Method and system for importing MS office forms

Abstract

Collaboration space object model provides for a place consisting of rooms created by users interacting with a client browser. A skin (i.e., theme) may be used as template for creating places. PlaceBots (i.e., agents) provide for accessing, processing and managing data in a place. HTML may be dragged and dropped into a place, where it is parsed and corresponding place fields created. MS Excel or Word documents may be dragged and dropped into a place, which creates a corresponding form, and users may create new documents using that form. A place type comprising a template of an entire place, or collaboration space, may be used to create new places. Changes made to a place may be reported, subject to security controls, by selecting what's new. Task fields are provided allowing web browser creation of forms for work flow. Place enabled objects are provided for synchronous communications. A quick browse feature provides a simplified format for browser windows based on selection of HTML links. MS Office documents may launched within a place for in place editing and importing the resulting document into the place.

Claims

1. Method for integrating first and second desktop models by importing and publishing documents generated by a content creation and editing interface tool of said first model including a coordinated suite of office applications having word processor, spreadsheet and database applications in a place in collaboration space in accordance with said second model including room, folders, and panes, comprising:

creating a document file in said first desktop model using said interface tool;

opening in a browser a place in collaboration space;

placing said document file into said place;

automatically converting said document to a hypertext markup language (html) file; and

saving said document file and said html file on a page in collaboration space of said second desktop model with said html file displayed in said place in read mode and said document file displayed in said place in edit mode.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

at said browser, dragging and dropping said document file into said place as a template file; and

creating from said template tile a form.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

using said form to create a new document of said first model.

4. Method for uploading a document prepared by a content creation and editing interface tool of a first model including a coordinated suite of office applications having word processor, spreadsheet and database applications into a place in collaboration space organized in accordance with a second model including room, folders, and pages, comprising the steps of:

creating a document file including web form fields using said interface tool of said first model;

saving said document file;

opening in a browser a place in collaboration space;

importing said document file to said place;

upon importing said document into said place, automatically converting said document into a web file containing hyperlinks that point to web pages.

5. The method of claim 4, said web file being a hypertext markup language (html) file.

6. The method of claim 5, including the step of including web form fields in said document file by selecting field icons from a web tools toolbar.

7. The method of claim 6, said toolbar including checkbox control, option or radio button control, drop down box control, listbox control, textbox control, text area control, submit control, submit with image control, reset control, hidden control, and password control.

8. Method for importing a document file into a place in collaboration space organized with rooms, folders, and pages according to a second model, comprising the steps of:

creating said document file using a content creation and editing interface tool of a first model including a coordinated suite of office applications;

presenting at a browser an interface window to said place including a new selector;

responsive to user selection of said new selector and an import option, displaying an import scene with an empty upload control;

dragging and dropping said document file to said upload control in a browser rendition of said place in collaboration space; and

responsive to receiving said document file in said upload control,

automatically converting said document file to hypertext files;

displaying a document file icon in said upload control; and

importing said hypertext files into said place.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps:

responsive to said user publishing said document file to said collaboration space, uploading to a collaboration space server said document file and said hypertext files.

10. The method of claim 9, said document file being a presentation file comprising a plurality of slides.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of:

displaying said slides in a same page together with previous, next, and zoom buttons.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of, responsive to selection of said zoom button, displaying a larger version of a current slide also including next and previous buttons.

13. The method of claim 11, said hypertext files being hypertext markup language (html) files.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

preparing to display a plurality of data objects contained in said document file by:

preparing and importing into a common page at said place a separate hypertext file for each said data object, together with any included images and support files,

modifying said hypertext files to link to next and previous data objects within said document file; and

at read time, responsive to user selection of said next or previous control, issuing a uniform resource locator (url) to load and display a respective next or previous data object in sequence.

15. The method of claim 14, said data objects being presentation slides or spreadsheet worksheets.

16. The method of claim 15, said hypertext files being hypertext markup language (html) files.

17. A system for uploading a document into a place in collaboration space organized according to a second model including room, folders, and pages, comprising:

a content creation and editing interface tool of a first model including a coordinated suite of office applications having word processor, spreadsheet and database applications for creating a document file including web form fields;

a browser for rendering a place in collaboration space;

a storage device for saving said document file;

an upload control for importing said document file to said place;

a server for implementing said second model and automatically, upon importing said document into said place rendered in said browser, for converting said document into a web file containing hyperlinks that point to web pages.

18. A system for importing a document file generated using a content creation and editing interface tool of a first model including a coordinated suite of office applications having word processor, spreadsheet and database applications into a place in collaboration space organized in accordance with a second model including room, folders, and pages, comprising:

a browser interface window to said place including a new selector;

a storage for storing said document file;

an import scene;

an upload control;

said import scene being responsive to user selection of said new selector and an import option for displaying said upload control;

dragging and dropping said document file from said storage to said upload control in said place as rendered in said browser; and

said upload control being responsive to receiving said document file for,

automatically converting said document file to hypertext files;

displaying a document file icon in said upload control; and

importing said hypertext files into said place.

19. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform method steps for uploading a document generated by a content and editing interface tool of a first model including a coordinated suite of office applications having word processor, spreadsheet and database applications into a place in collaboration space organized in accordance with a second model including room, folders, and pages, said method steps comprising:

creating a document file using said content and editing interface tool including web form fields;

opening in a browser a place in collaboration space;

saving said document file;

importing said document file into a browser rendition of said place;

upon importing said document into said place, automatically converting said document into a web file containing hyperlinks that point to web pages.

20. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform method steps for importing a document file generated by a content creation and editing interface tool of a first model including a coordinated suite of office applications into a place in collaboration space organized according to a second model including room, folders, and pages, said method steps comprising:

presenting at a browser an interface window to said place including a new selector;

responsive to user selection of said new selector and an import option, displaying an import scene with an empty upload control;

dragging and dropping said document file to said upload control; and

responsive to receiving said document file in said upload control,

automatically converting said document file to hypertext files;

displaying a document file icon in said upload control; and

importing said hypertext files into said place.

21. A computer program product or computer program element for uploading a document prepared by a content creation and editing interface tool of a first model including a coordinated suite of office applications into a place in collaboration space organized in according to a second model including room, folders, and pages, according to the steps of:

creating a document file using said interface tool including web form fields;

opening in a browser a browser rendition of a place in collaboration space;

saving said document file;

importing said document file to said browser rendition of said place;

upon importing said document into said place, automatically converting said document into a web file containing hyperlinks that point to web pages.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to web technology. More particularly, it relates to the creation and use of collaboration sites on the Internet or on an Intranet client/server system and to the graphical user interface used in Internet communications.

BACKGROUND ART

The Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) provide intra-enterprise connectivity, inter-enterprise connectivity and application hosting on a larger scale than ever before. By exploiting the broadly available and deployed standards of the Internet and the WWW, system users and designers can leverage a single architecture to build client/server applications for internal use that can reach outside to customers, business partners and suppliers.

Collaboration requires simultaneous communication between individuals on a project team. Typically, this has required that the team members work in the same location. Phone and video conferencing has enabled some remote work on the part of team members. Also, because of the growth of the Internet, collaboration using web technologies has been attempted, primarily using electronic mail (E-mail), Internet chat rooms, electronic whiteboards, and conferencing software. The most useful has been E-mail, but this approach results in a large trail or thread of notes as collaboration on a project advances, and these notes have no home or place to reside which is accessible by all team members substantially instantaneously and simultaneously. People often enter such a thread at different points, and such threads are not efficient in coordinating the work of many different people on a team which may include in-house developers and others, such as remote contractors, outside of an enterprise's firewall.

In order for such disperse teams to have the same, or substantially the same, collaboration environment as individuals working in the same physical office, a system is required which facilitates instant messaging, voice conferencing, electronic white boarding, and text and non-text file exchange. Such a system needs to provide a collaborative electronic room, or space, which is easily configured for use by team members without substantial administrative or application development support, and preferably include both groupware and project oriented applications such as shared folders, file exchange, workflow, group calendars, threaded conversations, version control, file locking, file merging, and security.

There is a need in the art for such a system which is easy to set up and which enables diverse and remote teams to become immediately productive in a secure environment. It would be, further, most desirable to allow such a collaborative environment to be set up without administrative support, that is by members of the team itself, using a familiar and easy to use browser user interface. Members of the team, acting with manager or author authority, and using such a browser interface without involving administrative or application development support, need to be able to set up a folder or room for each project element, such as a source code component, with version control, workflow elements, and group calendaring for tracking the project or project element with respect to approvals and deadlines. Such a room needs to receive from team members reports and have them routed to appropriate team members for review, resolution, and approval.

The WWW is a collection of servers on an IP (Internet Protocol) network, such as the Internet, an Intranet or an Extranet, that utilize the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Hereinafter, "Internet" 100 will be used to refer to any IP network.

HTTP is a known application protocol that provides users with access to files, which can be in different formats, such as text, graphics, images, sound, and video, using a standard page description language known as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Among a number of basic document formatting functions, HTML allows software developers to specify graphical pointers on displayed web pages, commonly referred to as "hyperlinks," that point to other web pages resident on remote servers. Hyperlinks commonly are displayed as highlighted text or other graphical image on the web page. Selection of a hyperlink with a pointing device, such as a computer mouse, causes the local computer to download the HTML associated with the web page from a remote server. The browser then renders the HTML into the displayed web page.

Web pages accessed over the Internet, whether by a hyperlink, opening directly via an "open" button in the browser, or some other means, are commonly downloaded into the volatile cache of a local computer system. In a computer system, for example, the volatile cache is a high-speed buffer that temporarily stores web pages from accessed remote web sites. The volatile cache thus enables a user to quickly review web pages that were already downloaded, thereby eliminating the need to repeat the relatively slow process of traversing the Internet to access previously viewed web pages. This is called local caching.

It is an object of the invention to provide a collaboration space application model for creating web applications that are aesthetically pleasing and present the user with a simple interface.

It is a further object of the invention to provide for creating web applications that are instantly created, instantly archived, team and project oriented, easy to use, created, accessed and administered via the Web, reusable, and extensible.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved method and system for uploading Microsoft Office documents, presentations and sheets into a place in collaboration space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the invention, there is provided a method and system for uploading a document into a place in collaboration space, by creating a document file including web form fields; saving the document file; importing the document file to the place; and upon importing the document into the place, converting the document into a web file containing hyperlinks that point to web pages.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer program product configured to be operable for uploading a document into a place in collaboration space, according to the steps of creating a document file including web form fields; saving the document file; importing the document file to the place; and upon importing the document into the place, converting the document into a web file containing hyperlinks that point to web pages.

Other features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a typical server/client system implementing the collaboration space of the preferred embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of various server and client components implementing the collaboration space of the preferred embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic map illustrating Domino objects relating to the object model of the collaboration space of the preferred embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic map of the object model implementing the collaboration space of the preferred embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates the components of a collaboration space user interface.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart representation of generation of collaboration space data objects.

FIG. 7 illustrates a typical collaboration space user interface.

FIG. 8 is a schematic representation of a directory structure, along with the files in an exemplary collaboration space server.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart representing the method steps for creating a PlaceBot.

FIG. 10 is a schematic representation of a screen capture illustrating creation of a new page in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic representation of a screen capture illustrating the user interface for creating a new page in collaboration space.

FIG. 12 is a schematic representation of a screen capture illustrating the user interface for in Place editing of Microsoft documents.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating in-place editing in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic representation of a screen capture illustrating the user interface for in Place editing of Microsoft documents.

FIG. 15 is a schematic representation of a screen capture illustrating the user interface for attaching forms.

FIG. 16 is a system diagram illustrating importing interest content into collaboration space.

FIGS. 17-20 are schematic representations illustrating the user interface for editing a collaboration space file attachment and saving the changes back to collaboration space.

FIG. 21 is a flow chart illustrating the creation and importation into collaboration space of a form.

FIG. 22 is a schematic representation of a task page presented in list mode.

FIG. 23 is a schematic representation of a task page presented in time line mode.

FIG. 24 is a schematic representation of a read scene state display for tasks.

FIG. 25 is a schematic representation of a user interface for integrating a form into workflow.

FIG. 26 is a schematic representation of a user interface for adding events to a calendar page and for publishing it in a specific folder in collaboration space.

FIG. 27 is a schematic representation of a user interface including upload control.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Architecture Overview

Referring to FIG. 1, a broad overview of a system implementing the collaboration space technology of an exemplary embodiment of the system of the invention is presented.

Server 100 includes a Domino server 104, HTTP server 106, QuickPlace extensions 108, and open storage 130. Client 102 includes a QuickPlace user interface 110 and browser 112.

QuickPlace open storage 130 includes all the databases and templates that implement the collaboration space. Domino 132 and active directory 134 define the collaboration process. The user interfaces with the system through browser 112. .NSF agents 114, 116, Java 118 and LotusScript 120 represent components and templates downloaded from server 100 in support of collaboration space at client 102. All the extensions 108 are keyed off the URL, as will be further explained hereafter.

Notes API 136, Notes designer 138 and client 140, external applications 142, including Java agents 144 and LotusScript 146, are located off of open storage 130. Open storage 130 is storage where a document can be communicated, such that external applications 142 may manipulate it. QuickPlaces, pages, folders, can be created and changed, and data 148 can be imported and exported, using agents in Java 144 or LotusScript 146.

QuickPlace is primarily concerned with representing the collaboration space. Consequently, designers and consultants are able to integrate into that space custom features and data from other applications. HTML forms 122, written using an HTML editor 124, skins 248 (HTML 244 and QP tags), external files written using Java 118, and MS office documents 250 from MS office 228, may be imported to server 100 by dragging and dropping 111 from local storage 502 into an upload control panel 240 in browser 112.

An alternate client 126 and encapsulated place types 128 may be provided from which other spaces 129 can be created that take advantage of the QuickPlace storage model, providing functionality which can be manipulated using browser 112, including the integration of external technology providing opportunity for deep customization.

Server/Client Components

Referring to FIG. 2, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention, several components comprise QuickPlace server 100 and client 102.

QuickPlace is built on top of the Domino server 104. In the case of a stand alone installation, a subset of the Domino server is installed. Server 100 also includes HTTP server 106, or the optional MS IIS server 150. QuickPlace extension 108 is where we built most of the collaboration space implementing code exists the server 100. Server 100 also includes a spell checker 152 and a text to GIF converter (Limerick).

Client 102 includes rich text edit control 162, and applet 164 with which to apply various attributes and is a key component of the QuickPlace experience. Upload control 166 is used to attach and upload files, such as bringing in an agent and uploading it to a place. This is also used to bring in an imported HTML form or a different skin. Upload control is implemented to allow ease of use via drag and drop. Java script 118 includes code downloaded to the client to complete the generation of HTML pages.

Collaboration Space Object Model

Referring to FIG. 3, the collaboration space of the preferred embodiment of the invention, referred to as QuickPlace, is implemented with an object model which comprises very few objects, very few concepts in order to make it easy to build and manage. And the fewer concepts, the better.

Referring to FIG. 3, the object model is independent of its implementation. There exists a place 172 that has rooms 174, and there are pages 182 in those rooms. And then there are members 190 of the place. Those four objects 172, 174, 182 and 190 are the primary objects.

Folders 176 add more complexity to the model, but bring a lot of benefit as well. Pages 182 are organized within folders. Two further objects are primarily visible to the designer of the place. And these are forms 178 and fields 180.

Place type 196 is a more advanced object, and is an object from which a place 172 is created. Place type 196 represents the foundation for building true collaborative applications. Everything created in building collaboration space is done in a place 172. Once such a place is created, it can be made a template 266 (FIG. 6) and copied as a place type 196. Once it becomes a place type 196, it is available for use by others for building additional places 172 that include the format, look and feel, and other characteristics of the original place.

This is illustrated in FIG. 11, where a first place 360 is converted by QP extensions 108 into a place type, or template 364 from which additional places 366 may be created.

Room type 198 is an object provided for creating rooms 174 which are of a given type.

The last two objects illustrated in FIG. 3 are skins 200 and PlaceBots 184. Skins 200 control everything about the user interface, including layout and style. Layout defines the positioning of components on the screen. Style defines the form and colors of those components. A PlaceBot 184 is an enhanced agent, enhanced in the sense that it enables the use of Java or Lotus Notes or equivalent text editors. Once written using such an editor, and uploaded to a place 172, the server compiles the PlaceBot into an agent, reporting any errors. The agent resulting from a compiled PlaceBot can be scheduled to run at certain times, or upon opening a form. That is, the PlaceBot may be associated with a form, such as a sales order which, when opened, will cause the agent to execute. Thus, PlaceBots 184 are an essential part of building collaboration applications, for they are the primary repository for custom logic.

Referring further to FIG. 3, a preferred implementation of the object model heretofore described uses Lotus Notes/Domino concepts and objects. Thus, Notes/Domino file system directory 202 represents place 172; database 204 represents room 174; folder view 206 represents folder 176; pages 182, members 190, forms 178, fields 180 and skins 200 are represented by notes 208, 210, 212, 214, 220, respectively.

Place 172 is represented as a file system directory. So whenever a place called Acme is created, a file system directory 202 called Acme will be instantiated. Within that directory 202, there are a number of objects. Each room 174 is a Notes database 204. Folders 176 are implemented as Notes folders or views 206 depending on what's more convenient for the particular folder.

Pages 182 are a combination of data notes, forms and sub-forms 208. A member 190 is a data note 190 in a context room 174. Forms 178 and fields 180 are data notes. Place type 196 is a directory* 216 that contains all the rooms 174 that make up that place type. A room type 198 is a template 218. Skins 200 are a note 220 and PlaceBot 184 is an agent 222.

Notes/Domino Implementation of the Object Model

Developers familiar with the Domino Object Model (Domino OM) will be able to leverage their existing skills when developing on the QuickPlace platform. "PlaceBots" for example are implemented as Domino Agents, and it is possible to create and test them on Domino Databases. Within the QuickPlace object model (OM), however, there are some divergences from the Domino OM. For example, QuickPlace forms 178 are not the same as Domino Forms. QuickPlace forms more closely resemble Domino Documents, because they are created using a Domino form, and contain a Domino text field with a value of "h_Form". The value of "h_form" tells QuickPlace that this Domino document should be rendered in a browser as a QuickPlace form 178.

This structure provides flexibility for Web applications with less complexity than if Domino Forms were used. For example, in a default QuickPlace, a user can create a new QuickPlace form 178. The user chooses which fields to include in form 178, in what order they should appear and what text and or graphics should appear near them. To create this sort of instant structure on the Web using Domino Forms would be very complex indeed. QuickPlace has extended this concept of being able to use HTML to define forms 178 by enabling the creation of custom QuickPlace forms using imported HTML 122. These Forms not only make use of Web authoring technologies such as JavaScript, but also have the back end support of Domino. This back end logic is implemented via tools such as PlaceBots (Domino Agents) 184. This means that forms 178 have the ability to not only to define the look and feel of visible parts of an application, they also have the potential to initiate workflow and many other powerful automated features.

QuickPlace forms 178 have been optimized by stripping away many of the Notes features not required when used on the Web. A another advantage of this structure is that it enables the use of Web authoring tools to extend the objects. For example, with respect to QuickPlace forms, it is possible to modify forms using XML, JavaScript and HTML and any other Web tools. Knowledge of JavaScript and HTML are more common than Domino Designer skills, thus making the QuickPlace a very open platform. Some parts of the QuickPlace OM implement Domino/Notes functionality in different ways to a standard Domino application. For example, QuickPlace uses Domino's security and authentication model as a basis for its management of access to QuickPlaces. However, instead of primarily utilizing the Domino Directory, QuickPlace also uses a Contacts1.nsf database for each QuickPlace.

Containment and Association of Objects

Referring to FIG. 4, this object model is further described. FIG. 4 illustrates selected QuickPlace objects, the directory structure and how Objects relate to each other within the hierarchy. This model provides a visual representation of the containment and association between objects.

QuickPlace Server

The highest level of the model is the QuickPlace Server 170. Within server 170 are all of the QuickPlaces 172 as well as the resources they access to finally render Web applications.

This FIG. 4 displays the Model focusing on QuickPlaces. The following explanation, written from a programmers perspective, describes each of the objects of the model and they can be accessed in an application.

QuickPlace uses notes for many of its objects 182, 190, 178, 180 and 200, so that objects in the Place can be organized more easily. Table 1 sets forth the QP objects and their Notes/Domino equivalents. As an example of how design Notes are implemented consider the Table Of Contents (TOC). The Table Of Contents is a list of pages, folders and tools such as the Customize Area. Domino Folders may be listed using a link document, or Note.