Abstract:
A data retrieval system is described. The system includes a data server, at least one data retrieval client, a co-presence server and at elast one downloadable co-presence client. The data server retrieves at least one data object from among a plurality of data objects stored in a data repository. The data retrieval client requests at least one data object from the data server. The co-presence server includes a virtual place generator which generates one virtual place per data object retrieved from the data server and an associator which associates each virtual place with its data object once its data object is accessed. The downloadable co-presence client is operative with the data retrieval client and communicates with the co-presence server. Each co-presence client includes an object associator which associates a data object received from the co-presence server with one of the at least one virtual places in the co-presence server.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 08/827,845, filed Apr. 11, 1997, now allowed. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention relates to data retrieval systems generally and to data retrieval systems with co-presence mechanisms in particular.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    Data retrieval systems are known in the art A typical one is shown in FIG. 1 to which reference is now made. Data retrieval systems typically consist of a data server  10  and multiple data-retrieval clients  12  which are typically separate computers. Upon command of a data-retrieval client  12 , the data server  10  accesses a data repository  14 , or database, that contains data objects  16  therein. Data objects  16  are typically files of information. The data-retrieval clients  12  also communicate with a user  17 , typically through an interactive display  18 .  
           [0004]    A typical data retrieval operation, depicted in FIG. 2 to which reference is now made, proceeds as follows: upon receipt of an instruction (arrow  1 ) from the user  17  to retrieve a certain data object  16 , the data-retrieval client  12  sends (arrow  2 ) a request to the data server  10  on which the object resides. The data server  10  retrieves the requested data object  16  (arrow  3 ) from the data repository  14  and sends the object  16  back (arrow  4 ) to the data-retrieval client  12 . The data-retrieval client  12  then displays (arrow  5 ) the retrieved data object  16  to the user  17 .  
           [0005]    Additional features incorporated in a data retrieval system may include a data-management mechanism that allows a data-retrieval client  12  to create a new data object  16 , to modify a retrieved data object  16  and to send the created or modified data object  16  back to the data server  10  for storage in the data repository  14 , and a permission mechanism that allows the server  10  to approve or deny certain client requests.  
           [0006]    Examples of data retrieval systems, some of which include the additional features, include the file transfer protocol (FTP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), Gopher and network file systems (NFS) standards, network news servers (NNTP), DEC Notes of Digital Electric Corporation of the USA, Lotus Notes of Lotus Inc. of the USA, Novell NetWare of Novell Inc. of the USA, and the relational database management systems (RDBMS) such as those manufactured by Oracle, Sybase, and Informix, all of the USA.  
         SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
         [0007]    There is provided, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a data retrieval system including a data server, at least one data retrieval client and a co-presence server. The data server retrieves at least one data object from among a plurality of data objects stored in a data repository. Each data retrieval client requests at least one data object from the data server. The co-presence server includes a unit for generating one virtual place per data object retrieved from the data server, a unit for associating each virtual place with its data object once its data object is accessed and at least one downloadable co-presence client, operative with the data retrieval client, for communicating with the data server. Each co-presence client includes an object association unit for associating a data object received from the co-presence server with one of the at least one virtual places in the co-presence server.  
           [0008]    Additionally, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the downloadable co-presence client is implemented in one of the following languages: Java and ActiveX.  
           [0009]    Finally, the object association unit includes apparatus for moving to a new virtual place.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a prior art data retrieval system;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of one prior art data retrieval operation;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a data retrieval system with a co-presence server, constructed and operative in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a co-present data retrieval operation;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of an alternative embodiment of a co-present data-retrieval system and its operation; and  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of a further alternative embodiment of a co-present data-retrieval system and its operation.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0017]    Reference is now made to FIGS. 3 and 4 which illustrate the data-retrieval system of the present invention. The system of the present invention typically comprises data server  10  and data repository  14  as in the prior art. It also comprises, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a co-presence server  20  and a multiplicity of co-presence data-retrieval clients  22  each communicating with data server  10 , co-presence server  20 , and, through the associated display  18 , with a user  17 .  
         [0018]    As in the prior art, each data-retrieval client  22  requests a data object  16  through the data server  10  which retrieves the requested data object  16  from the data repository  14 . In addition, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, at the same time, the co-presence data-retrieval client  22  also informs the co-presence server  20  that it has retrieved a specific data object  16 , for example object  16   a . In response, the co-presence server  20  adds the data-retrieval client  22  to a virtual place  24  associated with the retrieved data object  16   a . Client  22  associates virtual places  24   a - 24   c  with retrieved data objects  16   a - 16   c.    
         [0019]    For the purposes of clarity of discussion, we will state that the co-presence server  20  maintains a virtual place  24  for each data object  16  stored in the data server  10 . It will be appreciated that the co-presence server  20  can also create a virtual place  24  on demand, when the first user becomes present at the data object  16 , and can remove the virtual place  24  when no one is present All users which access a data object  16  via data-retrieval client  22  are added to the virtual place  24  associated with the data object  16  that they accessed. In addition, co-presence server  20  provides each virtual place  24  with inter-user communication capabilities such that any user which accesses a data object  16  can communicate, if he so desires, with the other users which are currently utilizing the same data object  16 . The co-presence server  20  allows a user  17  who is present at a data object  16  to become aware of other co-present users  17  and provides a means for co-present users  17  to communicate with each other in real time. The communication between users  17  can also be client-to client if communication through the co-presence server  20  is slow.  
         [0020]    The co-presence server  20  essentially turns each data object into a virtual place where users  17  can meet to view the data object  16 , to modify it, and to discuss it. For example, if a data server  10  contains user manuals for a certain product. then it might be useful for the product&#39;s vendor to place a help-desk person at the virtual place, or places, associated with the user manuals. The help-desk person can then assist, in real-time, those users who access the user manuals, if they need additional assistance or have difficulties “finding their way” through the product&#39;s documentation.  
         [0021]    The co-presence server  20  and the co-presence data-retrieval client  22  follow a co-presence protocol which is illustrated with arrows  31 - 38  of FIG. 4.  
         [0022]    A user  17  retrieves a data object  16   d  from a certain data server  10  in accordance with the protocol described in the prior art (arrows  31 - 35 , similar to arrows  1 - 5  of Fig,  2 ). At the same time, the co-presence data-retrieval client  22  sends (arrow  36 ) a message to virtual place  24   d  within the co-presence server  20  which is associated with the data object  16   d , to the effect that the user has accessed the data object  16   d . (Typically, the data objects  16  have well-defined names on the data server  10 . Clients  22  utilize the same or corresponding names to identify the corresponding virtual places  24 ). The virtual place  24   d  then adds (step  37 ) the user to the list of co-present users, and sends a message (arrow  38 ) to that effect to all co-present users, including to the user which just joined the virtual place  24   d.    
         [0023]    When a user  17  present at a data object  16  wishes to send a message to selected ones of the co-present users  17 , the first user  17  sends a message to that effects via co-presence data-retrieval client  22  and the co-presence server  20 , to the associated virtual place  24  which, in turn, relays the message to the selected users  17  present at the data object  16 .  
         [0024]    When a user  17  ceases to be present at a data object  16  (either due to the retrieval of another data object  16  from the same or another data server  10  or due to closure of its co-presence data-retrieval client  22 ), the co-presence data-retrieval client  22  sends a message (arrow  36 ) to that effect to the virtual place  24  which, in turn, deletes the user  17  from the list of co-present users. Virtual place  24  then sends a message (arrow  38 ) to all remaining co-present users  17  notifying them of the event.  
         [0025]    The co-presence protocol can be described by the operations performed by the co-presence data-retrieval client  22  and by the co-presence server  20  and virtual place  24 . The following pseudocode describes the protocol:  
         [0026]    For the client  22  of user U:  
         [0027]    Assume user U already has document D 1  from server S 1 .  
         [0028]    When user U requests document D 2  from server S 2 :  
         [0029]    1. Attempt to retrieve document D 2  from server S 2 ;  
         [0030]    2. If the retrieval is successful, send the following message to the virtual place P(D 1 ) in co-presence server C(S 1 ) corresponding to document D 1 : “U left for virtual place D 2  in server S 2 ”.  
         [0031]    When user U requests to say text T: send the message “U said T” to the co-presence server C(S 2 ).  
         [0032]    Upon receipt of message “User V entered (or left) for (from) virtual place P(Dj) in server Sk”:  
         [0033]    display to user U the current list of users in the virtual place.  
         [0034]    Upon receipt of the message “V said T”:  
         [0035]    display to user U the message “V said T”.  
         [0036]    For the virtual place P(Di) on co-presence server C(Si)  
         [0037]    Let the set of co-present users be CP.  
         [0038]    Upon receipt of message “U left for virtual place P(Dj) in server Sk:  
         [0039]    1. Delete user U from the set CP of co-present users  
         [0040]    2. Send to every remaining user V in OP the message: “U left for virtual place P(Dj) in server Sk  
         [0041]    Upon receipt of the message “U entered from virtual place P(Dj) in server Sk:  
         [0042]    1. Add user U to the set CP of co-present users  
         [0043]    2. Send to every user V in the set CP of co-present users the message “U entered from virtual place P(Dj) in server Sk.  
         [0044]    Upon receipt of message “U said T” 
         [0045]    Send the message “U said T” to every user in the set CP of co-present users,  
         [0046]    The co-presence server  20  can be implemented in any way which provides co-presence. In one embodiment, the co-presence server  20  is implemented as a Unix process, executing a concurrent programming language called flat concurrent Prolog (FCP). Using an FCP internal light-weight process mechanism, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,221 to Houri et al. which is hereby incorporated by reference, each virtual place  24  can be implemented as a place process, each formed of a collection of FCP processes. Each FCP process obeys the co-presence protocol described hereinabove, The co-presence server  20  receives communications on a pre-assigned and published port whose identity is incorporated in the co-presence data-retrieval client  22 . The co-presence server  20  typically receives messages from the co-presence data-retrieval clients  22  and provides them to the appropriate virtual place  24 . In addition, if desired, the managing Unix process (the co-presence server  20 ) can also create a featherweight process (virtual place  24 ) whenever a first user accesses a data object  16  and can remove a process whenever there cease to be users co-present at the relevant virtual place  24 .  
         [0047]    It will be appreciated that, because communication with the co-presence server  20  is separate from the data-retrieval operations, the data-retrieval system of the present invention can operate with standard data-retrieval clients  12  which do not have any co-presence capability.  
         [0048]    It will further be appreciated that the system of the present invention can easily be created from an existing prior art data-retrieval system. The upgrading process involves adding a co-presence server  20 , as described hereinabove, and modifying the data-retrieval clients  12  to become co-presence data-retrieval clients  22  is through the addition of the following capabilities:  
         [0049]    a) the ability to open an additional communication channel with the co-presence server  20 ;  
         [0050]    b) the ability to map data objects  16  to virtual places  24 ;  
         [0051]    c) the ability to display co-presence information;  
         [0052]    d) the ability to enable users  17  to communicate in real time, and  
         [0053]    e) the ability to notify the co-presence server  20  when the client  22  is terminated or dosed down.  
         [0054]    It will be appreciated that data-retrieval clients which have not been upgraded can still operate within the data-retrieval system of Figs.  3  and  4 .  
         [0055]    Reference is now made to FIG. 5 which illustrates an alternative embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the data-retrieval system comprises the same elements but they are configured in a different manner. Specifically, the data-retrieval system comprises co-presence data-retrieval clients, labeled  40 , and a co-presence data-retrieval server  42 , as well as data server  10  and data repository  14  as in the prior art.  
         [0056]    In this alternative embodiment, the co-presence data-retrieval clients  40  communicate only with the co-presence data-retrieval server  42 , providing to it their data retrieval requests, which the server  42 , in turn, passes to the data server  10 , and their co-presence communication. The co-presence data-retrieval server  42  includes virtual places  44 . There can also be many servers  42 , each of which handles data retrieval requests for its associated data server  10 .  
         [0057]    The following is a pseudo code describing the protocol between clients  40  and server  42 :  
         [0058]    For client  42  of user U:  
         [0059]    Assume user currently has document D 1  in server S 1 .  
         [0060]    When user requests document D 2  from server S 2 :  
         [0061]    1. Send message “U requests to enter from place P(D 1 ) in server S 1 ” to place P(D 2 ) in co presence server C(S 2 )  
         [0062]    2. If data-retrieval is successful, send the message “U Left for place P(D 2 ) in server S 2 ” to place P(D 1 ) in co-presence server C(S 1 )  
         [0063]    When user U requests to say text T:  
         [0064]    Send the message “U said T” to the co-presence server C(S 2 )  
         [0065]    Upon receipt of message “V entered (left) for (from) place Dj in server Si”;  
         [0066]    Display to the user U the current co-present users in the place P(Dj)  
         [0067]    Upon receipt of message “V said T”:  
         [0068]    Display to the user U the message from user V.  
         [0069]    For the virtual place P(Di) on co-presence server C(Si)  
         [0070]    Let the set of co-present users be CP:  
         [0071]    Upon receipt of message “U left for virtual place P(Dj) in server Sk”:  
         [0072]    1. Delete user U from the set CP of co-present users  
         [0073]    2. Send to every remaining user V in CP the message: “U left for virtual place P(Dj) in server Si” 
         [0074]    Upon receipt of the message “U requests to enter from virtual place P(Dj) in server Sk”:  
         [0075]    1. Attempt to retrieve data from data server  10   
         [0076]    2. If successful:  
         [0077]    a. Send the data to client  42  of user U  
         [0078]    b. Add user U to the set CP of co-present users  
         [0079]    c. Send to every user V in the set CP of co-present users the message “U entered from virtual place P(Di) in server Si”.  
         [0080]    Upon receipt of message “U said T” 
         [0081]    Send the message “U said T” to every user in the set CP of co-present users.  
         [0082]    In the previous embodiments, the co-presence data retrieval client had to be present on a user&#39;s machine prior to retrieving any data objects. Reference is now made to FIG. 6 which illustrates an alternative embodiment of the present invention in which the co-presence client is retrieved along with the data object.  
         [0083]    In this embodiment, the data retrieval and co-presence operations are divided. Thus, the user&#39;s machine, labeled  47 , includes a standard, data retrieval client, such as client  12  of the prior art, co-presence clients  48  which can operate with the data retrieval clients  12  and display  18 .  
         [0084]    Initially, the user  17  communicates with the data retrieval client  12 . Upon request, the data retrieval client  12  sends (arrow  50 ) a data request to the data server  52  which, in response, accesses (arrow  54 ) the data repository  14 . In addition, the data server  52  accesses (arrow  55 ) a separate repository  56  in which a co-presence client  48  is stored. Data server  52  provides both the retrieved data object  16  and the presence client  48  to the user&#39;s machine  47  which, in turn, provides the data object  16  to the data retrieval client  12  and downloads the co-presence client  48  to operate with the data retrieval client  12 .  
         [0085]    Once the co-presence client is downloaded on the user&#39;s machine, the combination of the data retrieval client  12  and the co-presence client implements the co-presence data retrieval client of the previous embodiments. Once downloaded, the co-presence client informs (arrow  60 ) the co-presence server  22  that the user has retrieved the relevant data object  16 . The remaining operations are as described hereinabove for the previous embodiments.  
         [0086]    The co-presence client can be written in any of a number of automatically downloading languages, such as Java and ActiveX, and the data retrieval client is typically a Web Browser or any other Java or ActiveX container.  
         [0087]    The co-presence client can be retrieved with every data object or it can remain on the user&#39;s machine. For a co-presence client written in Java, the client remains active until the Web Browser is closed. For a co-presence client written in ActiveX, the client remains permanently downloaded on the user&#39;s machine.  
         [0088]    It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather the scope of the present invention is defined by the claims which follow: