METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR INTER-APPLICATION COMMUNICATION
A data processing method includes (a) executing a messaging application program and other application programs on a computer system; (b) analyzing text in each message handled by the messaging application program to identify textual data items in the message that can potentially be processed by the application programs; (c) displaying the analyzed messages to the user, such that each textual data item in the messages is visually marked and selectable by the user; (d) receiving an input from the user selecting a textual data item; (e) broadcasting information on the selected textual data item to the application programs; (f) determining independently through each of the application programs whether the broadcasted information is semantically relevant to that application program; and (g) if so, processing the information through the application program and displaying results to the user.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/738,693 filed on Jan. 9, 2020 entitled METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR INTER-APPLICATION COMMUNICATION, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/870,381 filed on Jul. 3, 2019 entitled METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR INTER-APPLICATION COMMUNICATION, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUNDThe present application relates generally to methods and systems for facilitating communication among application programs running in a computer system.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSUREA computer system in accordance with one or more embodiments comprises at least one processor; memory associated with the at least one processor; a display; and a messaging application program and one or more other application programs stored in the memory that can be executed by the at least one processor. Each of the messaging application program and the one or more other application programs are capable of processing data and displaying data to a user of the computer system on the display. The messaging application program enables real-time transmission of messages to and from the user. The computer system is configured to: (a) execute the messaging application program and the one or more other application programs on a computer system; (b) analyze text in each message received by or to be sent by the user in the messaging application program to identify one or more textual data items in the message that can potentially be processed by the one or more other application programs; (c) display messages analyzed in (b) to the user by the messaging application, wherein each textual data item in the messages identified in step (b) is visually marked and selectable by the user; (d) receive an input from the user selecting a textual data item in one of the messages; (e) broadcast information on the textual data item selected by the user to the one or more other application programs; (f) determine independently through each of the one or more other application programs whether the information on the textual data item broadcast in step (e) is semantically relevant to that application program; and (g) when the information on the textual data item is determined to be semantically relevant to an application program, process the information on the textual data item through the application program and display results to the user.
A data processing method in accordance with one or more embodiments includes the steps of: (a) executing a messaging application program and one or more other application programs on a computer system, each of the messaging application program and the one or more other application programs displaying data to a user of the computer system, wherein the messaging application program enables real-time transmission of messages to and from the user; (b) analyzing text in each message received by or to be sent by the user in the messaging application program to identify one or more textual data items in the message that can potentially be processed by the one or more other application programs; (c) displaying messages analyzed in (b) to the user by the messaging application, wherein each textual data item in the messages identified in step (b) is visually marked and selectable by the user; (d) receiving an input from the user selecting a textual data item in one of the messages; (e) broadcasting information on the textual data item selected by the user to the one or more other application programs; (f) determining independently through each of the one or more other application programs whether the information on the textual data item broadcast in step (e) is semantically relevant to that application program; and (g) when the information on the textual data item is determined to be semantically relevant to an application program, processing the information on the textual data item through the application program and displaying results to the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,135,095 entitled METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR INTER-APPLICATION COMMUNICATION is assigned to the assignee of the present application and is incorporated by reference herein. That patent discloses methods and systems for enabling application programs executing on a computer system to share data with each other. A computer system user can post a particular data item displayed by one application program on a virtual bulletin board. Other application programs running on the computer system listen for posted data items. If an application program determines that a posted data item is relevant to that application program, it automatically imports and processes the data item along with any needed other data associated with the data item, and displays the results to the user.
The inter-application communication system enables application developers to create complex software systems from a large number of relatively small and simple individual application programs. Users can select any particular combination of application programs to work together from many different possible combinations. Working with relatively small and simple individual application programs rather than larger and significantly more complex programs allows system developers to greatly increase the speed of software development. Also, support and maintenance costs can be reduced.
The computer system 102 comprises any type of computing device or system capable of running application programs. The computer system 102 comprises a user-operated device such as a personal computer (e.g., a desktop, notebook, or tablet computer), a workstation, a smart phone, or a personal digital assistant. The computer system 102 can also comprise one or more remote computers connected to a user-operated device over a communications network (e.g., the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, a wireless network, a cellular network, or some combination thereof). The application programs can execute entirely on the user-operated device, partly on the user-operated device and partly on the one or more remote computers, or entirely on the one or more remote computers.
A Messaging application engine 128 is associated with the Messaging application 117. A natural language processing (NLP) engine 130 analyzes messages handled by the Messaging application 117 using information in databases 132, as will be discussed below.
The inter-application communication system enables the Messaging application 117 to send selected tagged data in messages to one or more other applications 110, 112, 114, 116 on the computer system 102 via the Bulletin Board application program 118 so that the other applications can analyze the data and, if relevant, process the data and display results to the user. The system thereby allows a recipient or sender of a message in the Messaging application 117 to quickly and easily select information in the message for processing by the other applications.
The following is a simple example illustrating an inter-application communication process for processing and displaying financial data in accordance with one or more embodiments.
In the
In further example, as shown in
The computer system 102 analyzes the messages handled by the Messaging application 117 to identify the textual data items for tagging based on whether the textual data items could potentially be processed by an application program available to the user. In one or more embodiments, the computer system 102 uses natural language processing (NLP) and artificial intelligence to determine the probable meaning of text in the messages and whether any text items in the messages should be tagged. In one or more embodiments, the NLP engine 130 receives the messages and determines whether the messages contain any text describing known defined entities and concepts in a universe of entities and concepts stored in the databases 132. Non-limiting examples of such defined entities and concepts for financial applications include Issuers, Securities, Investment Managers, Consultants, Employees, Products, and sales activities.
Once the NLP engine 130 has analyzed the text, it returns to the Messaging application 117 any entities or concepts found with metadata, and identifies the text that should be tagged or visually marked (shown underlined in the figures) to indicate that it is actionable. For example, “IBM” has a series of name or type: value pairs (e.g., “Security”:“IBM”) for its identifiers in one or more databases. The NLP engine 130 instructs the Messaging application 117 to replace the word “IBM” in the message with “IBM”. The Messaging engine 128 thereby visually identifies IBM as a clickable hotspot in window 127. The Messaging application 117 transmits all associated name value pairs to the Bulletin Board upon selection of IBM by the user, similar to a hyperlink in a browser. The Bulletin Board application then broadcasts the data to all the other applications running on the computer system 102. The other applications listen for posted data items. If they determine that the posted data item is relevant, they automatically import and process the data item (and any needed related data associated with the data item), and display the results to the user.
At step 202, the Messaging application receives a text message mentioning “IBM” from a sender.
At step 204, the NLP engine associated with Messaging application receives and analyzes the message to determine the probable meaning of text. The NLP engine identifies “IBM” as a possible entity.
At step 206, the NLP engine determines if “IBM” is present in one or more databases of defined entities and concepts. It finds “IBM” in a database, which specifies a type: value pair (Security:IBM) associated with IBM.
At step 208, the NLP engine sends the (Security:IBM) information found in the database to Messaging application. The Messaging application engine 130 then replaces the word “IBM” in the message with “IBM” as a clickable hotspot.
At step 210, when the user of the Messaging application clicks on IBM, the Messaging application sends (Security:IBM) information to the Bulletin Board application.
At step 212, the Bulletin Board application broadcasts the (Security:IBM) information to other applications running on the computer system.
At step 214, other application programs running on the computer system listen for posted data items. If an application program determines that Security:IBM is relevant to that application program, it automatically processes the data item along with any needed other data associated with the data item, and displays the results to the user.
In this way, the inter-application communication system enables recipients or senders of messages in Messaging applications to quickly and easily have information in the messages processed by various applications, so that they can quickly and easily access desired information.
The processes of the inter-application communication system 100 described above may be implemented in software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. The processes are preferably implemented in one or more computer programs executing on a programmable computer including a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including, e.g., volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), and input and output devices. Each computer program can be a set of instructions (program code) in a code module resident in the random access memory of the computer. Until required by the computer, the set of instructions may be stored in another computer memory (e.g., in a hard disk drive, or in a removable memory such as an optical disk, external hard drive, memory card, or flash drive) or stored on another computer system and downloaded via the Internet or other network.
Having thus described several illustrative embodiments, it is to be appreciated that various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to form a part of this disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. While some examples presented herein involve specific combinations of functions or structural elements, it should be understood that those functions and elements may be combined in other ways according to the present disclosure to accomplish the same or different objectives. In particular, acts, elements, and features discussed in connection with one embodiment are not intended to be excluded from similar or other roles in other embodiments.
Additionally, elements and components described herein may be further divided into additional components or joined together to form fewer components for performing the same functions. For example, the computer system may comprise one or more physical machines, or virtual machines running on one or more physical machines. In addition, the computer system may comprise a cluster of computers or numerous distributed computers that are connected by the Internet or another network.
Accordingly, the foregoing description and attached drawings are by way of example only, and are not intended to be limiting.
Claims
1. A data processing method, comprising the steps of:
- (a) executing a messaging application program and one or more other application programs on a computer system, each of the messaging application program and the one or more other application programs displaying data to a user of the computer system, wherein the messaging application program enables real-time transmission of messages to and from the user;
- (b) analyzing text in each message received by or to be sent by the user in the messaging application program to identify one or more textual data items in the message that can potentially be processed by the one or more other application programs;
- (c) displaying messages analyzed in (b) to the user by the messaging application, wherein each textual data item in the messages identified in step (b) is visually marked and selectable by the user;
- (d) receiving an input from the user selecting a textual data item in one of the messages;
- (e) broadcasting information on the textual data item selected by the user to the one or more other application programs;
- (f) determining independently through each of the one or more other application programs whether the information on the textual data item broadcast in step (e) is semantically relevant to that application program; and
- (g) when the information on the textual data item is determined to be semantically relevant to an application program, processing the information on the textual data item through the application program and displaying results to the user.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing text in each message received by or to be sent by the user in step (b) is performed using natural language processing.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more textual data items are identified in step (b) by searching for the one or more textual data items in one or more databases of known entities or concepts.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the information on each textual data item comprises a type:value pair associated with the textual data item in the one or more databases.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein the data comprises financial data, and wherein the entities or concepts comprise Issuers, Securities, Investment Managers, Consultants, Employees, Products, or sales activities.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more other application programs include at least one of a Price Chart application, a Security Detail application, a Search application, and a Performance Chart application.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more textual data items are visually marked by being underlined or shown in a different color or font relative to other text in the messages.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the textual data item selectable by the user comprises a clickable hotspot.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer system comprises a user-operated device and one or more remote computers connected to the user-operated device over a communications network, and wherein the application programs execute entirely on the user-operated device, partly on the user-operated device and partly on the one or more remote computers, or entirely on the one or more remote computers.
10. A computer system, comprising:
- at least one processor;
- memory associated with the at least one processor;
- a display; and
- a messaging application program and one or more other application programs stored in the memory that can be executed by the at least one processor, each of the messaging application program and the one or more other application programs capable of processing data and displaying data to a user of the computer system on the display, wherein the messaging application program enables real-time transmission of messages to and from the user, wherein the computer system is configured to:
- (a) execute the messaging application program and the one or more other application programs on a computer system;
- (b) analyze text in each message received by or to be sent by the user in the messaging application program to identify one or more textual data items in the message that can potentially be processed by the one or more other application programs;
- (c) display messages analyzed in (b) to the user by the messaging application, wherein each textual data item in the messages identified in step (b) is visually marked and selectable by the user;
- (d) receive an input from the user selecting a textual data item in one of the messages;
- (e) broadcast information on the textual data item selected by the user to the one or more other application programs;
- (f) determine independently through each of the one or more other application programs whether the information on the textual data item broadcast in step (e) is semantically relevant to that application program; and
- (g) when the information on the textual data item is determined to be semantically relevant to an application program, process the information on the textual data item through the application program and display results to the user.
11. The system of claim 10, wherein the text in each message received by or to be sent by the user is analyzed in (b) using natural language processing.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more textual data items are identified in (b) by searching for the one or more textual data items in one or more databases of known entities or concepts.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the information on each textual data item comprises a type:value pair associated with the textual data item in the one or more databases.
14. The system of claim 12, wherein the data comprises financial data, and wherein the entities or concepts comprise Issuers, Securities, Investment Managers, Consultants, Employees, Products, or sales activities.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein the one or more other application programs include at least one of a Price Chart application, a Security Detail application, a Search application, and a Performance Chart application.
16. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more textual data items are visually marked by being underlined or shown in a different color or font relative to other text in the messages.
17. The system of claim 10, wherein the textual data item selectable by the user comprises a clickable hotspot.
18. The system of claim 10, wherein the computer system comprises a user-operated device and one or more remote computers connected to the user-operated device over a communications network, and wherein the application programs execute entirely on the user-operated device, partly on the user-operated device and partly on the one or more remote computers, or entirely on the one or more remote computers.
19. A inter-application communication method, comprising the steps of:
- (a) executing a messaging application program and one or more other application programs on a computer system, each of the messaging application program and the one or more other application programs displaying data to a user of the computer system, wherein the messaging application program enables real-time transmission of messages to and from the user;
- (b) analyzing text in each message received by or to be sent by the user in the messaging application program using natural language processing to identify one or more textual data items in the message that can potentially be processed by the one or more other application programs, and by searching for the one or more textual data items in one or more databases of known entities or concepts;
- (c) tagging the one or more textual data items identified in step (b) by visually marking the one or more textual data items and making the one or more textual data items user-selectable in the messages displayed to the user;
- (d) receiving an input from the user selecting a textual data item in one of the messages;
- (e) broadcasting information on the textual data item selected by the user to the one or more other application programs;
- (f) determining independently through each of the one or more other application programs whether the information on the textual data item broadcast in step (e) is semantically relevant to that application program; and
- (g) when the information on the textual data item is determined to be semantically relevant to an application program, processing the information on the textual data item through the application program and displaying results to the user.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the information on each textual data item comprises a type:value pair associated with the textual data item in the one or more databases.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 16, 2020
Publication Date: Mar 11, 2021
Inventors: John Gidman (Hull, MA), Christian Dietz (Scituate, MA)
Application Number: 17/099,275