According to Apple a meeting originator associates a file with a meeting event by dropping the file on a meeting event window displayed within a calendar window. The file is copied to a directory on the originator's computer and a meeting invitation is created containing a directory path to a corresponding directory on a server that stores a copy of the file. The meeting invitation is sent to the server for distribution to attendees of the meeting, who access the file from the server. The originator also indicates permissions on the server directory for the attendees. The file may be modified by the originator, or by an attendee having appropriate permissions, by dropping a modified version on the meeting event window. The server notifies the attendees and/or the originator that the meeting event has changed.

Here's Apple's background on the invention: "An electronic calendar is typically implemented on a data processing system, such as a general purpose computer system or a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a cellular telephone or a media player (e.g. an iPod) or other types of devices. These electronic calendars typically allow a user to display different time intervals or time ranges within a calendar. For example, an electronic calendar will typically allow a user to display at least a portion of a day, a full day, a portion of a week or a full week, several weeks, or a month, or a plurality of months, or even multiple years. The electronic calendars further typically include user interfaces for allowing a user to move between the different time durations or time ranges and to enter events and reminders onto the calendar. The events and/or reminders typically include some text specifying the event as well as data specifying the duration in time of the event and other information. A user can typically save these reminders or events at a particular time on the calendar and then later retrieve the information from the calendar to see what events are upcoming, to plan for events, etc.

"Oftentimes, an event may require several people to attend the event, such as a meeting or a party, etc. In these circumstances, the creator of the event on the calendar will typically send out an invitation to those being invited to or requested to attend the event. Prior data processing systems allow a user to create an event on a calendar and then cause an electronic message to be sent out to those being invited or requested to attend the event. The message may be sent by an electronic message, such as email, or some other type of notification about the event. These invitations are received by attendees or others required to attend in an email form which does not display the invitation in a calendar or in the context of a calendar with other events listed on the calendar which have already been accepted. Hence, a user cannot see the date and time of the invitation in the context of other events already on the user's calendar. Moreover, prior systems and methods do not include a calendar which is devoted to showing invitations which have not yet been accepted.

"In addition, the creator of the event may want to share files related to the event, such as an agenda, a presentation or the like, with the attendees. Currently, the creator must manually attach the files to the invitations or manually load the files to a storage device that is accessible by all the attendees. If the creator adds, deletes or modifies the files, the creator must manually inform each attendee of the change. Furthermore, if the attendee deletes or misfiles the invitation prior to detaching or retrieving the files, there is no easy way for the attendee to find the files."

And here's Apple's summary of the invention: "A meeting originator associates a file with a meeting event by dropping the file on a meeting event window displayed within a calendar window. The file is copied to a directory on the originator's computer and a meeting invitation is created containing a directory path to a corresponding directory on a server that stores a copy of the file. The meeting invitation is sent to the server for distribution to attendees of the meeting, who access the file from the server. The originator also indicates permissions on the server directory for the attendees. The file may be modified by the originator, or by an attendee having appropriate permissions, by dropping a modified version on the meeting event window. The server notifies the attendees and/or the originator that the meeting event has changed.

"One or more methods described herein may be performed by a data processing system, such as a general purpose computer system, a PDA, a cellular telephone, a media player, etc. These devices may use one or more computer programs to perform these methods and they may include machine or computer readable media containing those computer programs.

"The methods and/or computer programs of any one of these embodiments may be compliant with standards for calendaring applications, such as iCalendar and vCalendar, and may allow for the importation of data from other applications such as Entourage, or other calendaring programs.

"In addition, in at least certain embodiments, the methods or systems described herein may enable copy and paste operations with other applications, and may enable drag and drop manipulations or the use of a spell checker, or the integration with email applications and address book applications for management of personal information. Furthermore, in at least certain embodiments, the methods and systems described herein may also permit users to publish their calendars to others (e.g. publish their calendar through the use of the Internet) and may also allow a user to subscribe to other calendars, thereby coordinating or managing events of one user with those of another."

The inventors are Scott Forstall, Lala Dutta and Cyrus Daboo. The graphic below shows an exemplary data processing system.