Method and system for enabling the sharing of information between applications on a computing device

Abstract

A method and system for enabling the sharing of information between a first application and a second application on a computing device are described herein. The method includes the steps of receiving a global search request through the first application and—in response to the reception of the global search request—prompting for a search term from a user. The method further includes the steps of receiving the search term and—based on the received search term—automatically presenting one or more corresponding candidate elements associated with the second application for selection by the user. In addition, the method includes the steps of receiving the selection of at least one of the candidate elements and linking the selected candidate element with the first application such that a user may access the selected candidate element from the first application.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of enabling the sharing of information between a first application and a second application on a computing device, comprising:
 receiving a global search request through the first application;   in response to the reception of the global search request, prompting for a search term from a user;   receiving the search term;   based on the received search term, automatically presenting one or more corresponding candidate elements associated with the second application for selection by the user;   receiving the selection of at least one of the candidate elements; and   linking the selected candidate element with the first application such that a user may access the selected candidate element from the first application.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein automatically presenting the candidate elements comprises automatically presenting one or more candidate elements associated with the second application and one or more candidate elements associated with other applications for selection by the user. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first application is in an active state and the second application is in a non-active state. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the first application and the second application are part of a personal information manager application that is configured to support active and non-active states of the first and second applications. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 4 , wherein the personal information manager application and the first and second applications are secure applications that are restricted from providing information to non-secure applications. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first application comprises one or more information fields and receiving the global search request through the first application comprises receiving the global search request through one of the information fields of the first application. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein linking the selected candidate element with the first application comprises linking the selected candidate element with the information field of the first application. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein receiving the global search request includes detecting a swiping in a first predetermined direction or first predetermined swiping pattern on a touch screen at the computing device. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 closing the first application;   re-launching the first application;   receiving the selection of the linked selected candidate element; and   in response to the reception of the selection of the linked selected candidate element, presenting information related to the linked selected candidate element through the first application.   
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 2 , wherein presenting one or more corresponding candidate elements associated with the second application and the other applications for selection by the user includes presenting the corresponding candidate elements in one or more categories based on an association between the corresponding candidate elements and the second application and the other applications. 
     
     
         11 . A method of presenting a linked element at a computing device, comprising:
 via a first application in an active state, receiving a global search request that includes a first search term;   in response to the reception of the global search request, automatically determining corresponding candidate elements from a set of elements accessible to the computing device, wherein the candidate elements correspond to the first search term and are associated with one or more other applications in non-active states;   presenting at least a portion of the candidate elements for selection by a user;   receiving a user selection of at least one of the candidate elements;   generating a selectable link for the first application such that when the selectable link is selected, access to information related to the other application with which the candidate element is associated is enabled.   
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising presenting the selectable link in an information field of the first application. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the first application and the other applications are secure applications that are restricted from providing data to non-secure applications. 
     
     
         14 . A computing device configured to present a linked element, comprising:
 a display unit, wherein the display unit is configured to:
 selectively present prompts for user input; and 
 selectively present elements and links for selection by the user; and 
   a processing unit, wherein the processing unit is configured to:
 cause, in response to reception of a global search request at the computing device and through a first application, the display to present a prompt for a search term; 
 perform an automatic comparison based on the search term to generate one or more corresponding candidate elements associated with other applications; 
 cause the display unit to present the candidate elements for selection by the user; and 
 based on a selection of one or more of the candidate elements by the user, generate a link to at least the selected candidate element such that selection of the link through the first application causes access to the selected candidate element. 
   
     
     
         15 . The computing device according to  claim 14 , further comprising a memory unit, wherein the memory unit is configured to store data relating to one or more predetermined swiping patterns, and wherein the processing unit is further configured to perform an automatic comparison of user input with the data relating to the predetermined swiping patterns to detect a global search request. 
     
     
         16 . The computing device according to  claim 14 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to cause the display to present the generated link through the first application. 
     
     
         17 . The computing device according to  claim 16 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to cause the display to present the generated link through an information field of the first application. 
     
     
         18 . The computing device according to  claim 16 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to:
 detect the selection of the generated link through the first application; and   cause the display to present information of the selected candidate element associated with the generated link.   
     
     
         19 . The computing device according to  14 , wherein the first application and the other applications are part of a secure personal information manager installed on the computing device. 
     
     
         20 . The computing device according to  claim 14 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to cause the display to present the candidate elements for selection by the user in a plurality of categories that are based on the type of the other applications.