Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Seth Fox

Erez Kikin Gil

Daniel Paul Costenaro

Yibing Zhu

Ruth Kikin-Gil

Christopher Andrews Jung

Robert Andrew Little

David Benjamin Lee

Rolf Arnold Ebeling

Victor Poznanski

Ali Taleghani

Caitlin E Ashley-Rollman

Paul James Reid

James Squires Masson

Robin Emily Wakefield

Benjamin David Smith

Douglas Maxwell Taylor

Ian Dwyer Curry

Kimberly Shay Koenig

Robyn Sambo

Christopher Rinker

Kathryn Veronica Jean Sullivan

Michael Gary Heyns

Georges Krinker

Edward Sean Hayes

Stephanie Lyn Burg

Jim Masson

In various implementations, a productivity application allows selected content from an electronic document to be shared with and edited by multiple users through instances of a collaboration component. The collaboration component includes a distributed data structure that stores state information about the shared content. The component also includes application logic for managing the state information to reflect user edits and other such changes. This allows the selected content to be shared with the users in any application that supports the collaboration component and without the entirety of the document having to be shared. A user can experience the content in the context of applications other than the productivity application that hosts the document.

Collaboration components for sharing content from electronic documents

Collaborator content selection and manipulation actions and comments during interaction with a document are recorded to enhance asynchronous collaboration. The collaborator content selection and manipulation actions and comments are recorded during interaction with a document in a first collaboration viewport at a first time and played back in a second collaboration viewport at a second time while the same or a different instance of the document is displayed. The collaborator content selection and manipulation actions and comments include at least text selection, mouse or pen movements, and voice comments or ink annotations that are played back to recreate the collaborator changes and comments as though they were occurring in real-time, thereby creating a user experience that is more like the 'over the shoulder' collaboration that would be available to collaborators that are at the same physical location.

View playback to enhance collaboration and comments

A system configured intelligently reusing content and format is provided. The system receives a selection of data to be copied and an indication to copy the selected data and copies the selected data. The system receives an indication to paste the selected data at a second location. The selected data is analyzed to determine one or more options available for the paste, whereby each of the options being selectable to change an aspect of the selected data being pasted. The one or more options and an image of a placeholder representing the selected data are presented at the second location. The system receives a selection of an option from the one or more options. In response to receiving the selection of the option, the system causes presentation of the selected data in place of the image of the placeholder based on the selected option.

Intelligent content and formatting reuse

Systems and methods for managing an inline conversation area within a document are provided. In example embodiments, a collaboration system causes presentation of a user interface displaying a document that is being collaboratively edited by a plurality of users. The collaboration system receives an indication to present an inline conversation area within the document. In response, the inline conversation area is displayed within the document on the user interface, whereby the inline conversation area is visually distinguished from content of the document. The collaboration system receives, via the inline conversation area, input from the plurality of users. The input comprises comments being exchanged between the plurality of users and draft content. The inputs are displayed in the inline conversation area within the document on the user interface.

Inline document conversation system

Systems and methods for presenting content updates in a collaborative computing environment. One system includes a memory storing content and annotations generated in the collaborative computing environment an electronic processor communicatively coupled to the memory. The electronic processor is configured to retrieve, from the memory, a plurality of annotations associated with a document. The electronic processor is configured to assign a relevancy score to each of the plurality of annotations based on at least one relevancy factor associated with the annotation. The electronic processor is configured to determine a subset of the plurality of annotations from the plurality of annotations based on the relevancy score for each annotation. The electronic processor is configured to display the subset of the plurality of annotations.

Presenting content updates based on contextual information in a collaborative environment

Systems, methods, and software are disclosed herein for graphically organizing content in a user interface to a software application. A visual representations of data objects is presented on a canvas in the user interface. User input is received indicative of at least a visual construct for arranging the visual representations of the data objects on the canvas and criteria for arranging the visual representations of the data objects with respect to the visual construct. Data associated with each of the data objects that relates to the criteria is then identified. Each of the visual representations of data objects are placed on the visual construct based on the data related to the criteria.

Graphically organizing content in a user interface to a software application

Non-limiting examples described herein relate to dynamic and intelligent transformation of a data object to a form that fits a context of a content portion in a receiving application/service. As an example, action(s), such as a drag and drop, is received through a user interface of a productivity service. The drag and drop drags a data object onto a content portion of a digital document. A context for the drag and drop is determined based on semantic analysis of the drag and drop. A composite data object is generated based on the determined context of the drag and drop. The composite data object comprises the content portion and a representation of the data object that alters presentation of the data object to fit a context of the content portion. The composite data object may be surfaced through the user interface.

Transformation of data object based on context

Systems, methods, and software are disclosed herein for indicating a change to content in a document to a user. A document is displayed in a user interface to an application. Content then is introduced into the document from a source external to the document. After the content has been introduced into the document, the source of the content is queried for any changes to the content at the source. If a change has occurred, an indication of the change to the content at the source is introduced in the document.

Displaying an indication of changes made to content at a source

User interface information related to relevant events of interest is provided. Events can occur anywhere in a document, and may or may not be relevant to a user utilizing an assistive technology (AT) application, such as a screen reader. A provider-side signaling system component determines whether raised events are relevant to the user. In some examples, when an application makes a plurality of attribute changes in a document at once, the signaling provider batches the related events as a single transaction, and generates a generalized annotation describing the changes. The signaling provider further packages the event notification, and sends the event notification to a client-side signaling system component. The signaling client receives the notification, and determines whether to alert the user of the event(s) based on verbosity settings. The AT application is enabled to interpret the event notification and alert the user in a meaningful way.

Assistive technology notifications for relevant metadata changes in a document

An application of a touch-based device provides a touch-based reorganization of a page element. The application determines a modification associated with a touch action and a page element in response to detecting the touch action on the page element. A control and a hint associated with the modification is displayed in proximity to the page element. The page element is reorganized based on the modification.

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

Seth Fox