Web Based Client/Server Notification Engine

Abstract

Various technologies and techniques improve the updating of client content in a client/server arrangement. A client notification engine of a user interface subscribes to receive notifications from a central server side notification engine. The client notification engine polls the server side notification engine at a specified interval. The server side notification engine receives and aggregates notifications about and/or from one or more sources and aggregates them into a collection of relevant notifications. These notifications are sent to the client where the different subscriptions originated and are then used by the user interface in the client to update part of the content being displayed as appropriate.

1 . A method for improving client-side content updates comprising:
 sending a registration from a computing system to a central notification engine to register for update notifications, the registration including information identifying a plurality of folders to monitor for changes;   after sending the registration, sending a request from the computing system to the central notification engine for update notifications associated with the plurality of folders identified by the registration;   if the central notification engine has notifications to report, receiving a notification response from the central notification engine, the notification response including an aggregation of updates from a first data store and a second data store;   if the central notification engine has no notifications to report, receiving a notification response from the central notification engine after a polling interval expires, the notification response indicating that no updates have occurred.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the updates include two or more of the following: email, calendar, contacts, notes, or tasks. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the request comprises a polling request. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the computing system includes a client-side notification engine. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, if the notification response includes the aggregation of updates, updating a user interface in response to receiving the notification response. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, if the central notification engine has notifications to report, the notification response includes a list of updated folders, the list identifying folders that have updated contents. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein if the central notification engine has no notifications to report, the notification is an empty response message. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the notification response is represented in XML. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising generating a visible indication of the notification in a status bar on a display. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein if the central notification engine has notifications to report, the notification response is received after the polling interval expires. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the aggregation of updates includes a number of items in at least one of the plurality of folders identified by the registration. 
     
     
         12 . A method executed at a central notification engine for updating content at a computing system, the method comprising:
 receiving a registration from a computing system at a central notification engine, the registration including information identifying a plurality of folders to monitor for changes;   after receiving the registration, receiving a request from the computing system at the central notification engine for update notifications associated with the plurality of folders identified by the registration;   if the central notification engine has notifications to report, transmitting a notification response from the central notification engine, the notification response including an aggregation of updates from a first data store and a second data store;   if the central notification engine has no notifications to report, transmitting a notification response from the central notification engine after a polling interval expires, the notification response indicating that no updates have occurred.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the notifications are selected from the group consisting of an email message, a fax message, a voice mail message, and a reminder message. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising generating the notification response at the central notification engine, the notification response including information from at least one of a condition advisor and an item count advisor. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising checking at least the condition advisor and the item count advisor to determine whether there are notifications to report. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the condition advisor and item count advisor are associated with at least one of the plurality of folders identified by the registration. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein if the central notification engine has no notifications to report, the notification is an empty response message transmitted to the computing system. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein if the central notification engine has notifications to report, the notification response is transmitted after the polling interval expires. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the aggregation of updates includes a number of items in at least one of the plurality of folders identified by the registration. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the first data store and the second data store comprise first and second folders from among the plurality of folders identified in the request.