Managing and synchronizing views in multi-user application with a canvas

摘要

Several methods are described herein to allow users to manage and synchronize views in a multi-user application with canvas (infinite or otherwise) and limited or unlimited zoom. Without these synchronization methods, coordinating views is very difficult, and may lead to chaos as one or more of the users gets lost on the canvas. A “View Sync” method provides for many-to-one synchronization, where many users are automatically synchronized with one user. A “Sync View” method provides for one-to-one synchronization, where one user is synchronized to another user's view. Preferably, off-screen “activity indicators” also are used within the viewport to provide visual cues regarding where other users are drawing or creating content on the canvas. Tapping on an activity indicator preferably performs one-time Sync View with the selected other user.

主权项

1. A method to enable users of mobile devices to collaborate in a session over a canvas, wherein a mobile device client includes a graphical user interface (GUI) viewport, and wherein viewports on individual mobile devices are capable of displaying different portions of the canvas concurrently, the method comprising:
establishing and maintaining a whiteboard for the session; receiving a request for a change to the whiteboard from a mobile device client and, in response, updating the whiteboard to reflect the change and notifying one or more other mobile device clients of the change; receiving a synchronization request that is one of: a first type, and a second type, the first type being a synchronization request received from a given mobile device client and indicating that one or more other mobile device clients should synchronize their viewports to the viewport of the given mobile device client, and the second type being a synchronization request received from a first mobile device client and indicating that the first mobile device client desires to synchronize its viewport to that of a second mobile device client; and enforcing the synchronization request to synchronize viewports across the session.