Clipboard Server for Composite Document Copying
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current hosted computing services lack efficient methods for sharing data between applications, particularly in cloud-based environments, where preserving formatting and maintaining cross-references across different documents and sessions is challenging.
Innovation Solution
A server-based system that enables users to copy and share composite documents, such as workbooks, by identifying accessible documents, modifying the target workbook model, and maintaining references, allowing seamless data transfer across multiple sessions and devices, even if the target workbook is not currently open.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If data sharing is implemented in hosted computing services, then accessibility across multiple devices and sessions is improved, but preserving formatting and maintaining cross-references becomes challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a clipboard server as an intermediary component between client devices and hosted applications. This server receives data from the clipboard of a first application, translates it into a standardized format, and then inserts it into the target application. This intermediary layer handles the complexity of format translation and reference maintenance, allowing data to be shared across different applications while preserving formatting and cross-references.
2Adaptability or versatility
If data sharing is implemented in hosted computing services, then accessibility across multiple devices and sessions is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The clipboard server acts as a centralized intermediary that manages all data sharing operations between applications. By consolidating the complexity of data translation, format conversion, and reference maintenance into a single server component, the system achieves accessibility across multiple devices without requiring each client application to implement its own complex data sharing logic.
3Productivity
If data is copied between applications, then productivity is improved, but maintaining cross-references and formatting across sessions is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The clipboard server maintains reliability by preserving cross-references and formatting information during data translation. When data is copied from a source application to a target application through the server, the server ensures that all embedded references and formatting metadata are maintained, allowing the data to be accurately reconstructed in the target application even across different sessions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a robust copying mechanism that goes beyond simple data transfer. The clipboard server creates a complete copy of the data structure including all formatting information, cross-references, and metadata. This comprehensive copying approach ensures that the target application receives a fully functional replica of the source data, maintaining all relationships and formatting characteristics.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method of sharing data between computer applications includes receiving, at a server system from a remote computing device, an identification of a first composite document that is arranged to encapsulate a plurality of distinct sub-documents; receiving at the server system an indication of a user intent to copy one of the sub-documents to a second composite document; identifying one or more composite documents stored on the server system to which a user associated with the remote computing device has access; receiving an indication of a user selection of a second composite document from among the one or more composite documents; and causing the indicated one of the sub-documents to be copied to the second composite document.