Session history horizon control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10965633-B2
Application number	US-201414499780-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2014
Priority date	Sep 29, 2014
Publication date	Mar 30, 2021
Grant date	Mar 30, 2021

Abstract

Session history horizon control techniques are described in which participants in a communication session are able to selectively control how much history of the communication session is shown to individuals added into the session. A representation of a session record (e.g., a message thread) may be exposed for rendering by communication modules used by participants for the communication session. Responsive to addition of participants, the communication module(s) may be configured to expose a history control element in conjunction with the session record to enable control over portions of the session record exposed to people added into the session. The history control element for a particular participant is configured to visually identify portions within the session record that are accessible to the particular participant. The history control element may also be positioned in different locations in the session record to modify exposure of the messages to the particular participant.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method implemented by a computing device comprising:
capturing a chat history of chat messages exchanged between initial participants in a communication session established via a service provider;
displaying a user interface having a session display portion, wherein the chat history is displayed within the session display portion;
responsive to addition of a first new participant to the communication session, causing display of a first history control element via the user interface for the communication session that is output via a communication module associated with one of the initial participants, the first history control element operable to define an indication of a first time window of the captured history to expose to the first new participant, the first history control element configured to visually identify the first time window with respect to the chat history;
responsive to addition of a second new participant to the communication session, causing display of a second history control element via the user interface contemporaneously with the display of the first history control element, the second history control element operable to define an indication of a second time window of the captured history to expose to the second new participant, the second time window being different from the first time window, the second history control element configured to visually identify the second time window with respect to the chat history, wherein responsive to the additions of the first and second new participants to the communication session, the first and second history control elements are initially positioned by default at initial locations within the session display portion to indicate, respectively, that all messages in the history exchanged between the initial participants prior to the addition of the first new participant should not be exposed to the first participant and to further indicate that all messages in the history exchanged between the initial participants prior to the addition of the second new participant should not be exposed to the second participant;
moving the first and second history control elements from the initial locations to first and second locations within the session display portion, respectively, the movement of the first history control element to the first location causing an adjusting of the first time window to indicate a selection of a first set of messages from the chat history of chat messages, the movement of the second history control element to the second location causing an adjusting of the second time window to indicate a selection of a second set of messages from the chat history of chat messages, the first and second locations being different to indicate that the first and second sets of messages are different;
exposing the selected first set of messages of the history to the first new participant during the communication session in accordance with the first time window of the captured history, the exposing the selected first set of messages comprising preventing one or more messages exchanged between the initial participants prior to the first new participant joining the communication session from being exposed to the first new participant in accordance with the first time window; and
exposing the selected second set of messages of the history to the second new participant during the communication session in accordance with the second time window.

2. A method as described in claim 1 , further comprising obtaining a message from a communication module associated with the first new participant that specifies a point in time after which the history may be exposed to the first new participant.

3. A method as described in claim 1 , wherein the communication session comprises a web-based real time communication session that supports an exchange of real-time audio and video streams between the initial participants via respective communication modules executed by client devices associated with the initial participants.

4. A method as described in claim 1 , wherein the communication session comprises an instant messaging session that supports an exchange of instant messages between the initial participants via respective communication modules executed by client devices associated with the initial participants.

5. A method as described in claim 1 , wherein the exposing the selected first set of messages of the history to the first new participant comprises preventing access to one or more individual messages in the history outside of the first time window that are designated as restricted, the indication of the first time window configured to convey the designation of the one or more individual messages as restricted in addition to indicating the first time window.

6. A method as described in claim 1 , further comprising:
parsing the history to ascertain portions of the history designated as restricted; and
configuring a modified session record for communication to a communication module associated with the first new participant that omits the portions of the history designated as restricted.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the communication session is an instant messaging session; and
the history of messages exchanged between the initial participants is a history of instant messages exchanged between the initial participants.

8. A computing device comprising:
a processing system; and
one or more computer readable storage media storing instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the computing device to perform operations using a communication module, the operations comprising:
outputting a user interface for the communication module, the user interface having a session display portion, the user interface configured to display, in the session display portion, a chat history of chat messages exchanged between initial participants in a communication session established through a communication service provided via a service provider;
responsive to addition of a first new participant to the communication session, causing display of a first history control element via the user interface that is selectable to associate a first horizon point with the first new participant, wherein the first horizon point defines a first time window of the chat history to expose to the first new participant;
responsive to addition of a second new participant to the communication session, causing display of a second history control element via the user interface contemporaneously with the display of the first history control element, the second history control element selectable to associate a second horizon point with the second new participant, the second horizon point being different from the first horizon point, wherein the second horizon point defines a second time window of the chat history to expose to the second new participant, the second time window being different from the first time window, wherein responsive to the additions of the first and second new participants to the communication session, the first and second history control elements are initially positioned by default at initial locations within the session display portion to indicate, respectively, that all messages in the chat history exchanged between the initial participants prior to the addition of the first new participant should not be exposed to the first participant and to further indicate that all messages in the history exchanged between the initial participants prior to the addition of the second new participant should not be exposed to the second participant;
obtaining a selection of the first and the second horizon points for the first and the second new participants via interaction with the first and second histo

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc
• Microsoft Technoiogy Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Cinar Onur
• Chastney Daniel James

Classifications

• H04L12/1831 Primary

  Tracking arrangements for later retrieval, e.g. recording contents, participants activities or behavior, network status · CPC title

• G06F3/04847

  Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials · CPC title

• H04L65/403

  Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences (data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15) · CPC title

• G06F3/04842

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

• H04L51/216 Primary

  Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads · CPC title