Application sharing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-RE46309-E
Application number	US-201514666298-A
Country	US
Kind code	E1
Filing date	Mar 23, 2015
Priority date	Oct 24, 2007
Publication date	Feb 14, 2017
Grant date	Feb 14, 2017

Abstract

Ones of the windows associated with a software process are identified in a screen layout on a local display of a sharer network node. On the sharer network node, an image of the identified windows as they are arranged in the screen layout and free of obscuration by any other windows in the screen layout is generated. The image is transmitted from the sharer network node to a viewer network node. Also, commands derived from input device events on sharer and viewer network nodes are received. The received commands are processed into a command sequence, which is passed to a shared process executing on the sharer network node. Windows associated with the shared process are presented on the sharer network node in accordance with the received command sequence. An image of the presented windows is generated and transmitted from the sharer network node to the viewer network node.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method, comprising, by a sharer network node:
on a local display of the sharer network node, displaying a representation of a virtual area, a representation of a first viewscreen object in the virtual area, a representation of a second viewscreen object in the virtual area, a representation of a user who is present in the virtual area and operating the sharer network node, and a respective representation of each of one or more other communicants who are present in the virtual area and respectively operating one or more other network nodes;
in a screen layout of windows on the local display, selecting multiple windows that are associated with a first software process based on user input in connection with the first viewscreen object, wherein at least one of the selected windows is at least partially obscured by one or more unselected ones of the windows in the screen layout;
generating a first sequence of composite images of the selected windows as they are arranged in the screen layout at different respective times but free of obscuration in any area obscured by any of the unselected ones of the windows in the screen layout;
transmitting the first sequence of composite images from the sharer network node to a particular one of the one or more other network nodes in connection with the first viewscreen object; and
contemporaneously with the transmitting, communicating a second sequence of composite images of windows associated with a second software process between the sharer network node and the particular one of the one or more other network nodes in connection with the second viewscreen object.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selecting comprises selecting all of the windows in the screen layout that are associated with the first software process.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selecting comprises selecting ones of the windows in the screen layout that match a handle that is assigned to the first software process.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the selecting comprises selecting a parent window and at least one associated child window that are created by the first software process.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating comprises for each of the composite images in the first sequence:
determining a layering order of the selected windows in relation to each other that corresponds to the relative layering order of the selected windows in the screen layout;
for each of the selected windows, retrieving a respective image of the window; and
compositing the retrieved images into the composite image in accordance with the determined layering order.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the determining comprises:
generating a z-order list that associates a respective z-order value with a respective window handle for each of the windows in the screen layout; and
deriving the layering order of the selected windows from the z-order list.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the deriving comprises:
for each of the z-order values in the z-order list, matching the associated window handle with the window handle of a respective one of the selected windows; and
ordering the selected windows in the layering order in accordance with the respective z-order values in the z-order list associated with the ones of the z-order values determined to match the window handles of the selected windows.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the generating further comprises determining two-dimensional locations of the selected windows in the screen layout for each of the composite images in the first sequence.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the selecting comprises selecting ones of the windows that are associated with a designated group of software processes; and
the generating comprises, for each of the composite images in the first sequence:
determining a layering order of the selected windows in relation to each other that corresponds to the relative layering order of the selected windows in the screen layout;
for each of the selected windows, retrieving a respective image of the window; and
compositing the retrieved images into the composite image in accordance with the determined layering order.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein a respective image of each of the selected windows is stored in a respective memory buffer, and the generating comprises retrieving each of the images from the respective memory buffers and compositing the retrieved images into the composite image for each of the composite images in the first sequence.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising by the sharer network node setting the windows that are associated with the first software process to a layered windows style such that a respective image of each of the selected windows is stored in a respective memory buffer.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting is performed based on a request from the viewer network node to view screen data associated with the first viewscreen object.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising transmitting the first sequence of composite images from the sharer network node to multiple of the other network nodes based on a respective request from each of the multiple other network nodes to view screen data associated with the first viewscreen object, wherein the first sequence of composite images is transmitted to the multiple other network nodes contemporaneously.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the virtual area comprises a plurality of zones, each zone of the plurality of zones supporting establishment of communicant presence in the zone; and further comprising:
on the local display, displaying a visualization of the virtual area, wherein the visualization comprises a spatial layout of the zones;
on the local display, presenting navigation controls and interaction controls, wherein the navigation controls enable the user to specify where to establish a presence in the virtual area and the interaction controls enable the user to manage interactions with the one or more other communicants in the virtual area;
establishing a respective presence of the user in one or more of the zones of the virtual area in response to input received via the navigation controls; and
on the local display, depicting the representations of the user and the one or more other communicants in the zones in which the user and the one or more other communicants are present.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising presenting the first sequence of composite images on the local display in connection with the first viewscreen object.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising by the sharer network node:
receiving locally-generated commands that are derived from local input device events on the sharer network node;
receiving remotely-generated commands that are derived from remote input device events on a remote viewer network node;
processing the received locally-generated commands and the received remotely-generated commands into a command sequence;
passing the command sequence to the first software process;
presenting the windows in the screen layout on the local display in accordance with the received command sequence.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the processing comprises remapping screen location parameter values in the remotely-generated commands from a coordinate system of a shared application image received from the sharer network node to a coordinate system of a main window on the local display.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the processing comprises arranging int

Assignees

• Social Communications Company
• Sococo Inc

Inventors

• Go Alexander Say
• Petter Vladimir

Classifications

• G06F2209/545

  Gui · CPC title

• G06F3/0481 Primary

  based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance · CPC title

• G06F3/1454 Primary

  involving copying of the display data of a local workstation or window to a remote workstation or window so that an actual copy of the data is displayed simultaneously on two or more displays, e.g. teledisplay · CPC title

• H04L12/1813

  for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms (instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15) · CPC title

• G06F3/04815 Primary

  Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional [3D], e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object · CPC title