Method, system, apparatus and content model for the creation, management, storage, and presentation of dynamic objects

Abstract

The invention includes structures and schema for organizing and inter-relating objects, data, or files, including relational, network, hierarchical, and entity-relationship models, among others, that are dynamic, that is changing with time. This includes manipulating structures by conversion, compression, compaction, and compilation, for various purposes. Also included is generating structures for storing, organizing, and managing dynamic objects for retrieval and presentation. A discussion group for collaborative participants is also provided. A time-based dynamic object within a plurality of stored dynamic objects is stored. Each dynamic objects comprises a plurality of predefined attribute fields. Requested dynamic objects are assembled in real time so that the requested dynamic objects are displayed on the basis of the start-time attribute field of each requested dynamic object. A different threaded discussion associated with the each displayed requested dynamic object is provided with each displayed requested dynamic object based on the displayed requested dynamic object's start time.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of collaboration, comprising:
 in a collaboration server executing in a computer processor, storing a topic folder that includes a plurality of shared objects, wherein the topic folder is associated with a topic;   storing the plurality of shared objects, wherein at least one of the plurality of shared objects includes a time-based object, a multimedia object, and a tracking object, the time-based object including a time attribute, the multimedia object including attributes relating to multimedia content and a type of multimedia content, and the tracking object including information to build a view of the multimedia object in accordance with the time-based object and the multimedia object;   enabling modification of the shared objects by a group of collaborators, the modification including a first modification to a subject shared object and a second modification of the subject shared object;   indexing the shared objects by indexing the attributes of the multimedia object and the time-based objects, including indexing the first modification to the subject shared object and the second modification of the subject shared object;   enabling a search of the indexed shared objects; and   enabling a view of the topic based on the shared objects and their attributes.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein enabling modification of the shared objects by a group of collaborators comprises:
 being responsive to inputs via a user interface accessible by the group collaborators, the inputs corresponding to modifications of the shared objects.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein being responsive to inputs via a user interface accessible by the group collaborators comprises:
 being responsive to the first modification of the subject shared object from a first member of the group of collaborators; and   being responsive to the second modification of the subject shared object from a second member of the group of collaborators.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein enabling a view of the topic based on the shared objects and their attributes further comprises:
 arranging the shared objects vertically in the view according to the time attribute of the time-based objects.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the type of multimedia object includes one of: an image or a text string; a first multimedia object being of the type image, the first multimedia object received from an individual user, and a second multimedia object being of the type text string, the second multimedia object received from one of the group collaborators. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the tracking object of a shared object enables editing of the multimedia object of the shared object, such editing presented as a separate view of the multimedia object and initiated via a shortcut link selectable by the individual user. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein enabling a view of the topic based on the shared objects and their attributes comprises:
 enabling building of the view by the tracking objects including displaying a representation of the multimedia objects and the time attributes of the time-based objects.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the time attributes of the time-based objects of the shared objects represent the times at which a collaborator pushed the respective multimedia content of the shared objects to the collaboration server. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating a poll including a vote having a set of decisions, the poll relating to one of the multimedia objects;   enabling the group of collaborators to vote in the poll including enabling the group of collaborators to select one of the decisions of the vote;   receiving votes from the group of collaborators;   generating poll results based on the received votes and displaying the poll results in conjunction with the presentation of the shared objects.   
     
     
         10 . A method of time-based sharing of content comprising:
 at a collaboration server executing on a computer processor, receiving instructions from an individual user to allow a plurality of collaborator users to view and comment on content shared by the individual user;   receiving content from the individual user and generating a first content object to store the content;   generating a first time-based object including a content view time defined within a predefined range of time over a history;   generating a first control object to perform operations on the first content object;   generating a timeline representative of the predefined range of time over the view history and enabling the individual user and the plurality of collaborators to view the timeline;   enabling a representation of the content received from the individual user to be viewed at a position of the timeline corresponding to the content view time;   enabling selectable representations of the first control object's operations to be viewed adjacent to the representation of the content;   receiving a comment from a commenter user who is one of the collaborator users and generating a second content object to store the comment;   generating a second time-based object including a comment view time defined within the predefined range of time over the history;   generating a second control object to perform operations on the second content object;   enabling a representation of the comment to be viewed at a position of the timeline corresponding to the comment view time; and   enabling selectable representations of the second control object's operations to be viewed adjacent to the representation of the comment.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the content view time equals the time at which the individual user pushed the content to the collaboration server and the comment view time equals the time at which the commenter user pushed the comment to the collaboration server. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the selectable representations of the first control object include at least one of: editing of the content, enabling a dedicated view of the content, deleting of the content, modifying the content view time of the content, or disabling the ability to view the content. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein enabling a dedicated view of the content comprises:
 enabling a separate view of the content including selectable operations to be performed on the content.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the selectable representations of the first control object include shortcut links. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the operations of the second control object include at least one of: editing of the comment, deleting of the comment, modifying the comment view time of the comment, or disabling the ability to view the comment. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the timeline is displayed on a view screen and is oriented vertically of the view screen and organized chronologically. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the content is an image and the comment is a text string. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 displaying the content view time alongside the representation of the content and the comment view time alongside the representation of the comment.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 restricting the view of the first control object and the ability to perform operations of the first control object to the individual user.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 restricting the view of the second control object and the ability to perform operations of the second control object to the individual user and the commenter user.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 generating a poll including a vote having a set of decisions, the poll relating to the content of the individual user;   enabling the collaborators to vote in the poll including enabling the collaborators to select one of the decisions of the vote;   receiving votes from the collaborators;   generating poll results based on the received votes and displaying the poll results in conjunction with the presentation of the content.