Systems and methods for live saas objects

Abstract

Embodiments described include systems and methods for generating and displaying live objects for network applications. Live objects may be created from applications (apps) that are served from and/or hosted on one or more servers, such as web applications and software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications, and shared with one or more recipients. The objects may be loaded or accessed as if they were normal network applications, and the recipients may see the latest or “live” version of content as shown to the live object creator, including user- or device-specific data of the creator, under full access policy control, without requiring access to credentials of the live object creator.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving, by a computing device, a selection of an application hosted on a remote computing device, the selection comprising data of a user retrievable from the remote computing device;   generating an object comprising executable code to cause display of the selection for display on another computing device; and   providing, by the first computing device, the object to the another computing device, the object being executable on the another computing device to cause display of a portion of the application thereon.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the object comprises an authentication token of the user to retrieve data of the user by the remote computing device. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the object is executable to retrieve data of the user from the remote computing device with use of the authentication token. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising generating the object to include one or more elements of a document object model (DOM) of the application to enable display of the portion of the application. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising generating the object to include one of exclude, redact or obfuscate one or more elements within the portion of the application to cause selected data of the user to be kept private in response to display of the portion of the application on the another computing device. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein use of the object on the another device causes display of a latest data of the user retrieved from the remote computing device on the another device. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the computing device, the selection of the application via a user interface element, the user interface element enabling the user to select the portion of the application to share. 
     
     
         8 . A computing device comprising:
 one or more processors, coupled to memory and configured to:
 receive a selection of an application hosted on a remote computing device, the selection comprising data of a user retrievable from the remote computing device; 
 generate an object comprising executable code to cause display of the selection for display on another computing device; and 
 provide the object to the another computing device, the object being executable on the another computing device to cause display of a portion of the application thereon. 
   
     
     
         9 . The computing device of  claim 8 , wherein the object comprises an authentication token of the user to retrieve data of the user by the remote computing device. 
     
     
         10 . The computing device of  claim 9 , wherein the object is executable to retrieve data of the user from the remote computing device using the authentication token. 
     
     
         11 . The computing device of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate the object to include one or more elements of a document object model (DOM) of the application to enable the display of the portion of the application. 
     
     
         12 . The computing device of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate the object to one of exclude, redact or obfuscate one or more elements within the portion of the application to cause selected data of the user to be kept private when the portion of the application is displayed on the another computing device. 
     
     
         13 . The computing device of  claim 8 , wherein use of the object on the another device of the another user causes a latest data of the user retrieved from the remote computing device to be displayed on a display of the another device. 
     
     
         14 . The computing device of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive the selection of the application via a user interface element that enables the user to select the portion of the application to share. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing program instructions for causing one or more processors to:
 receive a selection of an application hosted on a remote computing device, the selection comprising data of a user retrievable from the remote computing device;   generate an object comprising executable code to cause display of the selection for display on another computing device; and   provide the object to the another computing device, the object being executable on the another computing device to cause display of a portion of the application thereon.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the object comprises an authentication token of the user to retrieve data of the user by the remote computing device. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the object is executable to retrieve data of the user from the remote computing device using the authentication token. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the program instructions further cause the one or more processors to generate the object to include one or more elements of a document object model (DOM) of the application to enable the display of the portion of the application. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the program instructions further cause the one or more processors to generate the object to one of exclude, redact or obfuscate one or more elements within the portion of the application to cause selected data of the user to be kept private when the portion of the application is displayed on the another computing device. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein use of the object on the another device of the another user causes a latest data of the user retrieved from the remote computing device to be displayed on a display of the another device.