WO2003023651A1

WO2003023651A1 - Annotation method for electronic documents, and related system

Info

Publication number: WO2003023651A1
Application number: PCT/FR2002/003071
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ilia Vitrichtchak; Alexander Khoninev; Anton Yakimov; Patrick Audinet
Original assignee: Emeris Technologies
Priority date: 2001-09-10
Filing date: 2002-09-10
Publication date: 2003-03-20
Also published as: FR2829656B1; FR2829656A1

Abstract

The invention concerns a method for annotation by a user of an electronic document accessible over a network through a document server, the method comprising: retrieval by the user of an electronic document from a user station; reactivating functions for annotation of the document on the user station; implementation by the user of said functions to create annotations and associate them with the document, said annotation function activation being triggered by an instruction integrated in the source file of the electronic document, said instruction calling the means resident on an annotation server. The invention is characterized in that the method comprises creating, in a server accessible through the annotation server, a recording comprising: an identification number corresponding to the user having produced the annotations and to the annotated electronic document; the set of data enabling to reconstruct the electronic document itself; and the set of data enabling superimposition on this electronic document of the annotations produced by the user.

Description

Method for annotating computer documents, and associated system

The present invention relates generally to the annotation of computer documents.

More specifically, the invention relates to a method of annotation by a user of a computer document made accessible on a network 5 by a document server, the method comprising:

• the call by the user of a computer document from a user station,

• activation of document annotation functions on the user workstation,

10 “the implementation by the user of said annotation functions to create annotations and associate them with the document.

It is specified that the "computer documents", which are made available by a server on a network, can in particular be pages of Internet sites made accessible on the Internet network. We

15 will designate in this text such pages by the term "web pages".

It is also specified that the invention can find applications in numerous fields to which the annotation of documents on a network applies.

Particularly interesting applications can thus be,

20 without limitation, distance education, ie collaborative work

(allowing the different participants in a working group to each annotate the same document), or even the implementation of complaint processing centers or customer reviews of an organization.

And the invention also relates to a system making it possible to put

25 implements a method of the type mentioned above.

Processes of this type are already known.

Document CA 2 339 141 thus discloses a system intended to allow a user to transmit computer documents to correspondents, with the possibility of annotating the transmitted documents.

The annotations can take the form of graphic notes which are superimposed on the content of the computer document, and / or digital images. Such a system can have interesting aspects.

However, an important limitation of such a system is that its implementation requires a specific configuration of the station of the user who wishes to make annotations.

In particular, it is necessary to install on the user's workstation a specific computer program enabling the system to be implemented.

It is understood that this increases the general functioning of the system, because it is then necessary that the station of each user who wishes to carry out annotations is configured in a specific manner.

And it is also necessary to then carry out the appropriate updates on the users' workstations, according to the changes made in the system. Document EP 1 030 504 also discloses a system for annotating documents transmitted over the Internet.

In this case, the documents are not necessarily any computer documents; rather, they are predefined format forms that different users can annotate, for transmission to a centralized processing center (similar to telephone call centers that provide assistance to customers).

And here again, the implementation of the system requires the specific configuration of the users' workstations. In particular, it is necessary to install a software module on each user workstation

("plug-in" according to English terminology), to allow the user to associate annotations to documents.

Another example of a system making it possible to implement a method as mentioned above is given by document WO 00/56055. But in this case too, each user station (or client station) must be configured in a specific way, with a plug-in allowing annotations to be made. However, as has been said, the fact of imposing a specific configuration of the stations of the users wishing to carry out annotations constitutes an important constraint.

A system is also known which implements an annotation server for storing annotations made on a computer document.

Such a system is described in the article by Koch et al. :

"Implementation of an annotation service on the WWW-Virtual Notes",

Proceedings 8 ^th euromicro workshop on parallel and distributed processing, proceedings 8 ^th euromicro workshop on parallel and distributed processing,

Rhodos, Greece, 19-21 January 2000, pages 92-98.

But an important limitation of such a system is that it imposes a single version of the annotations made to a given document.

However, it would be desirable to allow different users to individually make their own annotations for the same document, without needing to alter the annotations made by other users.

An object of the invention is to make it possible to overcome the constraints and limitations mentioned above. Another object of the invention is to allow users to implement a method of the type mentioned above, with standard computer hardware and software means.

Another object of the invention is to allow any users to annotate computer documents, while keeping the owner of the computer document a degree of control over the possibility of making such annotations.

Indeed, concerning this particular aspect of the invention, it will be noted that in addition to the systems mentioned above, there are systems allowing any users to carry out annotations or graphic overloads on a computer document such as a web page, but without the owner of the computer document being able to control such overloads, and / or prevent users from carrying them out (the Thirdvoice ^® system is an example of such a system).

And another object of the invention is to further allow a user to transmit a web page which he has personally annotated, to one or more correspondents of his choice.

Another final aim of the invention is generally, to provide an improved, simple and effective tool for collaborative work and / or distance learning.

In order to achieve these aims, the invention proposes, according to a first aspect, a method of annotation by a user of a computer document made accessible on a network by a document server, the method comprising:

• the call by the user of a computer document from a user station, • the activation of document annotation functions on the user station,

• the implementation by the user of said annotation functions to create annotations and associate them with the document, said activation of annotation function being triggered by an instruction integrated in the source file of the computer document, said instruction calling for means enabling said annotation functions to be implemented, said means residing on an annotation server, characterized in that the method comprises the creation, in a server accessible by the annotation server, of a record comprising:

• an identification number corresponding to the user who made the annotations and to the annotated computer document,

• all of the information used to reconstruct the computer document itself, • and all of the information used to superimpose on this computer document the annotations made by the user. Preferred, but non-limiting aspects of the process according to the invention are the following:

Said means for implementing the annotation functions are scripts residing on the annotation server, which are loaded into a temporary memory of the user station following the execution of said instruction,

• said computer documents are web pages,

Said annotation server is distinct from the user station,

• said annotation server is distinct from the document server, • said instruction is a line of script, preferably carried out in Javascript ^® language,

The method comprises the storage on the user station of information making it possible to reconstruct the annotated document, and its annotations, said storage is carried out in a temporary memory zone of the user station, in particular its cache memory,

The process comprises the sending by the user of the document and of the annotations carried out,

The method comprises the execution of server scripts stored on a server, so as to emulate a dialogue with the user and allow him to choose his sending parameters,

• said shipment is made to a predefined list of recipients,

Said sending is made to the annotation server, and a record is created in a memory of said annotation server to memorize the information making it possible to reconstruct the annotated document, and its annotations,

• sending a warning message to said recipients,

Said recipients have the possibility of making additional annotations on the document, when consulting the annotated document on the annotation server, • said shipment is made to a list of recipients filled in by the user.

According to a second aspect, the invention also provides a system for implementing a method according to one of the above aspects, characterized in that the system comprises an annotation server connected to the network.

Preferred, but non-limiting aspects of the system according to the invention are the following:

Annotation scripts are stored in a permanent storage location of said annotation server,

• server scripts are stored in a permanent storage location of said annotation server.

Other aspects, aims and advantages of the invention will appear better on reading the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, made with reference to the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a general schematic representation of the main elements making it possible to implement the invention,

• Figure 2 is a diagram showing the main steps for implementing the invention. Referring first to Figure 1, there is shown schematically the means for implementing the invention.

This figure shows a user station 10, which can be any terminal known per se for connecting to a network.

The user station can thus be a personal computer, a device of the personal assistant type or any other type of known terminal, provided with a visual interface (such as a screen) for editing and viewing computer documents, and means (such as a keyboard and mouse) to enter the user station for commands.

The user station is therefore connected to a network. This network can be any public or private network; in a preferred but non-limiting application of the invention which will be described below, it is the Internet. And to access the resources of this network, the user station is provided with a navigation program on said network. This program will be called "browser"; in the case of the Internet, it may be any standard browser, such as Microsoft ^® Explorer ^® or Netscape ^® Navigator ^® for example.

In any event, the user station 10 corresponds to a standard hardware and software configuration, the installation of no specific hardware or software element being required for the implementation of the invention. Figure 1 also shows two servers 20 and 30, which are connected to the same network.

The server 20 is a document server. It thus allows users who connect to the network to access the computer documents which are stored on this document server. In the preferred application of the invention which is described here, the documents that the document server 20 thus makes available to network users can in particular be web pages.

These pages include a source file written in a language such as html (hypertext markup language), which can refer by specific instructions to graphic objects which are stored in other places on the network than the document server 20. -even.

And when a user calls a web page of the document server 20 on the user station 10, the instructions in the source file of the page point to said graphic objects so that the browser of the user station is able to import these graphic objects on the user station, so as to integrate them visually into the web page which is displayed by the user station.

As will be seen in more detail, the document server 20 can a priori be any server on the network, allowing access by any user of this network to documents of which the document server stores the source files. It is thus understood that if the simplified example of FIG. 1 shows only a single user station 10 and a single document server 20, in most of the embodiments of the invention there will be any number of stations of users connected to the same network, any number of document servers can also be connected to the same network.

The second server, connected to the same network and referenced 30, is an annotation server. This second server is specific to the invention. Contrary to what has just been said about user stations and document servers, this annotation server 30 can be unique.

This server 30 is distinct from the user station 10. It is also a priori distinct from the document server 20, although it is also possible that these two servers 20 and 30 are merged into the same server (the annotation server 30 then also playing the role of a document server 20).

And in this case, it is of course also possible that other document servers are connected to the same network to offer users access to their documents, only one of the document servers then also being the annotation server.

Still with reference to this FIG. 1, we will generally describe the general operation of the invention. This general description will be supplemented by a more detailed description which will be made with reference to FIG. 2.

Before this general description, it is specified that the invention allows any users, who have not necessarily been registered or declared beforehand, to make annotations on documents such as web pages. And as we said, the user station which is described here by way of example has no specific hardware or software configuration. On the other hand, any document from the server 20 for which it is desired to allow users to carry out annotations must include a specific instruction.

Thus, taking again the case of the annotation of web pages, it is necessary to include in the source file of each web page for which one wishes to authorize the annotations, a specific instruction on which one will come back.

When a user calls from station 10 a web page P of the document server 20, in the case where the source file of the page does not include the specific instruction mentioned above, the browser of the user station is satisfied with: '' display the web page in a manner known per se, without offering the user the possibility of making annotations.

It will thus be noted that the invention can only be implemented for web pages and other documents for which the owner (or the manager who manages the document server) authorizes the annotation (this authorization being materialized by integration into the file source of the specific instruction page).

We differentiate ourselves in this way from ThirdVoice ^® type systems for which such control by the owner or manager of the documents to be annotated is not possible.

In the case now where the called web page P includes a specific instruction of the type mentioned above, the annotation of the page by the user will be made possible.

More specifically, said specific instruction is an online import of annotation features script (script written line in a language such as Javascript ^®), which points to a server memory area of annotations 30 comprising a set 31 annotation scripts for annotating a computer document (web page or other). Thus, when the page P is opened by the browser of the user station 10, this line of script for importing annotation functions causes said annotation scripts 31 to be imported into the user station 10.

More precisely, the browser of the user station interprets the line of script for importing annotation functions by importing these annotation scripts into a temporary memory of the user station.

(e.g. browser cache).

One of these annotation scripts allows you to emulate an annotation toolbar, which will allow the user to ergonomically call up and configure the various annotation functions, with a simple mouse click on the appropriate toolbar button.

And the browser of the user station thus displays, on the screen of this station, the called web page, as well as the annotation toolbar, which will allow the user to annotate the page with annotations of different natures (highlighting, writing, "Post-lt ^® electronic" type notes associated with the document, integration of multimedia objects such as images, photos or videos, ...).

As will be seen in more detail, the invention also allows the user to transmit his annotations to predetermined and / or chosen correspondents. And the user can also have the possibility of saving his annotations, by installing a backup software module on the user station using ActiveX ^® or Plug-in technologies. Referring now to Figure 2, there is shown schematically the main steps of implementation of the invention. As we said, the invention can only be implemented for the annotation of web pages (or more generally of computer documents) in the source file of which a specific instruction has been integrated in the form of a line script for importing annotation functions. The integration of this specific instruction into the source file of a document such as a web page P capable of being called by a user is thus represented by the initial step 201. This step corresponds to a check by the owner or manager of the documents likely to be annotated.

Indeed, it is only if this owner or manager has chosen to integrate into the source file of a document the specific instruction allowing to import the annotation functions from the annotation server, that users will have the possibility to make annotations on this document.

In 202, the user thus calls the page P, his user station being connected to the network (and the browser of the user station being therefore active).

It is specified that the “user” can be any user, his station having no need to be configured. It is therefore understandable if the implementation of the invention offers control to the owner or manager of the documents likely to be annotated, access can however be made free to any users.

It will however be seen that, in an alternative embodiment of the invention allowing a user, in addition to making annotations on documents, to transmit them to a predefined list of recipients, this user must have been declared in the system beforehand. according to the invention.

In 203, the browser of the user station therefore calls page P in a manner known per se, following the call made by the user.

Following this call to page P, the document server on which the source file of page P resides in 204 exports page P to the user station.

In 205, the browser of the user station executes the source file of the page P. This source file comprising the script for importing annotation functions, said execution will include the calling by the browser of the user station of the scripts annotation which reside on the annotation server (scripts of set 31 of figure 1).

In 206, these scripts are thus sent by the annotation server to the user station. All of these annotation scripts (which have been designated by the reference 31 in FIG. 1) then reside in an area of temporary memory of the user station, for example its cache memory.

This import of the annotation scripts into the cache memory of the user station is represented by step 207.

It should be noted that each annotation script actually includes:

• a basic script, which allows, when executed on the user station, to carry out an annotation,

• and an implementation script which must be selected by the user (for example via an annotation toolbar). The realization script thus makes it possible to define the annotation parameters (font, thickness of the lines, colors, ...).

It is also recalled that the annotations can have any desired type ("Post-lt ^® electronic" notes associated with page P, writing or drawing superimposed graphically on the page, insertion of any multimedia object such as an image, a photo or video, ...).

And the various production scripts also allow you to select the format of the annotations that the user wants to produce (font, thickness of the lines, colors, ...); for this purpose, the annotation toolbar allows the user to make the appropriate choices.

Following the importation of the annotation scripts in the cache memory, an initial script of the set 31 is automatically executed by the browser of the user station, so as to emulate on the screen of the user station the bar annotation tools which will allow the user to define the parameters of his annotations. This step is shown in 208.

At this stage, the user can thus view on the screen of his station the page P which he has called, as well as the annotation toolbar which allows him to carry out any desired annotation in 209. In parallel with this process of emulating annotation toolbar and making annotations by the user, the browser of the user station automatically generates a couple-specific identification number (user, page P).

This identification number thus represents a key which will make it possible to memorize, in a recording identified by said key, the annotations made by the user on page P.

This identification number can be generated as a number, sequentially.

This generation of an identification number is carried out by the browser of the user station during step 210. At 211, the browser of the user station automatically creates in the cache memory of the user station a record E1 which includes in a first field the identification number generated in 210, and in the following fields all the parameters making it possible to reconstruct the page P (source file of the page P, graphic objects referenced by the different instructions on this page P ).

In 212, the browser of the user station then proceeds to the enrichment of the record E1, by memorizing in additional fields of this record the parameters of the various annotations which are carried out by the user in 209 (definition of the types and annotation formats, annotation size, position of the annotation in the edit window of the web page with which the annotation is associated, ...).

It is specified in this regard that steps 210 to 212 are carried out in parallel with steps 208 to 209.

And during this recording in E1 of the annotation parameters, all the information making it possible to reconstruct each annotation is thus memorized:

• type of annotations,

• formats used for annotation,

• size and position of the annotation, • source files corresponding to the objects possibly inserted in the annotations. Returning to step 209 during which the user makes the annotations on the screen of the user station, in graphic overlay with the page P, during this step the user:

• must define via the buttons on the annotation toolbar all the choices that must be made to configure the annotation (type, format, insertion of object files),

• it is specified that, as soon as the user has selected (for example, by a mouse associated with the user station), the annotation toolbar, and has defined the parameters of an annotation, the web page P being viewed is in an annotation waiting state,

• by clicking on the edit window of this page P, the user creates in the cache memory of the user station a “layer of annotations” and can add to this layer of annotations the annotation he has set. In the case where the annotation simply corresponds to the insertion of an object such as an image or a video, a single layer of annotations is thus created by the scripts of the set 31.

On the other hand, in the case where the annotation is itself a graphic object whose appearance properties must be defined, the scripts of this set 31 can create at least one additional layer of annotations in the memory of the workstation. user,

• once the annotations have been added and their properties have been defined, the user can then move the annotations to any desired location in the page P editing window, as well as adapt the size and appearance of these annotations,

• it is also possible for the user during this annotation creation operation to destroy an annotation, or to modify these properties.

When the user has thus made the desired annotations on the page P, and these annotations have been stored in the record E1 in association with the identification number generated in 210 and all of the information linked to the page P, said user has the possibility of activating a function for sending annotations.

This activation can be done via a send button on the annotation toolbar, as shown in 213. And in the case where the user actually chooses to send the annotations he has performed, the browser of the user station in 214 opens a sending dialog window on the screen of the user station.

This sending window opens a dialog with the user, in order to define the parameters for sending the annotated web page.

And in association with this opening of the sending dialog window, the browser of the user station makes, via the network, a call to a second series of scripts, called "server scripts" (step 215). These server scripts are scripts that, unlike all 31 of annotations scripts that are preferably made of Javascript ^® are scripts written in a language capable of communicating with a database server 'annotations, according to the http protocol (English acronym designating the "hypertext transport protocol"). These server scripts can for example be written in a Coldfusion ^® type language.

It is specified that if in the example which is described here these server scripts reside on the annotation server 30, these server scripts can however also reside on any other server of the network. In any case, calling the server scripts by the browser on the user station causes the execution of these server scripts on the annotation server.

The execution of these server scripts will allow the user to conduct his dialogue with the sending dialog window, by importing from the annotation server in this window the different parameters related to the sending, and by repatriating to the annotation server the parameters supplied by the user during his dialog with the sending dialog window. And the execution of these server scripts on the annotation server causes the creation of an E2 record in a memory area of this annotation server.

It is specified that in the particular case where the server scripts did not reside on the annotation server, the calling of these scripts by the browser of the user station can:

• either cause their import on the annotation server where they will be executed,

• or their execution on the server on which they reside. In this case, the E2 record can be created on this server, this record then being accessed from the annotation server (in particular by the recipients of the annotated documents).

The record E2 includes the identification number generated in 210, which was transmitted from the user station to the annotation server in 215 at the same time as the call to the server scripts was made.

This record E2 can thus be identified by the key that constitutes said identification number.

In this way, the record E2 is personally associated with the user who made the annotations. And it is specified that different users can thus cause the recording of different respective E2 records relating to the same web page P (or more generally to the same computer document), each E2 record being associated with a single user. It is thus possible to constitute for the same web page P different records E2 in the memory area of the annotation server, each record E2 corresponding to a version of annotations produced by a particular user.

The execution of the server scripts takes place in 216, and the creation of the E2 record in 217.

In 218, the E2 record receives all the information from the E1 record of the station's temporary memory area user, all of this information having also been sent in 215, from the user station to the server on which the record E2 is created.

At this stage, an E2 record has thus been created in a memory area (of the annotation server in the preferred application of the invention), this record comprising:

• an identification number corresponding to the user who made the annotations and to the annotated P web page,

• all the information allowing the page P itself to be reconstructed,

• and all the information allowing the annotations made by the user to be superimposed on this page.

It will be noted in passing that no alteration of the source file of page P is made in your way, apart from the integration of the script line for importing annotations.

It will also be noted that the method according to the invention does not impose a single version of the annotations associated with a given computer document, but allows different users to save different E2 versions of annotations made to the same computer document, each of these different versions of the annotations being associated with one of the users.

Continuing the sending dialog opened by the sending dialog window generated in 214, the user has the possibility of choosing between two main embodiments of the invention, in order to send the annotated page P to recipients.

It is indeed possible for this user to send the annotated page to the recipients of a predefined list, this sending being carried out by the annotation server.

In this case, the user is previously declared in the system, and saved in a memory zone of the annotation server.

Alternatively, it is also possible for the user to have the annotated page sent by the browser of the user station, to recipients whose network e-mail addresses he has defined himself.

In this case, the user is not necessarily registered with the system according to the invention. In 219, the user must thus choose the desired sending mode. This choice can be made by selecting an appropriate button from the send dialog window opened at 214.

In the case where the user has thus chosen in 219 to send the annotated page P to the recipients of a predefined list, he may in a variant of the invention have in 220 the possibility of validating the composition of this list, and / or modify it.

In any event, the user must confirm in 220 his choice to send the annotated page to the recipients of the predefined list, for example by clicking on a suitable button in the send dialog window.

This validation triggers the sending, from the user station to the annotation server, of the recipients of the predefined list (possibly validated and / or modified by the user during step 220). The reception of this list of recipients by the annotation server is represented by step 221.

Following this reception, a server script from the annotation server automatically constitutes an electronic message at 222, comprising:

• the P web page,

• the call scripts of the various graphic elements on which the instructions of the source file of the web page P point,

• and annotation scripts (a basic script and an implementation script being associated with each annotation).

This electronic message can be produced in html format. The annotation server then automatically sends this e-mail message to all the recipients on the list. In this way, said recipients will receive on their workstation (which is also connected to the network) the web page P, the graphic objects to which it refers in its source file, as well as all of the annotations made by the user. It will be noted that here again each user can send to selected recipients a version of annotations of a web page P which is specific to him.

And each of the different users can thus send to the recipients that they desire a personal version of annotations produced on the same web page P, on which other users will have made other different annotations.

It is specified that the electronic message which has been formed may be a message said with external references.

In this case, the electronic message does not contain the graphic objects that make up the web page, but simply instructions allowing the browser of the recipients of the message to retrieve these objects and integrate them upon receipt of the message in the page P.

It is also possible for the annotation server to produce this electronic message in the form of a message with internal references, that is to say comprising in itself all of the elements making up the web page P, entered inside the email message.

The latter option has the advantage of being more reliable and robust (thus guaranteeing recipients to receive the entire page P, elements such as firewalls can otherwise prevent retrieving objects corresponding to certain external references) .

In any case, the sending of this electronic message by the annotation server also takes place in 222.

The user will also have had, in a variant of the invention, the possibility of attaching a message in the form of a text for the same recipients, this message then being attached to the electronic message constituted by the annotation server at 222. It is also possible in a variant of the invention to flash the annotated page by the annotation server, so as to constitute a single image file in a format such as .jpg or .gif, or even to constitute a file of MIME format with the page annotated. In any event, the annotation server also proceeds in 222 to sending this message to the various recipients.

It has been said that the system according to the invention, while offering a degree of control to the owners or managers of documents likely to be annotated, was open to any user. It is understood, however, that in order to be offered a predefined list of recipients, a user must first be declared and registered with the annotation server 30, so that the variant described above is only accessible to a user previously declared. with this server. In this case, the names and e-mail addresses of the recipients of the predefined list are stored in the annotation server in association with a code making it possible to identify the user, and with the various elements making it possible to constitute the sending dialog window. which is opened in 214. Indeed, as we said during this step 214 of opening a send dialog window, a script allowing to open this window is imported from the annotation server by the user station browser.

And the names and e-mail addresses of the recipients of the predefined list are thus during this step 214 imported from the annotation server to the user station.

In a variant of the invention, instead of having the annotation server constitute an electronic message comprising the annotated page, it is possible to have this annotation server constitute only a simple warning message to the user. intention of the recipients of the predefined list, warning the recipients that a document has been stored for them on the annotation server. In this case, the recipients of the predefined list have the possibility of connecting directly to this annotation server.

This connection can be free. It can also be subject to a recipient identification procedure with the annotation server, the recipient then having to enter a username and password to connect to the annotation server.

And in this variant of the invention, each recipient has the possibility of consulting directly on the annotation server the annotated web page (s) which have been sent to him by one or more user (s) ).

It is therefore understood that, in this variant of the invention, the annotation server plays the role of a space for consulting document annotations.

And this possibility will be implemented in a particularly advantageous way within the framework of collaborative work (for example by allowing a professor and a group of students forming a work group to selectively exchange annotated documents), or even as part of any form of distance education.

Using the example of a professor and a group of students, each one has the possibility of connecting to the annotation server to consult the annotated documents which have been made available to them by other members of the working group.

It is therefore understood that the annotation server plays the role of an extremely advantageous exchange platform. Any recipient registered with this annotation server can thus at will connect to said annotation server, and consult, as was mentioned above, the annotated documents which have been stored for him on this server.

The system can be refined by planning to store, in association with the annotated pages intended for a particular recipient, an additional electronic message from the user at the origin of the annotations, and / or the electronic mail address of this user. (thus also offering the recipient reading the annotated document the possibility of responding directly to the user).

And we note that, compared to existing systems, the invention is particularly simple and light to implement, and does not require a binding maintenance procedure.

Indeed, there is no need to specifically configure the user workstations or the workstations of recipients.

It is also understood that recipients and users can form the same population, by constituting one of the working groups within which each can annotate documents and transmit them to the other members of the group.

It is also possible to define hierarchies, only certain members of the working group having the possibility of annotating the documents (thus fulfilling the function of "users" described above, while the other members are only simple "recipients" ").

It is also possible to allow a recipient connected to the annotation server and consulting an annotated page which has been memorized for him, to carry out additional annotations on this annotated page. To this end, provision will be made to automatically emulate on the annotation server the annotation toolbar enabling the annotation scripts stored on the annotation server to be activated, and offering the recipient the possibility of carrying out - even additional annotations. Still in this case, the recipient then has the option of activating a sending option, in the same manner as described above. And the message with an additional layer of annotations can then be automatically stored on the annotation server for the attention of another list of recipients, or sent directly by electronic mail to selected recipients.

And the latter possibility can also be offered selectively to certain recipients only. It will thus be possible to adapt the administration of the annotation server so that certain recipients have the possibility of making such additional annotations on annotated documents which they receive. A first main mode of implementing the invention has been described above in detail, in which a user making annotations on a document can send or make available to a predefined list of recipients the annotated document.

According to a second main embodiment of the invention, a user who has made annotations on a document such as a web page also has the possibility of sending the annotated document directly to recipients whose addresses he has defined himself. email.

In this case, the user will have chosen in 219 not to use the predefined list which is proposed to him.

It is also possible that this choice is not offered to the user (for example in the case of an operation of the system involving no prior registration of the users), in this case during step 219 the user must simply to validate the option according to which he wishes to inform himself of e-mail addresses of recipients.

In this embodiment of the invention, the user fills in 223 the sending dialog window with the electronic mail addresses of the desired recipients. An electronic message similar to that described above is then automatically created:

• either by the browser of the user station from the fields of the E1 record,

• or by the annotation server, from the fields of the E2 record which will have been created during steps 216 to

218. In these cases, the recipients chosen by the user will receive the electronic message (for example in html format), without connecting to the annotation server 30.

Returning now to step 213 during which the user had the possibility of validating via the sending dialogue window the fact that he wished to send to recipients the document which he annotated, in if during this step the user has not validated these choices, he may however have the possibility of saving the annotated document on his user station. It has in fact been said that the various elements making it possible to reconstruct the annotated page were stored in an area of temporary memory of the user station (in particular browser cache memory).

Such a temporary memory zone is intended to be purged (the frequency and the modes of purging varying according to the configuration of the user station, and of his browser).

As mentioned above, in one embodiment of the invention it is possible for the user to save annotations by installing the user station a capture module and backup using technology ^® ActiveX or plug-in, which allows you to retrieve the annotations stored in the browser's cache memory to a hard drive of the user station.

In any event, if the user does not wish to send the annotated document but wishes to save it in a permanent storage area of his user station, he can also declare it in 213, which will cause the recording in 225 in a permanent storage area of the document user station and its annotations.

Claims

s 1. A method of annotation by a user of a computer document (P) made accessible on a network by a document server (20), the method comprising:

• the call (202) by the user of a computer document (P) from a user station (10), 0 • the activation of document annotation functions on the user station ,

• the implementation (209) by the user of said annotation functions to create annotations and associate them with the document, said activation of annotation function being triggered by an instruction integrated in the source file of the computer document, said instruction calling means (31) making it possible to implement said annotation functions, said means residing on an annotation server (30), characterized in that the method comprises the creation, in a server accessible by the server of annotations, a 0 record (E2) including:

• an identification number corresponding to the user who made the annotations and to the annotated computer document (P),

• all of the information used to reconstruct the computer document (P) itself, 5 "and all of the information used to superimpose on this computer document the annotations made by the user.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that said means making it possible to implement the annotation functions are 0 scripts residing on the annotation server, which are loaded into a temporary memory of the user station following the execution of said instruction.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said computer documents are web pages.

4. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said annotation server is distinct from the user station.

5. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said annotation server is distinct from the document server.

6. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said instruction is a line of script, preferably carried out in the Javascript ^® language.

7. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the method comprises the storage on the user station of information making it possible to reconstruct the annotated document, and its annotations.

8. Method according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said storage is carried out in a temporary memory area of the user station, in particular its cache memory.

9. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the method comprises the sending (222, 224) by the user of the document and of the annotations carried out.

10. Method according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the method comprises the execution (216) of server scripts stored on a server, so as to emulate a dialogue with the user and allow him to choose his sending parameters .

11. Method according to one of the two preceding claims, characterized in that said dispatch is made to a predefined list of recipients.

5 12. Method according to one of claims 9 or 10, characterized in that said sending is made to the annotation server, and a record is created in a memory of said annotation server to store the information used to reconstruct the annotated document, and its annotations. 0

13. Method according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the method comprises the sending of a warning message to said recipients.

5 14. Method according to one of the three preceding claims, characterized in that said recipients have the possibility of carrying out additional annotations on the document, during the consultation of the annotated document on the annotation server.

0 15. Method according to one of claims 9 or 10, characterized in that said shipment is made to a list of recipients filled in by the user.

16. System for implementing a method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the system comprises an annotation server connected to the network.

17. System according to the preceding claim, characterized in that annotation scripts are stored in a location where o permanent storage of said annotation server.

8. System one of the two preceding claims, characterized in that server scripts are stored in a permanent storage location of said annotation server.