Title: Viewing changes to a shared document in one object
Abstract: A system, computer program product and method for viewing changes to a shared document in a single object. Upon executing a particular shared document to be opened by a particular user, the particular user may view at least a section of the original version of the document with one or more on-screen symbols, e.g., icons, in a single object. The one or more on-screen symbols may be associated with one or more users who made changes to the original version of the document. By selecting one of the one or more on-screen symbols, a menu may appear with one or more versions of the original document written by the user associated with the on-screen symbol. Upon selecting a particular version, at least a section of the original version of the document may appear with highlighted changes that indicate the changes made to the original version of the document in the selected version.
Patent Number: 6,910,188 Issued on 06/21/2005 to Keohane, et al.
| Inventors:
|
Keohane; Susann M. (Austin, TX);
Shieh; Johnny M. H. (Austin, TX)
|
| Assignee:
|
International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, NY)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
892966 |
| Filed:
|
June 27, 2001 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
715/751; 715/511; 715/741; 715/753 |
| Intern'l Class: |
G09F 003/00; G09F009/00; G09F017/00 |
| Field of Search: |
345/753,741,826,805,804,854,855,840
715/511
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 5511187 | Apr., 1996 | Cragun.
| |
| 5692141 | Nov., 1997 | Kamisango et al.
| |
| 5754782 | May., 1998 | Masada.
| |
| 5796396 | Aug., 1998 | Rich.
| |
| 5806078 | Sep., 1998 | Hug et al.
| |
| 5946464 | Aug., 1999 | Kito et al.
| |
| 6058416 | May., 2000 | Mukherjee et al.
| |
| 6182273 | Jan., 2001 | Tarumi.
| |
| 6195685 | Feb., 2001 | Mukherjee et al.
| |
| 6654032 | Nov., 2003 | Zhu et al.
| |
Other References
Camarda, Bill. Using Microsoft Word 97, 1997.
|
Primary Examiner: Kincaid; Kristine
Assistant Examiner: Pesin; Boris
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Voigt, Jr.; Robert A., Winstead Sechrest & Minick P.C., Gerhardt; Diana R.
Claims
1. A method for viewing changes to a shared document in a single object comprising
the steps of:
opening said shared document by a first user;
viewing an original version of said shared document with one or more on-screen
icons indicating one or more users who have saved changes to said original version
of said shared document;
selecting an on-screen icon associated with one of said first and a second user;
and
viewing at least a section of said original version of said shared document with
highlighted changes in said single object, wherein said highlighted changes indicate
changes made by one of said first and said second user associated with said selected
on-screen icon with respect to said original version of said shared document.
2. A computer program product embodied in a machine readable medium for viewing
changes to a shared document in a single object comprising the programming steps of:
opening said shared document by a first user;
viewing an original version of said shared document with one or more on-screen
icons indicating one or more users who have saved changes to said original version
of said shared document;
selecting an on-screen icon associated with one of said first and a second user;
and
viewing at least a section of said original version of said shared document with
highlighted changes in said single object, wherein said highlighted changes indicate
changes made by one of said first and said second user associated with said selected
on-screen icon with respect to said original version of said shared document.
3. A system, comprising:
a memory unit operable for storing a computer program for viewing changes to
a shared document in a single object; and
a processor coupled to said memory unit, wherein said processor, responsive to
said computer program, comprises:
circuitry for opening said shared document by a first user;
circuitry for viewing an original version of said shared document with one or
more on-screen icons indicating one or more users who have saved changes to said
original version of said shared document;
circuitry for selecting an on-screen icon associated with one of said first and
a second user; and
circuitry for viewing at least a section of said original version of said shared
document with highlighted changes in said single object, wherein said highlighted
changes indicate changes made by one of said first and said second user associated
with said selected on-screen icon with respect to said original version of said
shared document.
4. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising the steps of:
entering a user identification associated with said first user; and
determining whether said first user has permission to open said shared document
based on said user identification associated with said first user.
5. The method as recited in claim 1, where upon selecting said on-screen icon
associated with one of said first and said second user a menu is displayed with
a list of one or more versions of said shared document authored by said first or
said second user.
6. The method as recited in claim 5 further comprising the step of:
selecting one of said one or more versions of said shared document.
7. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising the step of:
editing said original version of said shared document.
8. The method as recited in claim 7 further comprising the step of:
determining whether said first user has an on-screen icon associated with said
first user indicating that said first user has edited said shared document.
9. The method as recited in claim 8 wherein if there is no on-screen icon associated
with said first user then the method further comprises the step of:
creating an on-screen icon associated with said first user.
10. The method as recited in claim 9 further comprising the step of:
saving changes made to said original version of said shared document in a file
associated with said first user.
11. The method as recited in claim 7 further comprising the step of:
saving changes made to said original version of said shared document in a file
associated with said first user.
12. The method as recited in claim 6 comprising the step of:
editing said selected version of said shared document.
13. The method as recited in claim 12 further comprising the step of:
determining whether said first user has an on-screen icon associated with said
first user indicating that said first user has edited said shared document.
14. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein if there is no on-screen icon associated
with said first user then the method further comprises the step of:
creating an on-screen icon association with said first user.
15. The method as recited in claim 14 further comprising the step of:
saving changes made to said original version of said shared document based on
changes made to said selected version in a file associated with said first user.
16. The method as recited in claim 12 further comprising the step of:
saving changes made to said original version of said shared document based on
changes made to said selected version in a file associated with said first user.
17. The computer program product as recited in claim 2 further comprising the
programming steps of:
entering a user identification associated with said first user; and
determining whether said first user has permission to open said shared document
based on said user identification associated with said first user.
18. The computer program product as recited in claim 2, wherein upon selecting
said on-screen icon associated with one of said first and said second user a menu
is displayed with a list of one or more versions of said shared document author
by said first or said second user.
19. The computer program product as recited in claim 18 further comprising the
programming step of:
selecting one of said one or more versions of said shared document.
20. The computer program product as recited in claim 2 further comprising the
programming step of:
editing said original version of said shared document.
21. The computer program product as recited in claim 20 further comprising the
programming step of:
determining whether said first user has an on-screen icon associated with said
first user indicating that said first user has edited said shared document.
22. The computer program product as recited in claim 21, if there is no on-screen
icon associated with said first user then the computer program product further
comprises the programming step of:
creating an on-screen icon associated with said first user.
23. The computer program product as recited in claim 22 further comprising the
programming step of:
saving changes made to said original version of said shared document in a file
associated with said first user.
24. The computer program product as recited in claim 20 further comprising the
programming step of:
saving changes made to said original version of said shared document in a file
associated with said first user.
25. The computer program product as recited in claim 19 further comprising the
programming step of:
editing said selected version of said shared document.
26. The computer program product as recited in claim 25 further comprising the
programming step of:
determining whether said first user has an on-screen icon associated with said
first user indicating that said first user has edited said shared document.
27. The computer program product as recited in claim 26, wherein if there is
no on-screen icon associated with said first user then the computer program product
further comprises the programming step of:
creating an on-screen icon association with said first user.
28. The computer program product as recited in claim 27 further comprising the
programming step of:
saving changes made to said original version of said shared document based on
changes made to said selected version in a file associated with said first user.
29. The computer program product as recited in claim 25 further comprising the
programming step of:
saving changes made to said original version of said shared document based
on changes made to said selected version in a file associated with said first
user.
30. The system as recited in claim 3, wherein said processor further comprises:
circuitry for entering a user identification associated with said first user;
and
circuitry for determining whether said first user has permission to open said
shared document based on said user identification associated with said first user.
31. The system as recited in claim 3, wherein said processor further screen icon
associated with one of said first and said second user a menu is displayed with
a list of one or more versions of said shared document authored by said first or
said second user.
32. The system as recited in claim 31, wherein said processor further comprises:
circuitry for selecting one of said one or more versions of said shared document.
33. The system as recited in claim 3, wherein said processor further comprises:
circuitry for editing said original version of said shared document.
34. The system as recited in claim 33, said processor further comprises:
circuitry for determining whether said first user has an on-screen icon associated
with said first user indicating that said first user has edited said shared document.
35. The system as recited in claim 34, wherein if there is no on-screen icon
associated with said first user then said processor further comprises:
circuitry for creating an on-screen icon associated with said first user.
36. The system as recited in claim 35, wherein said processor further comprises:
circuitry for saving changes made to said original version of said shared document
in a file associated with said first user.
37. The system as recited in claim 33, wherein said processor further comprises:
circuitry for saving changes made to said original version of said shared document
in a file associated with said first user.
38. The system as recited in claim 32, wherein said processor further comprises:
circuitry for editing said selected version of said shared document.
39. The system as recited in claim 38, wherein said processor further comprises:
circuitry for determining whether said first user has an on-screen icon associated
with said first user indicating that said first user has edited said shared document.
40. The system as recited in claim 39, wherein if there is no on-screen icon
associated with said first user then said processor further comprises:
circuitry for creating an on-screen icon association with said first user.
41. The system as recited in claim 40, wherein said processor further comprises:
circuitry for saving changes made to said original version of said shared document
based on changes made to said selected version in a file associated with said first
user.
42. The system as recited in claim 38, wherein said processor further comprises:
circuitry for saving changes made to said original version of said shared document
based on changes made to said selected version in a file associated with said first user.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to the field of groupware applications, and more
particularly to a groupware application that allows changes to a shared document
by each user to be viewed relative to the original version of the shared document
within a single object.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In a network system, one or more clients may be coupled to a server where the
server may store one or more applications shared by one or more users, i.e., the
one or more users of the one or more clients. An application shared by one or more
users may commonly be referred to as a groupware application. Subsequently, a groupware
application may allow multiple users to be simultaneously active within the single
groupware application. In this manner, several users may simultaneously utilize
documents in the groupware application. Typically, a document may be passed along
to users through groupware code, e.g., Lotus™. When the document is edited
by one of the users who have access to the document, it may be saved by that particular
user under the current version. When that particular user saves the edited document
under the current version, the previous changes made by other user(s) may be lost.
Subsequently, that particular user may save the edited document under a new version
thereby preserving the previous changes made by other user(s) in a previous version.
When a user desires to compare the differences in one version versus another
version of a particular document, the user may use an application, e.g., Compare
Rite, that highlights the changes made between the two versions. A new document
may subsequently be created by the application, e.g., Compare Rite, indicating
which words were added and deleted in one of the two versions with respect to the
other version of the document. Unfortunately, a version of the document embodying
changes made by one or more users may not be viewed concurrently with the original
version of the document in a single object thereby allowing a user to visually
compare and contrast the changes made by one or more users. That is, a version
of the document embodying changes made by one or more users may not be viewed concurrently
with the original version of the document in the same window such as on a computer screen.
It would therefore be desirable to develop a groupware application that allows
changes to a shared document by each user to be viewed relative to the original
version of the shared document within a single object.
SUMMARY
The problems outlined above may at least in part be solved in some embodiments
by providing one or more on-screen symbols, e.g., icons, in conjunction with the
original version of the shared document in a single object. The one or more on-screen
symbols may be associated with one or more users who made changes to the original
document. By selecting one of the one or more on-screen symbols, a menu may appear
with one or more versions of the original document written by the user associated
with the on-screen symbol. Upon selecting a particular version, at least a section
of the original document may appear with highlighted changes that indicate the
changes made to the original document in the selected version.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for viewing changes to a
shared document in a single object may comprise the step of opening a shared document
by a first particular user. Upon opening the shared document, the original document
with one or more on-screen symbols, e.g., icons, may be displayed on the display
of the first particular user. The one or more on-screen symbols may indicate one
or more users who have saved changes to the original document. A determination
may be made as to whether to view the changes made to the original document by
the first particular user or a second particular user. If the first particular
user wants to view the changes made to the original document by either the first
particular user or the second particular user then the first particular user selects
the on-screen symbol associated with that particular user. Upon selecting the on-screen
symbol, a menu may appear with one or more versions of the original document written
by the user associated with the on-screen symbol. Upon selecting a particular version,
at least a section of the original document may appear with highlighted changes
that indicate the changes made to the original document in the selected version.
In one embodiment, the section of the original document that appears may be the
section indicating the first of the changes to the original document. A button
may appear providing the first particular user an option to proceed to the next
one or more changes in the original document. In one embodiment, at least one section
of the original document may be displayed in parallel with the corresponding section
in the version selected where the original document includes highlighted changes.
In another embodiment, at least one section of the original document may be displayed
with word(s) highlighted where the word(s) highlighted indicate the words in the
original document that were changed in the selected version. The first particular
user may select the highlighted word(s) to view the changes made to the highlighted
word(s) in the selected version.
The first particular user may then decide to edit the selected version. In one
embodiment, the first particular user may view the selected version by re-selecting
the on-screen symbol associated with the selected version. Upon editing the selected
version, the first particular user may attempt to save the changes made to the
selected version. A determination may then be made as to whether the first particular
user has an on-screen symbol associated with the original document. If the first
particular user does not have an on-screen symbol associated with the original
document then an onscreen symbol is created. When an on-screen symbol is created,
an additional onscreen symbol associated with another particular user may be added
to the list of one or more on-screen symbols appearing on the display. Once the
determination step of determining whether the first particular user has an on-screen
symbol associated with the original document is completed, the changes made in
the version selected that result in changes made with respect to the original document
may be saved in a file. That is, only the changes made with respect to the original
document may be saved in a file even though the changes are made in a particular
version that includes changes made to the original document.
If the first particular user decided not to view the changes made to the original
document, then the first particular user may decide to edit the original document.
Upon editing the original document, the first particular user may attempt to save
the changes made to the original document. A determination may then be made as
to whether the first particular user does has an on-screen symbol associated with
the original document. If the first particular user does not have an on-screen
symbol associated with the original document then an on-screen symbol is created.
When an on-screen symbol is created, an additional on-screen symbol associated
with another particular user may be added to the list of one or more on-screen
symbols appearing on the display. Once the determination step of determining whether
the first particular user has an on-screen symbol associated with the original
document is completed, the changes made in the original document may be saved in
a file.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages
of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention
that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the
invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of
the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when the following
detailed description is considered in conjunction with the following drawings,
in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a network system configured in accordance
with the present invention;
FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a client in a network system configured
in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for allowing changes to a shared document
by each user to be viewed relative to the original version of the shared document
within a single object;
FIG. 4 illustrates an object with at least a section of the original document
along with one or more icons indicating one or more users who have saved changes
to the original document in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 5 illustrates changes made by a particular user with respect to an original
version of the shared document in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The present invention comprises a system, computer program product and method
for viewing changes to a shared document in a single object. While the following
discusses the present invention in conjunction with an application, the present
invention may be implemented in a word processing tool, built-in editor or any
tool that allows the user to create an on-screen symbol thereby allowing the user
to view the original document with changes made to the original document within
a single object. Furthermore, while the following discusses the present invention
in conjunction with viewing textual changes, the present invention may be expanded
to include viewing graphical changes.
FIG.
1-Network System
FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of the present invention of a network system
100. Network system
100 may comprise one or more clients
102A-C
coupled to a server
101. Clients
102A-C may be configured to send
requests to server
101 and server
101 may be configured to supply
information to the one or more clients
102A-C. Clients
102A-C may
collectively or individually be referred to as clients
102 or client
102,
respectively. It is noted that network system
100 may comprise any number
of clients
102 as well as any number of servers
101 and that FIG.
1 is illustrative. It is further noted that the connection between clients
102
and server
101 may be any medium type, e.g., wireless, wired. It is further
noted that client
102 may be any type of device, e.g., wireless, Personal
Digital Assistant (PDA), cell phone, personal computer system, workstation, Internet
appliance, configured with the capability of connecting to the Internet and consequently
communicating with server
101. It is further noted that network system
100
may be any type of system that has at least one server and at least one client
and that FIG. 1 is not to be limited in scope to any one particular embodiment.
FIG.
2-Client
FIG. 2 illustrates a typical hardware configuration of client
102 which
is representative of a hardware environment for practicing the present invention.
Client
102 has a central processing unit (CPU)
210 coupled to various
other components by system bus
212. An operating system
230 runs
on CPU
110 and provides control and coordinates the function of the various
components of FIG.
2. An application
240, e.g., program for allowing
changes to a shared document by each user to be viewed relative to the original
version of the shared document within a single object, as described in FIG. 3,
runs in conjunction with operating system
230 and provides output calls
to operating system
230 which implements the various functions or services
to be performed by application
240. Read only memory (ROM)
216 is
coupled to system bus
212 and includes a basic input/output system ("BIOS")
that controls certain basic functions of client
102. Random access memory
(RAM)
214, I/O adapter
218, and communications adapter
234
are also coupled to system bus
212. It should be noted that software components
including operating system
230 and application
240 are loaded into
RAM
214 which is the computer system's main memory. I/O adapter
218
may be an integrated drive electronics ("IDE") adapter that communicates with disk
unit
220, e.g., disk drive. It is noted that the program of the present
invention that allows changes to a shared document by each user to be viewed relative
to the original version of the shared document within a single object, as described
in FIG. 3, may reside in disk unit
220 or in application
240.
Communications adapter
234 interconnects bus
212 with
an outside network enabling client
102 to communicate with other such systems
via a Local Area Network (LAN), e.g., Ethernet, Token Ring, ARCnet, or a Wide Area
Network (WAN), e.g., Internet. Input/Output devices are also connected to system
bus
212 via a user interface adapter
222 and display adapter
236.
Keyboard
224, mouse
226 and speaker
230 are all interconnected
to bus
212 through user interface adapter
222. Event data may be
input to client
102 through any of these devices. A display monitor
238
is connected to system bus
212 by display adapter
236. In this manner,
a user is capable of inputting to client
102 through keyboard
224
or mouse
226 and receiving output from client
102 via display
238
or speaker
230.
Implementations of the invention include implementations as a computer
system programmed to execute the method or methods described herein, and as a computer
program product. According to the computer system implementation, sets of instructions
for executing the method or methods are resident in the random access memory
214
of one or more computer systems configured generally as described above. Until
required by the computer system, the set of instructions may be stored as a computer
program product in another computer memory, for example, in disk drive
220
(which may include a removable memory such as an optical disk or floppy disk for
eventual use in the disk drive
220). Further, the computer program product
can also be stored at another computer and transmitted when desired to the user's
work station by a network or by an external network such as the Internet. One skilled
in the art would appreciate that the physical storage of the sets of instructions
physically changes the medium upon which it is stored so that the medium carries
computer readable information. The change may be electrical, magnetic, chemical,
biological, or some other physical change.
FIG.
3-Flowchart of a Method for Allowing Changes to a Shared Document
by Each User to be Viewed Relative to the Original Version of the Shared Document
Within a Single Object
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of one embodiment of the present invention of a method
300 for allowing changes to a shared document by each user to be viewed
relative to the original version of the shared document within a single object.
As stated in the Background Information section, a version of the document embodying
changes made by one or more users may not be viewed concurrently with the original
version of the document in a single object thereby allowing a user to visually
compare and contrast the changes made by one or more users. That is, a version
of the document embodying changes made by one or more users may not be viewed concurrently
with the original version of the document in the same window such as on a computer
screen. It would therefore be desirable to develop a groupware application that
allows changes to a shared document by each user to be viewed relative to the original
version of the shared document within a single object. Method
300 is a method
for allowing changes to a shared document by each user to be viewed relative to
the original version of the shared document within a single object.
In step
301, a particular user of one of the one or more clients
102
coupled to server
101 may execute a particular groupware application, i.e.,
an application shared among the one or more clients
102, stored on server
101. In step
302, a particular document in the particular groupware
application may be executed to be opened by the particular user. In step
303,
the particular user may enter a user identification, e.g., user ID, password, in
response to a prompt issued by the groupware application. In step
304, a
determination may be made as to whether the particular user identified in step
303 has permission to view the document executed to be opened in step
302.
If the particular user identified in step
303 does not have permission to
view the document executed to be opened in step
302 then method
300
is terminated in step
305.
If the particular user identified in step
303 has permission to view the
document executed to be opened in step
302, then the particular user may
view the document in step
306. When the particular user views the document,
the particular user may view on display
238 at least a section of the original
document with one or more on-screen symbols, e.g., icons, indicating one or more
users who have saved changes to the original document as illustrated in FIG.
4.
FIG. 4 is an illustration of an object with at least a section of the original
document along with one or more on-screen symbols, e.g., icons, indicating one
or more users who have saved changes to the original document in accordance with
the present invention. Each on-screen symbol may be representative of one or more
versions of the original document generated by the particular user associated with
the on-screen symbol as described further below.
A determination may then be made as to whether to view the changes made to the
original document by a particular user, including the user identified in step
303,
in step
307. If the user identified in step
303 wants to view changes
made to the original document by a particular user, including the user identified
in step
303, then the user selects the on-screen symbol associated with
that particular user in step
308. For example, referring to FIG. 4, if the
user identified in step
303 wants to view changes made to the original document
by Smith then the user selects the on-screen symbol, e.g., icon, entitled "Smith."
In one embodiment, when the on-screen symbol is selected a pop-up menu may be displayed
on display
238 in step
309. The pop-up menu may display one or more
versions of the original document written by the user associated with the on-screen
symbol selected in step
308. In step
310, the user may select a particular
version of the original document where the version comprises information regarding
the changes made with respect to the original document. Upon selection of a particular
version, the user, in step
311, may view on display
238 at least
a section of the original document with highlighted changes that indicate the changes
made by the particular user associated with the on-screen symbol, e.g., icon, as
illustrated in FIG.
5. FIG. 5 illustrates the changes made by a particular
user with respect to an original document in accordance with the present invention.
As further illustrated in FIG. 5, the on-screen symbol, e.g., icon, associated
with the particular user whose changes are highlighted on display
238 may
change form. This is illustrated in FIG. 5 by the dotted shading and the corresponding
bold face font. It is noted that the changes made to the original document may
be illustrated in other forms not exemplified in FIG.
5 and that FIG. 5
is illustrative. It is further noted that in one embodiment, the section of the
original document with highlighted changes displayed on display
238 may
be the section indicating the first of the changes of the original document. The
user as identified in step
303 may be provided with an option to proceed
to the next one or more changes in the original document. For example, a button
may appear on display
238 providing the user as identified in step
303
with an option to proceed to the next one or more changes in the original document.
It is further noted that in one embodiment, the original document may be displayed
while overlying the original document with changes made with respect to the original
document as stored in a file associated with the selected version. Each version
may have a file associated with it storing the words changed with respect to the
original document including instructions as to where the words are to be placed
in the original document. In one embodiment, the file associated with the selected
version may be appended to the file storing the original document. In one embodiment,
at least one section of the original document may be displayed on display
238
in parallel with the corresponding section in the version selected where the original
document includes highlighted changes. In another embodiment, at least one section
of the original document may be displayed with word(s) highlighted where the word(s)
highlighted indicate the words in the original document that were changed in the
selected version. The user may then select the highlighted word(s) to view the
changes made to the highlighted word(s) in the selected version.
In step
312 a determination may be made as to whether the version selected
is to be edited by the user identified in step
303. If the user identified
in step
303 is not to edit the version selected then method
300 is
terminated in step
305. If the user identified in step
303 is to
edit the version selected then the user identified in step
303 edits the
version selected in step
313. In one embodiment, the user identified in
step
303 may view the selected version by re-selecting the on-screen symbol
associated with the selected version. Upon viewing the selected version, the user
identified in step
303 may edit the selected version in step
313.
Upon the user identified in step
303 attempting to save the changes made
to the version selected, a determination may be made in step
314 as to whether
the user identified in step
303 has a save button, i.e., an on-screen symbol
associated with the user identified in step
303. If the user identified
in step
303 does not have an on-screen symbol indicating changes made to
the original document then an on-screen symbol associated with the user identified
in step
303 is created in step
315. When an on-screen symbol is created,
an additional on-screen symbol associated with another particular user may be added
to the list of one or more on-screen symbols, e.g., icons, on display
238.
Once the step of determining whether the first particular user has an on-screen
symbol associated with the original document is completed, the changes made in
the version selected that resulted in changes made with respect to the original
document may be saved in a file in step
316. That is, only the changes made
with respect to the original document may be saved in a file even though the changes
are made in a particular version that includes changes made to the original document.
The file may include instructions as to where the changed words are located in
the original document. By saving only the changes made with respect to the original
document, changes made to the original document by one or more users may be viewed
in a single object.
Referring to step
307, if the user identified in step
303
does not want to view the changes made to the original document by a particular
user, including the user identified in step
303, then a determination may
be made in step
317 as to whether the original document viewed is to be
edited by the user identified in step
303. If the user identified in step
303 is not to edit the original document viewed then method
300 is
terminated in step
305. If the user identified in step
303 is to
edit the original document viewed then the user identified in step
303 edits
the original document viewed in step
318. Upon the user identified in step
303 attempting to save the changes made to the original document viewed,
a determination may be made in step
314 as to whether the user identified
in step
303 has a save button, i.e., an on-screen symbol associated with
the user identified in step
303. If the user identified in step
303
does not have an on-screen symbol indicating changes made to the original document
then an on-screen symbol associated with the user identified in step
303
is created in step
315. Once the step of determining whether the first particular
user has an on-screen symbol associated with the original document is completed,
the changes made to the original document may be saved in a file in step
316.
By saving only the changes made with respect to the original document, changes
made to the original document by one or more users may be viewed in a single object.
It is noted that method
300 may be executed in a different order presented
and that the order presented in the discussion of FIG. 3 is illustrative. It is
further noted that certain steps may be executed almost concurrently.
Although the system, computer program product and method are described in
connection with several embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific
forms set forth herein, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives,
modifications, and equivalents, as can be reasonably included within the spirit
and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. It is noted that
the headings are used only for organizational purposes and not meant to limit the
scope of the description or claims.
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