to a viewing user by
referencing the audience_list of the thread. If the collaborative
content management system 130 detects the special ID associated
with the "@doc" primitive it will reference the collaborative
content item database 408 to determine which users have viewing
permissions. If the user ID of the current user is included in the
collaborative content item database 408 then the collaborative
content management system 130 displays the thread to the current
user.
[0089] In addition the collaborative content item audience
primitive, other contextual primitives may be implemented:
[0090] The "@folder" primitive informs the collaborative content
management system 130 that all users with access to the folder that
includes the collaborative content item should be able to view the
thread. In this case, some of the users that have access to the
folder may not have access to the collaborative content item. In
this case, the collaborative content management system 130 may
grant all users with access to the folder access to the
collaborative content item, provide a separate interface for users
without access to the collaborative content item to view the
thread, or it may provide the users without access to the
collaborative content item with notifications regarding the thread
over email.
[0091] The "@editing" primitive indicates that all users with
editing access to the collaborative content item are to be included
in the audience for a thread. The collaborative content management
system 130 parses this in the same way as the "@doc" primitive.
However, instead of retrieving all users associated with the
collaborative content item in the collaborative content item index
only users with editing access are added to the audience_list for
the thread. The "@sharing" primitive (only users with sharing
privileges are added to the audience_list) functionality is
implemented in a similar manner.
[0092] The "@threads" primitive adds all users that have
participated in threads in the collaborative content item already
to the audience_list of the current thread. To accomplish this,
upon detecting the "@threads" primitive the collaborative content
management system 130 accesses each thread object associated with
the collaborativeContentItemID and adds any users listed in the
audience_list of those threads the audience list of the current
thread.
[0093] Depending on the example embodiments, the specific text
string associated with the primitive may be different. A user may
also define their own contextual primitive using the client
application to select users, categories of users, and contextual
categories of users to be included in the primitive. Additionally,
and contextual primitive may be made dynamic using a special ID in
the audience_list which triggers a reevaluation of the audience
list during compilation of the collaborative content item.
[0094] File-Level Comment Interfaces
[0095] The collaborative content management system 130 also enables
file-level commenting and may utilize a number of user interfaces
depending on the example embodiments. A file-level comment is
associated with the file itself and persists with the file until
the file is deleted or the comment itself is deleted. This allows
for conversations between users to occur on a file-level that
persists with each iteration on the file. The methods described
herein, also allow for the simultaneous display of the
collaborative content item and file-level comments so a user can
review the collaborative content item and make comments on the
collaborative content item without having to change windows.
File-level comments have many of the same characteristics as the
content level comments and rely on the same underlying data
structure. However, file-level comments are not associated with a
span of the collaborative content item and are instead associated
with the entirety of the content item. Despite these differences,
file-level comments may be used to form threads and have an
associated author, creation time and date, which may be displayed
in a similar fashion as in content level comments depending on the
example embodiments.
[0096] Because file-level comments are not associated with a
particular span of the collaborative content item, different UI
elements may be used to display the file-level comments. FIG. 5B
illustrates example embodiments for creating and displaying
file-level comments.
[0097] FIG. 5B shows an example user interface with a file-level
comment associated with the title of the collaborative content
item. FIG. 5B displays the same six comments and four threads as in
FIG. 5A, with the addition of a file-level comment 528. The
file-level comment is displayed alongside the content level
comments in the comment pane 512. Instead of being for a particular
span in the collaborative content item, as with the content level
comments, the file-level comment 528 is associated with the entire
document, and is indicated in the collaborative content item by
visually distinguishing features 531, such as formatting or
highlighting, borders or the like to the title of the collaborative
content item 530. Optionally, the same visually distinguishing
features can be applied to the comment itself, so that the user
knows that which comments are associated with the file and which
with specific spans of the content item. FIG. 5B also illustrates
the use of a file-level primitive 532, "@file", to indicate that a
comment is file-level comment rather than a content level
comment.
[0098] Spreadsheet Overview
[0099] FIG. 6 shows an example portion of a spreadsheet. The
spreadsheet 600 of FIG. 6 includes cells 625 that are each
associated with coordinates within the spreadsheet including a row
of the set of rows 605 and a column of the set of columns 610. In
the example embodiments of FIG. 6, the rows 605 are represented by
numbers ("1", "2", "3", etc.) and the columns are represented by
letters ("A", "B", "C", etc.) Accordingly, each cell of the
spreadsheet 600 may be referred to herein using the row and the
column corresponding to the cell. For example, the cell B2 in the
example embodiments of FIG. 6 includes the value "19". The content
included within cells 625 can include any type of data, such as
text data, audio data, image data, video data, URLs, structured
data, unstructured data, and the like. Likewise, the cells 625 can
include additional elements that may be visible (such as buttons,
switches, dials, or other interactive elements), that may be
invisible (such as metadata, formulas, executable files, binary
files, placeholder files, and the like), or that may be related to
formatting (such as cell height or width, cell background color,
text color, font type, and the like).
[0100] As noted above, one or more cells 625 can be associated with
formulas. For instance, a value included within a first cell can be
the result of a formula operating on values included within a
second cell and a third cell. In such instances, if a value within
the second or third cell changes, the value included within the
first cell may change. The value included within the first cell can
be referred to as dependent on the values within the second cell
and third cell by virtue of the formula corresponding to the three
cells. The spreadsheet 600 can include any suitable formula,
including SUM, STDDEV, MEAN, MODE, and the like. The formulas
included within the spreadsheet can be selected by a user, for
instance from a formula library associated with spreadsheet 600 or
programmed by the user. One or more pivot tables, graphs, forming
tables, or any suitable data visualization can be generated based
on data stored within the spreadsheet 600 and displayed within an
interface corresponding to the spreadsheet 600 or another document
or program.
[0101] In the example shown in FIG. 6, cells B1, C1, D1, and E1 are
associated with the months "January", "February", "March", and
"April", respectively. Likewise, cells A2, A3, and A4 are
associated with the categories "Cats Adopted", "Dogs Adopted", and
"Birds Adopted", respectively. Each cell within B2 through E2
includes a number representative of a number of cats adopted within
a month corresponding to the column of the cell. Similarly, each
cell in B3 through E3 and B4 through E4 includes a number
representative of a number of a corresponding animal adopted within
a corresponding month. The cells of row 5 include a value
representative of total number of animals adopted in each
month.
[0102] The spreadsheet 600 includes a formula 620. A user can
select a set of cells (such as the cells 615, including cell B2,
B3, and B4), can enter a formula (such as the SUM formula 620), can
enter a target cell (such as the cell B5), and the resulting value
included within B5 is the sum of the values included within cells
B2, B3, and B4. In the example embodiments of FIG. 6, the value
included within cell B5 (after the formula 620 is entered) is 46.
However, if the values included within any of cells B2 through B4
were changed, the value included within cell B5 will change. It
should be appreciated that although example spreadsheet
functionality is described with respect to FIG. 6, in practice the
spreadsheets described herein can include any suitable spreadsheet
functionality of the art.
[0103] Embedding Spreadsheet Portions into Content Items
[0104] A collaborative content management system may allow a first
type of document to be embedded in a second type of document. For
instance, all or part of a spreadsheet can be embedded within a
word processing document. However, when at least a portion of a
spreadsheet is embedded in a word processing document and a first
user makes an edit to the word processing document in one or more
of the embedded cells and the edit is not reflected in the
spreadsheet stored in the collaborative content management system,
then a second user accessing the spreadsheet stored in the
collaborative content management system may not see the edit made
by the first user. This can result in multiple document versions,
and can cause confusion between the users. Updating the spreadsheet
stored by the collaborative content management system based on a
received edit to the portion of the spreadsheet embedded in the
word processing document can prevent such confusion.
[0105] FIG. 7 shows a selected portion of a spreadsheet embedded in
a collaborative content item. The collaborative content item 700 is
a document that enables different types of data to be inserted
within the document while maintaining the structure of the data.
One such data type is a set of spreadsheet cells. In the example
embodiments of FIG. 7, a portion 710 of the spreadsheet 600,
including cells C2 through C4 and D2 through D4, can be selected
and embedded in the collaborative content item 700. As shown in
FIG. 7, the portion 710 is embedded within the collaborative
content item 700 as portion 730. The structure of the spreadsheet
portion 710 is maintained (e.g., the cells themselves, the
organization of the cells, and the like). In some example
embodiments, only the selected cells are embedded within the
collaborative content item 700, while in other example embodiments
(such as the example embodiments of FIG. 7), the category cells
("Feb", "Mar", "Cats Adopted", "Dogs Adopted", and "Birds Adopted")
are also included within the collaborative content item even though
they are not themselves selected.
[0106] In some example embodiments, the functionality of the
spreadsheet is maintained for the embedded spreadsheet portion 730.
For instance, if a formula is associated with one or more of the
cells of the embedded spreadsheet portion 730, then a change to a
value within the one or more cells may cause a value within a
target cell (whether included within the embedded spreadsheet
portion 730 or not) to change. Likewise, a user may be able to
change a height or width of one or more cells within the embedded
spreadsheet portion 730, a font or color of data within the cells,
a color of the cell themselves, and the like.
[0107] In FIG. 7, the embedded spreadsheet portion 730 is included
within the collaborative content item 700 between text portions 720
and 722. In such case, the embedded spreadsheet portion 730 allows
a user (such as an author or collaborative of the collaborative
content item 700) to embed structured data by copying or
referencing the spreadsheet portion 710 of the spreadsheet 600. In
some example embodiments, the spreadsheet portion 710 is referenced
by including one or more of the following in the collaborative
content item 700 (for instance, within metadata of the
collaborative content item in conjunction with a location within
the collaborative content item where the spreadsheet portion will
be embedded): a spreadsheet identifier, a spreadsheet location
(such as a file directory location or a URL), an identifier for the
portion 710, and an identity of each cell corresponding to the
portion. This beneficially enables the user to include the
structured data referenced and/or introduced by the text 720
without having to create the structured data within the
collaborative content item 700 (e.g., from scratch, potentially
without the tools available within a spreadsheet program).
[0108] The example embodiments described herein enable
bi-directional synchronization between the spreadsheet portion 710
and the embedded spreadsheet portion 730. For example, edits made
to the spreadsheet portion 710 are implemented in the embedded
spreadsheet portion 730 and edits made to the embedded spreadsheet
portion 730 are implemented in the spreadsheet portion 710. In some
example embodiments, such edits include changes to data or content
included within the cells of the spreadsheet portion 710 or the
embedded spreadsheet portion 730 and deletion of data within a cell
of one or more cells of the spreadsheet portion 710 or the embedded
portion 730. In some example embodiments, the edits to cells of the
spreadsheet portion 710 or the embedded spreadsheet portion 730 can
include changes to metadata associated with the cells; the
creation, removal, or modification of one or more formulas
associated with the cells; the addition of a row or column to the
spreadsheet; the removal of a row or column from the spreadsheet;
the shift of one or more cells within the spreadsheet to a new
location within the spreadsheet; changes to the dimensions of one
or more of the cells; changes to a font, font size, or font color
associated with the cells; changes to cell color; or any other
change to the cells. In some example embodiments, changes to one of
the spreadsheet portion 710 and the embedded spreadsheet 730 are
applied to the other in real-time or substantially real-time, while
in other example embodiments, the changes are implemented
periodically; in response to a request to synchronize the
spreadsheet portions from a user, a device, or an application; in
response to a triggering event (such as the accessing of the
spreadsheet 600 or the collaborative content item 700); or in
response to any other suitable criteria.
[0109] In a first example embodiment, a first user can select a
portion 710 of the spreadsheet from the spreadsheet 600 stored in
the collaborative content management system 130 to embed in the
collaborative content item 700 as the embedded spreadsheet portion
730. A second user can edit the embedded portion of the spreadsheet
730, for instance by changing the value "18" to "16". In response,
the collaborative content management system 130 updates the
spreadsheet portion 710 to reflect this edit, for instance by
changing the value of cell C2 from "18" to "16". A third user can
subsequently change the value of cell D3 from "20" to "19" in the
spreadsheet portion 710, and the collaborative content management
system 130 can update the embedded spreadsheet portion 730 to
change the value "20" to "19".
[0110] In a second example embodiment, a first user can embed a
portion 710 of the spreadsheet 600 in a collaborative content item
700 stored in the collaborative content management system 130. The
collaborative content item 700 can then be opened from a second
device by a second user and from a third device by a third user.
The first user can edit the embedded portion of the spreadsheet
730, for instant by changing the value "18" to "16" in cell C2 from
the first device. The second and third devices are synced to the
first device, and the second user and the third user viewing the
collaborative content item 700 from their respective devices can
see the edit made by the first user in cell C2 within the interface
displayed by their respective devices. Likewise, when one of the
second user and third user make an edit to the version of the
collaborative content item 700 displayed by their device, the
versions of the collaborative content item 700 displayed by the
devices of the other users are updated to reflect this additional
edit.
[0111] In a third example embodiment, a first user can embed a
portion 710 of the spreadsheet 600 stored in the collaborative
content management system 130 within the collaborative content item
700. A second user can access the spreadsheet 600, for instance by
opening the spreadsheet on a device such that the spreadsheet
portion 710 is visible within an interface displayed by the device.
The first user can then make an edit to the embedded spreadsheet
portion 730, for instance by changing the dimensions of the cells
of the embedded spreadsheet portion from a first set of dimensions
to a second set of dimensions. The changes can be implemented by
the collaborative content management system 130 to the spreadsheet
portion 710 such that the cells of the 710 are changed from the
first dimension to the second dimension. In response, the interface
displayed by the device of the second user is updated such that the
second user can see the changes made by the first user (e.g., the
change to the dimensions of the cells of the spreadsheet portion
710).
[0112] In some example embodiments, the ability of a user to modify
the spreadsheet portion 710 or the embedded spreadsheet portion 730
and have the modifications be reflected on the other of the
portions 710 and 730 is defined by a set of permissions
corresponding to the spreadsheet 600 or the collaborative content
item 700. For example, a first user can embed the portion 710 of
the spreadsheet 600 within the collaborative content item 700 as
the embedded spreadsheet portion 730. The first user can grant
permission to a second user to edit the embedded spreadsheet
portion 730, while only granting permission to a third user to view
the embedded spreadsheet portion. In such example embodiments,
edits made by the second user to the embedded spreadsheet portion
730 are implemented within the spreadsheet portion 710, while edits
made by the third user to the embedded spreadsheet portion 730
either aren't allowed, or aren't implemented within the spreadsheet
portion 710. It should be noted that in some example embodiments,
edit permissions made to the spreadsheet 600 and the collaborative
content item 700 are applied to the spreadsheet portion 710 and the
embedded spreadsheet portion 730 respectively. For example, if a
user is granted permission to edit the collaborative content item
700, then edits made by the user to the embedded spreadsheet
portion 730 are implemented within the spreadsheet portion 710.
However, if the user is only granted permission to view the
collaborative content item 700, then the user is unable to edit the
embedded spreadsheet portion 730, or edits to the embedded
spreadsheet portion by the second user are not implemented within
the spreadsheet portion 710.
[0113] FIG. 8 is a flow chart that illustrates a process of
embedding a selected portion of a spreadsheet in a collaborative
content item. In the embodiment of FIG. 8, a collaborative content
item is accessed 810 by a collaborative content management system.
The collaborative content management system receives 820 a
selection of a portion of a spreadsheet. The selected portion of
the spreadsheet is embedded 830 into the accessed collaborative
content item. The collaborative content management system displays
840 the collaborative content item within an interface displayed by
a device. An edit to data within the selected portion of the
spreadsheet in the collaborative content item is received 850 by
the collaborative content management system. The collaborative
content management system then updates 860 the spreadsheet to
reflect the received edit to the portion of the spreadsheet
embedded within the collaborative content item.
[0114] Spreadsheet Tasks
[0115] When working collaboratively on a spreadsheet, the ability
to organize tasks within the spreadsheet is limited. For instance,
spreadsheet applications are primarily used for data storage and
analysis, and thus aren't necessary suitable for organizing tasks
in a collaborative project. Providing a platform that allows users
to access to more functions such as organizing data, making graphs,
and the like while also enabling users to organize a set of tasks
in the cells of the spreadsheet can improve efficiency and
organization for collaborative work. As noted herein, cells can
include descriptions of tasks, have interactive progress trackers
that the users can adjust as their tasks gets completed, can allow
different users to tag or assign members of the group to particular
tasks, and can show an overall progress of the set of tasks (for
instance, within a visual element displaying task progress).
[0116] FIG. 9 shows a set of tasks included within the cells of a
spreadsheet, according to example embodiments. The spreadsheet 900
of FIG. 9 includes a set of cells A1 through A5 that correspond to
a set of tasks. Each task of the set of tasks is included within a
different cell of the set of cells. Each cell including a task of
the set of tasks can display the progress of the task through a
status indicator, progress bar, a meter, or the like. The overall
progress of the set of tasks can be determined by a formula
configured to compute a completion result based on the status
indicators of one or more of the cells that include tasks. The
completion result can be displayed within a different cell of the
spreadsheet, within one of the cells that correspond to the set of
tasks, or within an interface element of the spreadsheet or another
document. It should be noted that the spreadsheet 900 of FIG. 9 can
be a standalone spreadsheet document, can be embedded within a
collaborative content item, or can take any other suitable
form.
[0117] The progress of a task can be set using an interactive
element within a cell including the task. Examples of interactive
elements include: an adjustable progress bar 905 (or "slider bar"),
a checkbox 915, a set of checkboxes 920, a set of yes/no buttons
925, a turnable knob, a field in which data can be included, and
the like. For example, cell A1 has an adjustable progress bar 905
indicating that 75% of the task has been completed. The status
indicator 910 is linked to the adjustable progress bar 905 and can
state "Not Yet Started" when the adjustable progress bar 905 is at
0%, "Started" when the adjustable progress bar 905 lies between 0%
and 100%, and "Completed" when the adjustable progress bar 905 is
at 100%. In some example embodiments, anyone can use an interactive
element to adjust the progress of a task, while in other example
embodiments, the only users that can adjust the progress of a task
include one or more of: task managers, users with editing
permissions, users tagged in or assigned the task, and users
involved in a project associated with the set of tasks.
[0118] The overall progress of a set of tasks can be calculated by
using a formula associated with one or more of the set of cells
that sums a completion percentage for each task in the set of tasks
to get a completion result corresponding to the overall progress.
In some example embodiments, adding together a completion
percentage for each task can include weighting individual tasks
within a set of tasks (for instance, based on a complexity or
importance of each task), and applying the weights to the
completion percentage of the tasks to compute the overall
completion of the set of tasks. The weight for a task can be
defined by a user, can be set by default, can be based on a
complexity or importance of the task relative to other tasks in the
set of tasks, can be based on a number of sub-tasks associated with
the task, or can be computed based on any other suitable metric. In
some example embodiments, the sum of the weights applied to a set
of tasks is 1.
[0119] The overall progress of a set of tasks may be visually
displayed, for instance as a percentage, a pie chart, or a progress
bar. For instance, to determine the overall progress of tasks A1
and A2 (each equally weighted), the progress of task A1 (75%) and
the progress of task A2 (0%) averages out to 37.5%. Likewise, to
determine the overall progress of tasks A3 and A4, where task A3 is
weighted with a weight of 0.2, and task A4 is weighted with a
weight of 0.8, the completion result is (100%)(0.2)+(50%)(0.8)=60%.
The computed result for tasks A1 and A2 is displayed within cell
B2, and the computed result for tasks A3 and A4 is displayed within
cell B4.
[0120] A cell including a task can include a task description (for
instance, a title of the task, a narrative summary of what the task
entails, etc.), a due date corresponding to the task, a person
assigned to the task (for instance, someone tagged within the
task), a status of the task, a priority indicator, and any related
information or documents. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the task
included in cell A5 includes the title 945 ("walk Pup and take to
vet"), the assignees 930 of the task ("Lovepreet and Rosemary"),
the due date 940 ("8/31/17"), and the priority 935 ("HIGH
Priority"). In addition, a document 950 titled "pupvetrecords.docx"
is embedded in cell A5. In example embodiments, document 950 is
linked within the cell A5. The document link can identify a
document stored as a collaborative content item in a content
management system. In some example embodiments, anyone with access
to the spreadsheet 900 can see the set of tasks. In other example
embodiments, one or more tasks are associated with an access
permission, and only users associated with the access permission
can see the one or more tasks. In yet other example embodiments,
only managers can see all tasks, while only users assigned to or
tagged in a task can see the task but not other tasks to which they
are not assigned or tagged.
[0121] A task of a set of tasks can be assigned to a user by
tagging the user within the task. A first user of the collaborative
content item (e.g., spreadsheet) of a collaborative content
management system can be tagged by a second user within the task.
The first user can receive a notification that the first user was
tagged within or assigned a task, where the notification can be
received through email, via text message, through the collaborative
content management system, and the like. An indication (such as an
identity, user name, user primitive, image, or the like) of a user
tagged within a task is displayed in the cell of the spreadsheet
that includes the task. In some example embodiments, reminders can
be sent to the tagged user as the deadline for a task approaches.
For instance, the reminder can be sent periodically until the task
is completed, or at set intervals before the deadline for the task
(e.g., a month before, a week before, and a day before the
deadline). The reminder can include information such as information
displayed within a cell that includes the task (such as task title,
due date, etc.), a location associated with the task, a start time
associated with the task, attachments associated with the task, and
the like.
[0122] In some example embodiments, a first user opens the
spreadsheet 900 stored in a collaborative content management system
130 from a first device and selects cells A1 through A5 in the
spreadsheet 900 to include a set of tasks. The first user makes a
request to edit cells A1 through A5 such that each cell corresponds
to a task and includes information associated with the task (i.e.,
task description, person assigned to the task, etc.) The
collaborative content management system 130 updates the spreadsheet
900 to include the information. A second user opens the spreadsheet
900 from a second device and makes a request to change the
adjustable progress bar 905 to reflect the progress of the task
included within cell A1. The collaborative content management
system 130 receives information from the second device describing
the change in the adjustable progress bar 905 and updates cell A1
in spreadsheet 900 based on the information. The first device and
second device are synced to the collaborative content management
system 130 and the spreadsheet 900 displayed within the interface
displayed by the first device and second device is updated to
reflect the change to the adjustable progress bar in cell A1.
[0123] FIG. 10 is a flow chart that illustrates a process of
managing tasks in a spreadsheet. In the embodiment of FIG. 10, a
collaborative content management system provides 1010 a spreadsheet
to a device configured to display the spreadsheet. The
collaborative content management system receives 1020 a request to
add a set of tasks to a set of cells on the spreadsheet. The
collaborative content management system modifies 1030 the set of
cells to include the set of tasks. The modified set of cells
including the set of tasks is provided 1040 to the device. The
collaborative content management system receives 1050 information
from the device describing an interaction with a task of the set of
tasks (for instance, as described above), and modifies 1060 a cell
of the set of cells that correspond to the task based on the
interaction.
[0124] Embedding Data from Spreadsheet Field into Content Items
[0125] In some contexts, a user may want to incorporate a value
included within a cell of a spreadsheet within a collaborative
content item (e.g., by calculating a formula on a spreadsheet and
incorporating the result in a report written in a paper document
without necessarily including the set of cells on which the formula
acts). When a value of a first cell is incorporated into a
document, and the values of one or more cells corresponding to the
value of the first cell are edited such that the value of the first
cell changes to a new value, the value within the document may not
be automatically updated to the new value. This can create outdated
data within documents, and can require the manual updating of such
values, resulting in a troublesome and error-prone process to
ensure the data within the document is up-to-date. By automatically
updating such values within documents (for instance, in real-time),
data management in documents is simplified, resulting in a better
user experience, and decreasing the chances of data errors within
documents.
FIG. 11 shows data from a spreadsheet cell embedded in a document
within a collaborative content management system. The data value in
cells B2 through B4, C2 through C4, D2 through D4, and E2 through
E4 of spreadsheet 1100 each correspond to two categories (a "month"
category associated with the spreadsheet columns, and a "day"
category associated with the spreadsheet rows). Months "Jan",
"Feb", "Mar", and "Apr" are displayed in cells B1 through E1,
respectively, and days "Day 1", "Day 2", and "Day 3" are displayed
in cells A2 through A4, respectively. For example, cell D2 includes
a data value of 10 and corresponds to Day 1 in March. A data value
included within a cell of the spreadsheet 1100 can be embedded
within a document other than a spreadsheet (e.g., a word processing
document, a presentation document, etc.) The document can be
accessed by a user device 1160 and displayed within an interface of
the user device.
[0126] In the example embodiment of FIG. 11, a data value 1110 of
cell D2 is embedded at a first location in a collaborative content
item 1150. The collaborative content item 1150 is stored in a
collaborative content management system and is a word processing
document that enables different types of data to be inserted within
the document. The data value 1110 of cell D2 is embedded as text
within a block of text within the collaborative content item 1150.
As illustrated in FIG. 11, the data value 1110 is embedded within
the collaborative content item 1150 without any corresponding cell
structure (e.g., cell boundaries, formatting, etc.). In a first
example embodiment, a user can edit the data value 1110 of cell D2
from the spreadsheet 1100 stored in the collaborative content
management system. For instance, the user can change a first data
value "10" to a second data value "9" in the spreadsheet. In
response to the edit made in the spreadsheet 1100, the
collaborative content management system updates the text in the
collaborative content item 1150 from "10" to "9" in substantially
real-time.
[0127] The data value 1140 of cell D5 is the result of a formula
comprising the summation of the data value 1110 of cell D2, the
data value 1120 of cell D3, and the data value 1130 of cell D4. In
other words, the data value 1140 depends on the values within the
three cells D2 through D4. In a first example embodiment, a user
can edit the data value 1120 of cell D3 from the spreadsheet 1100
stored in the collaborative content management system from a first
data value "9" to a second data value "10". The collaborative
content management system then updates the text of the
collaborative content item 1150 from "On Day 2, there were 9
adoptions" to "On Day 2, there were 10 adoptions." Since the data
value 1140 is dependent on the data value 1120, the collaborative
content management system updates the data value within the cell D5
such that the data value of cell D5 is updated from "26" to "27" to
reflect the change to the value of cell D3. Likewise, the
collaborative content management system updates the text in
collaborative content item 1150 from "In total, 26 dogs were
adopted in March!" to "In total, 27 dogs were adopted in March!" In
other example embodiments, the data value 1140 of cell D5 is the
result of an extrapolation formula, a count formula (e.g., a count
of Boolean values associated with other cells), or any other
suitable formula.
[0128] In some example embodiments, the collaborative content
management system receives a request to embed a data value into a
document with a selection of a location within the document for the
data value to be displayed. The document is modified to include a
pointer within the document to the target location of the data
value, identifying the spreadsheet and the cell that the data value
is from. In the embodiment of FIG. 11, the collaborative content
management system receives a request to embed the data value "7" as
text in the collaborative content item 1150 in a location between
the text "On Day 3, the remaining" and "dogs were adopted." At the
location, a pointer 1155 identifies the spreadsheet and the cell
that the data value "7" is from.
[0129] FIG. 12 is a flow chart that illustrates a process of
embedding data from a spreadsheet into a document. In the
embodiment of FIG. 12, a collaborative content management system
receives 1210 a request to embed a first data value included within
a first cell of a spreadsheet into a document. The collaborative
content management system modifies 1220 the document to include
text corresponding to the first data value without the structure of
the first cell. The document is displayed 1230 within an interface
of a device display such that the first data value is displayed
within the document. The spreadsheet receives 1240 an edit to one
or more cells within the spreadsheet, which causes a modification
of the first data value of the first cell from the first data value
to a second data value. In response to the edit, the document is
automatically updated 1250 by replacing the first data value
included within the document with the second data value.
[0130] Navigation of Comments within a Spreadsheet
[0131] When collaboratively working on a spreadsheet (for instance,
within a spreadsheet document, or a portion of spreadsheet embedded
within another document), a user may want to make a comment about a
subset of cells and direct the attention of other users to the
subset of cells. When multiple users are making comments and the
comments are scattered throughout different subsets of cells within
the spreadsheet, having a transitory interface element (e.g., an
interface element that can move to accommodate a comment location
within the spreadsheet, and that isn't fixed to a particular
interface location) display the comment with other details such as
user ID, profile picture, and user primitive near the subset of
cells associated with the comment can improve a user's ability to
navigate between comments.
[0132] FIGS. 13a through 13c illustrate the navigation of comments
within a spreadsheet, according to some example embodiments. In a
spreadsheet, a user can make a comment associated with a set of
cells (e.g., one cell, multiple cells in a row or a column, or
multiple cells in multiple rows and/or columns). Comments can be
made by users, or can be included by the collaborative content
management system 130. Each comment is associated with an index,
and an indication of the index can be displayed within one or more
of the cells of the set of cells corresponding to the comment. The
comments may be assigned an index number based on one or more of: a
location of a representative cell within the spreadsheet associated
with a comment, a row or column corresponding to the comment, a
most recent edit to the spreadsheet, a most recent comment on the
spreadsheet, an order in which the comment was received (relative
to other comments), an author of the comment, a number of comments
associated with the set of cells, a task associated with the set of
cells, an identity of a user tagged in the set of cells, a number
of entries or chat messages within a discussion chain corresponding
to the comment, a user selection of an index for the comment, a
title of the comment, any attachments within the comment, and the
like. A comment can be displayed within an interface element of the
spreadsheet displayed at a location within the spreadsheet
corresponding to the set of cells associated with the comment.
[0133] In the example shown in FIG. 13A, an interface element 1300
is associated with cell B5, which includes the value "1000". The
value within cell B5 is the result of a formula which depends on
cells B2 through B4. An index indicator 1310 is displayed with the
cell B5 (for instance, to the left of the data value "1000"),
indicating that the cell B5 is associated with a first comment of a
set of comments. The interface element 1300 has a set of navigation
buttons 1350 which enables a user to navigate to a next comment
within the set of comments or a previous comment of the set of
comments. As used herein, a "next comment" can refer to a comment
associated with an index value immediately subsequent to an index
value associated with a current or displayed comment, a comment
immediately subsequent to a current comment within an ordered set
of comments, a comment closest to a current comment (for instance,
a comment within a same row or column, or a closest row or column),
a comment made by a same user as a current comment, a comment made
at a subsequent time closest to a current comment, or a comment
selected based on any other suitable factors. Likewise, a "previous
comment" can refer to a comment associated with an index value
immediately preceding an index value associated with a current or
displayed comment, a comment immediately preceding a current
comment within an ordered set of comments, a comment closest in
preceding time or location to a current comment, and the like. The
collaborative content management system can receive a request to
display a next comment (for instance, in response to receiving a
selection of the right arrow of the navigation buttons 1350). In
response, the interface element 1300 is moved to a location
corresponding to a next comment (included within cell C3) (as shown
in FIG. 13B). Likewise, a request to display a next comment can be
received, and the interface element 1300 can be moved to a location
corresponding a third comment (included within cell E1) (as shown
in FIG. 13C).
[0134] In the example shown in FIG. 13A, a first user "Sean" makes
a first comment about the value in cell B5, directed towards
"Geena". The interface element 1300 includes a first user
identifier or name 1345, a first profile picture 1315, a first
comment 1320 and a user primitive 1340. A user with permission to
access the spreadsheet is represented by a second profile picture
1325, and with permission to edit the spreadsheet is presented with
the reply box 1330 (to enter a text reply) and attachments element
1335 (to attach files such as images, documents, graphs, emojis,
GIFs, and the like to the comment).
[0135] In FIG. 13B, the interface element 1300 moves from the first
location illustrated in FIG. 13A to a second location corresponding
to the index 1312 in representative cell C3. In some example
embodiments, the comment associated with the cell C3 can be chosen
as the second comment or the next comment because no other comment
is associated with a cell closer to the cell B5. The interface
element 1300 is overlaid onto the spreadsheet at the second
location such that portions of the spreadsheet surround all or part
of the interface element 1300. The interface element 1300 includes
two comments stacked vertically with the first comment 1360 on top
of the second comment 1365.
[0136] In FIG. 13C, the interface element 1300 moves from the
second location shown in FIG. 13B to a third location associated
with cell E1 (which includes a third comment). In the embodiment of
FIG. 13C, the interface element 1300 is overlaid onto the
spreadsheet such that the values in column E are visible. In the
example shown in FIG. 13C, an interactive element 1375 and a graph
1370 associated with a poll are displayed within the interface
element 1300. Users with access to the spreadsheet can participate
in the poll by choosing a button of the interactive element 1375.
The content included within the interface element 1300 can include
any type of data, such as text data, audio data, image data, video
data, URLs, structured data, unstructured data, and the like.
[0137] As noted above, when a request is received to navigate to a
next comment within a spreadsheet, the interface window 1300
displaying information associated with the comment is moved to a
new location associated with the next comment. In some example
embodiments, the new location of the interface window 1300 causes
the interface window to overlap or partially overlap with one or
more cells associated with the next comment. In other example
embodiments, the new location of the interface window 1300 does not
overlap with cells associated with the next comment. The new
location of the interface window 1300 may also be selected such
that while the displayed interface window overlaps in part with one
or more cells associated with the comment, the displayed interface
window does not overlap with data displayed within the cells. In
some example embodiments, the new location of the interface window
1300 is a threshold distance away from the cells associated with
the comment. If the next comment in an ordered set of comments is
associated with one or more cells not shown within a displayed
portion of a spreadsheet, the displayed portion of the spreadsheet
can shift or scroll such that one or more cells associated with the
next comment are displayed, and the location of the interface
window 1300 is selected after the displayed portion of the
spreadsheet is shifted.
[0138] FIG. 14 is a flow chart that illustrates a process of
navigating comments within a spreadsheet. A device receives 1410 a
spreadsheet including a set of cells organized into one or more
columns and one or more rows, wherein each of a plurality of
subsets of cells of the set of cells is associated with a comment.
The device displays 1420 the spreadsheet such that one or more of
the subset of cells are displayed. The device receives 1430 a
request to view a first comment associated with a displayed first
subset of cells. The device displays 1440 an interface element in a
first location associated with the first subset of cells, the
interface element including the comment associated with the first
subset of cells. The device receives 1450 a request to view a
second comment associated with a second subset of cells. The device
moves 1460 the displayed interface element to a second location
associated with the second subset of cells, the interface element
including the second comment associated with the second subset of
cells.
[0139] Additional Considerations
[0140] Reference in the specification to "one embodiment" or to
"example embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure,
or characteristic described in connection with the example
embodiments is included in at least one embodiment. The appearances
of the phrase "in one embodiment" in various places in the
specification are not necessarily all referring to the same
embodiment.
[0141] In this description, the term "module" refers to a physical
computer structure of computational logic for providing the
specified functionality. A module can be implemented in hardware,
firmware, and/or software. In regards to software implementation of
modules, it is understood by those of skill in the art that a
module comprises a block of code that contains the data structure,
methods, classes, header and other code objects appropriate to
execute the described functionality. Depending on the specific
implementation language, a module may be a package, a class, or a
component. It will be understood that any computer programming
language may support equivalent structures using a different
terminology than "module."
[0142] It will be understood that the named modules described
herein represent one embodiment of such modules, and other example
embodiments may include other modules. In addition, other example
embodiments may lack modules described herein and/or distribute the
described functionality among the modules in a different manner.
Additionally, the functionalities attributed to more than one
module can be incorporated into a single module. Where the modules
described herein are implemented as software, the module can be
implemented as a standalone program, but can also be implemented
through other means, for example as part of a larger program, as a
plurality of separate programs, or as one or more statically or
dynamically linked libraries. In any of these software
implementations, the modules are stored on the computer readable
persistent storage devices of a system, loaded into memory, and
executed by the one or more processors of the system's
computers.
[0143] The operations herein may also be performed by an apparatus.
This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required
purposes, or it may comprise a general-purpose computer selectively
activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the
computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer
readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type
of disk including optical disks, CD-ROMs, read-only memories
(ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), magnetic or optical cards,
or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions,
and each coupled to a computer system bus. Furthermore, the
computers referred to in the specification may include a single
processor or may be architectures employing multiple processor
designs for increased computing capability.
[0144] The algorithms presented herein are not inherently related
to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various
general-purpose systems may also be used with programs in
accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to
construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method
steps. The required structure for a variety of these systems will
appear from the description above. In addition, the present
technology is not described with reference to any particular
programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of
programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the
present technology as described herein, and any references above to
specific languages are provided for disclosure of enablement and
best mode of the present technology.
[0145] While the technology has been particularly shown and
described with reference to a preferred embodiment and several
alternate example embodiments, it will be understood by persons
skilled in the relevant art that various changes in form and
details can be made therein without departing from the spirit and
scope of the technology.
[0146] As used herein, the word "or" refers to any possible
permutation of a set of items. Moreover, claim language reciting
`at least one of` an element or another element refers to any
possible permutation of the set of elements.
[0147] Although this description includes a variety of examples and
other information to explain aspects within the scope of the
appended claims, no limitation of the claims should be implied
based on particular features or arrangements these examples. This
disclosure includes specific example embodiments and
implementations for illustration, but various modifications can be
made without deviating from the scope of the example embodiments
and implementations. For example, functionality can be distributed
differently or performed in components other than those identified
herein. This disclosure includes the described features as
non-exclusive examples of systems components, physical and logical
structures, and methods within its scope.
[0148] Finally, it should be noted that the language used in the
specification has been principally selected for readability and
instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate
or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. Accordingly, the
disclosure of the present technology is intended to be
illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the technology,
which is set forth in the following claims.
* * * * *