GB2501070A - Metadata defining an action to be performed by a computer system - Google Patents

Abstract

A computer system comprises a plurality of files, whereby at least one of said plurality of files has associated with it first metadata defining an action to be performed (e.g. expiry of the file) and second metadata defining a date/time at which said action is to be performed (e.g. deletion, marking the file out of date), whereby the computer system detects the first and second metadata and performs the action if the date/time correspond to a present date/time. The computer system may carry out a regular scan of the plurality of files to determine which of said plurality of files require action according to the second metadata.

Description

Improvements in and relating to documents having date-related actions The present invention relates to digital documents created and processed by a computer system. It particularly concerns documents which contain date-sensitive information or are otherwise date-sensitive in some way.

It is known that documents such as word-processing files, spreadsheets, presentation files and other data files are supplemented with metadata regarding a host of other information. This supplemental data is stored and available for inspection or possible further processing by a suitable computer system.

The metadata is usually, but not always, stored as part of the digital document file, such as a.doc or xIs file. It can sometimes be stored separately, but is always associated with a particular document file so there is a definite link between the document data and the metadata.

For instance, in the Microsoft® Windows® Operating System, it is possible to display file properties from a pull-down menu in a given application and reveal information such as: file size, location, date of creation, date of modification, date of last access, creator, word count and statistics related to these and other properties. Similar information is available from most or all other Operating Systems.

Whilst it is possible to determine from such data when a particular document was created or modified, there is no simple way for a user to determine whether the document or the information included in it is still relevant or valid. The danger to the user is that by relying on a document when its current status is unclear or unknown, some consequential damage may be suffered.

There is therefore a desire to manage digital documents in such a way that the data included within them can be trusted and relied upon by a user who may come to open the document some time after it was first created.

Embodiments of the present invention aim to address shortcomings in the prior art whether mentioned herein or not.

According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus and method as set forth in the appended claims. Other features of the invention will be apparent from the dependent claims, and the description which follows.

For a better understanding of the invention, and to show how embodiments of the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a computer system which may be configured to perform embodiments of the present invention; and Figure 2 shows a flowchart for performing an embodiment of the present invention.

In the following, the term digital document' is intended to mean any data file which is created and/or stored on a computer system. It encompasses both documents which are intended to be read by a human, and documents which are intended to be only machine-readable. The former might include word processor files, spreadsheets, text documents, software source code and email messages. The latter might include executable files and database files. The term "host system" is used to refer to a computer system which either hosts the files in question or hosts the applications which open them, or both.

In addition to the metadata which normally accompanies digital data files, embodiments of the present invention provide new metadata items or tags, which define a date and an action associated with that date. More than one date may be provided, each of which has an associated actions. Similarly, more than one action may be associated with a particular date.

Fig. I shows an illustrative environment ID for according to an embodiment of the invention. To this extent, environment 10 includes a computer system 20 that can perform a process described herein in order to perform an embodiment of the invention. In particular, computer system 20 is shown including a program 30, which makes computer system 20 operable to implement an embodiment of the invention by performing a process described herein.

Computer system 20 is shown including a processing component 22 (e.g., one or more processors), a storage component 24 (e.g., a storage hierarchy), an input/output (I/O) component 26 (e.g., one or more I/O interfaces and/or devices), and a communications pathway 28. In general, processing component 22 executes program code, such as program 30, which is at least partially fixed in storage component 24. While executing program code, processing component 22 can process data, which can result in reading and/or writing transformed data from/to storage component 24 and/or I/O component 26 for further processing. Pathway 28 provides a communications link between each of the components in computer system 20. I/O component 26 can comprise one or more human I/O devices, which enable a human user 12 to interact with computer system 20 and/or one or more communications devices to enable a system user 12 to communicate with computer system 20 using any type of communications link. To this extent, program 30 can manage a set of interfaces (e.g., graphical user interface(s), application program interface, and/or the like) that enable human and/or system users 12 to interact with program 30. Further, program 30 can manage (e.g., store, retrieve, create, manipulate, organize, present, etc.) the data, such as a plurality of data files 40, using any solution.

In any event, computer system 20 can comprise one or more general purpose computing articles of manufacture (e.g., computing devices) capable of executing program code, such as program 30, installed thereon. As used herein, it is understood that "program code" means any collection of instructions, in any language, code or notation, that cause a computing device having an information processing capability to perform a particular action either directly or after any combination of the following: (a) conversion to another language, code or notation; (b) reproduction in a different material form; and/or (c) decompression. To this extent, program 30 can be embodied as any combination of system software and/or application software.

Further, program 30 can be implemented using a set of modules. In this case, a module can enable computer system 20 to perform a set of tasks used by program 30, and can be separately developed and/or implemented apart from other portions of program 30. As used herein, the term component" means any configuration of hardware, with or without software, which implements the functionality described in conjunction therewith using any solution, while the term module" means program code that enables a computer system 20 to implement the actions described in conjunction therewith using any solution. When fixed in a storage component 24 of a computer system 20 that includes a processing component 22, a module is a substantial portion of a component that implements the actions. Regardless, it is understood that two or more components, modules, and/or systems may share some/all of their respective hardware and/or software. Further, it is understood that some of the functonality discussed herein may not be implemented or additional functionality may be included as part of computer system 20.

When computer system 20 comprises multiple computing devices, each computing device can have only a portion of program 30 fixed thereon (e.g., one or more modules).

However, it is understood that computer system 20 and program 30 are only representative of various possible equivalent computer systems that may perform a process described herein.

To this extent, in other embodiments, the functionality provided by computer system 20 and program 30 can be at least partially implemented by one or more computing devices that include any combination of general and/or specific purpose hardware with or without program code. In each embodiment, the hardware and program code, if included, can be created using standard engineering and programming techniques, respectively.

Regardless, when computer system 20 includes multiple computing devices, the computing devices can communicate over any type of communications link. Further, while performing a process described herein, computer system 20 can communicate with one or more other computer systems using any type of communications link. In either case, the communications link can comprise any combination of various types of optical fibre, wired, and/or wireless links; comprise any combination of one or more types of networks; and/or utilize any combination of various types of transmission techniques and protocols.

In any event, computer system 20 can obtain data from files 40 using any solution. For example, computer system 20 can generate and/or be used to generate data files 40, retrieve data from files 40, which may be stored in one or more data stores, receive data from files 40 from another system, and/or the like.

For instance, in one embodiment, it is possible to define a metatag with the name "action=expiry" and a second one with the name expiry=yyyymmdd", which gives the date of expiry of the document in question. In this context, expiry means that as soon as the date given is reached, the document can not be opened, and a suitable warning message is displayed to the user. The expiry information can be made time as well as date specific, if that degree of accuracy is required. For instance, a document can be set to expire at 230pm on 12 January 2012. In that case, the following metatags can be associated with the file: action=expiry" and "expiry=201201121430" (i.e. if time is to be incorporated, the format is "action_name=yyyymmddhhmm", according to a known format.. The format is simple, easily transportable between systems and lends itself to easy incorporation of time information. If the number defined in the second metatag is 8 digits long, it includes only date information, but if it is 12 digits long, it includes time also. In this way, additional time information can be easily detected. In the remainder of this description, the term date/time' information should be interpreted as including date information solely or date and time information together.

In general, the metatags are defined using the format action=action name", and the associated metatags which gives the date associated with the action takes the form "action_name=yyyymmdd", so that the term action_name links the two metatags explicitly.

As another example, it is possible to define a tag which warns of impending expiry in the form "action=expiry_warning', and expiry_warning=yyyymmdd", with the date chosen to be some time in advance of the actual expiry date. If this date is reached, then a warning may be displayed to the user in a dialog box saying, Warning. This File will expire on yyyymmdd", so that the user knows that the data in the file may be unreliable and will shortly be unavailable.

If it is desired to track who has opened a particular file while expiry is imminent, then a metatag "action=expiry_notify(mailto:jim.smith@domain.com)" and "expiry_notify=yyyymmdd' can be used. In this notation, the argument provided in brackets defines a further item of information, in this case, an email address of a person who will be notified in the file in question is opened once the date yyyymmdd has been reached. Since this metatag is predefined in the host system, code is executed which sends an email to the named recipient and warns them that the file in question has been opened, by whom and when. In this way, it is possible to track who has been using files which are due to expire so that steps can be taken to warn them, if necessary.

As well as the very specific actions referred to above, it is possible to simply attach a metatag with associated date which prompts a user to review the file in question. This can be done by adding tags "action=review" and "review=yyyymmdd". These tags are then stored with the file in question. If the user wishes to see all files in a directory or data space which have upcoming reviews, he can view them in Windows Explorer or other directory viewer and sort them in order of review date so that a virtual "to-do' list is created. In the case of this particular tag, there may be no specification associated with the tag, so that if the date passes, nothing further happens. However, a preferred option is to simply push the review date on by a period of time. This feature is referred to as snooze', since it is similar to the snooze function used in alarm clocks. If the review date has passed and the user opens the file, he may be prompted with a dialog box saying The review date for this file was yyyymmdd. Snooze? Yes/No', with buttons being provided for Yes' and No'. The snooze interval may be predefined at e.g. 1 week, or by pressing Yes', the user is prompted for a new review date.

The range of possible actions can be predefined by a system administrator or controller, or may be set up by a user with the assistance of some suitable code, which can be created in any suitable programming language. In the case of office documents, Visual Basic is a simple way of defining certain actions.

In order to benefit from embodiments of the invention, the document to which the metatags have been applied must be accessed from within an environment which is sensitive and reactive to the metatags. If the document is opened outside such an environment, then the metatags are simply ignored and the document in question will be treated as any other non-metatagged document. This ensure full backward compatibility with legacy systems, albeit at the expense of a loss of functionality as compared to embodiments of the present invention.

However, the user will not experience any adverse effects in using a document having enhanced metatags, compared to regular prior art document files in the legacy system. The metatags can usually be viewed by a suitable file explorer application, but some of the automated functions may not be available outside of the host system.

A monitor application is provided in the host system that makes use of regular OS search capabilities to check files for a date or time related action at regular intervals. The interval can be chosen to be frequent enough to alert the user on a regular basis, but not so frequent that it places an undue burden on the host computer system's processing capability.

In practice, an hourly check suffices.

If the monitor application detects that a metatagged file required an action because a date and/or time matches the current time, then the associated action metatag is checked and the action included therein is performed. For instance, if the associated action tag is set to "action=review", then a suitable dialog box is presented to the user, informing them that the tagged file requires a review. A button may be provided, allowing the user to simply open the file by pressing it. Further buttons may be provided allowing the action to be snoozed, as described previously, or cancelled.

This is shown in Figure 2. At step 100, the monitor application accesses the next data file. It may be that each data file on a file store is accessed in turn, repeatedly over time. The data file is examined at step 110 to determine if it includes first metadata indicating that a date-related action is to be performed. It it does, then at step 120, the date/time information in the second metadata is evaluated against the current date/time. If that evaluation indicates that the action is due to be performed, the action is performed at step 130. After that, step 100 is repeated on the next data file to be assessed. If, at step 120, the evaluation indicates that the action is not to be performed, because the date/time has not yet bee reached, then control reverts to step 100 and the next data file is assessed.

In addition to a routine regular check by the OS, files may be checked on opening to determine if there are any date-related actions associated with them. In this way, if the host system does not implement a regular or routine check, then there is still a means by which a user can be notified of any actions associated with a particular file. If the action is still in the future, the user can be warned of an upcoming event it the associated date is within a predetermined period of the current date. For instance, is the file in question is due to expire (and hence be rendered unreadable) in 3 months' time, then a warning can be displayed to the user so he can take any necessary action in advance of the deadline. If the action date has already passed, then an appropriate message may be displayed and a defined task may be performed, such as barring access to the file, notifying a third party or any other action which has been defined in advance.

A particularly preferred use of embodiments of the present invention is to control activity in relation to files which are marked with an expiry date i.e. a date is defined after which the file is deemed to be no longer of use or to contain outdated information which, in some cases, should not be relied upon. In such a situation, once the expiry date which has been defined is reached or has passed, one or more of the following actions may be initiated: the file is deleted so as to be inaccessible; the content of the file is marked in some way as being expired' or out of date'; a later follow-up activity is defined in relation to the file, and added to a calendar or to-do list; a popup message is displayed on a screen to inform the user of the expiry; an email, text or voice message is sent to a third party to inform them that the file has been accessed.

Embodiments of the invention benefit from an easy to use system which allows certain defined actions to be associated with files, with said actions to be performed on a defined date.

This allows users to more easily manage the files in their system, and also permits large-scale maintenance tasks to be implemented at a system level. For instance, certain categories of files (e.g. budget forecasts or other time-sensitive files) can be created with a default expiry date (e.g. 1 year from the creation date), so that once the expiry date arrves, they can be deleted or treated as has been described to indicate that the information that they contain may be out of date and so treated with caution.

Embodiments of the present invention have been described in terms of two metatags being used. However, there is no reason why both items of metadata (i.e. activity and date) cannot be incorporated into a single metatag or, indeed, spread over a greater number of metatags, and the exact manner of providing the metadata is not to be considered a limiting feature.

Attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims (7)

1. CLAIMS1. A method of operating a computer system comprising a plurality of files, wherein at least one of said plurality of files has associated with it first metadata defining an action to be performed and second metadata defning a date/time at which said action is to be performed, whereby the computer system detects the first and second metadata and performs the action if the date/time correspond to a present date/time.
2. 2. The method of claim I where in the computer system performs a regular scan of the plurality of files to determine which of said plurality of files require action according to the second metadata.
3. 3 The method of claim I or 2 wherein said first and second metadata are examined by the computer system when one of said plurality of files is accessed by a user.
4. 4. The method of any preceding claim wherein the first and second metadata are included in a single metatag.
5. 5. The method of any preceding claim wherein the action defined by the first metadata is the expiry of the associated file, and at the date/time defined by the second metadata, the associated file is deleted or marked to indicate that the contents of the file are out of date.
6. 6. A computer readable medium storing a computer program to operate a method according to any one of claims ito 5.
7. 7. A computer system, comprising a plurality of files, whereby at least one of the plurality of files has associated with it first metadata defining an action to be performed and second metadata defining a date/time at which said action is to be performed, whereby the computer system is operable to detect the first and second metadata and to perform the action if the date/time correspond to a present date/time.