Patent Abstract:
Provided are mechanisms and methods for performing actions associated with a portion of portal content provided to a user. These mechanisms and methods for performing the actions associated with the portion of the portal content can enable an improved user experience, increased efficiency, optimized productivity, etc. Further, the actions associated with the portion of the portal content can include manipulations requested by the user, such as an addition to, a removal of, and a rearrangement of the portion of the portal content.

Full Description:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/357,080, entitled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR A PORTAL FRAMEWORK IN AN ONLINE DEMAND SERVICE ENVIRONMENT,” by McFarlane et al., filed Jun. 21, 2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
     A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     One or more implementations relate generally to data presentation, and more particularly to manipulation of presented data. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions. 
     Conventional systems may desire to present data associated with the system to a user. For example, systems may retrieve system data from a database and present it to a user utilizing a display. Unfortunately, data presentation techniques have been associated with various limitations. 
     Just by way of example, traditional methods of presenting system data to a user may involve a static layout and static display of one or more data elements that may not be in a format preferred by the user, and may not convey information desired by the user. Additionally, the display may be slow to load due at least in part to one or more data requests associated with the display. Accordingly, it is desirable to allow a user to manipulate a display of presented system data and to optimize the presentation of such system data. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for performing actions associated with a portal. These mechanisms and methods for performing actions associated with a portal can enable an improved user experience, increased efficiency, optimized productivity, etc. 
     In an embodiment and by way of example, a method for performing actions associated with a portal is provided. In one embodiment, a request is received from a user to view a portal. Additionally, the portal is displayed to the user. Further, one or more actions associated with the portal are performed, based on user input. 
     While one or more implementations and techniques are described with reference to an embodiment in which performing actions associated with a portal is implemented in a system having an application server providing a front end for an on-demand database system capable of supporting multiple tenants, the one or more implementations and techniques are not limited to multi-tenant databases nor deployment on application servers. Embodiments may be practiced using other database architectures, i.e., ORACLE®, DB2® by IBM and the like without departing from the scope of the embodiments claimed. 
     Any of the above embodiments may be used alone or together with one another in any combination. The one or more implementations encompassed within this specification may also include embodiments that are only partially mentioned or alluded to or are not mentioned or alluded to at all in this brief summary or in the abstract. Although various embodiments may have been motivated by various deficiencies with the prior art, which may be discussed or alluded to in one or more places in the specification, the embodiments do not necessarily address any of these deficiencies. In other words, different embodiments may address different deficiencies that may be discussed in the specification. Some embodiments may only partially address some deficiencies or just one deficiency that may be discussed in the specification, and some embodiments may not address any of these deficiencies. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the following drawings like reference numbers are used to refer to like elements. Although the following figures depict various examples, the one or more implementations are not limited to the examples depicted in the figures. 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a method for performing actions associated with a portal, in accordance with one embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a method for accessing and interacting with a portal, in accordance with another embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary portal, in accordance with another embodiment; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates another exemplary portal, in accordance with another embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates another exemplary portal that is manipulated by a user, in accordance with another embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates another exemplary portal in which a help search is performed, in accordance with another embodiment; 
         FIG. 7  illustrates a block diagram of an example of an environment wherein an on-demand database system might be used; and 
         FIG. 8  illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of elements of  FIG. 7  and various possible interconnections between these elements. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     General Overview 
     Systems and methods are provided for performing actions associated with a portal. 
     As used herein, the term multi-tenant database system refers to those systems in which various elements of hardware and software of the database system may be shared by one or more customers. For example, a given application server may simultaneously process requests for a great number of customers, and a given database table may store rows for a potentially much greater number of customers. 
     Next, mechanisms and methods for performing actions associated with a portal will be described with reference to example embodiments. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a method  100  for performing actions associated with a portal, in accordance with one embodiment. As shown in operation  102 , a request is received from a user to view a portal. In one embodiment, the portal may include data retrieved from one or more sources. For example, the portal may include data from one or more databases, data from a multi-tenant on-demand database system, data from one or more web sites, etc. 
     Additionally, in one embodiment, the portal may include one or more web pages (e.g., one or more hypertext markup language (HTML) pages, etc.). In another embodiment, the request to view the portal may include login data associated with the user. For example, the request to view the portal may include a user name and password associated with a user account within a system that provides the portal that is input by the user utilizing a graphical user interface (GUI). 
     Further, in another embodiment, the request to view the portal may include an address of a location of the portal. For example, the request to view the portal may include a uniform resource locator (URL) that is input by the user into a web browser. In yet another embodiment, the request to view the portal may include a selection of a link to the portal. For example, the request to view the portal may include the selection of a link that is provided to the user by a search engine (e.g., an Internet-based search engine, etc.) as a result of a query input by the user into the search engine. In another example, the request to view the portal may include the selection of a link (e.g., a help link, etc.) within a web page of the provider of the portal. 
     Further still, in one embodiment, the portal may be associated with a multi-tenant on-demand database system. For example, the user may include a customer of the multi-tenant on-demand database system (e.g., an organization of the system, etc.), an employee of a customer of the multi-tenant on-demand database system, an administrator of a customer of a multi-tenant on-demand database system, etc., and the portal may provide information associated with such system to the user. In another embodiment, the portal may be provided by the multi-tenant on-demand database system. 
     Also, it should be noted that, as described above, such multi-tenant on-demand database system may include any service that relies on a database system that is accessible over a network, in which various elements of hardware and software of the database system may be shared by one or more customers (e.g. tenants). For instance, a given application server may simultaneously process requests for a great number of customers, and a given database table may store rows for a potentially much greater number of customers. Various examples of such a multi-tenant on-demand database system will be set forth in the context of different embodiments that will be described during reference to subsequent figures. 
     Additionally, as shown in operation  104 , the portal is displayed to the user. In one embodiment, displaying the portal to the user may include requesting and retrieving data from one or more sources, which may then be presented to the user by the portal. For example, one or more applications, databases, etc. may be queried for data, and such data may be retrieved and presented to the user through the portal. In another embodiment, the retrieved data may be associated with the user. For example, the retrieved data may include user data retrieved from a database associated with a user&#39;s account, etc. 
     In another embodiment, the portal may provide one or more services to the user. For example, the portal may provide messaging services (e.g., electronic mail messaging, instant messaging, etc.) to the user. In another example, the portal may provide one or more search services (e.g., portal search, Internet search, etc.) to the user. In yet another embodiment, the portal may be displayed utilizing a web browser. For example, the portal may be displayed as one or more web pages within the web browser. 
     Further, in one embodiment, the portal may include one or more widgets (e.g., one or more portlets, gadgets, etc.) that are displayed through the portal. For example, the portal may include one or more applications that are executed within the portal. In another embodiment, each of the widgets displayed within the portal may be associated with particular data. For example, each widget may retrieve data from a specific source. In another example, each widget may display a certain type of data to the user. In yet another embodiment, the portal may include a plurality of columns, where each widget may be located within one of the plurality of columns. 
     Further still, in one embodiment, one of the widgets displayed through the portal may display data retrieved from a social media source. In another embodiment, one of the widgets displayed through the portal may display data associated with a knowledge base (e.g., a knowledge base of a multi-tenant on-demand database system, etc.). In yet another embodiment, one of the widgets displayed through the portal may display frequently asked questions (FAQs) associated with a system (e.g., FAQs associated with a multi-tenant on-demand database system, etc.). For example, the widget may display most popular FAQs, highest rated FAQs, etc. In still another embodiment, the widget may display training and/or certification information. For example, the widget may include a jumpstart widget that links to a training area associated with an organization of the user. 
     In another embodiment, the widget may include case information associated with the user. For example, the widget may display open tickets associated with the user, open cases associated with the user, terms associated with a contract, etc. In yet another embodiment, the widget may display information associated with a status of a system (e.g., a status of the user&#39;s local computer, a status of one or more servers, a status of a multi-tenant on-demand database system, etc.). 
     Also, in one embodiment, the widgets may be displayed to the user through the portal based on one or more privileges associated with the user. For example, the user may have an associated level of access (e.g., an access score, an associated role within an organization, etc.), and only widgets that correspond to the user&#39;s access score (e.g., widgets that have a score less than or equal to the user&#39;s access score, etc.) may be displayed to the user through the portal. 
     Additionally, in one embodiment, the widgets may be loaded in parallel with the portal. For example, a web page associated with the portal may load immediately in response to the request, and one or more widgets may load within the portal in parallel (e.g., via asynchronous data requests, etc.). In another embodiment, the widgets may be loaded within the portal after the portal is loaded. In yet another embodiment, the one or more widgets may be loaded within the portal according to one or more settings associated with the user. For example, one or more portal preferences associated with the user may be saved that describe which widgets are to be displayed to the user through the portal. 
     Further, as shown in operation  106 , one or more actions associated with the portal are performed, based on user input. In one embodiment, the user input may include a user request to manipulate one or more elements associated with one or more widgets of the portal. For example, the user input may include one or more of the user selecting one or more widgets within the portal utilizing an icon of a GUI, dragging and dropping one or more widgets within the portal, selecting one or more icons within one or more widgets, etc. 
     Further still, in one embodiment, the one or more actions may include manipulating one or more widgets of the portal. For example, the one or more actions may include changing a location of a widget within the portal based on the user clicking and dragging the widget to a different location (e.g., a different columns, etc.) within the portal. In another example, the location of one or more widgets may be arranged within the portal by the user. In another embodiment, the location of a widget may be calibrated when the widget is moved. In yet another embodiment, the one or more actions may include adding and/or removing one or more widgets from the portal. For example, a widget may be added to the portal in response to the user selecting and dragging an icon associated with the widget from a toolbar of the portal to another location within the portal (e.g., a display area within the portal, etc.). In another example, a widget may be removed from the portal in response to a user selecting an icon within the widget (e.g., a removal icon, etc.). 
     Also, in one embodiment, the one or more actions may include displaying additional information within a widget of the portal. For example, an additional layer of a hierarchical widget may be displayed in response to the user selecting an icon next to a representation of the widget within the portal. In another example, additional information may be displayed within a widget in response to the user selecting a tab within the widget. In another embodiment, the one or more actions may include minimizing a widget that is shown within the portal. For example, the widget may be minimized within the portal in response to the user selecting an icon of the widget. In another embodiment, the one or more actions may include maximizing a minimized widget that is shown within the portal. 
     In addition, in one embodiment, one or more widgets of the portal may be categorized based on a common theme, pattern, etc. Additionally, one or more actions may be performed on all widgets of a certain categorization, based on user input. For example, only a top number of items may be shown in all widgets that include lists of items. In another example, only a certain number of columns may be shown for all widgets that include tables. In yet another example, all widgets of a certain categorization may be removed, maximized, etc. based on the user input. 
     In another embodiment, the one or more actions may include manipulating one or more elements of the portal layout. For example, one or more columns of the portal may be added, removed, or adjusted in response to the user input. In another embodiment, one or more preferences associated with the user input may be saved. For example, after performing the one or more actions, the state of the portal may be saved to memory. Additionally, the saved state may be later used to recreate the preferences of the user within the portal when the user logs on at a later time. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a method  200  for accessing and interacting with a portal, in accordance with another embodiment. As an option, the method  200  may be carried out in the context of the functionality of  FIG. 1 . Of course, however, the method  200  may be carried out in any desired environment. The aforementioned definitions may apply during the present description. 
     As shown in operation  202 , a user performs an internet search utilizing a search engine. In one embodiment, the user may perform the search by inputting a search query into a field of the search engine interface. Additionally, as shown in operation  204 , the user selects a link to a portal from the search engine results. For example, the search engine may return multiple hyperlinks in response to the internet search, and the user may select one of the hyperlinks, where the selected hyperlink may direct the user to the portal. 
     Further, as shown in operation  206 , the portal presents one or more widgets to the user, based on one or more settings associated with the user. In one embodiment, the settings may include data stored by the user&#39;s web browser (e.g., one or more cookies, etc.). In another embodiment, the settings may identify the user to the portal. In yet another embodiment, the portal may compare the identification of the user to one or more user portal profiles stored by the provider of the portal. Additionally, if the identification of the user matches an existing profile stored by the provider, the matching profile may be retrieved. If the identification of the user does not match an existing stored profile, then a default profile may be retrieved. 
     Further still, in one embodiment, the retrieved profile may be used to determine which widgets are displayed to the user within the portal. For example, a list of available widgets may be stored in a master table in association with the portal, and the retrieved profile may dictate which widgets from the list are to be displayed to the user within the portal. Additionally, one or more row and column coordinates may be stored within the retrieved portal for each widget displayed within the portal, such that each widget may be displayed to the user in the same manner that the user last viewed them. In another embodiment, the number of widgets presented to the user through the portal may be based on an authorization level of the user. 
     Also, in one embodiment, each of the widgets displayed to the user may retrieve information from one or more sources. For example, each widget may retrieve information from a database of the portal provider, from a web application call, from a knowledge base application, etc. In another embodiment, each of the widgets may retrieve information from the one or more sources after the portal has loaded. For example, each widget may display a “loading” indicator after the portal has loaded while the widget retrieves the information. In this way, the portal may be quickly loaded and presented to the user. In another example, a widget may cache the retrieved information. In yet another embodiment, each of the widgets may be displayed using a scripting language (e.g. Javascript®, etc.), and may retrieve information utilizing a platform (e.g., a Force.com® platform utilizing Apex® code, etc.). 
     Additionally, as shown in operation  208 , the user attempts to manipulate one or more elements of the portal. In one embodiment, the user may attempt to manipulate the structure of the portal. For example, the user may click and drag one or more columns of the portal. In another example, the user may rearrange the order of one or more widgets displayed within the portal. In another embodiment, the user may attempt to add one or more widgets to the display area of the portal. For example, the portal may include a toolbar where the user may select one or more unused and/or new widgets to be displayed by the portal. 
     Further, in one embodiment, the user may attempt to remove one or more widgets displayed within the portal, minimize one or more widgets displayed within the portal, maximize one or more widgets displayed within the portal, etc. In another embodiment, the user may attempt to set a particular format for one or more categories of widgets. For example, one or more widgets may be grouped into a category based on common themes and/or patterns (e.g., list view, single view/edit, graph, etc.), and the user may attempt to set a format (e.g., a number of items listed, rows displayed, etc.) for the category. 
     Further still, in one embodiment, the user may attempt to view a different portion of a widget (e.g., by selecting a tab associated additional information provided by the widget, etc.). In another embodiment, the user may attempt to view an additional hierarchy associated with the widget (e.g., by clicking on an icon associated with the widget such that the widget expands to show hierarchical information, etc.). 
     Also, as shown in decision  210 , it is determined whether the user has sufficient authorization to perform the attempted manipulation. In one embodiment, an authorization level may be associated with the user and may be stored within the user&#39;s local computer (e.g., as a cookie, etc.) and/or a server database associated with the provider of the portal (e.g., as a portal state custom object, etc). In another embodiment, this authorization level may be compared to the user&#39;s attempted manipulation. For example, this authorization level may be compared to the authorization level needed to add, remove, view, or otherwise manipulate data associated with one or more widgets (e.g., a widget&#39;s authorization level, etc.), the authorization level needed to perform one or more modifications to the portal, etc. 
     If it is determined in decision  210  that the user has sufficient authorization to perform the attempted manipulation, then in operation  212  the attempted manipulation is performed. In one embodiment, the portal may dynamically adjust in response to the performed manipulation. For example, the portal may automatically line up an added widget with other displayed widgets, and may automatically pull information needed by the widget from the data source after the attempt is authorized. In another example, the portal may push down existing information in order to display additional hierarchical information associated with a widget. In another embodiment, queries associated with the portal manipulation may be performed in bulk in order to minimize a consumption of system resources. 
     Additionally, as shown in operation  214 , the portal settings associated with the portal manipulation are saved. In one embodiment, the settings may be saved to the user&#39;s local computer (e.g., as one or more cookies, etc.), to a server database, etc. In another embodiment, the settings may include toolbar settings, widget settings, portal arrangement settings, etc. In yet another embodiment, one or more actions of the user (e.g., a number of times the user opens a page of the portal, minimizes a widget of the portal, etc.) may be tracked and stored by the portal. 
     If it is determined in decision  210  that the user does not have sufficient authorization to perform the attempted manipulation, then in operation  216  the user is prompted with a message requiring the user to log in to or register with the provider of the portal. In this way, the user may be further authorized in order to determine whether the attempted manipulation may be carried out. 
     Further, in another embodiment, a purpose of the widget framework may be to allow the user to arrange a custom desktop with useful and relevant information for their needs. It may serve up dynamic content and reduce the need for a user to click to get value from the portal page. In yet another embodiment, the portal may include a user dashboard. In this way, value may be provided to different types of users through the availability of a wide variety of widgets. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary portal  300 , in accordance with another embodiment. As an option, the portal  300  may be implemented in the context of the functionality of  FIGS. 1-2 . Of course, however, the portal  300  may be carried out in any desired environment. The aforementioned definitions may apply during the present description. 
     As shown, the portal  300  includes a plurality of widgets  304   a - g  displayed within three columns of the body of the portal  300 . Additionally, the portal  300  includes a help window  302 . In one embodiment, a user of the portal  300  may input one or more keywords into the help window  302 , and such keywords may be compared against a help database of the portal  300 . Further, the portal  300  includes a site search window  306 , where a user may input one or more keywords that are to be searched within the site of the provider of the portal  300 . 
       FIG. 4  illustrates another exemplary portal  300 , in accordance with another embodiment. As an option, the portal  400  may be implemented in the context of the functionality of  FIGS. 1-3 . Of course, however, the portal  400  may be carried out in any desired environment. The aforementioned definitions may apply during the present description. 
     As shown, the portal  400  includes a social media widget  402 . In one embodiment, the social media widget  402  of the portal  400  may retrieve data from an external social media web site, and may display such retrieved data within the social media widget  402 . In this way, a user may not have to leave the portal  400  in order to view data associated with a social media web site. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates another exemplary portal  500  that is manipulated by a user, in accordance with another embodiment. As an option, the portal  500  may be implemented in the context of the functionality of  FIGS. 1-4 . Of course, however, the portal  500  may be carried out in any desired environment. The aforementioned definitions may apply during the present description. 
     As shown, a social media widget  502  of the portal  500  has been minimized. In one embodiment, this minimization of the social media widget  502  may be performed by a user selecting an icon  504  within the social media widget  502 . In this way, the user may manipulate the display of the widgets within the portal  500 . 
       FIG. 6  illustrates another exemplary portal  600  in which a help search is performed, in accordance with another embodiment. As an option, the portal  600  may be implemented in the context of the functionality of  FIGS. 1-5 . Of course, however, the portal  600  may be carried out in any desired environment. The aforementioned definitions may apply during the present description. 
     As shown, a search term  604  is entered into the help window  602  of the portal  600 . As the search term  604  is entered into the help window  602 , help search results  606  related to the input search term  604  are displayed within the portal  600 . In this way, a user of the portal  600  may receive system assistance, widget help, keyword searching, etc. while using the portal  600 . 
     System Overview 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a block diagram of an environment  710  wherein an on-demand database system might be used. Environment  710  may include user systems  712 , network  714 , system  716 , processor system  717 , application platform  718 , network interface  720 , tenant data storage  722 , system data storage  724 , program code  726 , and process space  728 . In other embodiments, environment  710  may not have all of the components listed and/or may have other elements instead of, or in addition to, those listed above. 
     Environment  710  is an environment in which an on-demand database system exists. User system  712  may be any machine or system that is used by a user to access a database user system. For example, any of user systems  712  can be a handheld computing device, a mobile phone, a laptop computer, a work station, and/or a network of computing devices. As illustrated in  FIG. 7  (and in more detail in  FIG. 8 ) user systems  712  might interact via a network  714  with an on-demand database system, which is system  716 . 
     An on-demand database system, such as system  716 , is a database system that is made available to outside users that do not need to necessarily be concerned with building and/or maintaining the database system, but instead may be available for their use when the users need the database system (e.g., on the demand of the users). Some on-demand database systems may store information from one or more tenants stored into tables of a common database image to form a multi-tenant database system (MTS). Accordingly, “on-demand database system  716 ” and “system  716 ” will be used interchangeably herein. A database image may include one or more database objects. A relational database management system (RDMS) or the equivalent may execute storage and retrieval of information against the database object(s). Application platform  718  may be a framework that allows the applications of system  716  to run, such as the hardware and/or software, e.g., the operating system. In an embodiment, on-demand database system  716  may include an application platform  718  that enables creation, managing and executing one or more applications developed by the provider of the on-demand database system, users accessing the on-demand database system via user systems  712 , or third party application developers accessing the on-demand database system via user systems  712 . 
     The users of user systems  712  may differ in their respective capacities, and the capacity of a particular user system  712  might be entirely determined by permissions (permission levels) for the current user. For example, where a salesperson is using a particular user system  712  to interact with system  716 , that user system has the capacities allotted to that salesperson. However, while an administrator is using that user system to interact with system  716 , that user system has the capacities allotted to that administrator. In systems with a hierarchical role model, users at one permission level may have access to applications, data, and database information accessible by a lower permission level user, hut may not have access to certain applications, database information, and data accessible by a user at a higher permission level. Thus, different users will have different capabilities with regard to accessing and modifying application and database information, depending on a user&#39;s security or permission level. 
     Network  714  is any network or combination of networks of devices that communicate with one another. For example, network  714  can be any one or any combination of a LAN (local area network), WAN (wide area network), telephone network, wireless network, point-to-point network, star network, token ring network, hub network, or other appropriate configuration. As the most common type of computer network in current use is a TCP/IP (Transfer Control Protocol and Internet Protocol) network, such as the global internetwork of networks often referred to as the “Internet” with a capital “I,” that network will be used in many of the examples herein. However, it should be understood that the networks that the one or more implementations might use are not so limited, although TCP/IP is a frequently implemented protocol. 
     User systems  712  might communicate with system  716  using TCP/IP and, at a higher network level, use other common Internet protocols to communicate, such as HTTP, FTP, AFS, WAP, etc. In an example where HTTP is used, user system  712  might include an HTTP client commonly referred to as a “browser” for sending and receiving HTTP messages to and from an HTTP server at system  716 . Such an HTTP server might be implemented as the sole network interface between system  716  and network  714 , but other techniques might be used as well or instead. In some implementations, the interface between system  716  and network  714  includes load sharing functionality, such as round-robin HTTP request distributors to balance loads and distribute incoming HTTP requests evenly over a plurality of servers. At least as for the users that are accessing that server, each of the plurality of servers has access to the MTS&#39; data; however, other alternative configurations may be used instead. 
     In one embodiment, system  716 , shown in  FIG. 7 , implements a web-based customer relationship management (CRM) system. For example, in one embodiment, system  716  includes application servers configured to implement and execute CRM software applications as well as provide related data, code, forms, webpages and other information to and from user systems  712  and to store to, and retrieve from, a database system related data, objects, and Webpage content. With a multi-tenant system, data for multiple tenants may be stored in the same physical database object, however, tenant data typically is arranged so that data of one tenant is kept logically separate from that of other tenants so that one tenant does not have access to another tenant&#39;s data, unless such data is expressly shared. In certain embodiments, system  716  implements applications other than, or in addition to, a CRM application. For example, system  716  may provide tenant access to multiple hosted (standard and custom) applications, including a CRM application. User (or third party developer) applications, which may or may not include CRM, may be supported by the application platform  718 , which manages creation, storage of the applications into one or more database objects and executing of the applications in a virtual machine in the process space of the system  716 . 
     One arrangement for elements of system  716  is shown in  FIG. 7 , including a network interface  720 , application platform  718 , tenant data storage  722  for tenant data  723 , system data storage  724  for system data  725  accessible to system  716  and possibly multiple tenants, program code  726  for implementing various functions of system  716 , and a process space  728  for executing MTS system processes and tenant-specific processes, such as running applications as part of an application hosting service. Additional processes that may execute on system  716  include database indexing processes. 
     Several elements in the system shown in  FIG. 7  include conventional, well-known elements that are explained only briefly here. For example, each user system  712  could include a desktop personal computer, workstation, laptop, PDA, cell phone, or any wireless access protocol (WAP) enabled device or any other computing device capable of interfacing directly or indirectly to the Internet or other network connection. User system  712  typically runs an HTTP client, e.g., a browsing program, such as Microsoft&#39;s Internet Explorer browser, Netscape&#39;s Navigator browser, Opera&#39;s browser, or a WAP-enabled browser in the case of a cell phone, PDA or other wireless device, or the like, allowing a user (e.g., subscriber of the multi-tenant database system) of user system  712  to access, process and view information, pages and applications available to it from system  716  over network  714 . Each user system  712  also typically includes one or more user interface devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, trackball, touch pad, touch screen, pen or the like, for interacting with a graphical user interface (GUI) provided by the browser on a display (e.g., a monitor screen, LCD display, etc.) in conjunction with pages, forms, applications and other information provided by system  716  or other systems or servers. For example, the user interface device can be used to access data and applications hosted by system  716 , and to perform searches on stored data, and otherwise allow a user to interact with various GUI pages that may be presented to a user. As discussed above, embodiments are suitable for use with the Internet, which refers to a specific global internet work of networks. However, it should be understood that other networks can be used instead of the Internet, such as an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a non-TCP/IP based network, any LAN or WAN or the like. 
     According to one embodiment, each user system  712  and all of its components are operator configurable using applications, such as a browser, including computer code run using a central processing unit such as an Intel Pentium® processor or the like. Similarly, system  716  (and additional instances of an MTS, where more than one is present) and all of their components might be operator configurable using application(s) including computer code to run using a central processing unit such as processor system  717 , which may include an Intel Pentium® processor or the like, and/or multiple processor units. A computer program product embodiment includes a machine-readable storage medium (media) having instructions stored thereon/in which can be used to program a computer to perform any of the processes of the embodiments described herein. Computer code for operating and configuring system  716  to intercommunicate and to process webpages, applications and other data and media content as described herein are preferably downloaded and stored on a hard disk, but the entire program code, or portions thereof, may also be stored in any other volatile or non-volatile memory medium or device as is well known, such as a ROM or RAM, or provided on any media capable of storing program code, such as any type of rotating media including floppy disks, optical discs, digital versatile disk (DVD), compact disk (CD), microdrive, and magneto-optical disks, and magnetic or optical cards, nanosystems (including molecular memory ICs), or any type of media or device suitable for storing instructions and/or data. Additionally, the entire program code, or portions thereof, may be transmitted and downloaded from a software source over a transmission medium, e.g., over the Internet, or from another server, as is well known, or transmitted over any other conventional network connection as is well known (e.g., extranet, VPN, LAN, etc.) using any communication medium and protocols (e.g., TCP/IP, HTTP, HTTPS, Ethernet, etc.) as are well known. It will also be appreciated that computer code for implementing embodiments can be implemented in any programming language that can be executed on a client system and/or server or server system such as, for example, C, C++, HTML, any other markup language, Java™, JavaScript, ActiveX, any other scripting language, such as VBScript, and many other programming languages as are well known may be used. (Java™ is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.). 
     According to one embodiment, each system  716  is configured to provide webpages, forms, applications, data and media content to user (client) systems  712  to support the access by user systems  712  as tenants of system  716 . As such, system  716  provides security mechanisms to keep each tenant&#39;s data separate unless the data is shared. If more than one MTS is used, they may be located in close proximity to one another (e.g., in a server farm located in a single building or campus), or they may be distributed at locations remote from one another (e.g., one or more servers located in city A and one or more servers located in city B). As used herein, each MTS could include one or more logically and/or physically connected servers distributed locally or across one or more geographic locations. Additionally, the term “server” is meant to include a computer system, including processing hardware and process space(s), and an associated storage system and database application (e.g., OODBMS or RDBMS) as is well known in the art. It should also be understood that “server system” and “server” are often used interchangeably herein. Similarly, the database object described herein can be implemented as single databases, a distributed database, a collection of distributed databases, a database with redundant online or offline backups or other redundancies, etc., and might include a distributed database or storage network and associated processing intelligence. 
       FIG. 8  also illustrates environment  710 . However, in  FIG. 8  elements of system  716  and various interconnections in an embodiment are further illustrated.  FIG. 8  shows that user system  712  may include processor system  712 A, memory system  712 B, input system  712 C, and output system  712 D.  FIG. 8  shows network  714  and system  716 .  FIG. 8  also shows that system  716  may include tenant data storage  722 , tenant data  723 , system data storage  724 , system data  725 , User Interface (UI)  830 , Application Program Interface (API)  832 , PL/SOQL  834 , save routines  836 , application setup mechanism  838 , applications servers  800   1 - 800   N , system process space  802 , tenant process spaces  804 , tenant management process space  810 , tenant storage area  812 , user storage  814 , and application metadata  816 . In other embodiments, environment  710  may not have the same elements as those listed above and/or may have other elements instead of, or in addition to, those listed above. 
     User system  712 , network  714 , system  716 , tenant data storage  722 , and system data storage  724  were discussed above in  FIG. 7 . Regarding user system  712 , processor system  712 A may be any combination of one or more processors. Memory system  712 B may be any combination of one or more memory devices, short term, and/or long term memory. Input system  712 C may be any combination of input devices, such as one or more keyboards, mice, trackballs, scanners, cameras, and/or interfaces to networks. Output system  712 D may be any combination of output devices, such as one or more monitors, printers, and/or interfaces to networks. As shown by  FIG. 8 , system  716  may include a network interface  720  (of  FIG. 7 ) implemented as a set of HTTP application servers  800 , an application platform  718 , tenant data storage  722 , and system data storage  724 . Also shown is system process space  802 , including individual tenant process spaces  804  and a tenant management process space  810 . Each application server  800  may be configured to tenant data storage  722  and the tenant data  723  therein, and system data storage  724  and the system data  725  therein to serve requests of user systems  712 . The tenant data  723  might be divided into individual tenant storage areas  812 , which can be either a physical arrangement and/or a logical arrangement of data. Within each tenant storage area  812 , user storage  814  and application metadata  816  might be similarly allocated for each user. For example, a copy of a user&#39;s most recently used (MRU) items might be stored to user storage  814 . Similarly, a copy of MRU items for an entire organization that is a tenant might be stored to tenant storage area  812 . A UI  830  provides a user interface and an API  832  provides an application programmer interface to system  716  resident processes to users and/or developers at user systems  712 . The tenant data and the system data may be stored in various databases, such as one or more Oracle™ databases. 
     Application platform  718  includes an application setup mechanism  838  that supports application developers&#39; creation and management of applications, which may be saved as metadata into tenant data storage  722  by save routines  836  for execution by subscribers as one or more tenant process spaces  804  managed by tenant management process  810  for example. Invocations to such applications may be coded using PL/SOQL  834  that provides a programming language style interface extension to API  832 . A detailed description of some PL/SOQL language embodiments is discussed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,730,478 entitled, METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ALLOWING ACCESS TO DEVELOPED APPLICATIONS VIA A MULTI-TENANT ON-DEMAND DATABASE SERVICE, by Craig Weissman, filed Sep. 21, 2007, which is incorporated in its entirety herein for all purposes. Invocations to applications may be detected by one or more system processes, which manages retrieving application metadata  816  for the subscriber making the invocation and executing the metadata as an application in a virtual machine. 
     Each application server  800  may be communicably coupled to database systems, e.g., having access to system data  725  and tenant data  723 , via a different network connection. For example, one application server  800   1  might be coupled via the network  714  (e.g., the Internet), another application server  800   N-1  might be coupled via a direct network link, and another application server  800   N  might be coupled by yet a different network connection. Transfer Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) are typical protocols for communicating between application servers  800  and the database system. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that other transport protocols may be used to optimize the system depending on the network interconnect used. 
     In certain embodiments, each application server  800  is configured to handle requests for any user associated with any organization that is a tenant. Because it is desirable to be able to add and remove application servers from the server pool at any time for any reason, there is preferably no server affinity for a user and/or organization to a specific application server  800 . In one embodiment, therefore, an interface system implementing a load balancing function (e.g., an F5 Big-IP load balancer) is communicably coupled between the application servers  800  and the user systems  712  to distribute requests to the application servers  800 . In one embodiment, the load balancer uses a least connections algorithm to route user requests to the application servers  800 . Other examples of load balancing algorithms, such as round robin and observed response time, also can be used. For example, in certain embodiments, three consecutive requests from the same user could hit three different application servers  800 , and three requests from different users could hit the same application server  800 . In this manner, system  716  is multi-tenant, wherein system  716  handles storage of, and access to, different objects, data and applications across disparate users and organizations. 
     As an example of storage, one tenant might be a company that employs a sales force where each salesperson uses system  716  to manage their sales process. Thus, a user might maintain contact data, leads data, customer follow-up data, performance data, goals and progress data, etc., all applicable to that user&#39;s personal sales process (e.g., in tenant data storage  722 ). In an example of a MTS arrangement, since all of the data and the applications to access, view, modify, report, transmit, calculate, etc., can be maintained and accessed by a user system having nothing more than network access, the user can manage his or her sales efforts and cycles from any of many different user systems. For example, if a salesperson is visiting a customer and the customer has Internet access in their lobby, the salesperson can obtain critical updates as to that customer while waiting for the customer to arrive in the lobby. 
     While each user&#39;s data might be separate from other users&#39; data regardless of the employers of each user, some data might be organization-wide data shared or accessible by a plurality of users or all of the users for a given organization that is a tenant. Thus, there might be some data structures managed by system  716  that are allocated at the tenant level while other data structures might be managed at the user level. Because an MTS might support multiple tenants including possible competitors, the MTS should have security protocols that keep data, applications, and application use separate. Also, because many tenants may opt for access to an MTS rather than maintain their own system, redundancy, up-time, and backup are additional functions that may be implemented in the MTS. In addition to user-specific data and tenant specific data, system  716  might also maintain system level data usable by multiple tenants or other data. Such system level data might include industry reports, news, postings, and the like that are sharable among tenants. 
     In certain embodiments, user systems  712  (which may be client systems) communicate with application servers  800  to request and update system-level and tenant-level data from system  716  that may require sending one or more queries to tenant data storage  722  and/or system data storage  724 . System  716  (e.g., an application server  800  in system  716 ) automatically generates one or more SQL statements (e.g., one or more SQL queries) that are designed to access the desired information. System data storage  724  may generate query plans to access the requested data from the database. 
     Each database can generally be viewed as a collection of objects, such as a set of logical tables, containing data fitted into predefined categories. A “table” is one representation of a data object, and may be used herein to simplify the conceptual description of objects and custom objects. It should be understood that “table” and “object” may be used interchangeably herein. Each table generally contains one or more data categories logically arranged as columns or fields in a viewable schema. Each row or record of a table contains an instance of data for each category defined by the fields. For example, a CRM database may include a table that describes a customer with fields for basic contact information such as name, address, phone number, fax number, etc. Another table might describe a purchase order, including fields for information such as customer, product, sale price, date, etc. In some multi-tenant database systems, standard entity tables might be provided for use by all tenants. For CRM database applications, such standard entities might include tables for Account, Contact, Lead, and Opportunity data, each containing pre-defined fields. It should be understood that the word “entity” may also be used interchangeably herein with “object” and “table”. 
     In some multi-tenant database systems, tenants may be allowed to create and store custom objects, or they may be allowed to customize standard entities or objects, for example by creating custom fields for standard objects, including custom index fields. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/817,161, filed Apr. 2, 2004, entitled “Custom Entities and Fields in a Multi-Tenant Database System”, and which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, teaches systems and methods for creating custom objects as well as customizing standard objects in a multi-tenant database system. In certain embodiments, for example, all custom entity data rows are stored in a single multi-tenant physical table, which may contain multiple logical tables per organization. It is transparent to customers that their multiple “tables” are in fact stored in one large table or that their data may be stored in the same table as the data of other customers. 
     While one or more implementations have been described by way of example and in terms of the specific embodiments, it is to be understood that one or more implementations are not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements as would be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6