Representing an object as an aggregate of identifiable parts shareable by users of a collaboration system

摘要

A computer that is programmed with collaboration software receives a change to be made to an object that can be of any type among several predetermined types such as message, document, contact, discussion and meeting. The object is represented as an aggregate of identifiable parts shareable by users, including at least a content part, a lock part, and an access-control part. Each version of the object is represented by a set of identifiers of these parts. In response to receipt of information identifying the change, the computer automatically identifies a specific part to be changed from among multiple parts of the object. Thereafter, the computer automatically creates a new instance of the specific part which contains the change as per the received information. The computer automatically stores a new version of the object as a new set that includes a new identifier of the new instance of the specific part.

主权项

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a plurality of instructions to cause a computer to:
receive information identifying a change to an object among a plurality of objects in a memory of the computer; wherein the object comprises a plurality of parts including at least a content part and an access-control part; wherein the object further comprises a current set of pre-existing identifiers that uniquely identify in at least the computer, each part in the plurality of parts; wherein the current set of pre-existing identifiers comprises at least a first identifier of the content part and a second identifier of the access-control part; wherein a current version of the object identifies the current set of pre-existing identifiers; wherein the object is of any type selected from at least a message type, a document type, a contact type, a discussion type, or a meeting type; automatically create a new instance of a specific part including the change identified in the information while at least another part in the plurality of parts is unchanged; wherein the new instance is created by a function, the function being identified, from among a plurality of functions corresponding to the plurality of parts, based on a specific part type of the specific part to be instantiated; and automatically store in the memory, a new identifier of the new instance; wherein a new version of the object is identified by a new set of identifiers comprising the new identifier of the new instance and a pre-existing identifier of said another part in the current set.