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`context, owners of a process can be product managers, purchase agents, account
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`managers, customer service representatives, etc. An individual also may act as a
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`Participant (also termed a Member or Recipient). Members interact with one or more
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`specific tasks in a process, such as interviewing candidates, bidding on proposals,
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`participating in meetings, etc. The owner of a process can assign specific roles to the
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`participants. Owners may be participants also.
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`In one embodiment, with respect to groups, an Owner can add or remove
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`members lirom the group; carry out moderator options; exercise author rights over all
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`group messages; delete group messages; and exercise all Member privileges. A group
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`Member, in contrast, can send or receive group messages; invite others to join public
`groups; unsubscribe from the group; and create a sub—group.
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`Notifications, in one approach, are alert messages that are sent to users when a
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`predefined activity has occurred in a process. For example, notifications may be issued as
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`a result of the following activities: Response to a building block by a user; change in
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`process or task status; change in process or task due dates; more than 50% ofpeople have
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`polled; more than 60% of users have confirmed for the meeting; and others. Reminders
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`are prompts sent to users. Examples of reminders include: Inform a user that a due date is
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`fast approaching; inform all users about an important process development; etc. Both
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`notifications and reminders generally are sent outside the context of a transportable
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`application, for example, by a separate e-mail message directed to the recipient. In
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`contrast, notes, as described herein, are text messages that are selectively embedded
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`Within a transportable application to draw something to the attention of the recipient when
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`the recipient opens the transportable application.
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`Notifications may be pull or opt-in notifications, or push notifications. Witli pull
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`notifications, a user defines (or sets rules) When to receive notifications and reminders.
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`The system automatically sends a notification if the specified definition is satisfied. With
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`push notifications, an owner sends notifications and reminders to users regardless of
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`Whether the user has requested for the same. Here the owner overrides the notification
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`preference of the recipient.
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`In one embodiment, notification processes are configured so that a participant
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`receives notifications on any updates immediately. In this approach, users have the option
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`to opt—in to receive any updates. The user receives a single notification on any updates
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`since the last read. In one specific approach, taking any of the following actions on a
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`process or task triggers delivery of a notification: Adding new tasks; response to building
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`Page 451 of 894
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`GOOGLE EXHIBIT 1010 (part 3 of 4)
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`WO 02121413
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`PCT/US01/42041
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`block; closing of tasks; closing of processes; change in process status or due date; change
`in task status or due date.
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`In one sub—approach, only the tasks for which a user is in the recipient list trigger
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`notification updates. If a different task changes, for which a user is not in the recipient
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`list, the user is not notified.
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`In another embodiment, notification processes are configured so that a participant
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`receives notifications on any updates to specific tasks immediately. Users can receive
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`notifications on any updates to a single task or group of tasks. A list of active tasks is
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`provided to the user fitom which the user can select tasks on which to be notified.
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`The notification processes also may be configured to send a process—level
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`reminder to all recipients. Specifically, the owner of the process can configure a
`transportable application to send ad-hoc reminders everyone in a recipient list whenever
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`an important process event occurs. For example, assume that Michael is interviewing at
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`Alpha Company and an interview process transportable application is currently used for
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`scheduling interviews. A manager at Alpha receives information during the interview
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`process that Michael has a competing offer and needs to decide whether to accept it
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`within the next week. The manager, who is an owner of the transportable application, can
`immediately notify all the participants that they should schedule interviews for Michael
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`and decide on the candidate. In a related approach, the notification processes are
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`configured to send process—level reminders to selected recipients in the recipient list.
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`In another embodiment, the system is configured to send a task level reminder to
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`all recipients in a recipient list. The owner of the task can send ad-hoc reminders to
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`everyone in a recipient list Whenever an important task event occurs. For example,
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`assume that an offer letter to candidate John Q. Public is under discussion in the “Offer
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`task” of a transportable application. The salary to be offered to the candidate is still under
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`discussion among the managers. However, the Director of Sales needs to provide the
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`sales headcount to the VP of Marketing & Sales next week and as such needs to finalize
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`the offers quickly. She sends a notification to the participants in the “offer task” to come
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`to a consensus quickly on the offer and go further with the hiring. In a related feature, a
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`participant can send a task level reminder to select recipients among the recipients of the
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`transportable application.
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`Another feature provides scheduled process update notification. A user can
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`schedule to receive process update notifications periodically or on a specified date and
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`time. Periodic update options for the user to select are daily (options Within a day), and
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`weekly (options within a week). For example, assume that Bob is the Director of Business
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`-35-
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`Page 452 of 894
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`WO 02121413
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`PCT/US01/42041
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`Development at Alpha Company and his team is Working on new business deals with a
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`lot of startups. Bob would prioritize on his updates based on the importance of the deal.
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`So he schedules some deals for weekly updates while others for daily updates.
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`In another embodiment, the system is configured to send scheduled process “due
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`date” reminders to all users in a recipient list of a transportable application. In this
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`feature, the owner of a process can schedule specific "due—date” reminders to be sent to
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`everyone either at the process or at the task level. The owner can send the reminder either
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`on a particular date or a specified period before the due date (e.g., two days before, two
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`Weeks before, etc). For example, assume that a product management team has defined
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`new features for a particular product release and requires approval from other functional
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`areas (such as Engineering, Sales, Business Development etc.). The features need to be
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`frozen by a certain date so that development on the product can commence. The project
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`lead schedules a "due-date" reminder to be sent to everyone a week before the deadline to
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`ensure that the activities are completed by the due date.
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`In other features and embodiments, a participant or user can "opt~in" to receive
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`summary of notification changes; "opt—in" to receive selected notifications immediately;
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`send a scheduled task “due date” reminder to everyone in a recipient list; send a
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`scheduled task “due date” reminder to select recipients in a recipient list; and "opt—in“ for
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`a scheduled process due date reminder.
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`In one implementation approach for the foregoing features, the event-based
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`messaging system described herein is configured to enable building blocks and associated
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`notification event handlers to communicate. One or more events may issue as a result of
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`another event. Responses to events are carried out by a notification event handler that is
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`associated with each kind of response event. Response—based notifications are generated
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`by each such handler. Each notification is an event, and the each notification event
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`handler comprises logic that determines which users need to receive notifications and
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`when. In an embodiment, each event handler uses a notification API to generate a list of
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`users to notify, and the event handler then sends the list to an event daemon that
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`dispatches the notifications. As 3. result, an event-based messaging system facilitates
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`generating rule—based notifications in response to any change in any attribute of a
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`transportable application.
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`In one implementation of response—based notifications, as outlined above, each
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`user may “opt in” to receive notifications at a task level and at a process level. Hence,
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`each user can subscribe to changes in particular tasks or to any change in the process.
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`Further, each user can associate a notification frequency value with each subscription.
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`Page 453 of 894
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`W0 02/21413
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`PCT/USO1/42041
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`FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a process of carrying out
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`response-based notifications. In block 702, a response is issued to a building block of a
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`transportable application. For example, a first participant in a group collaboration or other
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`activity enters text, graphics, a button selection or some other value in response to a query
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`provided in a building block.
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`In block 704, in response, a database query is issued to obtain a list of users who
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`have requested notifications for the current building block. A notification time value is
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`obtained for each user in the list; the notification time value indicates when to notify each
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`individual on the list. In block 706, the list is passed to the parent object of the current
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`building block, which may be another building block or a container object, with a request
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`to carry out notifications.
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`In block 708, a list of recipients associated with the parent building block or
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`container object is retrieved and compared to the list of users who qualified for
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`notifications at the child building block level. Only those users who qualified for
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`notifications at the child building block level are then considered. For each user who
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`qualified, if that user has a notification time value that indicates a delayed notification is
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`necessary, then no action is taken since the child’s notification time overrides any
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`notification time that may be associated with the parent.
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`In block 710, for each user in the child notification list that qualifies for an
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`immediate notification, then a database query is carried out to determine that the user is
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`active in the system and does not have a notification already pending. This is done to
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`avoid duplicate notifications. If these tests result in a determination that the user is
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`entitled to a notification, then control is passed to block 712.
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`In block 712, a status Value for the user associated with the parent building block
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`or container is changed to Updated, and a current time value is stored in a notification
`time value in the database.
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`In block 714, users in the recipient list of the parent block or container who did
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`not qualify for child level notifications are considered. The status value for each such user
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`is changed to Updated, and a current time Value is stored in a notification time value in
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`the database. In block 716, the notification message is dispatched to all qualifying users in
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`the parent and child notification lists.
`1.5.2 Notifications Based on Rules and Attributes
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`In a related approach that is integrated with an event management system, each
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`building block can publish attributes about itself to the rest of the system, and publishes
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`event that alert the system when such attributes change. Further, users may create and
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`store rules based on these attributes that cause such users to receive a notification when
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`the rules are satisfied. In addition, users may be notified at a particular time if a rule is
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`satisfied. For example, a user can be notified if a project status reaches “complete”, and
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`the user can also be notified if the project status is not “complete” one month after the
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`project began.
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`In one implementation approach, database 208 comprises a rules table having the
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`following columns: Rule ID; Block D); User ID; Attribute; Threshold value; Comparator;
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`Time flag indicating whether the rule is time-based; Event ID if the rule is time-based;
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`Action type. In one embodiment, the Rule ID field does not store a unique key value,
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`because the same Rule ID can encompass several rules that are evaluated simultaneously.
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`Database 208 further comprises an alert log table having the following columns:
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`Block D); User ID; Note; Read bit. An Alert Waiting bit is provided in a user status table.
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`Each block is associated with a presentAttributes method that returns one or more
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`attributes, types, comparators (if applicable}, and description Values for each attribute. An
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`interface is accessible from each transportable application with which a user can build the
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`rules and set threshold values and comparators. Each rule may be characterized in terms
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`of Boolean Values, number comparisons (equals, less than, greater than), string equals
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`comparisons, etc. Using the interface, a user may edit the rules that have been created,
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`and attach a time value and recurrence period to a rule.
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`In response to a user creating a rule using the interface, a servlet of application
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`server 202 enters the rule into the database 208, and attaches a rules event to the building
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`block in which the rule was created. The rules event subscribes to attribute changes in the
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`building block. The servlet also deletes any old rules in the database for the same building
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`block.
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`Thereafter, when an attribute changes in the block, the rules event is invoked.
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`Processing the ruleslevent involves first retrieving all rules for that block from the
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`database 208, evaluating the rules as designed to result in creating and storing a list of
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`rule identifiers that evaluated to TRUE, and generating a rules-passed event that includes
`the list.
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`Actions can subscribe to the rules—passed event. Each such action has an
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`associated rule ]D value. If a rule matching the associated rule ]D value is fulfilled, then
`the action is executed.
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`An Alert Notification event object is provided and has a handler process that
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`determines if its rule has passed. If so, the handler sends a notification to the user if
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`needed, and records the notification in a notification log.
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`In one approach for displaying notifications, when a user opens and reads a
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`transportable application, a flag message is displayed that informs the user that a new
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`notification exists. The flag message may be a hyperlink. The user selects the flag
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`message. In response, the system displays the notification in a pop-up dialog with which
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`the user may scroll through one or more notifications. Each alert then is marked as read.
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`Object Communications——Programmatic Methods
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`1.6
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`In one embodiment, system 200 uses two distinct types of internal communication
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`mechanisms. Non—event driven sharing of data is carried about in Building Block and
`Container interactions and Container—to—Container communications. Event—driven
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`publish-subscribe exchanges are carried out between disparate objects Within the system.
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`Non—event—driven data sharing is used in cases in which communications require
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`detailed knowledge of the hierarchy of obj ects or the need to transfer essentially the entire
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`data of such objects. In order to ensure the successful delivery of these communications,
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`a unique identification system is provided for all objects that will communicate within the
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`system. In one embodiment, each object in the system has a unique global identifier, as
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`described fiirther in this document in the section entitled “Directory Integration—Global
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`Object Identifiers.” Using global identifiers and associated mapping tables, container
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`objects for contained objects can be determined.
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`In an alternative embodiment, a global object identifier is associated only with
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`container objects. The relative position of a contained object within the container object
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`is used as a unique identifier of the contained obj ect. As a result, each contained object is
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`accessed only through its immediate Container. For example, a poll Building Block
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`Within a task in a Process Container would have the id: <Process Container lD>_<task
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`index>_<poll BB index>, or alternatively, <Task Container lD>__<poll BB index>, if the
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`Process Container was not needed in order to deliver the message. A benefit of this
`mechanism is that there could be ACLS applied on a particular Container that may affect
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`access to a contained object.
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`In one embodiment, a data—sharing communication mechanism is used in order to
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`aggregate data fiom multiple Building Blocks in order to form a composite view. For
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`example, in the case of a Poll Discussion, the Data Access Component for the poll
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`building block and the discussion building block are joined by a composite Building
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`Block in aparticular way in order to show both the poll and discussion data together. In
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`order to join such a composite view, the Container collects multiple Data Access
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`Components fiom the blocks and delivers them to the Composite Building Blocks.
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`In one specific embodiment, containers or other objects in the platform implement
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`a Datasharinglnterface in order to achieve communication. The interface is defined as:
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`public interface Datasharinglnterface {
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`DAC‘
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`target, Uni.queID requester, UserID user);
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`getDataAccessComponent(RelativeID
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`}
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`The Data Gathering Service Manager implements a DataGatheringInterface in
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`order to extract the DACS of the objects that a component may Want to access. This
`interface is defined as:
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`private interface DataGatheringInterface {
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`public
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`gatherDataAccessComponents (UniqueID
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`fromList);
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`requester, UserID user, UniqueID[]
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`}
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`In one example embodiment, the Data Gathering Service Manager loops through
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`each element in the fromList, determines the Container, sends the container to a
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`DataSharinglnterface and calls the getDataAccessComponent method with the Re1atiVe]D
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`of the specified Blocks. The Container implementing the Datasharinglnterface gathers
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`the appropriate DAC from the specified Block. This process allows Building Blocks
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`across Containers to share data, and also allows the sharing object to limit the amount of
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`data that should be sent out to the requester.
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`1.7
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`System)
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`Object Communications—Event—Driven Methods ‘(Event Handling
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`In one embodiment, the system described herein provides an event handling
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`service as represented by event processor 112 of FIG. 1B, and event daemons 216 of
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`event service 146 of FIG. 2B. In this embodiment, one or more event daemons 216 are
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`communicatively coupled to event service 146. The event service 146 is communicatively
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`coupled by link 218 to database server 208. The event daemons serve to offload certain
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`separable functions firom the application server 202. For example, in an embodiment,
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`event daemons are responsible for mail event queuing and handling, bounoed—mail
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`handling, and generating personalized transportable application content, based on a user’s
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`e—mail client profile.
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`Alternatively, a generic event handling system is provided to enable different
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`components of the system to communicate. In one embodiment, an event handling system
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`enables the system to act when a specific event occurs within a transportable application,
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`- act when a specific event does not happen, and facilitates authoring rules to carry out the
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`foregoing. Actions may include generating notifications, generating reminders,
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`forwarding a transportable application, other automated actions, delivering a message to
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`subscribers, etc. In one embodiment, actions may comprise anything that can be carried
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`out programmatically. The event handling system may comprise an object fiarnework,
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`message format and implementation classes.
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`FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating elements of an event handling system, in
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`one example embodiment. Event handling system 1700 is hosted in application server
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`202 and comprises an event router fiarnework 1702, event broker framework 1704, and
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`event timer fiamework 1706. Event router framework 1702 performs message routing,
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`selects a transport mechanisms for messages that are sent, and serves as an entry point for
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`other components of the system that need to use events. Examples of transport
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`mechanisms include 1MS, HTTP posts, etc. Event broker framework 1704 performs rule
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`evaluation that involves the filtering of event messages and invoking action classes, and
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`can store event messages in a table of database 208. Event timer framework 1706 enables
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`creating event messages at a specified time, for processing time—based rules.
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`Events are programmatically represented by event messages. In general, event
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`messages contain information about what occurred and the state of objects that relate to
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`the event. Standard events include creating, updating, deleting, and changing the state or
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`status value of a transportable application. For example, an update event for the poll
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`building block may contain the building block identifier, the user name of the person who
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`added a response, the response value, the time and date of the response, the total number
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`ofresponses, and the total number of recipients. However, each building block may
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`generate any desired events having any desired data or content. Events maybe time-
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`based. For example, events are generated or created by invoking particular methods when
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`the prescribed time for an event arrives.
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`Bach building block has a method which, when called by another program
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`element, returns a list of events that it can generate. This enables other program elements
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`to identify and Subscribe to events.
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`In one specific embodiment, each event message comprises a header and a body.
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`The header comprises metadata, and the body comprises information that identifies the
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`container and building block that generated the event, the name of the event, etc. In one
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`specific embodiment, the header comprises a fromDestination value that identifies the
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`originating system; a toDestination value that identifies a destination system for the
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`message; a message type value; a timestamp value that identifies a date and time at which
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`the event occurred; a message action value; and a tracking identifier value. The body
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`encapsulates another header (“inner header”) and inner body or payload that contains
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`event—specific data. Events and their data may be defined by an XML schema.
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`The message type value enables an event message to specify Whether it is a
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`system event, application event, etc. Examples of system events including replication
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`events, system administration events, initialization events, etc. Application events may be
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`events generated by transportable applications, connectors, groups, etc. Each event type
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`has a corresponding schema that defines the elements of the inner header and payload for
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`that event type.
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`Event messages may be persistent. Persistent event messages are stored in an
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`event table in the database 208. Events can be made persistent by programmatically
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`setting a “Persist” flag in the event message header. Alternatively, the event type
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`definition may specify that all event messages of that type are persistent.
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`In one embodiment, containers generate events that are published to the event
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`handling system. The event handling system applies rules to determine whether received
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`events should result in an action. If the rules are satisfied by the events or other data, then
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`actions result.
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`Rules may be associated with building blocks or containers. Rules may be saved
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`in association with a template of a transportable application.
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`Rules may be subject to author control or participant control. In rules with author
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`control, only users who are authors of a transportable application template can modify or
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`deactivate the rules. In rules with participant control, any participant who receives a
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`transportable application that is instantiated from a template having the rule can modify
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`Rules may be designated as active or inactive. Active rules are visible within a
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`template of a transportable application and Within an active transportable application.
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`Each rule comprises an association with one event through a coarse-grain filter, a
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`fine—grain filter that has one or more conditions, zero or more constants, one or more
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`actions or handler. Rule constants can comprise a static string or may be defined as
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`reusable expressions.
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`Rule conditions may be created as coarse—grain filters or fine-grain filters. Coarse-
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`grain filters determine Whether a particular event message maps to or is associated with a
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`WO 02121413
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`PCT/USO]/