Digital document change conflict resolution

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10140270-B2
Application number	US-201715689415-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 29, 2017
Priority date	Jul 29, 2014
Publication date	Nov 27, 2018
Grant date	Nov 27, 2018

Abstract

A first set of changes to a first version of a digital document, as compared to a baseline version of the document, can be detected. The first set of changes can include a first change to a page of the document in the first version of the document, as compared to the baseline version of the document. Also, a second set of changes to a second version of a document, as compared to the baseline version of the document, can be detected. The second set of changes can include a second change to the page of the document in the second version of the document, as compared to the baseline version of the document. A conflict between the first change and the second change can be detected, and the conflict can be resolved by receiving user input or applying conflict resolution rule(s) to choose between the first and second changes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
detecting a conflict relating to a graphical object in a first version of a digital document and the graphical object in a second version of the digital document;
categorizing the conflict as a conflict to be resolved automatically based on an application of conflict resolution logic, wherein the conflict resolution logic comprises:
applying at least one conflict rule evaluating a property affecting a presentation of the graphical object, and
determining that the conflict modifies the presentation of the graphical object; and

automatically resolving the conflict by updating, in a user interface of a productivity service, one or more of the first version of the digital document and the second version of the digital document based on the categorizing.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the property affecting the presentation of the graphical object is a positional change of the graphical object within the digital document.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the property affecting the presentation of the graphical object is an orientation change of the graphical object within the digital document.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the property affecting the presentation of the graphical object is a formatting change of the graphical object within the digital document.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the property affecting the presentation of the graphical object is a size change of the graphical object within the digital document.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the conflict resolution logic selects the at least one conflict rule based on a classification of the conflict as a page-level conflict.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: providing, through the user interface of the productivity service, a notification of an automatically resolved conflict.

8. A system comprising:
at least one processor; and
a memory, operatively connected with the at least one processor, that comprises instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform a method that comprises:
detecting a conflict relating to a graphical object in a first version of a digital document and the graphical object in a second version of the digital document;
categorizing the conflict as a conflict to be resolved automatically based on an application of conflict resolution logic, wherein the conflict resolution logic comprises:
applying at least one conflict rule evaluating a property affecting a presentation of the graphical object, and
determining that the conflict modifies the presentation of the graphical object; and

automatically resolving-the conflict by updating, in a user interface of a productivity service, one or more of the first version of the digital document and the second version of the digital document based on the categorizing.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the property affecting the presentation of the graphical object is a positional change of the graphical object within the digital document.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the property affecting the presentation of the graphical object is an orientation change of the graphical object within the digital document.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the property affecting the presentation of the graphical object is a formatting change of the graphical object within the digital document.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the property affecting the presentation of the graphical object is a size change of the graphical object within the digital document.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the conflict resolution logic selects the at least one conflict rule based on a classification of the conflict as a page-level conflict.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the executed method further comprises: providing, through the user interface of the productivity service, a notification of an automatically resolved conflict.

15. A computer-readable storage device having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to execute a method comprising:
detecting a conflict relating to a graphical object in a first version of a digital document and the graphical object in a second version of the digital document;
categorizing the conflict as a conflict to be resolved automatically based on an application of conflict resolution logic, wherein the conflict resolution logic comprises:
applying at least one conflict rule evaluating a property affecting a presentation of the graphical object, and
determining that the conflict modifies the presentation of the graphical object; and

automatically resolving the conflict by updating, in a user interface of a productivity service, one or more of the first version of the digital document and the second version of the digital document based on the categorizing.

16. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15 , wherein the property affecting the presentation of the graphical object is a positional change of the graphical object within the digital document.

17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15 , wherein the property affecting the presentation of the graphical object is an orientation change of the graphical object within the digital document.

18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15 , wherein the property affecting the presentation of the graphical object is a formatting change of the graphical object within the digital document.

19. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15 , wherein the property affecting the presentation of the graphical object is a size change of the graphical object within the digital document.

20. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15 , wherein the executed method further comprising: providing, through the user interface of the productivity service, a notification of an automatically resolved conflict.

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Yamat James
• Klingenberg Robert R
• Salazar Evelyn G
• Efimchik Andrey A
• Rutherfurd Jonathan
• Wang Yanling
• Villaron Shawn

Classifications

• G06F40/194 Primary

  Calculation of difference between files · CPC title

• G06F40/103

  Formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents (automatic justification G06F40/189; automatic line break hyphenation G06F40/191) · CPC title

• G06F40/197 Primary

  Version control (for software G06F8/71) · CPC title

• G06F3/04842

  Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements (G06F3/0482 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F17/2288 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic