PH12015000201A1 - Method and system for managing event-related information in shared and personal calendar user interfaces - Google Patents

Abstract

One aspect of the invention provides a method for managing event-related information in shared and personal calendar user interfaces. The method includes displaying a shared calendar user interface and a personal calendar interface, on a client communication device over a communication network. Displayed on the shared calendar user interface is event-related representative information. Upon receiving a first request from a user account of a client operating the client communication device over the communication network, the event-related representative information from the shared calendar user interface is displayed on the personal calendar user interface associated with the user account of the client. Upon receiving a second request from the user account of the client, the event-related representative information is selectively filtered through the shared calendar user interface. Subsequently, data records associated with the selectively filtered event-related information can be displayed on the personal calendar user interface based on a third request from the user account.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING EVENT-RELATED INFORMATION IN

SHARED AND PERSONAL CALENDAR USER INTERFACES

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to user interfaces suitable for use in electronically managing information. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and a system for managing event-related information in ; shared and personal calendar user interfaces.

Background of the Invention

From scheduling of internal and external meetings, school or medical appointments, up to coordinating of group activities, electronic calendars appear to have well succeeded the paper calendars. Electronic calendars nowadays which can be used by a number of users on a personal or shared basis play an important role in how users coordinate schedules of real-world events and human activities on-demand and in near real-time. Sharing of \ event-related information are commonly done by sending invitations by one user to another and then accepting the invitations. Chances of inadvertently missing other users on a user's invitation list or failing to accept invitations from such other users are thus high. Consequently, the purpose of sharing events among users is defeated.

United States Patent Publication No. 20120084286 published on 05 April 2012 to Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc. discloses, among others, a method for group coordination of calendar events, wherein the method comprises: (i) retrieving calendar information associated respectively with a plurality of data sources, (ii) for each of the data sources, determining, from the calendar information, first metadata specifying a contributor of the corresponding calendar information; (iii) for each of the data sources, determining, from the calendar information, a second metadata relating to distribution of the calendar information; (iv) and generating a data view for the calendar information based on the first metadata and the second metadata. This method further comprises: (i) receiving a request to subscribe to a calendar service for receiving the data view; and (ii) receiving information relating to one or more devices configured to output the calendar information. The calendar management service subscriptions enabling users to receive data view of the calendar information arguably decrease the chances of inadvertently missing other users on users' invitation lists or failing to accept invitations from such other users.

United States Patent Publication No. 20140075284 published on 13

March 2014 to Timely Network, Inc. discloses, among others, a method for generating a web-based calendar for publication whereby a user is enabled to subscribe to the web-based calendar. By subscribing to the calendar, the events in calendar are exported to a calendar maintained by user. Specifically, : the user may subscribe to such as a web-based calendar hosted by a web server. The user can choose to subscribe to the entire calendar feed, a subset of the events, or to an individual event of online calendar. Moreover, the user can choose to subscribe to only those events in the online calendar which are within a certain category and/or have certain tags and/or are occurring at a particular location or venue. The subscription causes the selected event or events to be exported to user's personal calendar. This method substantially eliminates the chances of inadvertently missing other users on users' invitation lists or failing to accept invitations from such other users since the events selected by users are caused to be transferred to the users' personal calendars.

A technical problem associated with the above cited methods of the prior art is that data or amount of data are unnecessarily transferred to the personal calendar systems of users. As such, event-related information or objects that are not of interests of the users of the personal calendar systems }

only make it difficult for the users to manage their personal calendar systems.

This problem has not yet been solved by any of the methods of the prior art.

Summary of the Invention

One aspect of the invention provides a method for managing event- related information in shared and personal calendar user interfaces. The method includes displaying a shared calendar user interface and a personal calendar interface on a client communication device over a communication network. The client communication device is operable by a human user or client. Displayed on the shared calendar user interface is an event-related representative information. Upon receiving a first request from a user account of the client operating the client communication device over the communication network, the event-related representative information from the shared calendar user interface is displayed on the personal calendar user interface associated with the user account of the client. Upon receiving a second request from the user account of the client, the event-related representative information is selectively filtered through the shared calendar user interface. Subsequently, data records associated with the selectively filtered event-related information can be displayed on the personal calendar user interface based on a third request from the user account.

The event-related representative information may be short labels or identifiers which best represent real-world events. In some embodiments, these short labels are short descriptions of such events. The event-related representative information as displayed on the shared calendar user interface preferably do not include the computer system-based data records with which the event-related representative information are associated.

The provisions of displaying on the shared calendar user interface the representative descriptions of events and displaying on the personal calendar \

. ’ . . ] } user interface the data records associated with the representative descriptions of the events only upon request and based on selective filtering ensure that unnecessary objects and amount of data records will not be displayed on the shared calendar user interface and on the personal calendar user interface, respectively. Further, since a large number of user accounts may be used by clients to create a large number of events through the shared calendar user interface, unnecessarily displaying on the personal calendar user interface the : data records associated with the objects to which the event-related representative information are referenced causes difficulties on the part of users managing the event-related information through their respective user accounts.

Another aspect of the invention provides a computer-implemented system for managing event-related information in shared and personal calendar user interfaces. The system comprises a computer system having a processor and a memory device communicatively coupled to the processor. Computer- executable instructions are contained in the memory device. When the computer-executable instructions are executed by the processor, the instructions initially cause the computer system to display on a client communication device, over a communication network, a shared calendar user interface and a personal calendar user interface.

The shared calendar user interface has event-related representative information which can be displayed on the personal calendar user interface based on a first request received, over the communication network, from a ! user account accessed on the client communication device. The event-related representative information is referenced to one or more objects stored in a database hosted by the computer system. The client communication device is capable of displaying an indicia of the event-related representative information.

The computer system is further caused by processor-executed instructions to selectively filter the event-related representative information displayed on the. shared calendar user interface based on a second request received, over the communication network, from the user account. The 5 computer-system is subsequently caused by the processor-executed instructions to retrieve, from the database, data records associated with at least one of the objects to which the event-related representative information is referenced based on the selectively filtered event-related representative information.

The computer system is thereafter caused by the processor-executed instructions to display on the personal calendar user interface the retrieved data records based on a third request received, over the communication network, from the user account. :

For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same may be performed, preferred embodiments thereof will now be described, by way of non-limiting examples only, with reference to the accompanying \ drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a computer-implemented method for managing event-related information in shared and personal calendar user interfaces in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.

Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating a computer-implemented system for managing event-related information in shared and personal calendar user : interfaces in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.

Figure 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a preferred operation of a software application illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a further preferred operation of the software application illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a hardware architecture that can be used to implement one or more embodiments of the invention.

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic representation of an illustrative environment in which one or more embodiments of the invention can be implemented.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments

Referring now to Figure 1, there is shown a flow diagram illustrating a ! computer-implemented method for managing event-related information in shared and personal calendar user interfaces in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention. The method is consistently designated by reference numeral 100 throughout the ensuing description of one or more preferred embodiments of the present invention. It should be noted that the method 100 may be performed by any of the following: a single computer or a system of computers on which computer-executable instructions can be arranged, stored, and executed; a server which manages distributed network resources or distributed data centers; and a server farm.

For the purpose of describing the best mode for carrying out the method 100 of the present invention, the term "computer system" is selected and adapted as the tangible device that performs the operations associated with the method 100 of the present invention. It should be understood that such use of the term "computer system” should not in any way limit the scope of the method 100, or any operation associated with the method 100, in accordance with one or more preferred embodiments of the present invention.

As shown in initial block 102, the method 100 starts by displaying a shared calendar user interface and a personal calendar user interface on a client communication device over a communication network. Shared and personal calendar services which are preconfigured on the computer system : provide the shared and personal calendar user interfaces, respectively. It should be noted that two or more client communication devices may have access to the shared and personal calendar user interfaces, thereby making the shared and personal calendar user interfaces displayable on the two or more client communication devices.

The shared calendar user interface has one or more event-related representative information which are referenced to objects stored in a database hosted by the computer system. Data records associated with the event-related representative information are arranged in the objects stored in the database.

The event-related representative information can be displayed on the personal calendar user interface from the shared calendar user interface.

The event-related representative information may be short labels or identifiers which: best represent real-world events. In some embodiments, these short labels are short descriptions of such events. The event-related representative information as displayed on the shared calendar user interface preferably do not include the computer system-based data records with which the event-related representative information are associated.

In a further operation as shown in subsequent block 104, the method 100 continues by displaying on the personal calendar user interface the event- related representative information from the shared calendar user interface over the communication network. The operation of displaying at block 104 is triggered when the computer system receives a first request from a client account over the communication network. The client account is owned and operable by a human user or client using any suitable communication device. \

The first request is transmitted to the computer system from the client communication device over the communication network through the user account of the client. The first request is created or initiated by the client who : operates the client communication device and accesses the user account which he or she owns using the client communication device. The client communication device, which may be a personal computer, a laptop computer, a smartphone, or a tablet, is capable of displaying an indicia of the event- related representative information.

Once the event-related representative information has been displayed on the personal calendar user interface upon execution of the first request, the method 100 advances to block 106 wherein the computer system performs the operation of selectively filtering the event-related representative information displayed on the shared calendar user interface based on a second request that the computer system receives from the user account over the 1S communication network.

It should be understood that the operation of selective filtering at block 106 may be carried out even where there is only one event-related representative information displayed on the personal calendar user interface and originating from the shared calendar user interface.

Preferably, the method 100 may comprise highlighting on the personal calendar user interface the event-related representative information which is selected based on the selectively filtered event-related representative 1 information. The operation of highlighting enables the client to distinguish the event-related representative information which he or she previously selected from those that he or she has not selected yet or did not select at all.

Preferably, the method 100 may comprise deleting on the personal calendar user interface the event-related representative information which is not selected based on the selectively filtered event-related representative information. The operation of selective filtering of the event-related representative information displayed on the shared calendar user interface based on the second request received from the user account, however, does not include deleting the event-related representative information displayed on the shared calendar user interface. Deletion of the event-related representative information is limited only on the personal calendar user interface since doing so on the shared calendar user interface will make the event-related representative information unavailable to other user accounts accessing the shared calendar user interface.

Subsequent to the previous block 106 is block 108, wherein the computer system performs an operation of retrieving, from the database, the data records associated with at least one of the objects to which the event- related representative information is referenced based on the selectively filtered event-related representative information.

The method 100 further proceeds to block 110 wherein the retrieved data records can be displayed on the personal calendar user interface based on a third request received by the computer system from the user account over the communication network. Preferably, the operation of displaying on the personal calendar user interface of the event-related representative information from the shared calendar user interface based on the first request received from the user account does not include displaying on the personal calendar user interface of the data records associated with the database objects to which the event-related representative information is referenced.

The provisions of displaying on the shared calendar user interface the representative descriptions of events and displaying on the personal calendar user interface the data records associated with the representative descriptions of the events only upon request and based on selective filtering ensure that unnecessary objects and amount of data records will not be displayed on the shared calendar user interface and on the personal calendar user interface, respectively.

Further, since a large number of user accounts may be used by clients to create a large number of events through the shared calendar user interface, unnecessarily displaying on the personal calendar user interface the data records associated with the objects to which the event-related representative information are referenced causes difficulties on the part of users managing the event-related information through their respective user accounts.

C10 In one embodiment, the method 100 may further comprise * synchronizing the display of the event-related representative information on the shared calendar user interface with the display of the same information on the personal calendar user interface. The operation of synchronization ensures that the event-related representative information created in the database through the shared calendar interface is reflected on the personal calendar user interface following the execution of the first request from the user account. :

The operation of synchronization may also be configured to ensure that the data records which are associated with the event-related representative information and created and stored in-the database as hosted by the computer system are reflected on the personal calendar user interface following the execution of the third request from the user account. Further, the operation of synchronization may be initiated and/or completed within a predetermined period or interval of time.

In another embodiment, the method 100 may further comprise positioning the indicia of the event-related representative information in contiguity with the retrieved data records displayed on the personal calendar user interface based on the third request from the user account. The indicia serves as marks displayed on the personal and shared calendar user interfaces which allows clients to distinguish one event-related representative information from another. These indicia may include graphical representations of the date information itself as displayed on the calendar user interfaces or of short ! descriptions of various real-world events in plain text format, and iconic representations of the real-world events, to name but a few.

The event-related representative ‘information may appear next to the date information corresponding to the date on which the event, as represented by the event-label representative information, falls. Alternatively, the event- related representative information may appear below the date information.

As for the data records with which the event-related representative information are associated, various positions can be displayed on the personal calendar user interfaces. It is, however, preferable that the event-related representative information is displayed on the personal calendar user interface in such a manner that it is located above the data records associated with it for ease of viewing on the part of the client accessing the personal calendar user interface through his or her client communication device over the communication network.

In a further embodiment, the method 100 may comprise exporting any of the event-related representative information and accessed data to at least one external software application for displaying an external calendar user interface. Such external calendar user interface may be provided by any of the external calendar services by Outlook, Google, Yahoo, and Facebook.

Apart from the operation of exporting, the personal calendar user service providing the personal calendar user interface may also be linked to the aforementioned external calendar services in a such a way that the event- .

related representative information created through and displayed on the personal calendar user interface are synchronized with the event-related representative information displayed on the any of the external calendar user : interfaces.

In yet another embodiment, the method 100 may further comprise generating and sending a notification message to each of the client communication devices when a new event-related information is made available for display on the shared calendar user interface.

It is also preferable that the method 100 further comprises: (i) receiving a fourth request from the user account to modify at least one of the data records associated with the event-related representative information displayed on the shared calendar user interface; (ii) modifying the data records associated with the event-related representative information in response to the received fourth request; and (iii) transmitting a notification message to the user account through one or more communication media. ;

The notification message is preferably indicative of the modified data records associated with the event-related representative information. The communication media may include any of the following: an e-mail application; a short messaging service; and a pop-out iconic representation displayable on any of the shared calendar user interface and the personal calendar user I interface. The modified data records associated with the event-related representative information may then be displayed on the personal calendar . user interface.

Preferably, each of the first, second, third, and fourth requests made by i the client on the calendar user interfaces through his or her user account may ] be effected by clicking on regions of the same interfaces. It should be understood that swiping and tapping are also possible to be used for effecting any of the first, second, third, and fourth requests on the calendar user interfaces. : | | :

Referring now to Figure 2, there is shown a block diagram illustrating a computer-implemented system 200 for managing event-related information in shared and personal calendar user interfaces in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention. The system 200 mainly comprises a computer system 202 and a client communication device 204. A client-server model generally characterizes the system 200 of the present invention. The client-server model characterizing the system 200 has an architecture that can execute software application or computer programs on different machines connected with one another through a communication network 206.

The communication network 206 may be wired or wireless local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN) or personal area network (PAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), Internet, intranet, extranet, peer-to-peer network, or VPN (virtual private network). The communication network 206 may also be based on a cloud network environment and any state-of-the-art networking topologies that are known in the art of computing.

The computer system 202 is where one or more operating systems and various system configurations may reside. The computer system 202 is also where applications may actually execute and other appropriate hardware and software resources can be made available. The client communication device 204 is a computing device capable of exchanging data communication with the computer system 202 over the communication network 206.

While the computer system 202 may be arranged to execute applications and store data, the client communication device 204 provides the graphical user interface (GUI) through which users may enter input data and view output data. The design of the GUI may, however, be provided by the computer system 202. Preferably, the computer system 202 is configured using an object-oriented approach for determining how the GUIs associated with shared and personal calendar services of the present invention, respectively, should appear on a display screen of the client communication device 204.

The client communication device 204 performs processing of user generated requests, transmitting of said requests to the computer system 202 over the communication network 206, and receiving data generated by the computer system 202 in response to said requests over the same communication network 206. The client communication device 204 may have its own data storage systefn. : !

The computer system 202 includes a processor 208, a memory device 210 communicatively coupled to the processor 208 and containing computer- executable instructions 212 for processing data for execution by the processor : 208. The computer system 202 further includes a database 214 and a software application 216. Stored on the database 214 are database objects : 218. Data can be stored on and retrieved from the database objects 218. ;

The processor 208 is a data processing unit capable of fetching and executing the computer-executable instructions 212 from the memory device 210. The memory device 210 is preferably a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having the computer-executable instructions 212 embodied thereon. The software application 216 may be stored on the memory device 210 such that the computer-executable instructions 212 include instructions associated with the software application 216 that can be fetched and executed by the processor 208.

The database 214 is preferably in a standard database format. As such, the database 214 may be of the format that utilizes an object-oriented

15 oo language such as Java. Alternatively, the database 214 may be of the format that utilizes a standard query language such as SQL (Structured Query :

Language). Instances of the database objects 218 include tables and indexes and views of said tables. :

It should be readily apparent to any person skilled in the art of computing that each of the components of the computer system 202 such as the processor 208, the memory device 210, and the database 214 may be increased in quantity without doing substantial experimentation. In that case, two or more of each of the processor 208, the memory device 210, and the database 214 may suitably employed in the computer system 202. Other standard components of a computer system 202 should likewise be readily apparent to any person skilled in the art of computing.

The software application 216 running on the computer system 202 may be implemented as a plurality of scripts or computer-executable programs written in any standard programming language known in the art of computing such as C, C++, or Java. The scripts or computer-executable programs can also be written using any preferable scripting language such as Visual Basic,

Perl, Python, Ruby, PHP, Rexx (Restructured Extended Executor), Unix shell, : and TCL (Tool Command Language), among others.

The software application 216 comprises various modules which affect : the operation of the processor 208. The software application 216 includes a first displaying module 220 operative to display, over the communication network 206, on the client communication device 204 a shared calendar user interface 222 having one or more event-related representative information 224a, 224b and a personal calendar user interface 226 onto which the event- related representative information 224a, 224b can be displayed from the shared calendar user interface 222. The event-related representative : ;

6 | : information 224a, 224b are referenced to the objects 218 stored in the database 214 hosted by the computer system 202.

The software application 216 further includes a second displaying module 228 operative to display, over the communication network 206, on the personal calendar user interface 226 the event-related representative information 224a, 224b from the shared calendar user interface 222 based : on a first request received, over the communication network 206, from a user account 230 accessed on the client communication device 204.

The first request is indicative of the request of a client to subscribe to the shared calendar user interface 222. The user account 230 is owned and operable by the human client accessing the shared and personal calendar user interfaces 222, 226 using the client communication device 204 connected to : the communication network 206. The client communication device 204 is capable of displaying an indicia of the event-related representative information 224a, 224b.

The software application 216 further includes a filtering module 232 operative to selectively filter the event-related representative information 224a, 224b displayed on the shared calendar user interface 222 based on a second request received, over the communication network 206, from the user account 230.

The event-related representative information 224a or 224b selected based on the selectively filtered event-related representative information 224a, |! 224b is preferably highlighted on the personal calendar user interface 226. On the other hand, the event-related representative information 224a or 224b not selected based on the selectively filtered event-related representative information 224a, 224b is not highlighted on the personal calendar user interface 226.

The software application 216 further includes a retrieving module 234 : operative to retrieve, from the database 214, data records 218a, 218b associated with at least one of the objects 218 to which any of the event- related representative information ‘2243, 224b is referenced based on the : selectively filtered event-related representative information 224a or 224b, wherein the retrieved data records 218a, 218b can be displayed on the personal calendar user interface 226 based on a third request received, over the communication network 206, from the user account 230.

Preferably, each of the indicia of the event-related representative information 224a, 224b is placed on the personal calendar user interface 226 : in contiguity with the retrieved data records 218a, 218b displayed on the same personal calendar user interface 226 based on the third request from the user account. The indicia serve as distinctive marks displayed on the shared and personal calendar user interfaces 222, 226 allowing users to distinguish one event-related representative information 224a, 224b from another 224a, 224b. The illustrated indicia of the event-related representative information 224a, 224b are, by way of example, "PTA meeting" and "sports event” labels.

The illustrated data records 218a, 218b associated with the illustrated labels * are the location information associated with the events represented by the labels and other information which are related to the events.

The software application 216 further includes a synchronization module 236 operative to synchronize the display of event-related representative information 224a, 224b on the shared calendar user interface 222 with the display of the same information 224a, 224b on the personal calendar user interface 226. In one embodiment, the synchronization module 236 may be \ arranged to synchronize display of the data records 218a, 218b on the : personal calendar user interface 226 with the actual data records 218a, 218b ! stored in the database objects 218 corresponding to said display. ]

The software application 216 further includes a notification module 238 operative to generate and send a notification message to the client communication device 204 or two or more client communication devices when a new event-related representative information is made available for display on the shared calendar user interface 222.

In one embodiment, the notification module 238 may be configured to send an e-mail message to the e-mail address provided in the user account : 230, notifying the client who owns the e-mail address and the user account 230 that an event-related representative information is newly created on the shared calendar user interface 222 to which he or she chose to subscribe. It : should be understood and appreciated that other forms of notifications such as desktop notifications and short message service (SMS) notifications may be arranged as part of the capabilities of the notification module 238.

It should be understood and appreciated that the illustrated first displaying, second displaying, filtering, retrieving, synchronization and notification modules 220, 228, 232, 234, 236, 238 associated with the : software application 216 of the computer system 202 of the system 200 for managing event-related information 224a, 224b in shared and personal calendar user interfaces 222, 226 of the present invention may or may not correspond to discrete blocks of program codes, depending on how they are suitably arranged. In this regard, it can be realized that the functions described for each of the illustrated modules, can be performed in managing the event- related information 224a, 224b in sequential order by executing various code ] portions which are stored on the memory device 210.

It should also be appreciated that the execution of the program codes / from the non-transitory computer-readable media can be done on appropriate ] computing hardware and number of computing hardware, and that the illustrated modules 220, 228, 232, 234, 236, 238 are merely segregated based on their intended functions for the sake of illustrating how they are : relevant to the implementation of one or more preferred embodiments of the : system 200 for managing event-related information 224a, 224b of the ; present invention. The illustrated modules can be fewer or greater in number, . 5 asitis well known in the art that program codes representing various functions . of different modules can be combined or segregated in any suitable but efficient manner insofar as program execution is concerned.

Referring to Figure 3, there is shown a flow diagram illustrating a preferred operation of the software application illustrated in Figure 2. The preferred operation illustrated in this figure is particularly directed to displaying an event-related representative information on a shared calendar user interface based on a subscription request from a user account operable by a human client. At operation shown in block 300, a request to subscribe to a shared calendar service providing the shared calendar user interface is received from the user account. At a subsequent operation shown in block 302, the subscription request is approved.

At operation as shown in block 304, event-related information are received from the user account as input data. If the input data received at block 304 is invalid as determined in decision block 306, the flow moves back to the block 304 to get or obtain the event-related information over a loop. :

However, if the input data received at block 304 is valid as determined in the decision block 306, the client, through the user account, is prompted to confirm submission of the input data as shown in block 308.

If the confirmation of the client through the user account is received in decision block 310, records are created in a database as shown in block 312.

The creation of records in the database as shown in the previous block 312 is i immediately followed by storing of the same records in the same database as i shown in block 314, selecting an event-related representative information from }

oo 20 the stored records as shown in block 316, and finally displaying the selected event-related representative information on the shared calendar interface, on demand, as shown in block 318.

Returning back to the decision block 310, if no confirmation is received : from the client through the user account, input data are checked whether they are edited as shown in another decision block 320. If the input data are ; edited, the flow moves to block 322 wherein the edited input data associated with the event-related information are obtained and then to blocks 310, 312, 314, 316 and 318 for displaying on the shared calendar user interface the event-related representative information based on the edited input data.

Otherwise, the flow is terminated.

Referring to Figure 4, there is shown a flow diagram illustrating a another preferred operation of the software application illustrated in Figure 2.

The flow starts at block 400 wherein records related to a first real-world event, a parent-teacher association (PTA) meeting for example, are created on a first shared calendar user interface. The flow continues at block 402 wherein records related to a second real-world event, a sports fest for example, are created on the second shared calendar user interface.

At subsequent block 404, the personal calendar user interface is linked : to each of the first and second shared calendar user interfaces on which the : records related to the first and second real-world events are created, respectively. Each of the first and shared calendar user interface may be viewed by clients who belong to a group through their respective user accounts.

At block 406, representative information related to the first and second events are displayed on the personal calendar user interface. At block 408, a selection of the first event-related representative information is received. The selection of the first event-related representative information causes the interface to be redirected from the personal calendar user interface to the first shared calendar user interface on which the records related to the first event is created. Receiving a request from the user account to accept the first event- related representative information as shown in block 410 results in the : approval of the same request as shown in block 412. The approval of the request to accept the first event-related representative information at block 412 may be characterized by tagging the user account in any content associated with the first event-related representative information.

Once the request to accept the first event-related representative information has been approved, the flow proceeds to block 414 wherein the selected and then accepted first event-related representative information are displayed on the personal calendar user interface in bold lettering format. At this point, the second event-related representative information remain in plain text format as shown in block 416.

At block 418, selection of the second event-related information is received through the personal calendar user interface. The selection of the second event-related representative information causes the interface to be ; redirected from the personal calendar user interface to the second shared calendar user interface on which the records related to the second event is created. Receiving a request from the user account to decline the second event-related representative information as shown in block 420 results in the approval of the same request as shown in block 422.

Once the request to decline the second event-related representative information has been approved, the flow proceeds to final block 424 wherein the selected and then accepted second event-related representativeinformation is deleted or is not made visible on the personal calendar user interface. The approval of the request to decline the second event-related ]

representative information at block 422 may be characterized by tagging the user account in any content associated with the second event-related representative information. At this point, the first event-related representative information may remain visible in bold lettering format.

Referring to Figure 5, there is shown a schematic diagram of a hardware architecture that can be used to implement one or more embodiments of the : present invention. The hardware architecture in Figure 5 characterizes in detail the computer system, as illustrated in Figure 2, within which a set of computer- . executable sequence of instructions 212 may be executed, causing the \ ; computer system to perform the preferred operations associated with the ] present invention in accordance with one or more embodiments thereof.

The computer system includes a bus 500 which is arranged to provide a communication path among the processor 208, the memory device 210, and a ; network interface device 502. The processor 208 fetches the instructions 212 from the memory device 210 and executes them in order perform the preferred operations according to one or more preferred embodiments of the present invention. The processor 208 processes input and output data. The transmission of the output data to another computer system over the communication network 206 is made possible by the network interface device 502 which provides an interface between the computer system and the : communication network 206.

Other components which are connected with the bus 500 are an input 1 device 504 such as a keyboard for entering data into the computer system, an output device 506 such as a monitor for outputting data from the computer system, a control device 508 such as an optical cursor control device for : effecting selections and commands, and a disk drive unit 510 for reading and/or writing of data. The disk drive unit 510 may include its own machine- ] readable medium 512 on which data can be read and/or written. The set of :

instructions 212 can be alternatively stored on the machine-readable medium 512.The software application according to preferred embodiments of the present invention may reside within the memory device 210 or within the machine-readable medium 512 of the disk drive unit 510 in communication with the processor 208 through the bus 500. This software application may also be arranged to have shared locations on the machine-readable medium 512 and the memory device 210. It should be appreciated that the aforementioned software application could be distributed across two or more computer systems or computing resources.

Referring to Figure 6, there is shown a diagrammatic representation of : an environment in which one or more embodiments of the present invention can be implemented. The disclosed system and method of the present invention, in particular, can be preferably implemented in an environment characterized by a web-based platform 600 on which the software application 216 can be made accessible. : !

The web-based platform 600 is accessible to any communication device from any computing system which hosts the software application 216, provided that the client communication device and the computer system are in communication with one another over any suitable communication network.

The web-based platform 600 is where the client communication device i can be used to access calendar services 602 or, more particularly, the shared 1 calendar user interface 222 and the personal calendar shared user interface ] 226. One notable industrial application of the present invention is that the software application 216 running on the web-based platform 600 can be i customized to suit the need of parents and school personnel to collaborate together in order to form a collective network targeting a child's development.

oo : : i 24

Parent-teacher interactions in this age are becoming limited due to a variety of factors such as heavy workloads of parents and congested traffic on the roads to schools. Simply put, face-to-face interactions of parents and teachers have been proven to be difficult in most cases.

The software application 216 associated with the method and system of the present invention may be arranged to address said issues on limited parent-teacher interaction. More particularly, the shared and personal calendar user interfaces 222, 226 as provided by the software application 216 can be used to better manage the schedules of children in schools.

One of the notable advantages of the shared and personal calendar interfaces 222, 226 is that teachers or school administrators may be able to enter event-related information on the shared calendar service providing the shared calendar user interface 222 through the web-based platform 600 and if the parents who are subscribed to the shared calendar service providing the shared calendar user interface 222, the parents should be able to view the event-related information on the shared calendar user interface 222 and choose any event-related information of their interests. In this manner, the parents will never have to miss important dates which concern the schedules or activities of their children in schools.

For example, examination dates can be arranged by teachers or school : administrators way ahead of time so. that the parents need not to talk to do their own inquiries regarding such examination dates personally or over the telephone. Extracurricular activities may also be arranged and scheduled by teachers and schools administrators using the shared calendar user interface 222. A parent who is subscribed to the shared calendar service providing the shared calendar user interface 222 on which the schedules of the extracurricular activities can be found should be able to learn specific details of the activities and do the necessary preparations for their children. The personal

25calendar service providing the personal calendar user interface 226, on other hand, may be used by the parents to organize the schedules of their children.

The web-based platform 600 includes a user registration interface 604, ; a user authentication interface 606, and a user profile interface 608. The user registration interface 604 may be arranged to display one or more forms for collecting the demographic information of a parent as a client accessing the web-based platform 600 using his or her communication device. A successful registration of the parent through the user registration interface 604, in one instance, causes creation of a user account containing the profile of the parent on the web-based platform 600. The profile created for the parent may be accessed and viewed through the user profile interface 608.

Through the user profile interface 608, individual user information 608a, photo information 608b, and child information 608c associated with the parent may be accessed and viewed in particular. In accessing the web-

X 15 based platform 600 at different points, the user authentication interface 606 may be used by the parent. The user authentication interface 606 is the : portion of the web-based platform 600 through which log-on credentials of the parent can be entered for authentication or validation purposes.

Since multiple user accounts may be created through the web-based platform 600 by a number of parents, it is highly desirable that the parents can form groups so that they can interact with one another in accordance with their common interest or based on any of their demographic information. For example, a group can be formed by parents who have children who are scheduled to attend a common educational trip to a remote place. Group information 608d can be accessed and viewed, by way of example, through ! the user profile interface 608.

To enable the parents to communicate with another as the need arises, the web-based platform 600 is preferably provided with a communication interface 610. Online communications, in the form of chat as an example, through the communication interface 610 can be made available to individual users and as well as to groups which consist of a plurality of users or clients.

A personal settings interface 612 can be likewise included in the web- based platform 600. The personal settings interface 612 enables the parents : to manage the settings associated with their user accounts, effectively : customizing their own user experience in using the software application 216 running on the web-based platform 600. :

Group discussion interface or topics interface 614 as part of the software application 216 running on the web-based platform 600 further ; enables parents, teachers, school administrators, and stakeholders to initialize : online discussions, participate in existing online discussions, and view trending : topics. These collaborative functions made available through the web-based platform 600 ensure that the needs of children can be appropriately addressed with dispatch and with convenience on the part of parents, teachers, and school administrators. ]

A notification interface 616 can also be provided as part of the software application 216 ‘running on the web-based platform 600. The web-based platform 600 may be further arranged to make it compatible with external applications such as Google Apps and to link it to external platforms such as those associated with existing school systems.

In the illustrated environment in which operations associated with the system and method of the present invention can be performed, the primary users are users or clients 618 and system administrators 620. The clients 618 ; may include, by way of example, the parents, the teachers, and the school : i t administrators.

The system administrators 620 may include professionals who are assigned to check on the life cycle of the software application 216 running : on the web-based platform 600. ]

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Claims (11)

1. Claims Co 1) A computer-implemented method for managing event-related information in shared and personal calendar user interfaces, the method comprising: displaying, over a communication .network, on one or more client communication devices at least one shared calendar user interface having one or more event-related representative information and at least one personal calendar user interface onto which the event-related representative information can be displayed from the shared calendar user interface, the event-related representative information being referenced to one or more objects stored in a database hosted by a computer system; displaying, over the communication network, on the personal calendar user interface the event-related representative information from the shared calendar user interface based on a first request received, over the communication network, from a user account accessed on one of the client communication devices capable of displaying an indicia of the event-related representative information;

   selectively filtering the event-related representative information displayed on the shared calendar user interface based on a second request received, over the communication network, from the user :

   account;

   retrieving, from the database, data records associated with at least one of the objects to which the event-related representative information is referenced based on the selectively filtered event-related ] representative information; and 1 displaying on the personal calendar user interface the retrieved data records based on a third request received, over the communication network, from the user account.
2. 2) The method according to claim 1, further comprising synchronizing the display of event-related representative information on the shared calendar user interface with the display of the same information on the personal calendar user interface.
3. 3) The method according to claim 1, further comprising positioning the indicia of the event-related representative information in contiguity with the accessed data records displayed on the personal calendar user interface based on the third request from the user account.
4. 4) The method according to claim 1, further comprising exporting any of the event-related representative information and the retrieved data records to at least one external software application for displaying an external calendar user interface. : !
5. 5) The method according to claim 1, further comprising generating and sending a notification message to each of the client communication devices when a new event-related information is made available for display on the shared calendar user interface.
6. 6) The method according to claim 1, further comprising highlighting on the personal calendar user interface the event-related representative information which is selected on the shared calendar user interface based on the selectively filtered event-related representative information.
7. 7) The method according to claim 1, further comprising deleting on the ; personal calendar user interface the event-related representative information which is not selected based on the selectively filtered event-related representative information.
8. 8) The method according to claim 1, wherein the displaying on the personal calendar user interface of the event-related representative information from the shared calendar user interface based on the first request received from the user account does not include displaying on the personal calendar user interface of the data records associated with the database objects to which the event-related representative information is referenced.
9. 9) The method according to claim 1, wherein the selective filtering of the event-related representative information displayed on the shared calendar user interface based on the second request received from the user account does not include deleting the event-related representative information displayed on the shared calendar user interface.
10. 10) The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving a fourth request from the user account to modify at least one of the data records associated with the event-related representative information displayed on the shared calendar user interface; modifying the data records associated with the event-related representative information in response to the received fourth request; and transmitting a notification message to the user account through one or more communication media, the notification message being indicative of the modified data records associated with the event-related representative information. .
11. 11) The method according to claim 10, further comprising displaying on the personal calendar user interface the modified data records associated with the event-related representative information. : : . 1 12) The method according to claim 10, wherein the communication media include any of the following: e-mail application; short messaging service; and a pop-out iconic representation displayable on any of the shared calendar user interface and the personal calendar user interface. 13) A computer-implemented system for managing event-related information in shared and personal calendar user interfaces, the system comprising a computer system having at least one processor and at least one memory device communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory device containing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computer system to: display, over a communication network, on one or more client communication devices at least one shared calendar user interface having one or more event-related representative information and at least one personal calendar user interface onto which the event-related representative information can be displayed from the shared calendar user interface, the event-related representative information being referenced to one or more objects stored in a database hosted by the computer system, display, over the communication network, on the personal calendar user interface the event-related representative information from the shared calendar user interface based on a first request received, over the communication network, from a user account accessed on one of the client communication devices capable of displaying an indicia of the event-related representative information; selectively filter the event-related representative information displayed on the shared calendar user interface based on a second request received, over the communication network, from the user account; : retrieve, from the database, data records associated with at least one of the objects to which the event-related representative information is referenced based on ‘the selectively filtered event-related representative information; and display on the personal calendar user interface the retrieved data records based on a third request received, over the communication network, from the user account. 14) The system according to claim 13, wherein the computer system is further caused to synchronize the display of event-related representative information on the shared calendar user interface with the display of the same information on the personal calendar user interface. : 15) The system according to claim 13, wherein the computer system is further caused to generate and send a notification message to each of the client communication -devices when a new event-related representative information is made available for display on the shared calendar user interface. : 16) The system according to claim 13, wherein the event-related representative information selected based on the selectively filtered event-related representative information is highlighted on the personal calendar user interface.

    : 17) The system according to claim 13, wherein the event-related representative information not selected based on the selectively filtered event-related representative information is not highlighted on the personal calendar user interface.