Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02746836 2011-07-19
DYNAMIC ICON OVERLAY SYSTEM AND METHOD OF PRODUCING
DYNAMIC ICON OVERLAYS
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY
SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
The U.S. Government may have a paid-up license in this invention and the right
in
limited circumstances to require the patent owner to license others on
reasonable terms as
provided for by the terms of contract No. FA8750-08-C-0114 awarded by the
Department of
Homeland Security (DHS).
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention embodiments pertain to icon overlays. In particular, the
present
invention embodiments pertain to dynamically generating icon overlays for a
file icon based
on attributes associated with an end user of the file.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Icon overlays are small graphics superimposed over a file's primary icon. An
icon
overlay provides a visual cue that can convey additional file attributes. For
example, one
conventional icon overlay utilizes a 'shortcut' icon overlay (rendered as an
arrow) to indicate
that the file is actually a shortcut (i.e., a link to another file). Other
conventional icon
overlays designate the state of a file which has been obtained from a central
file repository.
For example, an icon overlay including an orange caution sign is used to
denote that a file has
been modified, an icon overlay including a green check is used to denote that
a file is
unmodified, an icon overlay including a blue plus sign (`+') is used to denote
that a file has
been added, and an icon overlay including a red 'X' is used to denote that a
file has been
deleted.
The algorithms used to select conventional icon overlays have traditionally
been
limited to simple properties of the file (e.g., linked, shared, modified,
etc), which provides
adequate functionality to indicate a property or a state of a file to a user.
Consequently,
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conventional icon overlays rendered for a particular file appear identical no
matter which user
is viewing the overlays.
SUMMARY
Accordingly, an embodiment of the present invention dynamically generates icon
overlays to be applied to a primary file icon of a target file. The icon
overlays convey
information regarding the target file and are relevant to an end user. The
icon overlays
applied to a primary file icon of a target file are based on attributes
associated with an end
user of the file that are correlated with attributes of the target file
itself.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a
method of
applying a dynamic icon overlay to a primary icon of a target file, the method
comprising
identifying an end user and a target file, retrieving a primary icon of the
target file based on a
file type of the target file, wherein the primary icon has a plurality of
overlay zones, each
overlay zone including a zone level that conveys a relative level of attention
for the end user,
retrieving file data associated with the target file comprising information
configured to
indicate attributes of the target file, retrieving a user profile of the end
user comprising
information configured to indicate attributes of the end user, aggregating
user specific content
from the information in the file data and the information in the user profile,
determining an
icon overlay to be applied to the primary icon of the target file based on the
aggregated
information such that the icon overlay conveys information to the end user
about the target
file that is relevant to the end user, determining a zone level for the icon
overlay for the end
user based on the aggregated information, applying the icon overlay to an
overlay zone of the
primary icon based on the zone level such that the overlay zone further
conveys information
to the end user about the target file that is relevant to the end user, and
displaying the primary
icon with the applied icon overlay at the end user system of the end user,
wherein the icon
overlay for the target file is different for at least two end users based on
their respective
aggregated information when observed on their respective end user systems.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided
a system
for applying a dynamic icon overlay to a primary icon of a target file, the
system comprising a
computer system configured to display the primary icon with the applied icon
overlay at an
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". end user system of an end user, the computer system including a
dynamic icon overlay
module configured to identify an end user and a target file, retrieve a
primary icon of the
target file based on a file type of the target file, wherein the primary icon
has a plurality of
overlay zones, each overlay zone including a zone level that conveys level of
attention for the
end user, retrieve file data associated with the target file comprising
information configured to
indicate attributes of the target file, retrieve a user profile of the end
user comprising
information configured to indicate attributes of the end user, aggregate user
specific content
from the information in the file data and the information in the user profile,
determine the icon
overlay to be applied based on the aggregated information such that the icon
overlay conveys
information to the end user about the target file that is relevant to the end
user, determine a
zone level for the icon overlay for the end user based on the aggregated
information, and
apply the icon overlay to an overlay zone of the primary icon based on the
zone level, wherein
the icon overlay for the target file is different for at least two end users
based on their
respective aggregated information when observed on their respective end user
systems.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a
program product apparatus including a non-transitory computer readable medium
with
computer program logic recorded thereon for applying a dynamic icon overlay to
a primary
icon of a target file, the program product apparatus comprising a dynamic icon
overlay
configured module to identify an end user and a target file, retrieve a
primary icon of the
target file based on a file type of the target file, wherein the primary icon
has a plurality of
overlay zones, each overlay zone including a zone level that conveys level of
attention for the
end user, retrieve file data associated with the target file
comprising information
configured to indicate attributes of the target file, retrieve a user profile
of the end user
comprising information configured to indicate attributes of the end user,
aggregate user
specific content from the information in the file data and the information in
the user profile,
determine the icon overlay to be applied based on the he aggregated
information such that the
icon overlay conveys information to the end user about the target file that is
relevant to the
end user, determine a zone level for the icon overlay for the end user based
on the aggregated
information, and apply the icon overlay to an overlay zone of the primary icon
based on the
zone level, wherein the icon overlay for the target file is different for at
least two end users
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based on their respective aggregated information when observed on their
respective end user
systems.
The above and still further features and advantages of the present invention
will
become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of
example
embodiments thereof, particularly when taken in conjunction with the
accompanying
drawings wherein like reference numerals in the various figures are utilized
to designate like
components.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a dynamic icon overlay system according to an
embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a procedural flow chart illustrating the manner in which the dynamic
icon
overlay system performs a dynamic icon overlay process according to an
embodiment of the
present invention.
Fig. 3 is a procedural flow chart illustrating the manner in which the dynamic
icon
overlay system determines an icon overlay to be applied to a primary icon of a
target file
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 4 is an example illustration of icon overlays according to an embodiment
of the
present invention.
Fig. 5 is an illustration of a primary icon with icon overlay zones for
applying icon
overlays according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 6 is an illustration of different example icon overlay configurations for
applying
icon overlays according to embodiments of the present invention.
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Fig. 7 is an illustration of example icon overlays applied to primary icons of
different
target files for an end user according to an embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Dynamic icon overlay systems according to embodiments of the present invention
are
generally dynamic and can adapt to changes in the environment that are
extraneous to a target
file. These dynamic icon overlay systems can display icon overlays that convey
information
relevant to a viewing user. Furthermore, these icon overlay systems can
dynamically
determine icon overlays based on policies or rules tied to correlations
between user attributes
and file attributes, and can dynamically indicate multiple contextual
attributes (i.e., fuse or
correlate data from multiple sources into a set of one or more icon overlays).
For example, an
indication of the type of user specific content a file contains, whether a
user has a certain level
of access to the file, and what privileges a user has regarding the file, may
be provided by
icon overlays.
In the case of documents residing in a digital rights management (DRM) system,
different users may have different access privileges to various documents,
whether those
documents are imagery based, video based or text based files. Accordingly,
present invention
embodiments dynamically provide a set of targeted icon overlays that convey
user specific
information about the nature of a target file when viewed by a particular
user. By way of
example, in the case of a target file containing confidential information, a
user with
permission to access the file would have an icon overlay applied to the
primary icon of the
target file on the end user system indicating that the file contains
confidential information and
that the user has permission to open the file. By contrast, another user
without permission to
access the file would have an icon overlay applied to the primary icon of the
target file on the
end user system indicating that the file contains confidential information and
that the user
does not have permission to open the file.
Furthermore, different users having different job responsibilities may have
different
interests in the content of a particular target file. For example, a user with
accounting
responsibilities is likely to have an interest in any content of the target
file regarding financial
information. Whereas, a user with engineering responsibilities is likely to
have no interest in
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the financial content, but rather, is likely to be interested in any technical
content of the target
file.
In the case of a target file containing both financial and technical
information (e.g.,
project budget information, technical specifications for deploying equipment,
etc.), the two
users (one with accounting responsibilities and the other with engineering
responsibilities)
would see different icon overlays applied to the primary icon of the target
file on their
respective end user systems. In other words, for the one user with accounting
responsibilities,
an icon overlay indicating that the target file contains financial information
would be selected
and applied to the primary icon of the target file for the end user system.
With respect to the
other user with engineering responsibilities, an icon overlay indicating that
the target file
contains technical information would be selected and applied to the primary
icon of the target
file for the end user system.
Moreover, different users having different levels of authority within an
organization
may have different levels of permission with regard to a particular file. For
instance, a user
with management authority is likely to have permission with regard to
releasing a document
for general distribution or publication, while a user with engineering or
contractor authority
may not have permission to release the document. In this case, the user with
management
authority would have an icon overlay applied to the primary icon of the target
file on the end
user system to indicate that the user has permission to publish the target
file. The other users
(with engineering and contractor authority) would not have this overlay icon
applied. By way
of a further example, a user with engineering or accounting authority is
likely to have
permission to create, modify, or mark-up a document, while a user with
contractor authority
may only have permission to view the document (does not have permission to
create, modify,
or mark-up the document). In this case, the users with engineering and
accounting authority
would have an icon overlay applied to the primary icon of the target file on
their respective
end user systems to indicate that they have permission to modify the target
file (i.e., read and
write permission). The user with contractor authority would have an icon
overlay applied to
the primary icon of the target file on the end user system indicating that the
user merely has
rights to view the document (i.e., read-only permission).
Icon overlays may be part of an operating system (e.g., Microsoft Windows )
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interface. Such operating system environments are extensible (e.g., via shell
extensions) and
use standard application development tools. Interfacing a new icon overlay
handling
procedure may be accomplished by: registering an overlay handler with the
operating system,
initializing the overlay handler, processing files, and assigning primary
icons and icon
overlays. Once a shell extension overlay handler is loaded into the operating
system, it can be
executed for each file that appears before a user as they interact with their
desktop or end user
system. The system, according to embodiments of the present invention, takes
advantage of
these features of the operating system in order to implement the handling of
icon overlays
with the end user system. The icon overlays, according to present invention
embodiments, are
determined based on an aggregate of user and file attributes, and the icon
overlays convey
information regarding the file that is relevant to the end user.
In order to determine and apply icon overlays according to embodiments of the
present
invention, a user of a target file is identified and attributes associated
with the user and
attributes associated with the target file are obtained. A user of the target
file can be
identified such that attributes associated with that user can be determined or
retrieved. For
example, a user can log into a system via a login script at an end user system
and a 'user ID'
entered via login can be used to determine user attributes stored in a user
profile database
(e.g., a corporate employee database). In this case, the user attributes
associated with the user
logged into the system would be used, according to embodiments of the present
invention, to
determine any icon overlays to apply to the primary icon for display on the
end user system
(e.g., an icon on the end user system desktop, icons of each file displayed in
a window of an
open folder, etc.).
Any type of communication (e.g., webservice, embedded data, socket, etc.) can
be
used to identify a user and to obtain attributes associated with the user and
attributes
associated with the file, so long as the obtained attributes accurately depict
information about
the file (e.g., file type, content of the file, file status, etc.) and
information about the user (e.g.,
user permissions or rights for the particular file (e.g., creation, access,
modification, etc.)). It
should be understood that another user logged onto a separate end user system
(e.g., personal
computer (pc), personal digital assistant (pda), mobile phone, etc.) viewing
the same file
(which, for example, may be residing on a shared drive or in an shared folder)
may see a
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completely different set of icon overlays applied to the primary icon for the
target file because
the user rights to the target file are based on the user's own particular
attributes.
The dynamic icon overlay system of present invention embodiments basically
determines icon overlays to apply to a primary icon of a target file based on
an aggregate of
user and file attributes. The dynamic icon overlay system is preferably
implemented by a
computer system 100 as illustrated, by way of example, in Fig. 1.
Specifically, computer
system 100 is typically implemented by a conventional personal or other
suitable computer
system, workstation, or electronic device preferably equipped with internal
processing
components (e.g., including a processor, memories and/or internal or external
communications devices (e.g., modem, network cards, etc.)), user input devices
(e.g.,
keyboard, mouse, touch screen, etc.) to enter information by the user, and
output devices to
display information to the user (e.g., display, monitor, touch screen, etc.).
The computer
system includes an icon module 200 that can be realized by hardware, software,
or the
combination thereof.
Computer system 100 includes software (e.g., operating system, icon module
software,
etc.) and appropriate components (e.g., processor, disk storage or hard drive,
etc.) including
sufficient processing and storage capabilities to effectively execute that
software. The icon
module software may be implemented in any programming language that is
compatible with
and conforms to the host operating system's rules and procedures for creating
and/or
extending its native icon and icon overlay creation and display
functionalities. For example,
the icon module software can be implemented in an extension programming
language (e.g.,
Windows PowerShell*), while the computer system may include any platform that
supports
such extensible programming languages (e.g., Unix , Windows , Macintosh ,
etc.). The
computer system 100, under software control, basically implements the dynamic
icon overlay
system of present invention embodiments for determining icon overlays to apply
to a primary
icon of a target file based on an aggregate of user and file attributes.
In one embodiment, computer system 100 preferably operates as a stand-alone
tool.
However, the dynamic icon overlay system may alternatively be in the form of
an embeddable
system (e.g., within another system, as an embeddable software component
within other
software, etc.), or function as a server 120 in communication over a network
110 with client
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or user systems 100 to process client requests for dynamic icon overlays.
Furthermore, the functions of icon module 200 can be dispersed across a
network 110
for determining a set of icon overlays to be applied to a primary icon of a
target file at an end
user system 100. For example, one or more remote icon modules 201, 202 of
different servers
120, 121 may communicate over network 110 and function together with icon
module 200 of
an end user system 100 to determine a set of icon overlays (in whole or in
part) to be applied
to a primary icon of a target file. The icon overlay module software may be
available on a
recordable medium (e.g., magnetic, optical, floppy, DVD, CD, etc.) or in the
form of a carrier
wave or signal for downloading from a source via a communication medium (e.g.,
bulletin
board, network, WAN, LAN, Intranet, Internet, etc.).
In general, the icon overlay system, identifies or retrieves one or more of:
the identity
of a target file, the identity of an end user, attributes associated with the
end user, and
attributes associated with the target file (e.g., information about content of
the target file), and
determines or selects the most appropriate icon overlays to be applied to a
primary icon of the
target file and displayed to the end user. The appropriate icon overlays can
be determined or
selected in various ways. For example, icon overlays selected to be applied
could be dictated
by a remote application server, web service, or database.
The manner in which the dynamic icon overlay system of Fig. 1 performs dynamic
icon overlaying, according to an embodiment of the present invention, is
illustrated in Fig. 2.
Initially, the system includes various software modules or units (e.g., icon
module 200,
routines, procedures, etc.) to control a computer system to perform icon
overlay processing
tasks as described above. However, the modules or units may alternatively be
implemented
by any individual one or combination of circuitry, software modules and/or
hardware modules
to perform the functions described below.
Initially, an end user logs into end user system 100, at step 210. Logging
into the end
user system can be carried out in various ways. For example, the user may log
in during a
launch of an operating system or application of end user system 100. The
dynamic icon
overlay system waits for a dynamic icon overlay process call, at step 220. The
process call
may be initiated in numerous ways. For example, when the end user first boots
or logs into
the end user system 100, the operating system displays a desktop including
primary icons of
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user documents and applications (e.g., shortcuts to applications). The dynamic
icon overlay
process is initiated during the display of the desktop to display the primary
icons of the user
documents and applications with the appropriate dynamic icon overlays. By way
of a further
example, the user opens a shared network folder containing shared documents
residing in
database 130 via database server 120 over network 110. The dynamic icon
overlay process is
initiated when the folder is opened and a window displays primary icons of
documents and
applications stored in the folder.
Once the dynamic icon overlay process has been initiated, the dynamic icon
overlay
system checks for target files requiring dynamic icon overlays, at step 230.
The target files
can be checked to determine whether they require icon overlays in numerous
ways. For
example, the dynamic icon overlay system compares a file name of a target file
to file names
stored in a database and indicated as requiring DIO (e.g., a list of file
names stored in a
content repository that require DIO). By way of a further example, the dynamic
icon overlay
system compares a file type of a target file to a list of file types (e.g., a
list of image files (e.g.,
JPEG, GIF, BMP, etc.), executables (e.g., .EXE, etc.), etc.) indicated as
requiring DIO.
If the target file requires DIO, the dynamic icon overlay performs the DIO
process for
the target file, at step 250. The dynamic icon overlay system performs the DIO
process by: 1)
identifying an end user and a target file, 2) retrieving a primary icon of the
target file, 3)
retrieving user attributes, 4) retrieving file attributes, 5) determining at
least one overlay icon
to apply based on an aggregate of user and file attributes, 6) applying the at
least one icon
overlay to the primary icon, and 7) displaying the primary icon with that at
least one applied
icon overlay. The dynamic icon overlay system retrieves the primary icon by
copying the
icon image of an icon displayed on the desktop of the end user system 100, and
retrieves the
user and file attributes by accessing records of a content repository stored
in database 131 via
database server 121 over network 110.
The dynamic icon overlay system determines the at least one overlay icon to be
applied by comparing certain user attributes with certain file attributes to a
policy established
by a database administrator and stored in the content repository. The system
applies the at
least one icon overlay to the primary icon by retrieving an image file of the
determined icon
overlay from the content repository and superimposing the icon overlay image
file on the
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copy of the primary icon. The dynamic icon overlay system displays the primary
icon with
the at least one applied icon overlay by displaying the primary icon with the
superimposed
icon overlay image in place of the original icon on the desktop of the end
user system 100.
The process of performing dynamic icon overlay for a target file (e.g., step
250 of Fig. 2) is
described in greater detail below with regard to Fig. 3. Once the DIO process
is complete for
the target file, a determination is made as to whether all files have been
checked, at step 260.
If the target file does not require DIO, the dynamic icon overlay system skips
the DIO
process, at step 250, and determines whether all files have been checked, at
step 260. If it is
determined that not all of the files have been checked at step 260, the
dynamic icon overlay
system returns to step 230 to check for further target files requiring DIO.
However, if it is
determined that all files have been checked at step 260, the dynamic icon
overlay system
returns to step 220 and waits for a further DIO process call.
The manner in which dynamic icon overlaying is performed for a target file
(step 250
of Fig. 2) according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated
in Fig. 3.
Initially, the icon overlay module identifies a user and a target file at step
310. A user may be
identified by capturing a user's ID during system login or by prompting the
user for
identification. A target file may be identified via a lookup table in a
database (e.g., a database
including file names), by the file having a primary icon displayed on a
desktop of the end user
system, or by having a primary icon appear in a portion of the display of the
end user system
(e.g., an icon displayed in an open folder of Windows Explorer ).
At step 320, the icon overlay system retrieves a primary icon of the target
file. For
example, the icon overlay system retrieves an image file of the primary icon
of the identified
target file via an overlay handler of the operating system of end user system
100. As a further
example, the icon overlay system retrieves an image file corresponding to the
target file from
a database. A copy of the image file is stored locally in the end user system
memory, in a
local database 105 accessible via a local network, or in a network database
130 accessible
over a wide area network 110 via a database server 120.
User attributes associated with the identified user are retrieved at step 330.
These user
attributes can pertain to any aspect of the user, and may be obtained in
various ways such that
the attributes provide information about the user and are correlated with
attributes of the file.
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User attributes include, for example, employee profile records contained in a
corporate
database (e.g., employee id, location, department, job title, grade level, job
responsibilities,
etc.).
It is to be understood that user attributes are not limited to information
merely
regarding the user. For example, user attributes may include information
regarding the end
user system (e.g., type of device, media access control (mac) address, global
positioning
system (GPS) location, security level of a current network connection of the
end user system,
etc.). The icon overlay system retrieves user attributes by obtaining employee
records from a
database. The employee records being stored locally in the end user system
memory, in a
local database 105 accessible over a local network, or in a network database
131 accessible
over a wide area network 110 via a database server 121. As a further example,
the icon
overlay system retrieves user attributes by querying the end user system 100
or network
components of the wide area network 110 for information (e.g., the mac address
of the end
user system, the current GPS coordinates of the end user system, the security
level of the
current network connection, etc.).
File attributes associated with the target file are retrieved at step 340.
These file
attributes can pertain to any aspect of the file and may be obtained such that
the attributes
provide information about the file and are correlated with the user attributes
retrieved at step
330. File attributes include, but are not limited to: file properties (e.g.,
document type, shared
status, document protection status, etc.); content of the file (e.g.,
financial data, engineering
specifications, legal information, etc.); and access privileges of the file
content.
The icon overlay system retrieves user and file attributes, according to an
embodiment
of the present invention, by consulting a content repository containing
information regarding
the user and the target file. The content repository may be incorporated,
either locally or
remotely and can be accessed in a number of ways (e.g., via Service Oriented
Architecture
(SOA), via a client/server model using socket connections, via a proprietary
database using
proprietary mechanisms for communications, etc.) such that icon overlays are
determined in a
dynamic way. In other words, details about the user and file attributes are
stored in a content
repository. When it is time to determine the icon overlays to apply, the
content repository is
consulted (e.g., the name of the target file and the user are looked up in the
repository to
CA 02746836 2011-07-19
retrieve corresponding user and file attributes).
The icon overlay system retrieves file attributes, according to another
embodiment of
the present invention, by searching the actual contents of the file. In other
words, when it is
time to determine the icon overlays to apply, the icon overlay module 'peaks
at the file' to
identify certain file attributes. The icon overlay system looks at the actual
content of the file
(e.g., by searching for key words, images, etc.) that gives an indication of
the file content.
Thereby, file attributes are retrieved based on results of the search
performed to display
appropriate icon overlays.
The icon overlay system retrieves file attributes, according to another
embodiment of
the present invention, by reading information (e.g., metadata) that has been
embedded into the
file. For example, a target file that has been protected and stored in a
proprietary Extensible
Markup Language (XML) format contains metadata which describes the file id and
the policy
that has been used to protect the file. Therefore, certain file attributes of
the target file are
retrieved by reading the embedded metadata. In the case of a file that has
been protected and
stored in a proprietary Extensible Markup Language (XML) format via an
application (e.g.,
LeveLockg), the target file contains metadata which is used to retrieve file
attributes.
At step 350, the icon overlay system determines the icon overlay(s) to apply
to the
primary icon of the target file based on an aggregate of user and file
attributes. According to
an embodiment of the present invention, digital asset protection rules are
created and utilized
by icon overlay module 200 to determine an appropriate icon overlay to be
applied based on a
combination of user and file attributes. Digital asset protection rules
establish correlations
between user attributes and file attributes (e.g., roles, categories,
policies, etc.). A set of
digital asset protection rules governs the outcome for determining the icon
overlays to be
applied based on the established correlations between user and file
attributes. It is to be
understood that these rules can be made to specify any correlation between
user and file
attributes such that specific icon overlays are determined based on the
specified correlations,
and the determined icon overlay is relevant to the end user. The digital asset
protection rules
are preferably established and maintained by a system administrator, and
stored (e.g., locally
in memory of end user system 100, in a local database 105, in remote database
130 over
network 100 via database server 120, etc.). The icon overlay module accesses
and invokes
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the established protection rules to determine icon overlay image files to be
applied based on
an aggregate of user and file attributes. The at least one icon overlay is
applied at step 360.
The following examples are presented to provide context for establishing
protection
rules according to embodiments of the present invention. Roles define
collections of users by
attributes found in an associated active directory database (e.g., a group of
employees
assigned to the finance department, a group of users located in a certain zip
code, a group of
users having management responsibilities, a group of users with access
privileges, etc.).
Categories represent various types of content that can be contained in a
target file. For
instance, the security level (e.g., Top Secret, Classified, De-Classified,
Confidential, Un-
Classified, etc.) of the content is a category. The context of the content
(e.g., financial,
engineering, managerial, etc.) is another example of a category. Policies are
permissions
(e.g., grant, prohibit, not associated, etc.) allowed particular roles (e.g.,
employees of the
finance department) with regard to certain actions (e.g., read, write, mark-
up, etc.). It is to be
understood that roles, categories, and policies can be defined based on any
correlation
between certain user and file attributes and that these correlations form
rules that are invoked
to determine appropriate icon overlays to be applied.
In the case where a content repository is consulted, the file attributes of a
target file
and the user attributes are looked up. Based on the result of the look up, at
step 350, the
appropriate overlay(s) are determined to apply to the primary icon of the
target file for the
identified user according to the established rules, at step 360. In the case
where the file
attributes are retrieved based on searching the actual file contents, an
appropriate set of icons
are determined based on the file contents at step 350 to apply to the primary
icon of the target
file for the identified user according to the established rules. In the case
where the file
attributes are retrieved based on reading the embedded information, an
appropriate set of
overlay(s) are determined at step 350 from this embedded information (e.g.,
metadata)
according to the established rules.
The primary icon with the at least one applied icon overlay is displayed on
the end
user system, at step 370. According to embodiments of the present invention,
the selected
icon overlays are arranged on a primary icon such that, when displayed on the
end user
system, the primary icon and the icon overlay are clearly recognizable by the
end user. For
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CA 02746836 2011-07-19
example, the selected icon overlay is arranged on the primary icon such that,
at most, only a
portion of the primary icon is obstructed from view when the arrangement is
displayed. By
way of a further example, the color of an icon overlay or the primary icon is
changed (e.g., to
distinguish between the icon overlay and the underlying primary icon).
According to further
embodiments of the present invention, when the primary icon and icon overlays
are displayed,
the icon overlay(s) and/or the primary icon are re-sized (e.g., based on the
quantity of icon
overlays to be displayed).
A hybrid approach may be employed that incorporates two or more of the above
techniques to determine the icon overlay(s) for display and the arrangement of
the icon
overlay(s) on the primary icon of the target file. For example, the above
techniques of
reading metadata and consulting a content repository may be combined to use
metadata and
user information (e.g., username) to query a local or remote database or web
service to get
further information to determine which overlays are appropriate.
By providing a mechanism(s) that allows overlays to be dynamically assigned,
real-
time context sensitive overlays can be displayed which provide real value to
end user
applications.
For instance, files actively managed by an Enterprise Digital Rights
Management (EDRM) system may employ icon overlays for a variety of reasons.
The EDRM
server selects icon overlays that infer privileges of a specific end user
under the access policy
governing use of the managed target file at any given time. Thus, individual
icon overlays
may be used to provide a visual cue as to whether or not the user is, for
example, allowed to
view, modify, print, or export a managed file. At a glance, an end user sees
what icon
overlays have been applied to a primary icon of a target file and immediately
knows what
operations the user is or is not permitted with regard to the target file.
The EDRM server selects icon overlays that infer the EDRM policy, user role,
functional area, or project team that pertains to the end user. The use of
distinct icon overlays
may be utilized for policies, roles, business units (e.g. Contracts, Legal,
Human Resources,
Public Relations, Finance, etc), and/or project teams. A user or system
administrator
browsing EDRM managed files on a file server or network shared drive would
readily know
the nature of each file by viewing the applied icon overlays.
Therefore, embodiments of the present invention determine icon overlays that
convey
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meaningful visual cues about the target file with regard to the identified end
user. Fig. 4
shows example images of icon overlays according to an embodiment of the
present invention.
Icon overlays can indicate the type of content (e.g., financial, engineering,
legal, etc.) that the
target file contains and file relevance to the end user (e.g., accountant,
engineer, attorney,
etc.). As a further example, icon overlays indicate the level of access (e.g.,
read-write, read-
only, none, etc.) for an end user with regard to the target file. Icon
overlays, for yet another
example, indicate the amount of feature access (e.g., all, limited, none,
etc.) for the end user
with regard to the target file. It is to be understood that icon overlays
according to the present
invention are not limited to the examples provided herein, but rather are
unlimited in size,
shape, color, and character.
It is also to be understood that the various icon overlays can be combined in
any
fashion (e.g., one from each row of Fig. 4) to display a set of overlays over
a target file icon in
order to show visually to a user a file's context (i.e., the type of data
contained in the
document), the user's access to the file itself and/or the user's access to
the features and
functionality of the application for the given file.
As described above and depicted in the flow chart of Fig. 3, the particular
group of
overlays or pre-fabricated overlay selection is dependent on the users rights
or attributes as
they are described by a policy and/or back end system that is associated with
the file. For
instance, each time the user opens a folder containing a "protected" document,
a mechanism
(e.g., a web service) makes a call to a back end system (e.g., a database)
where the file name
and perhaps other identifying information about the file is used to determine
what the file is
and the permissions for the user with regard to the file. Once this
information is known, icon
module 200 is passed the information to select and display the icon overlays
that properly
represent to the specific user the appropriate information about the target
file.
The at least one icon overlay is applied to the primary icon by icon module
200. The
icon module, according to an embodiment of the present invention, makes a copy
of the image
file of the primary icon retrieved, and superimposes at least one icon overlay
in a pre-
determined position of the primary icon. It is anticipated that icon overlays
can be selected
from those illustrated in Fig. 4 (or whatever table of overlay icons is
appropriate for the
intended document and audience) and placed on the file icon in predefined
zones.
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CA 02746836 2011-07-19
Fig. 5 shows an example of overlay zones 1, 2, and 3 of a primary icon for
applying
icon overlays according to an embodiment of the present invention. Overlay
zones 1, 2, and 3
may indicate an order of placement of overlay icons based on the total number
of overlay
icons to be applied. The placement of an overlay icon in one of the overlay
zones may further
convey a certain meaning to the end user. For example, an icon overlay (e.g.,
indicating a due
date) placed in overlay zone I may indicate that the file requires immediate
attention (e.g.,
review of a document by the end user is past due by the specified due date),
while an icon
overlay (e.g., indicating a due date) placed in overlay zone 2 may indicate
that the file
requires some attention by a future date (e.g., review of a document by the
end user is
required by the specified due date). An icon overlay (e.g., indicating a due
date) placed in
overlay zone 3 may indicate that the file no longer requires attention (e.g.,
a document has
already been reviewed prior to the due date).
Depending on the end use of the overlays, there could be more or less than
three
overlay zones, and that the overlay zones could be located in any area within
the file icon.
Fig. 6 shows several different example icon overlay configurations (e.g.,
vertical row,
horizontal row, corners, etc.) according to further embodiments of the present
invention. It
should be understood that this mechanism and the "set" of overlays displayed
on a primary
icon convey meaning to a user through the use of one or more images that
appear on the icon.
According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the primary icon
or the icon
overlays can be re-sized or re-positioned to allow for more icon overlays to
be applied.
Fig. 7 illustrates icon overlays applied to a primary icon of a target file
according to an
embodiment of the present invention. The icon overlays depicted in Fig. 7
convey
information about particular attributes of the file or content of the file, as
well as the end
user's rights and permissions with regard to the target file.
By way of example, a first file icon 710 viewed by an end user includes three
overlays
that convey to the end user a particular set of information with regard to a
first target file. The
information conveyed is potentially unique and meaningful to the viewing user.
The icon
overlays are based on an applied policy that is associated with the file and,
when evaluated for
the target user, provide a specific set of overlay images. For example, the
single hatched
circle in the upper right hand corner of icon 710 is an expiration indicator
that indicates to the
CA 02746836 2011-07-19
user that the target file is available to the user for at least ten more days.
The overlay icon at
the lower left hand corner of this first icon is an indication to the user
that the user has read-
and-write access to the target file. The overlay icon on the lower right hand
corner of this first
icon indicates the type of content (e.g., engineering information) contained
in the target file.
With respect to a second file icon 720 viewed by the same user, a different
overlay set
is displayed based on the unique attributes of the second file with regard to
the viewing user.
For example, the double hatched circle in the upper right hand corner of the
second file icon
indicates that this second target file for this user will expire in less than
one day. Another
differently hatched circle (not shown) indicates that the user's permission to
access this
second target file has already expired. The overlay icon at the lower left
hand corner of the
second file icon indicates that the user has only read access to this second
target file when
opened. The icon on the lower right hand corner of file icon 720 indicates
that this particular
target file is a financial document.
It is to be understood that the dynamic icon overlays may be combined in any
fashion
and the type of information conveyed by the applied icon overlays may be any
desired
information. Different applications, however, may find different types of
icons useful for
conveying information specific to that application. For example, in a DRM
system, a
document whose usage rights are about to expire for a particular user may want
to convey this
information to a user using a particular icon overlay. In addition, a document
that is of a
particular type may want to convey its type to a user. Furthermore, documents
that have
certain access privileges may want to convey a user's access privilege for the
particular
document in a visual way using an icon overly specifically meant for that
user. It should be
understood that the nature and variety of information that can be conveyed
using icon
overlays is not limited to the examples set forth herein.
The concept of applying dynamic icon overlays, according to present invention
embodiments, can be extended to other functionality. For example, a folder
browser
application including custom columns for displaying the icon overlays to allow
file sorting
and file search capabilities based on the user and file attributes, thus
making this system of
icon overlays even more robust and useful to end users. For example, a user
could perform a
search for all documents that will expire in less than one day, or sort all
documents by type
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CA 02746836 2011-07-19
(e.g. Engineering, Financial, Legal, etc.).
The present invention embodiments may be utilized for various applications.
For
example, a present invention embodiment may be used to determine and apply
icon overlays
to convey user specific information regarding any type of target file for any
application. It is
to be understood that a set of icon overlays and rules governing which icon
overlays are
determined to be applied can be defined for any application. In a policy based
system where
an asset (i.e., target file) is protected by a specific policy and data
security is the primary goal,
a set of overlays can be employed to convey to end users the security stance
that is currently
being applied to the asset in question. Given a set of overlays, a user can
quickly ascertain the
type of file they are looking at, if they are looking at a sensitive file, if
they will have access
to the file, or if they are looking at a file that needs there immediate
attention.
In an Information Rights Management/Data Rights Management (IRM/DRM) system
such things as: duration of access, type of access, or time of access to
assets are traditionally
managed.
Using a set of appropriate icon overlays, an IRM/DRM system can quickly
convey the rights and privileges of an end user with regard to a specific
asset.
In an environment where conveying information (e.g., file type, file content,
etc.) is
important (and security is a secondary goal), these icon overlays can be
applied in numerous
ways, and combinations. End users can gain a good idea of what is contained in
the file by
merely glancing at the overlay combination.
The end user system of present invention embodiments may be implemented by any
quantity of any personal or other type of computer or processing system (e.g.,
IBM-
compatible, Apple, Macintosh, laptop, palm pilot, microprocessor, mobile
phone, etc.). The
end user system may include any commercially available operating system (e.g.,
Windows,
OS/2, Unix, Linux, etc.), any commercially available and/or custom software
(e.g.,
communications software, icon module software, etc.), any types of input
devices (e.g.,
keyboard, mouse, microphone, voice recognition, touch screen, etc.), and any
types of output
devices (e.g., monitor, display, screen, graphical user interface, television,
digital projector,
etc.). It is to be understood that the software of the dynamic icon overlay
system may be
implemented in any desired computer language, and could be developed by one of
ordinary
skill in the computer and/or programming arts based on the functional
description contained
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CA 02746836 2011-07-19
herein and the flow charts illustrated in the drawings. Further, any
references herein of
software performing various functions generally refer to computer systems or
processors
performing those functions under software control. The computer system may
alternatively
be implemented by hardware or other processing circuitry.
The various functions of the dynamic icon overlay system may be distributed in
any
manner among any quantity (e.g., one or more) of hardware and/or software
modules or units,
computer or processing systems or circuitry, where the computer or processing
systems may
be disposed locally or remotely of each other and communicate via any suitable
communications medium (e.g., LAN, WAN, Intranet, Internet, hardwire, modem
connection,
wireless, ad-hoc network, etc.). The software and/or algorithms described
above and
illustrated in the flow charts and diagrams may be modified in any manner that
accomplishes
the functions described herein.
The dynamic icon overlay system, according to present invention embodiments,
may
communicate between parts of the system distributed over a network via any
communications
medium (e.g., satellite, WAN, LAN, Internet, Intranet, modem, wireless, ad-hoc
network,
etc.). The system may use one or more communication mediums to communicate
between
the distributed parts over the network.
The dynamic icon overlay system may accommodate any type of file in any
desired
format (e.g., document file formats (e.g., ASCII, plain text, any word
processor or other
application format, etc.), image file formats (e.g., JPEG, GIF, BMP, etc.),
executables file
formats (e.g., .EXE, etc.), etc.). The dynamic icon overlay system may utilize
any quantity of
any suitable overlay icons to identify any type of user attribute (e.g.,
access permissions,
location, security level of an end user system network connection, etc.)
and/or any type of file
attribute (e.g., file contents include financial information, file type is an
image file, file
contents include secure information, etc.) and may compare the identified user
and file
attributes to any policy correlating any user attribute with any file
attribute.
The dynamic icon overlay system may be implemented as a separate stand-alone
system or may be in the form of an embeddable system (e.g., within another
system, as an
embeddable software component within other software, etc.). The dynamic icon
overlay
system may further function as a server in communication with client or user
systems via any
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CA 02746836 2011-07-19
communications medium (e.g., network, WAN, LAN, Internet, Intranet, modem,
etc.) to
process dynamic icon overlay calls for end user systems. The dynamic icon
overlay software
may be available on a recordable medium (e.g., magnetic or optical mediums,
magneto-optic
mediums, floppy diskettes, CD-ROM, memory devices, etc.) for use on stand-
alone systems
or systems connected by a network or other communications medium, and/or may
be
downloaded (e.g., in the form of carrier waves, packets, etc.) to systems via
a network or
other communications medium.
The dynamic icon overlay system, according to present invention embodiments,
may
use any type of database or other storage unit to store any type of data
(e.g., user attributes,
file attributes, icon overlays, etc.) and any form of data (e.g., documents,
images, text, etc.).
The database can be any type of database or other storage unit (e.g., Subject-
area (SADB),
Analytical, Data Warehouse, Distributed, End-user, External, Hypermedia,
Navigational, In-
memory, Document-oriented, Real-time, Relational, etc.). The database of
present invention
embodiments may be queried for information by any suitable technique (e.g.,
using Structured
Query Language (SQL), Search-oriented Architecture (SOA), etc.).
The dynamic icon overlay system may utilize any conventional or other icon
handler
of any end user system or server system, and may apply any icon overlay to any
primary icon
in any manner and at any point during processing (e.g., initially, during user
attribute
identification, during file attribute identification, etc.). The icon overlays
may be provided in
any desired fashion to convey information about the file that is relevant to
the end user (e.g.,
any symbols or images to indicate certain file contents, a date indicator to
convey to the end
user that the end user has access to the file until the date indicated, etc.).
The primary icons
and icon overlays can be any image, size, or shape. The primary icons and icon
overlays, in
combination or independently, can be re-sized or re-shaped. The overlay icons
can be applied
at any location on or proximate a primary icon.
The rules or policies may establish any correlations (e.g., roles, categories,
policies,
etc.) between any user attribute and any file attribute in any quantity and
any combination
thereof, may be implemented by any desired data structure (e.g., file, array,
linked-list, stack,
queue, etc.), and may include any desired correlation. The rules or policies
may further be
manipulated by a user or system administrator. The rules or policies may be
based on any
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CA 02746836 2011-07-19
desired criteria, where compliance with all or any portion of the criteria may
satisfy the rule or
policy.
The present invention may be utilized for various applications. For example,
the
present invention may be used: in a policy based system (e.g., to convey the
security stance
being applied to files, to convey the sensitivity of the content of files, to
convey that files
require attention, etc.), in a digital rights management system (e.g., to
manage duration of
access to files, type of access to files, time of access to files, etc.), etc.
As a stand-alone
application, the present invention may assist administrators to compile a
comprehensive list of
users that meet a certain criteria with regard to certain user and file
attributes (e.g., a list of
users that have access to a secure file, a list of users whose access to a
certain file are pending
termination, etc.). In the form of an embedded application, the present
invention can improve
operability of applications with regard to user relevant attributes of a file
conveyed by an icon
overlay. For example, an application can activate/deactivate a certain
function or operation of
the application based on criteria relating to an icon overlay superimposed on
a primary icon of
a target file and the icon overlay indicating that the end user is
allowed/denied certain
permissions for the target file.
From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that the invention
makes
available a novel dynamic icon overlay system and method for determining an
icon overlay
and applying the icon overlay to a primary icon of a target file, wherein the
icon overlay is
determined based on an aggregate of user and file attributes. Having described
preferred
embodiments of a dynamic icon overlay system and method for determining and
applying an
icon overlay to a primary icon of a target file, it is believed that other
modifications,
variations and changes will be suggested to those skilled in the art in view
of the teachings set
forth herein. It is therefore to be understood that all such variations,
modifications and
changes are believed to fall within the scope of the present invention as
defined by the
appended claims.
