Rich Multi-Media Format For Use in a Collaborative Computing System

Abstract

A system, method, and article of manufacture that allow a document containing custom objects to be shared in a distributed collaborative computer system. This is accomplished by allowing custom objects to be embedded in a document. When the document is to be shared, the document with custom objects is converted to a Rich Multi-Media (RMM) format. Furthermore, the converted document may be shared during a collaborative session among multiple computers. Alternatively, the converted document may be viewed by a user independent of a collaborative session.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO CD-ROM APPENDIX [0001] This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10 / 104,170 filed on Mar. 21, 2002, all of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference. [0002] An Appendix containing a computer program listing is submitted on a compact disk, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. The total number of compact discs including duplicates is two. Appendix A, which is part of the present specification, contains a list of the files contained on the compact disk. These listings contain material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the patent and trademark office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] 1. Field of the Invention [0004] The present invention relates generally to collaborative computing systems and, m...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010] The system, method, and article of manufacture of the present invention provide a distributed collaborative computer system that allows a document containing custom objects to be shared. This is accomplished by providing software to allow custom objects to be embedded in a document. When the document is to be shared, provided software converts the document to a Rich Multi-Media (RMM) format. With use of the provided software, the converted document may then be shared during a collaborative session. As a result, the system, method, and article of manufacture of the present invention allow a presenter at one computer to create a document with different types of embedded custom objects. During a collaborative session, the presenter controls the viewing of the document, and users (e.g., attendees) at other computers view the document in synch with the presenter. The Rich Multi-Media format provided by the present invention enables the embedded custom objects to be viewed at the users' computers. Furthermore, the converted document may be viewed by a user independent of a collaborative session.

Problems solved by technology

Traditional collaborative tools, however, are limited in the types of documents that they allow to be shared.

That is, traditional collaborative tools do not allow sharing of documents with embedded custom objects.

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