WO2015039517A1

WO2015039517A1 - Multimedia file search method, apparatus, and terminal device

Info

Publication number: WO2015039517A1
Application number: PCT/CN2014/084802
Authority: WO
Inventors: Xiaolong Zhang; Yi SHAN
Original assignee: Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited
Priority date: 2013-09-18
Filing date: 2014-08-20
Publication date: 2015-03-26
Also published as: CN104252508B; CN104252508A

Abstract

Method and device of sending a document are disclosed. The method includes: a user device displaying a communication interface for composing a communication message directed to one or more recipients, wherein the one or more recipients include at least a first contact in a pre-stored contact list associated with a user of the user device; receiving a user input invoking a document sharing function in the communication interface; in response to receiving the user input invoking the document sharing function in the communication interface: performing a document search based at least on pre-stored personal information of at least the first contact; and presenting one or more search results of the document search in the communication interface for insertion into the communication message upon user selection.

Description

MULTIMEDIA FILE SEARCH METHOD, APPARATUS, AND

TERMINAL DEVICE

PRIORITY CLAIM AND RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No.

201310431682.7, entitled "MULTIMEDIA FILE SEARCH METHOD, APPARATUS, AND TERMINAL DEVICE" filed on September 18, 2013, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE TECHNOLOGY

[0002] The present disclosure relates to the field of terminal technologies, and in particular, to a document search method and apparatus, and a terminal device.

BACKGROUND OF THE TECHNOLOGY

[0003] With development of terminal technologies and network technologies, instant messaging applications are increasingly widespread. When using instant messaging software, a user may need to send an image or other documents to a contact.

[0004] When sending a document from a mobile terminal, the user needs to perform document search, and then sends the searched document to the contact. The specific process is as follows: (1) exit instant messaging software currently used; (2) open a browser, input a keyword and then search for an document; (3) save the searched document to a folder; and (4) open the instant messaging software; (5) re-enter an interactive interface with the contact; (6) clicking a button to display a document option, and click on the document option; (7) find and enter the folder to select the searched document, and then (8) send the searched document to the contact. Therefore, the process from image search to image sending is complex in operation and time-consuming.

[0005] In addition, people now have more and more documents that are stored either locally or in a server, often scattered in many folders and subfolders. Finding the right document becomes a long and boring process. Therefore, it is desirable to have a method that reduces the complexity of finding and sending a document. SUMMARY

[0006] In accordance with some implementations of the disclosed technology, a method of sharing a document is performed at a user device having one or more processors and memory storing instructions for execution by the one or more processors. The method includes: a user device displaying a communication interface for composing a

communication message directed to one or more recipients, wherein the one or more recipients include at least a first contact in a pre-stored contact list associated with a user of the user device; receiving a user input invoking a document sharing function in the communication interface; in response to receiving the user input invoking the document sharing function in the communication interface: performing a document search based at least on pre-stored personal information of at least the first contact; and presenting one or more search results of the document search in the communication interface for insertion into the communication message upon user selection.

[0007] In another aspect, a device comprises one or more processors, memory, and one or more program modules stored in the memory and configured for execution by the one or more processors. The one or more program modules include instructions for performing the method described above. In another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions, which, when executed by a device, cause the device to perform the method described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] The aforementioned features and advantages of the application as well as additional features and advantages thereof will be more clearly understood hereinafter as a result of a detailed description of preferred embodiments when taken in conjunction with the drawings.

[0009] To illustrate the technical solutions according to the embodiments more clearly, the following briefly introduces the accompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments are introduced briefly in the following. Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the following description show merely some embodiments, and a person of ordinary skill in the art may derive other drawings from these accompanying drawings without creative efforts. [0010] FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a multimedia file search method in accordance with some embodiments;

[0011] FIG. 2a is a flowchart of a multimedia file search method in accordance with some embodiments;

[0012] FIG. 2b is a schematic diagram of an image selection interface in accordance with some embodiments;

[0013] FIG. 2c is a schematic diagram of an image search interface in accordance with some embodiments;

[0014] FIG. 2d is a schematic diagram of an image search interface in accordance with some embodiments;

[0015] FIG. 2e is a schematic diagram of a document search interface in accordance with some embodiments;

[0016] FIG. 2f is a schematic diagram of a document search interface in accordance with some embodiments;

[0017] FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a multimedia file search apparatus in accordance with some embodiments;

[0018] FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device in accordance with some embodiments;

[0019] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of sending a document in accordance with some embodiments; and

[0020] FIG. 6 is a diagram of an example implementation of a user device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0021] Like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0022] Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the subject matter presented herein. But it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments.

[0023] FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a multimedia file search method in accordance with some embodiments. In accordance with some embodiments, the method includes the following steps.

[0024] In accordance with some embodiments, in step 101, a terminal device displays a multimedia file selection interface, wherein the multimedia file selection interface is used for selecting a multimedia file to be sent, and the multimedia file selection interface at least includes a search button, wherein the search button is used for entering a multimedia file search interface.

[0025] A searched multimedia file is subsequently sent to a contact, uploaded to a user information display platform, or saved locally in the terminal device. The method may be realized on applications installed on the terminal device, such as instant messaging software or multimedia file processing software.

[0026] In accordance with some embodiments, in step 102, when an operation of clicking on the search button is detected, the terminal device displays the multimedia file search interface, wherein the multimedia file search interface at least includes a search bar.

[0027] In accordance with some embodiments, in step 103, the terminal device sends a multimedia file search request to a server when a search instruction is received, wherein the multimedia file search request carries a keyword input into the search bar. [0028] In accordance with some embodiments, in step 104, the terminal device displays, when the multimedia file returned by the server is received, the returned multimedia file in the multimedia file search interface.

[0029] In accordance with some embodiments, when needing to perform multimedia file search online, a user enters a multimedia file search interface to search for an online multimedia file without exiting a current application scenario.

[0030] Optionally, the displaying the returned multimedia file in the multimedia file search interface includes: displaying the returned multimedia file and a selection identifier of each multimedia file in the multimedia file search interface, wherein the selection identifier is located in a specified area of the multimedia file used for selecting a corresponding multimedia file.

[0031] Optionally, after the displaying the returned multimedia file in the multimedia file search interface, the method further includes: when an operation of clicking on a selection identifier of the any multimedia file in the returned multimedia file is detected, acquiring the multimedia file selected by a user; and sending the multimedia file selected by the user.

[0032] Optionally, the sending the multimedia file selected by the user includes: sending the multimedia file selected by the user to a contact, a group, a server (so that the server releases the multimedia file to a personal dynamic information display platform of the user or updates the multimedia file into personal data of the user).

[0033] Optionally, after the displaying the returned multimedia file in the multimedia file search interface, the method further includes: when a preview instruction is received, if a multimedia file corresponding to the preview instruction is a thumbnail, acquiring an original multimedia file of the multimedia file corresponding to the preview instruction; and displaying the original multimedia file of the multimedia file.

[0034] FIG. 2a is a flowchart of a multimedia file search method in accordance with some embodiments. The method is executed by a terminal device with an instant messaging application. The instant messaging application maintains a contact list of registered users, and provides functions such as a public platform, a friend circle and message pushing. The message pushing may rapidly send, across an operating system platform, multimedia files to a friend user, and display information released by a user on a user information display platform, so that a friend user of the user can browse the information released by the user through a friend circle. In accordance with some embodiments, the method includes the following steps.

[0035] In accordance with some embodiments, in the step 201, the terminal device displays an image selection interface, wherein the image selection interface is used for selecting an image to be sent, and the image selection interface at least includes a search button.

[0036] The image selection interface is an interface that is displayed in the instant messaging application and used for selecting an image to be sent from a photo album of the terminal device. FIG. 2b is a schematic diagram of an image selection interface in

accordance with some embodiments. The terminal device displays, in the image selection interface, thumbnails of images in the photo album of the terminal device, a preview key, a send key, a cancel key and a search button in the image selection interface, and displays an image selection identifier "V" in the upper right corner of the image. The preview key is used for displaying an original image of the selected image, the send key is used for sending the selected image to a contact corresponding to the image selection interface, the cancel key is used for returning to an interface prior to the image selection interface, and the search button is used for entering the image search interface and then searching for an image.

[0037] This application uses instant messaging software as an example for description.

When a user of the terminal device intends to send an image to a contact, the user may enter the image selection interface to select the image. Correspondingly, before the step 201, the method further includes: displaying an interactive interface with a contact, wherein the interactive interface at least includes an additional key; displaying an image option when the terminal device detects an operation of clicking on the additional key; and performing step 201 to display the image selection interface when the terminal device detects an operation of clicking on the image option.

[0038] In some embodiments, the manner of entering the image selection interface is similar. For example, multimedia file processing software provides an image browse key, wherein the image browse key is used for selecting an image to be processed, and the image selection interface is entered when an operation of clicking on the image browse key is detected.

[0039] In accordance with some embodiments, the image search interface is at least used for online image search, e.g., a network interface is invoked for search. In some embodiments, the image search interface may also be used for searching images

simultaneously in a cloud photo album of a terminal, i.e., a result returned from the search may include the images in the cloud photo album. In some embodiments, the image search interface may further be used for searching for images in a local photo album of the terminal. In some embodiments, the image selection interface may further include images saved in a photo album of the terminal device and function keys such as a preview key and a send key.

[0040] It should be noted that, in accordance with some embodiments, the contact refers to one or more contacts, or one or more contact groups.

[0041] In accordance with some embodiments, in step 202, the terminal device displays the image search interface when detecting an operation of clicking on the search button, wherein the image search interface at least includes a search bar.

[0042] In some embodiments, the search bar is used for inputting a keyword, so as to subsequently search for an image according to the keyword. In addition, the image search interface may further include function keys such as an image search button, a preview key, a send key and a cancel key.

[0043] In some embodiments, the terminal device displays the image search interface when detecting an operation of clicking on the search button of the image selection interface, as shown in FIG. 2c. Compared with FIG. 2b, the image search interface displayed in FIG. 2c cancels display of the search button, and adds display of a search bar, a delete identifier "x " and another cancel key (the cancel key in a lower part), wherein the delete identifier is used for deleting the input keyword, and the another cancel key is used for returning to the image selection interface shown in FIG. 2b.

[0044] In some embodiments, when it is necessary to search for different types of multimedia files, search interfaces corresponding to each kind of multimedia files can be entered separately, and a keyword is input into the search bar. In the subsequent process, the server returns a corresponding type of multimedia files according to the keyword.

[0045] In some embodiments, a multimedia file search interface may also be directly entered, and a keyword is entered into the search bar.

[0046] For example, the terminal device displays a multimedia file search interface, wherein the multimedia file search interface includes a search bar, images, videos, audio and many other multimedia file options. When detecting an operation of clicking on the video option, the terminal device displays a video search interface.

[0047] In accordance with some embodiments, in step 203, the terminal device sends an image search request to a server when receiving a search instruction, wherein the image search request carries a keyword input into the search bar, so that the server performs image search according to the keyword, and returns an image matching the keyword.

[0048] In accordance with some embodiments, the image search interface may provide an image search button, and when detecting an operation of a user clicking on the image search button, the terminal device triggers the search instruction. In some

embodiments, the image search interface does not provide an image search button, and when detecting that a keyword is input into the search bar of the image search interface, the terminal device automatically triggers the search instruction. In some embodiments, when the user uses a keyboard to input a keyword into the search bar, the terminal device provides a search button on the keyboard, and when detecting the operation of the user clicking on the search button on the keyboard, the terminal device triggers the search instruction.

[0049] The server may be a search server, specifically used for receiving an image search request of the terminal device, and searching for an image according to a keyword carried in the image search request. Specifically, when receiving the search instruction, the terminal device acquires the keyword input into the search bar, and sends the image search request to the server, wherein the image search request carries the keyword. When receiving the image search request, the server performs search according to the keyword, acquires an image matching the keyword, and sends the image matching the keyword to the terminal device. [0050] In accordance with some embodiments, in step 204, the terminal device determines a display position of each image in the returned images according to a typesetting rule and a size of the returned image when receiving the returned image.

[0051] In accordance with some embodiments, the size of the image returned by the server may vary. The returned image may be an original image or a thumbnail of an original image. Therefore, when receiving the returned image, the terminal device may first typeset the returned image and then display the image.

[0052] The typesetting rule may include the number of one line of images that can be displayed, image resolution and the like, and may be preset by a technician, or set by a user during use.

[0053] Specifically, the terminal device may display the received image in its original size, that is, the terminal device typesets the returned image according to the typesetting rule and the size of the returned image, aggregates images with the same size in the returned image together for display, and then determines the display position of the returned image according to the size of the returned image.

[0054] Alternatively, the terminal device may also display a thumbnail of the received image. In some embodiments, the terminal device determines a thumbnail size of the image according to the typesetting rule and the size of the returned image. If the returned image is an original image, a thumbnail of the original image is generated according to the determined thumbnail size, and if the returned image is a thumbnail, the thumbnail is adjusted according to the determined thumbnail size. The display position of each image in the returned images is determined according to an image sequence.

[0055] The terminal device determines, according to the typesetting rule, that the terminal device displays four images in one line, and determines a thumbnail size, as shown in FIG. 2d. The terminal device generates a thumbnail of each image according to the thumbnail size, and determines a display position of each image according to a thumbnail size of each image and an image sequence.

[0056] Optionally, the typesetting rule includes a first typesetting rule and a second typesetting rule, wherein the first typesetting rule is used for typesetting large-size images, and the second typesetting rule is used for typesetting small-size images. Regarding the large-size images in the returned images, the terminal device generates a large-size thumbnail according to the first typesetting rule, and determines a display position of each image in the large-size images according to a sequence of the large-size images and a display area of the large-size images. Regarding the small-size images in the returned images, the terminal device generates a small-size thumbnail according to the second typesetting rule, and determines a display position of each image in the small-size images according to a sequence of the small-size images and a display area of the small-size images. Further optionally, the display area of the large-size images is above that of the small-size images. Through separate typesetting of the large-size images and the small-size images, the large-size images and the small-size images are displayed differently, so that a user can directly perceive quality of searched images, so as to select images with better quality.

[0057] In accordance with some embodiments, in step 205, the terminal device displays the returned image according to the display position of each image in the returned images, and displays a selection identifier of each image; and performs step 206 or step 207.

[0058] In accordance with some embodiments, while displaying the returned image, the terminal device may also display a selection identifier of each image, so that the user selects an image through operations such as clicking on the selection identifier.

[0059] The specified area may be a specified area in an image display area or a part of an area corresponding to the image in a specified area of a display screen of the terminal device. In some embodiments, the terminal device displays the selection identifier of the image in the upper right corner of the image. As shown in FIG. 2d, the terminal device displays a thumbnail of each image according to the determined display position, and displays an image selection identifier "V" in the upper right corner of the each image.

[0060] Alternatively, the specified area is a selection area allocated on the display screen by the terminal device, a selection identifier corresponding to each image may be displayed in the selection area.

[0061] In some embodiments, regarding other types of multimedia files, when acquiring a multimedia file returned by the server, the terminal device may display an icon of the multimedia file. For example, a name of any screenshot or video is displayed, or an audio name or a sequence number of audio is displayed.

[0062] In accordance with some embodiments, in step 206, when detecting an operation of clicking on a selection identifier of any image in the returned images, the terminal device acquires the image selected by a user, and performs step 207 or step 208.

[0063] In accordance with some embodiments, the images selected by the user may include one or more images. When detecting an operation of clicking on a selection identifier of any image in the returned images, the terminal device acquires the image, and when detecting once again an operation of clicking on a selection identifier of another image, acquires the other image.

[0064] Optionally, the number of images currently selected by the user is displayed, so that the user learns the number of the selected images. For example, as shown in FIG. 2d, when an operation of clicking on a selection identifier of "Image 1 " is detected, "Image 1 " is acquired as an image selected by the user, and the number " 1 " of the images selected by the user is displayed in the upper right corner of the send key.

[0065] In accordance with some embodiments, in step 207, when receiving a preview instruction, if an image corresponding to the preview instruction is a thumbnail, the terminal device acquires an original image of an image corresponding to the preview instruction.

[0066] In accordance with some embodiments, the preview key is displayed in the image search interface. When an operation of clicking on the preview key is detected, a preview instruction of the image selected by the user is triggered.

[0067] It should be noted that, according to different trigger timings of the preview instruction, step 207 may be directly performed after step 205, or may be performed after step 205 and step 206. Either of the following two situations occurs.

[0068] (1) The steps 205 and 207 specifically include: the terminal device displays the returned image and a selection identifier of each image; and when the terminal device detects an operation of clicking on any image in the returned images, if the clicked image is a thumbnail, the terminal device loads an original image of the thumbnail. [0069] In step (1), after the terminal device displays the returned image, the preview instruction is triggered by clicking on any image, and an image corresponding to the preview instruction is the clicked image.

[0070] (2) The steps 205, 206 and 207 specifically include: the terminal device displays the returned image and a selection identifier of each image; when an operation of clicking on a preview key is detected, if the image selected by the user is a thumbnail, the terminal device loads an original image of the thumbnail.

[0071] In step (2), after the terminal device displays the returned image, the image selected by the user is acquired first, then the preview instruction is triggered, and an image corresponding to the preview instruction is the image selected by the user.

[0072] In accordance with some embodiments, in step 208, the terminal device displays the original image of the image corresponding to the preview instruction.

[0073] In accordance with some embodiments, the terminal device loads the original image of the thumbnail, and during the loading, the terminal device may display the thumbnail and a waiting notification. When completing the loading of the original image, the terminal device displays the original image of the thumbnail.

[0074] Further, when the original image of the image is displayed, the send key and a selection identifier of the image may also be displayed. Based on step (1), when detecting an operation of clicking on the selection identifier, the terminal device acquires the image as the image selected by the user; and based on step (2), when detecting an operation of clicking on the selection identifier, the terminal device cancels an operation of selecting the image.

[0075] In accordance with some embodiments, the number of the images selected by the user may be multiple, and when detecting an operation of clicking on the preview key, the terminal device may display an original image of one image in the multiple images, for example, an original image of a first image or a last image in the multiple images. After step 208, the method further includes: when a slide operation is detected, displaying an original image of an image corresponding to the slide operation. For example, when the terminal device displays an original image of a first image selected by the user, an operation of sliding right is detected, and an original image of a second image selected by the user is displayed. [0076] In some embodiments, if the image corresponding to the preview instruction is an original image, the terminal device displays the original image on the display screen.

[0077] In accordance with some embodiments, in step 209, the terminal device sends the image selected by the user to a contact corresponding to the image selection interface when receiving an image sending instruction.

[0078] In accordance with some embodiments, a send key is displayed in the image search interface, and when an operation of clicking on the send key is detected, the image sending instruction is triggered.

[0079] When sending an image to the contact, the terminal device may send an original image of the image selected by the user, and may also send a thumbnail of the image selected by the user and a link address of an original image of the thumbnail.

[0080] Further, after sending an image to the contact corresponding to the image selection interface, the terminal device may display the image selection interface, an interactive interface with the contact including a thumbnail of the sent image, and/or information such as the number of sent images and a waiting notification.

[0081] FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a multimedia file search apparatus in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the apparatus includes a selection interface display module 301, a search interface display module 302, a search request sending module 303 and a multimedia file display module 304.

[0082] The selection interface display module 301 is configured to display a multimedia file selection interface. The search interface display module 302 is connected to the selection interface display module 301, and configured to display the multimedia file search interface. The search request sending module 303 is connected to the search interface display module 302, and configured to send a multimedia file search request to a serve. The multimedia file display module 304 is connected to the search request sending module 303 and configured to display the returned multimedia file in the multimedia file search interface.

[0083] Optionally, the multimedia file display module 304 includes: a position determining unit, configured to determine a display position of each multimedia file in the returned multimedia files, and a multimedia file display unit, configured to display the returned multimedia file in the multimedia file search interface.

[0084] Optionally, the multimedia file display module 304 is configured to display the returned multimedia file and a selection identifier of each multimedia file in the multimedia file search interface.

[0085] Optionally, the apparatus further includes: a selection module, configured to acquire a multimedia file selected by the user; and a multimedia file sending module, configured to send the multimedia file selected by the user to a contact.

[0086] Optionally, the multimedia file sending module includes: a first sending unit, configured to send the multimedia file selected by the user to a contact; a second sending unit, configured to send the multimedia file selected by the user to a group; and a third sending unit, configured to send the multimedia file selected by the user to the server.

[0087] Optionally, the apparatus further includes: an original multimedia file acquiring module, configured to acquire an original multimedia file of the multimedia file corresponding to the preview instruction; and an original multimedia file display module, configured to display the original multimedia file of the multimedia file.

[0088] FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device in accordance with some embodiments. The terminal device may be configured to implement the multimedia file search method provided in the above embodiments.

[0089] The terminal device 400 may include a communication unit 110, a memory

120 including one or more computer readable storage mediums, an input unit 130, a display unit 140, a sensor 150, an audio circuit 160, a wireless communication unit 170, a processor 180 including one or more processing cores, a power source 190 and other components.

[0090] The communication unit 110 may be configured to receive and send signals during information receiving and sending or a call, and the communication unit 110 may be a Radio Frequency (RF) circuit, a router, a modem or other network communication devices. Particularly, when the communication unit 110 is an RF circuit, after downlink information of a base station is received, the communication unit 110 hands over the downlink information to one or more processors 180 for processing; in addition, the communication unit 110 sends data related to uplink to the base station. Usually, the RF circuit serving as the communication unit includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, at least one amplifier, a tuner, one or more oscillators, a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card, a transceiver, a coupler, a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA), a duplexer and the like. Besides, the communication unit 110 may also communicate with a network and other devices through wireless communication. The wireless communication may use any communication standard or protocol, which includes, but is not limited to, Global System of Mobile communication (GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), e-mails, Short

Messaging Service (SMS) and the like. The memory 120 may be configured to store software programs and modules. The processor 180 executes various functional applications and data processing by running the software programs and modules stored in the memory 120. The memory 120 may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area may store an operating system, an application required by at least one function (such as a voice playback function, or an image playback function), and the like; and the data storage area may store data (such as audio data or a phone book) created according to use of the terminal device 400. In addition, the memory 120 may include a high-speed random access memory, and may further include a nonvolatile memory, for example, at least one disk storage device, a flash memory device, or other volatile solid-state storage devices. Correspondingly, the memory 120 may also include a memory controller, so as to provide access of the processor 180 and the input unit 130 to the memory 120.

[0091] The input unit 130 may be configured to receive input numerical information or character information, and generating keyboard, mouse, joystick, optical or trackball signal input related to user setting and function control. Specifically, the input unit 130 may include a touch-sensitive surface 131 and another input device 132. The touch-sensitive surface 131, also called a touch display screen or a touch panel, may collect a touch operation of the user thereon or nearby (for example, an operation of the user on the touch-sensitive surface 131 or near the touch-sensitive surface 131 by using a finger, a stylus, and any other suitable object or accessory), and drive a corresponding connection device according to a preset program. Preferably, the touch-sensitive surface 131 may include a touch detection device and a touch controller. The touch detection device detects a position touched by the user, detects a signal brought about by the touch operation, and transmits the signal to the touch controller; and the touch controller receives touch information from the touch detection device, converts the touch information into a contact coordinate, and then sends the contact coordinate to the processor 180, and may receive a command sent by the processor 180 and execute the command. In addition, the touch-sensitive surface 131 may be implemented in multiple manners such as resistive, capacitive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave types. In addition to the touch-sensitive surface 131, the input unit 130 may further include another input device 132. Specifically, the another input device 132 may include, but is not limited to, one or more of a physical keyboard, a function key (such as a volume control key or a switch key), a trackball, a mouse, and a joystick.

[0092] The display unit 140 may be configured to display information input by the user or information provided for the user and various graphical user interfaces of the terminal device 400, wherein the graphical user interfaces may be formed by graphics, texts, icons, videos and any combination thereof. The display unit 140 may include a display panel 141, and preferably, the display panel 141 may be configured in forms such as a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) or an Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED). Further, the touch-sensitive surface 131 may cover the display panel 141, and after detecting the touch operation thereon or nearby, the touch-sensitive surface 131 transmits the touch operation to the processor 180 to determine the type of a touch event, and then the processor 180 provides corresponding visual output on the display panel 141 according to the type of the touch event. Although in FIG. 4, the touch-sensitive surface 131 and the display panel 141 implement input and input functions as two separate members, in some embodiments, the touch-sensitive surface 131 and the display panel 141 may be integrated to implement input and output functions.

[0093] The terminal device 400 may further include at least one sensor 150, for example, an optical sensor, a motion sensor and other sensors. Specifically, the optical sensor may include an ambient light sensor and a proximity sensor, wherein the ambient light sensor may adjust the brightness of the display panel 141 according to the brightness of ambient light, and the proximity sensor may close the display panel 141 and/or backlight when the terminal device 400 moves to the ear. As one of the motion sensor, a gravity acceleration sensor may detect the acceleration in various directions (generally tri-axial), may detect the magnitude and direction of the gravity in the stationary state, and may be configured to identify applications of a terminal posture (such as horizontal and vertical screen switching, related games, or magnetometer posture calibration), may vibrate to identify related functions (for example, a pedometer, or tapping) and the like. Other sensors such as a gyroscope, a barometer, a hygrometer, a thermometer, and an infrared sensor that may be configured on the terminal device 400 are not repeated herein.

[0094] The audio circuit 160, a loudspeaker 161, and a microphone 162 may provide an audio interface between the user and the terminal device 400. The audio circuit 160 may convert received audio data into an electric signal, and then transmit the electric signal to the loudspeaker 161; and the loudspeaker 161 converts the electric signal into a sound signal for output. On the other hand, the microphone 162 converts the collected sound signal into an electric signal, and the audio circuit 160 receives the electric signal and then converts the electric signal into audio data; after being output to the processor 180 for processing, the audio data is sent to, for example, another terminal device through the RF circuit 110, or the audio data is output to the memory 120 for further processing. The audio circuit 160 may further include an earplug jack, to provide communication between a peripheral headset and the terminal device 400.

[0095] To achieve wireless communication, the terminal device may be provided with the wireless communication unit 170, and the wireless communication unit 170 may be a Wi- Fi module. Wi-Fi belongs to the short-distance wireless transmission technology, and the terminal device 400 may help, by using the wireless communication unit 170, the user to send and receive e-mails, browse web pages and access streaming media, and provides wireless broadband Internet access for the user. Although FIG. 4 shows the wireless communication unit 170, it may be understood that, the wireless communication unit 170 is not a necessary component of the terminal device 400, and may be completely omitted as required in the scope without changing the essence of the present application.

[0096] The processor 180 is a control center of the terminal device 400, connects each part of a whole mobile phone by using various interfaces and lines, and executes various functions of the terminal device 400 and processes data by running or executing the software programs and/or modules stored in the memory 120, and invoking data stored in the memory 120, thereby monitoring the mobile phone as a whole. Preferably, the processor 180 may include one or more processing cores; and preferably, the processor 180 may be integrated with an application processor and a modem processor, wherein the application processor mainly processes the operating system, user interfaces and applications, and the modem processor mainly processes wireless communication. It may be understood that, the modem processor may not be integrated into the processor 180.

[0097] The terminal device 400 further includes a power source 190 (for example, a battery) supplying power for each part, and preferably, the power source may be logically connected to the processor 180 through a power management system, so as to achieve functions of charging management, discharging management, and power consumption management through the power management system. The power source 190 may further include one or more direct current or alternating current power sources, a recharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converter or inverter, a power status indicator and any other components.

[0098] Although not shown, the terminal device 400 may further include a camera, a

Bluetooth module and the like, which is not repeated herein. Specifically, in this

embodiment, the display unit of the terminal device is a touch screen display, and the terminal device further includes a memory, and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory, and are configured to perform the multimedia file search method provided in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and the multimedia file search method provided in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 by using one or more processors.

[0099] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of sending a document in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the method is performed at a user device of having one or more processors and memory for storing one or more programs to be executed by the one or more processors. In some embodiments, the user device can be a smart phone, a wearable device, a laptop, a desktop computer, a tablet, etc. The user device can be a terminal device or an apparatus described in other figures.

[00100] In accordance with some embodiments, in step 501, the user device displays a communication interface for composing a communication message directed to one or more recipients, wherein the one or more recipients include at least a first contact in a pre-stored contact list associated with a user of the user device. [00101] In some embodiments, the communication interface can be an email interface, a SMS message interface, a discussion board interface, a chat interface, or a social network communicator interface.

[00102] In some embodiments, there is more than one contact list that is pre-stored in the user device and/or a remote server. For example, a user device may have three social network programs, a couple email accounts and a phone book. The user may want to manage these contact lists separately for various reasons. In some embodiments, the user device can make use of information from the contact list of the application that provides the user interface. In some embodiments, the user device can use information from any accessible contact lists. In some embodiments, at least one contact list is pre-store in a remote server. The remote server can be an application server for a particular social network application, email application, and/or an online community application. The remote server can also be a cloud storage server that is configured to store various data for the user.

[00103] In some embodiments, the one or more recipients include both a contact from the pre-stored contact list and someone whose information has not been stored so far. In some embodiments, the user device is not necessary to have stored the name of the contact. A contact can be anyone whose information is pre-stored. For example, the user device may only store a pseudo name from someone that user knows from a virtual community, or a couple messages from to an unnamed telephone number. The pseudo name and the unnamed telephone number can be contacts in some embodiments.

[00104] In accordance with some embodiments, in step 502, the user device receives a user input invoking a document sharing function in the communication interface.

[00105] In some embodiments, the user may invoke the document sharing function through various operations, depending on the user interface being displayed. The document sharing function is configured to let the user send a document to one or more recipients. For example, by invoking a document sharing function the user may click an "attachment" button in an email interface, insert a picture into a text message, send a word document without saying anything, select a document sharing button in a conversation interface of a chat program to share a piece of music to a group of friends, etc. In some embodiments, invoking a document sharing function includes selecting an image sharing function, an emoticon insertion function, a document attachment function provided in the communication interface.

[00106] In some embodiments, the step 502 can be performed before the step 501. For example, in a chat program, when the user invokes a function to share a document with a friend, the user device displays a communication interface after receiving the user input invoking a document sharing function.

[00107] In accordance with some embodiments, in step 503, the user device, in response to receiving the user input invoking the document sharing function in the

communication interface, obtains the pre-stored personal information of at least the first contact.

[00108] In some embodiments, the user device retrieves a plurality of predetermined categories useful for the document search, and obtains respective available pre-stored personal information of the first contact for each of the plurality of the predetermined categories. In some embodiments, the search algorithm to be described subsequently dictates the kind of information that would be useful for searching.

[00109] In some embodiments, the pre-stored personal information includes the relationship between the user and the first contact, a location of the first contact, and/or a conversation history between the user and the first contact, which includes prior document exchange between the user and the first contact. The obtaining of the pre-stored personal information will be further described together with searching based on the pre-stored personal information in the step 505.

[00110] In accordance with some embodiments, in step 504, the user device receives a search input from the user. A search input includes any input from a user to narrow the scope or shape the direction of searching. For example, a search input can be one or more keywords, a type of document to be searched, locations to be searched, sizes of the documents to be searched, time of the documents being created or modified, etc.

[00111] In accordance with some embodiments, in step 505, in response to receiving the user input invoking the document sharing function in the communication interface, the user device performs a document search based at least on pre-stored personal information of at least the first contact.

[00112] In some embodiments, the step 504 is omitted, i.e., the user device performs the document search without any search input from the user. For example, when a user clicks a photo sharing button, the user device automatically searches photos based on the personal information of the document recipient. For example, the user selects his high school classmate 10 years ago as a photo recipient, the user device automatically searches personal information of his classmate. The user device finds that the following information of the classmate: a name, a birthday, the current location (sometime derived from the telephone number), the email address, current organization (sometime derived from the email address), the relationship to the user (high school classmate); location of the high school, frequency of contacts, hobbies, and any places, people and activities that are mentioned (or frequently mentioned) in email chains. Using the information, the user device determines that the following photos are most relevant: a few photos about their mutual high school, several old photos including the classmate, and a couple of photos received from the classmate through past emails. All these photos are deemed to be relevant to the classmate and are included in the searching result. If the user inputs a searching criterion: photos taken within a year to date, the old photos including the classmate are excluded.

[00113] In accordance with some embodiments, the searching can be more efficient if the user device contains personal information categories that a search would need. In various embodiments, the predetermined categories are used by the user device in one or more of the following steps.

[00114] Firstly, in some embodiments, the user device obtains relevant information of the document recipient much more quickly based on the predetermined categories. Rather than searching within the whole user device for personal information of the document recipient, predetermined categories provide directions to user device on where to search for information.

[00115] Secondly, in some embodiments, the user device uses predetermined categories to select relevant information of the document recipient. This is especially useful for a document recipient who has lots of information. For example, the document recipient may have emailed a 20,000 word document to the user. If the predetermined categories do not include text information in an email attachment, then the user device does not have to use words in the document to perform searching. For another example, the user and the document recipient may have sent to each other totally 1000 messages. When the user composes a message again, and selects a button to attach an emotion image, the predetermined categories may be limited to themes of past emotion images in the previous 1000 messages, and the search result includes images from the theme that are frequently used between the user and the document recipient.

[00116] Thirdly, in some embodiments, for each predetermined category of personal information, the user device has a predetermined way of converting the personal information in the respective category into search criteria. For example, the user is sending a video to his 7-year-old daughter, Jenny. Besides all other personal information of Jenny, the user device obtains her age and her name. The two pieces of personal information is used differently to create search criteria. The age information is used to create a criterion of excluding any videos that are not suitable to be viewed by a 7-year-old child. The name information is used to create a criterion of favoring any videos whose remarks or titles include the word "Jenny." The user device does not use "7" as a search keyword, or use the word "Jenny" to exclude unsuitable videos.

[00117] Fourth, in some embodiments, the user device or a server can assign weight or order to each predetermined category and judge each document's relevance based on the conformity of the document to a plurality of predetermined categories as well as the weight or order of these plurality of categories. The searching can be performed in a local storage, a remote server, or broadly in the whole Internet. In this case, a searching may be conducted differently from a searching in the Internet.

[00118] In the local searching, or searching in the user's own space in a server, the documents to be searched are limited. It is possible for the user device or the server can retrieve all information about these documents in a defined location. The challenge is to prioritize which documents should be recommended and displayed to the user. Assigning weights and/or order to categories is used to overcome this challenge and should be designed accordingly. In contrast, in a broad internet searching, the number of documents is almost limitless. The predetermined categories are not only useful for prioritize documents in the search result but also useful for generating search inputs that can be used by an outside search algorithm.

[00119] For an example of searching in a defined space, the user device sends to a server a search request for documents to be sent to the teacher of the user. The server obtains the conversation history, which indicates that the user has sent to or received from a word document in a server to the teacher two days before and the user has subsequently modified the word document in the server. The server also finds that the teacher likes flower and the user has stored quite a few photos with flowers. Therefore, the server finds two types of documents corresponding two categories of personal information. In this case, the server may have assigned a higher weight to the category of exchange of documents than the taste of the teacher. As a result, the server assigns a higher relevant value to the document that the user has exchanged with his teacher than to photos with flowers.

[00120] For an example of broad searching in the Internet, the user device receives an instruction to use a keyword "new waterpark" to search for photos in the Internet in a chat interface with a contact whose hometown is in Wisconsin. Instead of searching for photos related with "new waterpark" worldwide and then filter with Wisconsin, the user device can directly search for "new waterpark in Wisconsin."

[00121] One way to construct categories and assign weights to them is to try and err empirically. In some embodiments, the user device is also configured to adjust the weights of each category based on user's selection.

[00122] In principle, the goal of constructing the searching mechanism is not to perfectly select a document to a user (which is hardly attainable), but to save the user's time as much as possible. Under this overarching principle, there is almost always a trade-off between the success rate of returning the right documents, which saves the time of further searching for user, and reducing the time spent on searching the documents.

[00123] In some embodiments, the user (or the user device automatically) may adjust the searching time because of the user's preference or the capability of the user device. For example, when the user wants to reduce the time of searching, the user device removes those predetermined categories with less weight from the searching algorithm. As a result, the personal information of the document recipient corresponding to the removed categories will not be obtained or used in searching. When the user wants to improve the accuracy of searching or the number of documents returned in a search result, the user device adds some predetermined categories to the searching algorithms.

[00124] In some embodiments, the step 504 is performed before the step 503, and the user device receives a search input from the user before obtaining the pre-stored personal information of at least the first contact. In some embodiments, the user device uses the search input to select the pre-stored personal information to be obtained. For example, the user instructs the user device to search for PDF format documents to be sent to four colleagues. In this case, based on the search input (PDF format) and some obtained personal information (colleague relationship), the user device recognizes that the documents are very likely to be work-related. As a result, the user device determines that among the personal information of the four colleagues, their birthdays and hobbies become less relevant, and will not be obtained or used for searching.

[00125] In some embodiments, when performing the search, the user device sends a search request to a remote server, wherein the search request including the search input of the user. In some embodiments, the search request includes the personal information of the first contact. In some embodiments, the server finds the appropriate personal information on the server side based on the identity of the first contact. In various embodiments, there is clear distinction on whether a particular step is performed by the user device or a remote server, as their role in processing information is often interchangeable.

[00126] In some embodiments, the personal information of the first contact is not included in the search request to the server or used in searching. The server receives only the search input from the user, generates a search result and sends the search result to the user device. After receiving the search result from the server, the user device uses the personal information of the first contact to filter, alter and/or select from the search results.

[00127] In accordance with some embodiments, in step 505, the user device presents one or more search results of the document search in the communication interface for insertion into the communication message upon user selection. [00128] In some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 2e and 2f, the user device determines a display size for each respective document among the one or more search results in accordance with at least a relative relevance of the respective document. For example, the search result contains 120 documents, and only 15 of them are displayed initially, as shown in FIG. 2e. Among them, document 1 is deemed to be the most relevant and is displayed with the biggest size, while document 14 is deemed to be less relevant and given a smaller size. The user views documents 1-6 and decides that these documents are not what he wants. The user scrolls down a little bit and documents 1-6 disappear from the search result, as shown in FIG. 2f. At this time, there are two changes in the displayed search result. Firstly, new documents appear on the bottom of the search result. Secondly, all remaining documents move up and get bigger and more visible. When documents 1-6 disappear from the interface, the relevance of average displayed documents decrease and every documents move up in the order of displayed documents. Therefore, every of the documents 7-15 has a higher relevance or order compared with the rest of the displayed documents. As a result, documents 7-15 get bigger after the user scrolls down.

[00129] In some embodiments, the various types of documents can be displayed in various formats. For example, an image is displayed as a thumbnail; a music document is displayed with a title and a singer's name; and a word document is displayed with a title and a few words at the beginning of the text. In some embodiments, when the display size of a document increases, the icon representing that document can display more information.

[00130] In some embodiments, while the one or more search results of the document search are presented in the communication interface, the user device receives a user's selection of a first document among the one or more search results; and inserts the first document into the communication message directed to the one or more recipients. For example, the user is composing an email when the search result returns some photos. The user selects a photo from the search result and inserts the photo into the email.

[00131] FIG. 6 is a diagram of an example implementation of a user device 600 in accordance with some embodiments. While certain specific features are illustrated, those skilled in the art will appreciate from the present disclosure that various other features have not been illustrated for the sake of brevity and so as not to obscure more pertinent aspects of the implementations disclosed herein. To that end, the user device 600 includes one or more processing units (CPU's) 602, one or more network or other communications interfaces 608, a display 601, memory 606, and one or more communication buses 604 for interconnecting these and various other components. The communication buses may include circuitry (sometimes called a chipset) that interconnects and controls communications between system components. The memory 606 includes high-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM or other random access solid state memory devices; and may include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid state storage devices. The memory 606 may optionally include one or more storage devices remotely located from the CPU(s) 602. The memory 606, including the non-volatile and volatile memory device(s) within the memory 606, comprises a non-transitory computer readable storage medium.

[00132] In some implementations, the memory 606 or the non-transitory computer readable storage medium of the memory 606 stores the following programs, modules and data structures, or a subset thereof including an operating system 616, a network

communication module 618, a document sharing module 620 and a social network program 626.

[00133] In accordance with some embodiments, the operating system 616 includes procedures for handling various basic system services and for performing hardware dependent tasks.

[00134] In accordance with some embodiments, the network communication module

618 facilitates communication with other devices via the one or more communication network interfaces 608 (wired or wireless) and one or more communication networks, such as the internet, other wide area networks, local area networks, metropolitan area networks, and so on.

[00135] In accordance with some embodiments, the document sharing module 620 is configured to share a document with other people and devices. In some embodiments, the document sharing module 620 is a module within a communication program. For example, the document sharing module 620 can be a module within a chat program and is invoked whenever the user wants to send a document to a contact in the chat program. In some embodiments, the document sharing module 620 is an independent module and can be invoked by several programs when these programs receive user instructions to share documents.

[00136] In accordance with some embodiments, the document sharing module 620 comprises an information retrieving module 621, an information conversion module 622, a searching module 623 and document display module 625. The information retrieving module 621 is configured to obtain the pre-stored personal information of one or more contacts. The information conversation module 622 is configured to convert the obtained pre-stored personal information into search criteria. The searching module 623 is configured to search documents and comprises a search algorithm 624. The document display module 625 is configured to display the documents within a search result. The steps of performance by the information retrieving module 621, the information conversation module 622, the searching module 623 and the document display module 625 are described in text accompanying other Figures.

[00137] In accordance with some embodiments, the social network program 626 is configured to provide a social network application. In some embodiments, the social network program 626 comprises a contact database 627, which is configured to store personal information of contacts in the contact list of the social network program 626.

[00138] Although some of the various drawings illustrate a number of logical stages in a particular order, stages that are not order dependent may be reordered and other stages may be combined or broken out. While some reordering or other groupings are specifically mentioned, others will be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art and so do not present an exhaustive list of alternatives. Moreover, it should be recognized that the stages could be implemented in hardware, firmware, software or any combination thereof.

[00139] The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the application to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the technology and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the technology and various embodiments with various modifications as are to the particular use contemplated.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method of sending a document, comprising:

at a user device of having one or more processors and memory for storing one or more programs to be executed by the one or more processors:

displaying a communication interface for composing a communication message directed to one or more recipients, wherein the one or more recipients include at least a first contact in a pre-stored contact list associated with a user of the user device;

receiving a user input invoking a document sharing function in the

communication interface;

in response to receiving the user input invoking the document sharing function in the communication interface:

performing a document search based at least on pre-stored personal information of at least the first contact; and

presenting one or more search results of the document search in the communication interface for insertion into the communication message upon user selection.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

before performing the document search based at least on the pre-stored personal information of at least the first contact, receiving a search input from the user.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the searching input includes a search keyword.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the search input specifies a document type for documents intended to be searched.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein performing a document search based at least on pre- stored personal information of at least the first contact comprises:

sending a search request to a remote server, wherein the search request includes the search input of the user.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the pre-stored personal information of the first contact includes a conversation history between the user and the first contact.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the conversation history between the user and the first contact includes prior document exchange between the user and the first contact.

8. A device of sending a document, comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:

receiving a user input invoking a document sharing function in the communication interface;

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the communication interface for composing a communication message directed to one or more recipients is a conversation interface between the user of the user device and one or more social network contacts of the user.

10. The device of claim 8, wherein receiving the user input invoking the document sharing function in the communication interface includes one of selecting an image sharing function, an emoticon insertion function, a document attachment function provided in the communication interface.

11. The device of claim 8, where the one or more programs further comprise instructions for:

in response to receiving the user input invoking the document sharing function in the communication interface, obtaining the pre-stored personal information of at least the first contact.

12. The device of claim 8, where the one or more programs further comprise instructions for:

while the one or more search results of the document search are presented in the communication interface, receiving a user's selection of a first document among the one or more search results; and

inserting the first document into the communication message directed to the one or more recipients.

13. The device of claim 8, wherein performing a document search based at least on pre- stored personal information of at least the first contact comprises:

searching locally stored documents in accordance with the pre-stored personal information of at least the first contact.

14. The device of claim 8, further comprising:

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the searching input includes a search keyword.

16. The device of claim 8, where the one or more programs further comprise instructions for:

retrieving a plurality of predetermined categories useful for the document search; and obtaining respective available pre-stored personal information of the first contact for each of the plurality of the predetermined categories.

17. The device of claim 8, wherein the pre-stored personal information of the first contact includes a relationship between the user and the first contact.

18. The device of claim 8, wherein the pre-stored personal information of the first contact includes a location of the first contact.

19. The device of claim 8, wherein presenting the one or more search results of the document search in the communication interface for insertion into the communication message upon user selection comprises:

determining a display size for each respective document among the one or more search results in accordance with at least a relative relevance of the respective document.

20. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the processors to perform operations comprising: