Disclosed are apparatus and methods for locating one or more dates. Specific embodiments include a dates locator that is operable to analyze a date request in the form of natural language words or phrases and determine that such words or phrases correspond to a specific date or range of dates. In one natural language example, a date request may be in the form of a specified holiday or specified period of time before and/or after such specified holiday (e.g., Thanksgiving week) and the corresponding date or range of dates are retrieved by the dates locator. That is, dates locator embodiments receive a date request that uses date contextual information as input to thereby retrieve a specific date or range of dates. The retrieved date or range of dates may then be displayed based in the date request's contextual information. Additionally, a dates locator may include a learning mechanism to learn new associations between particular contextual information and a specific date or range of dates.
1. A method of automatically locating one or more dates in a computer implemented calendar application, comprising:
receiving at a computing device a date request that includes contextual date information representative of a specific date or a specific range of dates wherein the contextual date information does not have a predefined format, and wherein said contextual date information includes input by a user that is related to and describes, but does not specify, a particular date or range of dates that allows said computer implemented calendar application to locate said particular date or range of dates;
automatically locating by the computing device the specific date or the specific range of dates based on the contextual date information of the date request; and
automatically initiating by the computing device the displaying of the specific date or the specific range of dates.
2. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the contextual date information of the date request includes one or more word (s) represented in a natural language.
3. A method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the contextual date information specifies a holiday.
4. A method as recited in claim 3 , wherein the contextual date information specifies a time duration associated with the specified holiday, wherein the time duration is a week, a weekend, a month, or a day.
5. A method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the contextual date information further includes one or more current settings of a calendar system, a time zone, or the current date.
6. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the contextual date information includes a first date followed by a range indicator that is followed by a second date to thereby specify a date range that begins with the first date and ends with the second date.
7. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein automatically locating a specific date or a specific range of dates is accomplished by:
automatically locating one or more specific dates and any one or more quantifiers that are specified as related to the contextual date information of the date request; and
if one or more quantifiers have been located, applying the one or more quantifiers to the one or more specific dates to form a specific date range.
8. A method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a modification to the located specific date or the located specific date range; and
learning the modification so that receiving a next contextual date information, which is similar or the same as the currently received contextual date information, will result in locating and displaying the modification to the specific date or the specific date range.
9. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the displaying is initiated by one or more web service (s) that have performed the operation of automatically locating the specific date or range of dates and wherein the web service (s) initiate the displaying by sending the located specific date and range of dates to a client application that responds to the located specific date or date range by displaying such specific date or range of dates.
10. An apparatus comprising at least a processor and a memory, wherein the processor and memory are configured to perform the following operations:
receiving a date request that includes contextual date information related to a specific date or a specific range of dates, wherein the contextual date information does not have a predefined format, and wherein said contextual date information includes input by a user that is related to and describes, but does not specify, a particular date or range of dates that allows said apparatus to locate said particular date or range of dates;
automatically locating a specific date or a specific range of dates based on the contextual date information of the date request; and
automatically initiate the displaying of the located specific date or the located specific range of dates.
11. An apparatus as recited in claim 10 , wherein the contextual date information of the date request includes one or more word (s) arranged in a natural language.
12. An apparatus as recited in claim 11 , wherein the contextual date information specifies a holiday.
13. An apparatus as recited in claim 12 , wherein the contextual date information specifies a time duration associated with the specified holiday, wherein the time duration is a week, a weekend, a month, or a day.
14. An apparatus as recited in claim 11 , wherein the contextual date information further includes one or more current settings of a calendar system, a time zone, or the current date.
15. An apparatus as recited in claim 10 , wherein the contextual date information includes a first date followed by a range indicator that is followed by a second date to thereby specify a date range that begins with the first date and ends with the second date.
16. An apparatus as recited in claim 10 , wherein automatically locating a specific date or a specific range of dates is accomplished by:
automatically locating one or more specific dates and any one or more quantifiers that are specified as related to the contextual date information of the date request; and
if one or more quantifiers have been located, applying the one or more quantifiers to the one or more specific dates to form a specific date range.
17. An apparatus as recited in claim 10 , wherein the processor and memory are further configured to perform the following operations:
receiving a modification to the located specific date or the located specific date range; and
learning the modification so that receiving a next contextual date information, which is similar or the same as the currently received contextual date information, will result in locating and displaying the modification to the specific date or the specific date range.
18. At least one computer readable storage medium having computer program instructions stored thereon that are arranged to perform the following operations:
receiving a date request that includes contextual date information related to a specific date or a specific range of dates, wherein the contextual date information does not have a predefined format, and wherein said contextual date information includes input by a user that is related to and describes, but does not specify, a particular date or range of dates that allows said computer program instructions to locate said particular date or range of dates;
automatically locating a specific date or a specific range of dates based on the contextual date information of the date request; and
automatically initiating the displaying of the located specific date or the located specific range of dates.
19. A computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 18 , wherein the contextual date information of the date request includes one or more word (s) arranged in a natural language.
20. A computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 19 , wherein the contextual date information specifies a holiday.
21. A computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 20 , wherein the contextual date information specifies a time duration associated with the specified holiday, wherein the time duration is a week, a weekend, a month, or a day.
22. A computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 19 , wherein the contextual date information further includes one or more current settings of a calendar system, a time zone, or the current date.
23. A computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 18 , wherein the contextual date information includes a first date followed by a range indicator that is followed by a second date to thereby specify a date range that begins with the first date and ends with the second date.
24. A computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 18 , wherein automatically locating a specific date or a specific range of dates is accomplished by:
automatically locating one or more specific dates and any one or more quantifiers that are specified as related to the contextual date information of the date request; and
if one or more quantifiers have been located, applying the one or more quantifiers to the one or more specific dates to form a specific date range.
25. A computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 18 , wherein the computer program instructions are further arranged to perform the following operations:
receiving a modification to the located specific date or the located specific date range; and
learning the modification so that receiving a next contextual date information, which is similar or the same as the currently received contextual date information, will result in locating and displaying the modification to the specific date or the specific date range.
26. A method as recited in claim 5 , wherein the one or more current settings include a currently displayed day, a currently displayed month, or a currently displayed year of the calendar system.
27. A method as recited in claim 6 , wherein the range indicator is a “-” or a “<-->” set of characters.
28. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the located specific date or the located specific range of dates is only displayed without displaying other dates.
29. An apparatus as recited in claim 14 , wherein the one or more current settings include a currently displayed day, a currently displayed month, or a currently displayed year of the calendar system.
30. An apparatus as recited in claim 10 , wherein the located specific date or the located specific range of dates is only displayed without displaying other dates.
31. A computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 22 , wherein the one or more current settings include a currently displayed day, a currently displayed month, or a currently displayed year of the calendar system.
32. A computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 23 , wherein the range indicator is a “-” or a “<-->” set of characters.
33. A computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 18 , wherein the located specific date or the located specific range of dates is only displayed without displaying other dates.