Managing graphic databases

(54) MANAGING GRAPHIC DATABASES

(75) Inventors: Brent Gilbert, Mukilteo, WA (US);

Mai-Ian Tomsen Bukovec, Seattle, WA
(US); Owen Edwards, Seattle, WA
(US); Cynthia Christine Shelly, Seattle,
WA(US)

(73) Assignee: Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US)

( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 899 days.

(21) Appl.No.: 10/777,732

(22) Filed: Feb. 12, 2004

(65) Prior Publication Data

US 2005/0182790 Al Aug. 18, 2005

(51) Int. CI.

G06F17/30 (2006.01)

(52) U.S. CI 707/770; 707/999.003;

707/999.004; 707/999.005; 707/999.006;

706/45; 706/48

(58) Field of Classification Search 707/3,

707/10, 1, 770; 706/45, 48 See application file for complete search history.

(56) References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

6,260,040 Bl 7/2001 Kauffman et al.

6,351,746 Bl 2/2002 Gebauer

6,412,004 Bl* 6/2002 Chen etal 709/226

6,445,834 Bl 9/2002 Rising, III

6,564,254 Bl 5/2003 Shoji et al.

6,658,598 Bl * 12/2003 Sullivan 714/25

7,167,920 B2* 1/2007 Traversat et al 709/230

2003/0030662 Al 2/2003 Poissonetal.

2003/0140035 Al * 7/2003 Burrows 707/3

2003/0140038 Al * 7/2003 Baker etal 707/3

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

GB 2 353 135 2/2001

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Microsoft website; Microsoft Knowledge Base Article—299249; Visio2002: You Are Unable to Drag Shapes from a Web Search to Your Drawing; copyright 2004 Microsoft Corporation; http://support .microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=299249. European Search Report for European Patent Application No. EP 05 10 0849.8, Microsoft Corporation, Feb. 16, 2005.

* cited by examiner

Primary Examiner—Apu M Mofiz

Assistant Examiner—Monica M Pyo

(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Perkins Coie LLP

707/104.1

A public graphic library coupled to a WAN offers access to a database of graphics, while another graphic library inside the firewall of an enterprise network provides graphics to users in an enterprise. Transferring graphics from the public graphic library to the enterprise graphic library enables enterprise users to access content residing on the public graphic library while the enterprise network is disconnected or otherwise isolated from the WAN. A remote library director in a drawing software program directs communication between a user computer and either the public graphic library or the enterprise graphic library. The configuration of this director specifies the library from which a user accesses graphics.

17 Claims, 11 Drawing Sheets