Abstract: A received reply email document enables some action to be effectuated using data included in the email document responsive to field identifiers associated with the data and corresponding to fields of metadata. The associated field identifiers that correspond to known fields of the metadata provide some expectation as to the semantic meaning and/or syntactic constraints of the data to which the field identifiers are associated. In a described implementation, an actionable email documents module creates an email document having blocks that are mapped to fields of metadata. The email document is transmitted to one or more recipients. Each recipient adds data to the blocks so that the data becomes mapped to the fields of the metadata. The recipients return a reply email document having the field-mapped data. Upon receipt, the module can effectuate some action using the field-mapped data responsive to the mappings.

Abstract: A received reply email document enables some action to be effectuated using data included in the email document responsive to field identifiers associated with the data and corresponding to fields of metadata. The associated field identifiers that correspond to known fields of the metadata provide some expectation as to the semantic meaning and/or syntactic constraints of the data to which the field identifiers are associated. In a described implementation, an actionable email documents module creates an email document having blocks that are mapped to fields of metadata. The email document is transmitted to one or more recipients. Each recipient adds data to the blocks so that the data becomes mapped to the fields of the metadata. The recipients return a reply email document having the field-mapped data. Upon receipt, the module can effectuate some action using the field-mapped data responsive to the mappings.

Abstract: A received reply email document enables some action to be effectuated using data included in the email document responsive to field identifiers associated with the data and corresponding to fields of metadata. The associated field identifiers that correspond to known fields of the metadata provide some expectation as to the semantic meaning and/or syntactic constraints of the data to which the field identifiers are associated. In a described implementation, an actionable email documents module creates an email document having blocks that are mapped to fields of metadata. The email document is transmitted to one or more recipients. Each recipient adds data to the blocks so that the data becomes mapped to the fields of the metadata. The recipients return a reply email document having the field-mapped data. Upon receipt, the module can effectuate some action using the field-mapped data responsive to the mappings.

Abstract: A received reply email document enables some action to be effectuated using data included in the email document responsive to field identifiers associated with the data and corresponding to fields of metadata. The associated field identifiers that correspond to known fields of the metadata provide some expectation as to the semantic meaning and/or syntactic constraints of the data to which the field identifiers are associated. In a described implementation, an actionable email documents module creates an email document having blocks that are mapped to fields of metadata. The email document is transmitted to one or more recipients. Each recipient adds data to the blocks so that the data becomes mapped to the fields of the metadata. The recipients return a reply email document having the field-mapped data. Upon receipt, the module can effectuate some action using the field-mapped data responsive to the mappings.

Abstract: A received reply email document enables some action to be effectuated using data included in the email document responsive to field identifiers associated with the data and corresponding to fields of metadata. The associated field identifiers that correspond to known fields of the metadata provide some expectation as to the semantic meaning and/or syntactic constraints of the data to which the field identifiers are associated. In a described implementation, an actionable email documents module creates an email document having blocks that are mapped to fields of metadata. The email document is transmitted to one or more recipients. Each recipient adds data to the blocks so that the data becomes mapped to the fields of the metadata. The recipients return a reply email document having the field-mapped data. Upon receipt, the module can effectuate some action using the field-mapped data responsive to the mappings.

Abstract: A schema-based service for Internet access to per-user services data, wherein access to data is based on each user's identity. The service includes a schema that defines rules and a structure for each user's data, and also includes methods that provide access to the data in a defined way. The services schema thus corresponds to a logical document containing the data for each user. The user manipulates (e.g., reads or writes) data in the logical document by data access requests through defined methods. In one implementation, the services schemas are arranged as XML documents, and the services provide methods that control access to the data based on the requesting user's identification, defined role and scope for that role. In this way, data can be accessed by its owner, and shared to an extent determined by the owner.

Abstract: Described is a schema-based notification platform that provides regularized notification handling including user control and normalization of the operation of policies across different information types and contexts. Information-service schemas and services are combined to build a content-sensitive and context-sensitive information service to communicate information to recipient devices of users that subscribe to those services. An information agent service collects the information, and based on various criteria, determines if, when, and how to send and render the information, and to which subscribing client device or devices. The set of schemas include a notification schema that represents the subscription of a service to an information source and details about that information, and a device schema that represents information about user devices.

Abstract: Described is a schema-based notification platform that provides regularized notification handling including user control and normalization of the operation of policies across different information types and contexts. Information-service schemas and services are combined to build a content-sensitive and context-sensitive information service to communicate information to recipient devices of users that subscribe to those services. An information agent service collects the information, and based on various criteria, determines if, when, and how to send and render the information, and to which subscribing client device or devices. The set of schemas include a notification schema that represents the subscription of a service to an information source and details about that information, and a device schema that represents information about user devices.

Abstract: Described is a schema-based notification platform that provides regularized notification handling including user control and normalization of the operation of policies across different information types and contexts. Information-service schemas and services are combined to build a content-sensitive and context-sensitive information service to communicate information to recipient devices of users that subscribe to those services. An information agent service collects the information, and based on various criteria, determines if, when, and how to send and render the information, and to which subscribing client device or devices. The set of schemas include a notification schema that represents the subscription of a service to an information source and details about that information, and a device schema that represents information about user devices.

Abstract: Described is a schema-based notification platform that provides regularized notification handling including user control and normalization of the operation of policies across different information types and contexts. Information-service schemas and services are combined to build a content-sensitive and context-sensitive information service to communicate information to recipient devices of users that subscribe to those services. An information agent service collects the information, and based on various criteria, determines if, when, and how to send and render the information, and to which subscribing client device or devices. The set of schemas include a notification schema that represents the subscription of a service to an information source and details about that information, and a device schema that represents information about user devices.

Abstract: Described is a schema-based context service that provides regularized context data, such as to an information agent that handles notifications. The context service and context schema describe user contextual state data, including presence information, location information, and schedule information, along with people and groups data, sensor data, computing context data and/or extended-context data. The state data may be obtained via similar schema based services.

Abstract: A server federation cooperatively interacts to fulfill service requests by communicating using data structures that follow a schema in which the meaning of the communicated data is implied by the schema. Thus, in addition to the data being communicated, the meaning of the data is also communication allowing for intelligent decisions and inferences to be made based on the meaning of the data. Cooperative interaction is facilitated over a wide variety of networks by messaging through a common API that supports multiple transport mechanisms. Also, mid-session transfer between client devices is facilitated by schema and the transport-independent messaging structure. The user interfaces of the client devices will appear consistent even if the client devices have different user interface capabilities.

Abstract: A client sends a message to a server computer system over a network. Upon receiving the message either from the client or from a local process, the server passes the message down through a software stack to a lower layer module that is capable of detecting errors in the message. That lower layer module then detects an error and inserts error information that represents the error into an error reporting data structure. The lower layer also inserts potential text remedy information on how to correct the error. The module that detected the error then returns and passes the error reporting data structure back up through the software stack. The server then sends the response to the message along with the text field that includes the text error information back to the client computing system or other local requesting process.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer program products for accessing data where the data store provider is abstracted from both the data manipulation language used to access the data and the schema that describes the data. A received request structured in accordance with the data manipulation language is represented in an intermediate form. From the intermediate representation, a native request for any of one or more data store providers may be produced. Before being returned to the requestor, a native response from data store provider may be formatted so that it is structured in accordance with the data manipulation language used for the request. A given request received by one computer system may cause a procedure to be generated for accessing the data store provider. When a later request is received by second computer system, the previously generated stored procedure may be reused if applicable.

Abstract: A client sends a request to an authentication server requesting access to a service at an application server. The authentication server returns a token containing an encrypted version of a session key that was encrypted using a secret shared between the authentication server and the application server. The client encrypts application data using a corresponding unencrypted version of the session key and text-encodes both the encrypted application data and the encrypted version of the session key. The text-encoded application and text-encoded encrypted version of the session key are both included in a message and sent to the application server. The application server decrypts the encrypted version of the session key using the shared secret so as to reveal the unencrypted version of the session key. The application server then decrypts the encrypted application data using the revealed unencrypted version of the session key.

Abstract: A schema-based service for Internet access to per-user services data, wherein access to data is based on each user's identity. The service includes a schema that defines rules and a structure for each user's data, and also includes methods that provide access to the data in a defined way. The services schema thus corresponds to a logical document containing the data for each user. The user manipulates (e.g., reads or writes) data in the logical document by data access requests through defined methods. In one implementation, the services schemas are arranged as XML documents, and the services provide methods that control access to the data based on the requesting user's identification, defined role and scope for that role. In this way, data can be accessed by its owner, and shared to an extent determined by the owner.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer program products for converting a single expression referencing multiple branches within a hierarchical schema into multiple expressions referencing a single branch of the hierarchical schema. The single expression includes expression components that identify branches within the hierarchical schema. Relative to a given branch, any branches referenced by a given expression component are identified. The identified branches are stored as new branches. If no branch is identified, the current branch may be removed as inconsistent. Storage for current branches is cleared, the new branches are copied to the current branches, and the process is repeated for each expression component. An expression component may include a predicate for determining which branches are referenced. The predicate may include predicate expressions that are converted to predicate branches and the predicate may include predicate operators.

Abstract: A schema-based ApplicationSettings service for Internet access to per-user ApplicationSettings data, wherein access to data is based on each user's identity. The ApplicationSettings service includes a schema that defines rules and a structure for each user's data, and also includes methods that provide access to the data in a defined way. The ApplicationSettings schema thus corresponds to a logical document containing the data for each user. The user manipulates (e.g., reads or writes) data in the logical document by data access requests through defined methods. In one implementation, the ApplicationSettings schemas are arranged to provide XML documents, and the services provide methods that control access to the data based on the requesting user's identification, defined role and scope for that role. In this way, document data can be accessed by its owner, and shared to an extent determined by the owner.

Abstract: A schema-based FavoriteWebsites service for centralized access to per-user favorite website data, wherein access to data is based on each user's identity. The FavoriteWebsites service includes a schema that defines rules and a structure for each user's data, and also includes methods that provide access to the data in a defined way. The FavoriteWebsites schema thus corresponds to a logical document containing the data for each user. The user manipulates (e.g., reads or writes) data in the logical document by data access requests through defined methods. The structure of the data is defined from the perspective of the data, not from that of an application program or a device, whereby appropriate programs can communicate with the FavoriteWebsites service to access the data, with existing knowledge of the schema-defined format, regardless of the device or application program in use.

Abstract: A schema-based device service that provides centralized access to per-user device data, wherein access to the device data is based on each user's identity. The device service includes a schema that defines rules and a structure for each user's data, and also includes methods that provide access to the data in a defined way. The device schema thus corresponds to a logical document containing the data for each user. A service such as a notification/alerts service accesses data in the logical document by data access requests through defined methods, such as in order to customize or modify a notification for a device based on the device characteristics. In one implementation, the device schemas are arranged as XML documents, and the services provide methods that control access to the data based on the requesting user's identification, defined role and scope for that role.