Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Jonathan Alexander Bockelman

Daniel W Crevier

David Citron

Sarah Michelle Filman

Arcadiy Gregory Kantor

Jason Fergus Moore

Daron Spektor

Gareth Alan Howell

Jeffrey Earl Steinbok

Jennifer I Shen

Michael John Novak

Chris J Guzak

Tyler Kien Beam

Marcus Eduardo Markiewicz

Jack Allen Nichols

Adam Christopher Czeisler

Juan-Lee Pang

Michal Krzysztof Piaseczny

Amnon Itamar Govrin

Daniel Vincent Fiordalis

Marcelo Albuquerque Fernandes Mas

Benjamin M Yim

Peter Eberhardy

Kevin Kaiwon Lam

Rafael Lopez-Uricoechea

Gyorgy K Schadt

Joseph Andrew Bono

Hui Huang

Stephen Lincoln Rice

Amy Jennifer Beauford

Shabbir A Shahpurwala

Brian M Perrin

Alisa Yujin So

Eileen S Hash

Michael F Matsel

Marcelo Albuquerque Mas

Joseph Arthur Metzger

Brandon Philip Zahl

Rebecca L Pezely

Collaborating on documents by e-mail may be streamlined into a unified process. In one example, a user creates a document in an online document service, and sends the document to collaborators by mailing a link to the document. The document may have permissions set so that the creator of the document, and any user on the e-mail distribution list, can read and edit the document. When a user receives the e-mail, that user may open and edit the document. Upon closing the editing application, the user may be presented with an appropriate interface to create a reply e-mail.

Streamlined collaboration on document

A system enabling smart versioning of files is provided. Techniques disclosed herein enable a system to snap to new versions of a file based on one or more measures of user interactions with the file. For instance, a system can create a new version number for a file based on an amount of time a user has spent editing the file, a number of saves that have occurred, and/or a quantity of data applied to edits of the file. The techniques disclosed herein can also utilize telemetry data to fine tune weightings that are applied to data measuring specific types user activity to provide results that best serve a range of use scenarios and file types. By providing version numbers of a file that are based on user interactions, a system can provide more meaningful version numbers that are aligned with the contents of a file.

Smart versioning for files

A computing system includes at least one processor and memory storing instructions executable by the at least one processor, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the computing system to instruct a synchronization engine to synchronize first and second versions of a file, the first version being stored on a first storage system and the second version being stored on a second storage system, receive a backoff indicator corresponding to the file, based on the backoff indicator, instruct the synchronization engine to backoff synchronizing changes to the file, and allow the changes to the file to be synchronized by a co-authoring application, maintain a first set of collaborative metadata indicative of content of the first version of the file, and maintain a second set of collaborative metadata indicative of content of the second version of the file.

Coordinating file synchronization between a sync engine and another application that supports document collaboration

The techniques enable a device to identify a best suitable application to open a resource such as a file. The file can be shared via a link or can be attached to a communication. The link comprises a uniform resource locator (URL) or is in some way associated with an underlying URL. The URL includes a pattern, or a portion that identifies a domain (e.g., a hostname) and/or a portion that identifies a type of file that is to be accessed and opened. Upon activation of the link, the device analyzes the URL to determine the pattern. The device then obtains, from a service associated with the URL, a ranked list of applications that are authorized to open the file. Moreover, the device performs, at run-time, a negotiation with the service to determine which application is best suited to open the file.

Identifying the best suitable application to open a file shared via a link

A synchronization engine detects a notification of a change to a file. It determines whether an application associated with the file has indicated that the file is to be synchronized by the application. If so, the changes to the file are synchronized between a cloud-based storage system and a local disk by the application. Collaborative metadata, associated with the synchronized file, is updated to indicate a state of a copy of the file on the local disk and a copy of the file in the cloud-based storage system. The collaborative metadata is stored by the synchronization engine.

A system of resource-based action attribution provides a mechanism for tracking actions performed on a resource shared among multiple users of a resource sharing system, whether the users are authenticated within the resource sharing system or not. The tracking mechanism may allow users to track identifying information of other users who perform actions (e.g., editing actions) on the shared resource. A user can access a resource by providing a resource identifier and/or an access credential associated with the resource. The user's actions on the resource can be associated with an invitee identifier (e.g., an email address) that is associated in memory with the resource identifier and/or the access credential.

Resource-based action attribution

Techniques for sharing of items from online storage (e.g., cloud storage) are described herein. In at least some embodiments, sharing links can be configured as one-time sharing links that provide recipients with limited, one-time access to a shared item for the purpose of selecting or registering an account to use for subsequent access to the item. Recipients are able to select accounts they find most convenient for accessing a shared item without the owner/sharer of the item necessarily having contact information for those accounts or sending a link to the accounts. Selection of a one-time link initiates an authentication sequence that selectively provides an option to select a particular account. Once the one-time sharing link is redeemed, the one-time sharing link is invalidated for subsequent access to the item.

Shared item account selection

Techniques are described to provide revocable object access. In an implementation, a user may provide content and an object (e.g., a picture) to be published with the content. The object is uploaded to a storage location, and a uniform resource locator (URL) that includes a token is generated for the object. The token is registered in an access control list (ACL), and token permission settings in the ACL are utilized to control access to the object. The URL may be embedded in the content. When a viewer requests the content, the object may be retrieved from the storage location using the URL. The user may revoke access to the object by changing the token permission settings in the ACL.

Revocable object access

Growing community of inventors

Kirkland, WA, United States of America

Jonathan Alexander Bockelman