Method for enabling a mobile user equipment to drag and drop data objects between distributed applications

Abstract

The invention concerns a system and a method for enabling a mobile User Equipment ( 81 ) to drag and drop data objects between at least two remote applications ( 7, 9 ) or between a local application ( 2 ) and a remote application ( 7, 9 ), the system including a Drag Source ( 10 ), a Drag Target ( 12 ), a Drop Source ( 14 ), and a Drop Target ( 16 ). In the system according to the invention, the Drag Source ( 10 ) is configured for negotiating with the Drag Target ( 12 ) a transmission protocol ( 38, 32, 100, 102, 104 ) for exchanging said data object between said Drop Source ( 14 ) and said Drop Target ( 16 ).

1 . A method for enabling a mobile User Equipment ( 81 ) to drag and drop data objects between at least two remote applications ( 7 ,  9 ) or between a local application and a remote application in a system comprising a Drag Source ( 10 ), a Drag Target ( 12 ), a Drop Source ( 14 ), and a Drop Target ( 16 ), said method characterized in that the Drag Source ( 10 ) and the Drag Target ( 12 ) exchange drag-and-drop signaling over a first data channel while the Drop Source ( 14 ) and the Drop Target ( 16 ) exchange the data objects over a second data channel different from said first channel. 
     
     
         2 . A method according to  claim 1  further comprising the following steps:
 the Drag Source ( 10 ) transmits to the Drag Target ( 12 ) a drag-notification to notify to said Drag Target ( 12 ) to handle the drag of a selected data object, 
 in response to said drag-notification, the Drag Target ( 12 ) responds to the Drag Source ( 10 ) either by a DRAG-OBJECT-REFUSE if the Drag Target ( 12 ) cannot handle the drag-and-drop operation, or by a DROP-OBJECT-REQUEST if the Dragged Data Object is dropped in the Drag Source, 
 upon reception of said drop-object-request, the Drag Source ( 10 ) transmits to said Drag Target ( 12 ) a DROP-OBJECT-RESPONSE including either the requested data in-the-band or the data exchange protocol ( 38 ,  32 ,  100 ,  102 ,  104 ) along with associated parameters such as IP addresses and port number, 
 upon reception of said DROP-OBJECT-RESPONSE the Drag Source ( 10 ) configures the Drop Source ( 14 ) based on selected data exchange protocol ( 38 ,  32 ,  100 ,  102 , 104 ) and the Drag Target ( 12 ) configures the Drop Target ( 16 ) to receive the selected data, 
 the Drag Target ( 12 ) transmits the Drag Source ( 10 ) a DRAG-DROP-END signal to announce the completion of the drag-and-drop operation between Drag Source ( 10 ) and Drag Target ( 12 ). 
 
     
     
         3 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein said drag-notification comprises a description of the selected data object to enables the Drag Target ( 12 ) to register the location information of selected data object and its properties which can further enable automatic selection of application, and a graphical representation of said selected data object to enable the Drag Target ( 12 ) to visually render the selected data object with the traditional cursor graphical effect and a description of a set of possible actions supported by the Drag Source. 
     
     
         4 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein the DROP-OBJECT-REQUEST includes an object identifier, a preferred data transfer mechanism, a description of the action selected by the Drag Target ( 12 ). 
     
     
         5 . A method according to  claim 3  wherein if no action is specified, the Drag Target ( 12 ) undertakes a default action which can be a copy of an object. 
     
     
         6 . A method according to  claim 3  wherein, the DROP-OBJECT-RESPONSE further comprises a license information associated to the action of “a stream transmission of an object” to enable a DRM agent in the Drop Target ( 16 ) to play back a video stream from the Drop Source. 
     
     
         7 . A method according to  claim 2  wherein said set of possible actions supported by the Drag Source ( 10 ) comprises:
 a stream of a selection action to enable said Drop Target ( 16 ) to receive a stream of the selection from said Drop Source ( 14 ), 
 a copy of a selection action to enable the Drop Source ( 14 ) to receive a copy of the selected object, 
 an alias of a selection to enable the Drop Target ( 16 ) to receive a link address to the physical data object from the Drop Source ( 14 ), 
 a move command of a selection, 
 a retrieval command of a URI associated to the data object to enable the Drop Source ( 14 ) to use said URI and do appropriate procedure using said URI. 
 
     
     
         8 . A method according to  claim 3  wherein, the DROP-OBJECT-RESPONSE further comprises a license information associated to said action of a stream transmission of an object to enable a DRM agent in the Drop Target ( 16 ) to play back a video stream transmitted by the Drop Source ( 14 ). 
     
     
         9 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein said drag-and-drop signaling uses a session identification number to enable accurate drag-and-drop session management. 
     
     
         10 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein said drag-and-drop signaling is implemented based on remote display control protocol such as Remote Frame Buffer (RFB) protocol, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) protocol, and Adaptive Internet Protocol. 
     
     
         11 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein said drag-and-drop signaling can further be implemented based on WEB message format (html, xml, javascript, . . . ). 
     
     
         12 . Computer program product stored in a memory storage adapted, when executed in a computer, for enabling a mobile User Equipment ( 81 ) to drag and drop data objects between at least two remote applications ( 7 ,  9 ) or between a remote application ( 7 ,  9 ) and a local application ( 2 ) in a system comprising a Drag Source ( 10 ), a Drag Target ( 12 ), a Drop Source ( 14 ), and a Drop Target ( 16 ), said computer program comprising:
 instructions for enabling a mobile User Equipment ( 81 ) to drag and drop data objects between at least two remote applications ( 7 ,  9 ) or between a local application ( 2 ) and a remote application ( 7 ,  9 ) and to configure itself either as a Drag Source ( 10 ) or as a Drag Target ( 12 ),   instructions for enabling the Drag Source ( 10 ) to transmits to the Drag Target ( 12 ) a drag-notification to notify to said Drag Target ( 12 ) to handle the drag of a selected data object,   instructions for enabling the Drag Target ( 12 ) to respond to the Drag Source ( 10 ) either by a DRAG-OBJECT-REFUSE if the Drag Target ( 12 ) cannot handle the drag- and drop operation, or by a DROP-OBJECT-REQUEST if the Dragged Data Object is dropped in the Drag Target,   instructions for enabling the Drag Source ( 10 ) to transmit to said Drag Target ( 12 ) a DROP-OBJECT-RESPONSE including either the requested data in-the-band or the data exchange protocol ( 38 ,  32 ,  100 ,  102 ,  104 ) along with associated parameters such as IP addresses and port number,   instructions for enabling the Drag Source ( 10 ) to configure the Drop Source ( 14 ) based on selected data exchange protocol ( 38 ,  32 ,  100 ,  102 ,  104 ) and the Drag Target ( 12 ) to configure the Drop Target ( 16 ) to receive the selected data,   instructions for enabling the Drag Target ( 12 ) to transmit the Drag Source ( 10 ) a DRAG-DROP-END signal to announce the completion of the drag-and-drop operation between Drag Source ( 10 ) and Drag Target ( 12 ).