WO2008044821A2

WO2008044821A2 - Method and system for previewing web-page with hypertext at web-browsing

Info

Publication number: WO2008044821A2
Application number: PCT/KR2007/003292
Authority: WO
Inventors: Han-Wool Kim
Original assignee: Geotel Corporation
Priority date: 2006-10-12
Filing date: 2007-07-06
Publication date: 2008-04-17
Also published as: WO2008044821A3; KR100831392B1; KR20080032957A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a preview service providing method and system for a document linked through hypertext in web browsing. For this purpose, the present invention provides a preview service providing system including a contents providing server (160) for providing stored web pages and contents data according to the client terminal's request and a preview service server (150) for converting the web pages into images to form a preview screen, and providing the preview screen to the client terminal. Also, the present invention provides a preview service providing method for receiving a preview request signal (S530) to check a contents providing server for providing a web page for forming a preview screen, receiving a web page (S560) for forming a preview screen from the contents providing server, forming a preview screen image, and transmitting the image to a client terminal (520).

Description

TITLE OF THE INVENTION

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PREVIEWING WEB-PAGE WITH HYPERTEXT

AT WEB-BROWSING

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method and system for providing a preview service of documents linked through hypertext during web browsing. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and system for providing contents of a document, linked through hypertext from among the contents of web pages displayed on a web browsing screen, in the preview format through an additional window when providing the web browsing screen to a client terminal such as a personal computer or a mobile terminal. (b) Description of the Related Art

As communication and network techniques have been developed, computer techniques such as for memories and data storage devices have also been developed to provide high-performance personal computers (PCs). Also, software techniques have been developed as well as hardware techniques, and most jobs from making various documents at home, schools, and offices to professional tasks in various fields have been performed by using the personal computers. Further, as the personal computers have achieved high performance, various multimedia functions of storing and reproducing movies, songs, and moving pictures have also been provided.

In addition to the above-noted functions, developments of the Internet have made it possible to acquire various pieces of information by using a personal computer and to communicate with other personal computers. The Internet represents communication means for allowing access to a large volume of information all over the world, and it provides various contents services including information search, news, personal blogs, chat, communities, games, and Internet shopping. Provision of various services has made the Internet an essential tool for contemporary life. Web browsers such as Mosaic of NCSA, Navigator of Netscape, Internet

Explorer of Microsoft, Hot Java of Sun Micro System, Opera of Opera Soft, and Lynx for the Unix system are used so as to access the Internet by using a personal computer. The web browsers display documents according to international standards and provide various user interfaces, with minor differences.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplified screen of a web browser connected to the Internet.

The screen shown in FIG. 1 is provided when the user accesses the Internet by using the web browser installed in a client terminal. The user selects a desired document by using an additional device such as a mouse when attempting to read an article or a notice on the screen of FIG. 1. When the document is selected, the current displayed web page disappears. The user moves to the URL link connected by the hypertext, and the contents of the document are downloaded through a network and are then displayed.

In order to display the document linked by the hypertext to the web page, it is needed to move through the link connected by the hypertext, download the document contents, and perform a rendering process to display the document. However, the contents of the document displayed through the above-noted process may be contents or advertisements that are not desired by the user, and they may not be of much use. Further, an error message may be displayed when the user fails to move to the corresponding URL because of a problem caused by the service providing server. However, the user cannot know the document contents and error status before moving to the connected link, and hence, undesired time waste and network resource waste caused by load generation of the service providing server are problematically generated.

The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in an effort to provide a method and system for providing contents of a document, linked through hypertext from among contents displayed on a web browser, in the preview format through an additional window when providing web pages to a client terminal such as a personal computer or a mobile terminal. In one aspect of the present invention, in a preview service providing system for providing contents of a document linked through hypertext on a preview screen on a web browser of a client terminal receiving an Internet service, a system for providing a preview service includes: a contents providing server for storing a web page and contents data to be provided through the Internet service, providing the stored web page and contents data according to a request by the client terminal, and providing a web page for forming the preview screen; and a preview service server for converting the web page provided by the contents providing server into an image to form a preview screen, and providing the image to the client terminal.

In another aspect of the present invention, in a preview service providing method for providing contents of a document linked through hypertext on a preview screen on a web browser of a client terminal receiving an Internet service, a method for providing a preview service includes: (a) receiving a preview request signal for providing the preview screen from the client terminal; (b) checking a contents providing server for providing a web page for forming the preview screen through the preview request signal; (c) requesting the checked contents providing server to provide a web page for forming the preview screen; (d) receiving the web page for forming the preview screen and forming a preview screen image; and (e) transmitting the preview screen to the client terminal.

In another aspect of the present invention, in a preview screen displaying method for providing contents of a document linked through hypertext on an additional preview screen on a web browser of a client terminal receiving an Internet service, a method for displaying a preview screen includes: (a) receiving a web page including an HTML tag on the preview providing status from a contents providing server for providing web pages; (b) selecting an anchor for providing the preview screen, and transmitting the preview request signal to the preview service server through the Internet; (c) receiving a preview screen image through the Internet; and (d) generating a preview window at a predetermined area of the web browser and displaying the received preview screen in the generated preview window.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an exemplified screen of a web browser connected to the Internet.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a preview service providing system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a preview service server according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show an HTML tag phrase for displaying a preview service providing part according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 shows a signal flowchart between a client terminal for providing a preview service, a preview service server, and a contents providing server according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows an HTML tag phrase of a preview request signal transmitted to the preview service server by the client terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows an exemplified screen of the web browser for providing a preview service according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description, only certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, simply by way of illustration. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive. Like reference numerals designate like elements throughout the specification.

In addition, unless explicitly described to the contrary, the word "comprise" and variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of stated elements but not the exclusion of any other elements.

Also, the term "module" described in the present specification represents a unit for processing a function or an operation, and is can be realized by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a preview service providing system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The preview service providing system includes a client terminal including a personal computer 110 and a mobile terminal 120, an Internet 140 for providing a web page to the client terminal, a mobile communication network 130 for connecting the mobile terminal 120 to the Internet 140, a contents providing server 160 for providing Internet services including web pages and contents data through the Internet 140, and a preview service server 150 for providing a preview service according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The personal computer 110 is a client terminal for accessing the Internet 140 through a modem or a LAN, and receiving an Internet service provided by a plurality of contents providing servers 160. For this purpose, the personal computer 110 includes a software program for executing a web browser for receiving an Internet service.

The mobile terminal 120 is a client terminal for using a wireless Internet browser including the wireless application protocol (WAP) browser and the mobile explorer (ME) browser, and displaying the web page provided through the Internet 140. In this instance, the mobile terminal 120 is connected to the Internet 140 through the mobile communication network 130.

The mobile communication network 130 connects the mobile terminal 120 to the Internet 140 by using a wireless base station 132, a mobile communication exchange 134, and an inter-network linker 136. For this purpose, the mobile communication network 130 mutually converts and transmits the WAP protocol used for the mobile communication network and the transmission control protocol / Internet protocol (TCP/IP) used for the Internet 140. In this instance, the mobile communication network 130 includes a CDMA network, a WCDMA network, and a portable Internet.

The Internet 140 represents a global open computer network structure providing the TCP/IP protocol and various services including the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), Telnet, file transfer protocol (FTP), domain name system (DNS), simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), simple network management protocol (SNMP), network file service (NFS), and network information service (NIS). The client terminal is connected to the Internet 140 and displays the web page provided by various contents providing servers 160 on the screen.

The contents providing server 160 generates and stores web pages and various contents, and provides them to the client terminal when receiving a request. For this purpose, the contents providing server 160 uses a hypertext mark-up language (HTML) phrase to generate a web page, and provides the web page.

In detail, on receiving a web page providing request from the client terminal through the Internet 140, the contents providing server 160 transmits the requested web page and the HTML tag phrase configuring the document contents to the client terminal. The client terminal executes the received HTML tag phrase at the web browser to display the web page.

The preview service server 150 establishes an additional window generation area on the web page according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and provides the screen of the web page, selected by the user in the preview window generated in the established window generation area, in the image format.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a preview service server according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, The preview service server 150 includes a program storage unit 210, a memory 220, a network interface card (NIC) 230, a controller 240, a display 250, a key input unit 260, and a contents providing server manager 270.

The program storage unit 210 stores a search program for searching a contents providing server for providing a web page to which a preview service request is provided by the user, an image converting program for receiving a web page screen and converting the same into a preview screen image, and a control program for managing the preview service server 150. The above-noted programs are realized by various program languages such as the

"C," "C++", and "JAVA" depending on the operating system of the preview service server 150.

The memory 220 performs a function for temporarily storing the data processed by the controller 240, and a function for temporarily storing the preview screen converted into an image by the image converting program.

The NIC 230 is a communication module for providing an interface for communicating with the Internet 140.

The controller 340 totally controls the preview service server, searches the contents providing server for controlling the web page to be provided as a preview screen according to the present invention, receives the web page from the searched contents providing server, convert the web page into a preview screen image, and transmits the image to the client having requested the provision of a preview service.

For this purpose, the controller 240 includes a service request receiving module 242, a search module 244, an image generating module 246, and a transmitting/receiving module 248. The service request receiving module 242 receives a preview request signal from the NIC 230. The service request receiving module 242 checks an IP address of the client terminal having transmitted the preview request signal. The search module 244 searches the contents providing server 160 providing the preview requested web page from among the connected contents providing servers 160 according to the preview request signal. In this instance, information including an identifier and a URL of the contents providing server 160 can be transmitted when the preview request signal is transmitted from the client terminal. When the information including an identifier and a URL of the contents providing server 160 is transmitted, the search module 244 can be omitted.

On receiving the preview requested web page from the contents providing server 160, the image generating module 246 generates an image in the preview format to be transmitted to the client terminal.

The transmitting/receiving module 248 receives the preview request signal through the NIC 230, transmits a corresponding web page providing request to the contents providing server manager 270, receives a web page from the contents providing server manager 270, and transmits the preview screen generated by the image generating module 246 to the Internet 140 to thus control the data inputs and outputs by the controller 240.

The display 250 provides the operating status of the preview service server 150 and processing status caused by the key input by the key input unit 260 in the monitor format so that the manager may view the statuses.

The key input unit 260 is used for the manager to input an instruction for controlling the preview service server 150 when checking the preview service server 150 or changing the stored program. The contents providing server manager 270 is connected to a plurality of contents providing servers 160, transmits request data of the preview requested web page to the contents providing servers 160, and receives the web page from the contents providing server 160. Also, the contents providing server manager 270 stores addresses of the contents providing servers 160 and service information, provides information on the contents providing server providing the requested web page when the search module 244 searches the contents providing server, and connects the information.

It is desirable to include an HTML phrase for indicating the document that provides a preview screen and the document that does not provide a preview screen when providing the web page to the client terminal in the provision of a preview function using the preview service server 150 including the above-noted constituent elements.

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show an HTML tag phrase for displaying a preview service providing part according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplified HTML tag phrase for displaying a preview service providing part by using a preview tag. In this instance, a <preview> tag and a </preview> tag are used for the preview service. <preview> is a tag for setting that a specific phrase in the tag that is an anchor is available for a preview, and </preview> is for setting that an anchor in the tag is unavailable for a preview.

In the <preview> tag, it is desirable to designate "enctype" as "application/x-www-preview-urlencoded", and to add a uniform resource identifier (URI) of a contents providing server for performing a process on the request to an action.

In this instance, enctype is a tag for transmitting the data value of the HTML tag phrase as binary data to the contents providing server, and action is a tag for moving to the point at which an operation is performed.

In FIG. 4, the first page and the second page positioned in the <preview> tag support the preview function, and the third page positioned in </preview> tag does not support the preview function.

FIG. 5 shows an exemplified HTML tag phrase for indicating a preview service providing part by using the preview attribute.

In this instance, FIG. 5 adds a preview attribute into the anchor tag to realize the preview, and it is set to support the preview service when it is set that "preview=yes", and it is set to not support the preview service when it is set that "preview=no". Accordingly, in FIG. 5, the first page and the second page support the preview function, and the third page does not support the preview function.

FIG. 6 shows a signal flowchart between a client terminal for providing a preview service, a preview service server, and a contents providing server according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The client terminal is connected to various contents providing server 160 through the Internet 140, and receives the web page provided by the contents providing servers 160 (S510). The web page received from the contents providing server 160 includes an HTML tag phrase for providing the preview service. For this purpose, the contents providing server 160 may include in advance an HTML tag for providing a preview service in the case of generating a web page, or may process the web page through the preview service server 150 and provide the processed web page screen to the client terminal (S520).

The client terminal displays the web page screen received from the contents providing server 160. The user using the web page selects a part to preview from among various documents or notices displayed on the web page. In this instance, the preview on the selected part can be requested through the method of clicking the left button of the mouse, clicking twice, clicking the right button, clicking a wheel, inputting a button on the keyboard, and clicking the mouse button. When the user's preview request is input, the client terminal generates a preview request signal and transmits the same to the preview service server 150. The format of the preview request signal will now be described with reference to FIG. 7 (S530).

The preview service server 150 checks the preview request signal input through the service request receiving module 242, and searches the contents providing server 160 for providing the preview service requested web page through the search module 244 (S540).

When the contents providing server 160 is checked, web page provision for generating a preview screen is requested from the checked contents providing server 160 (S550). On receiving the web page from the contents providing server 160

(S560), a preview screen is formed through an image generating module 246 (S570), and an identifier for transmitting the preview screen is added to the HTML header. In this instance, the identifier for transmitting the preview screen includes a document to which the transmitted preview screen is connected or information on the notice (S580).

When the generation of preview data for transmitting the preview screen is finished, the preview data are transmitted to the client terminal through the

Internet 140 (S590), the client terminal having received the same generates a preview window at a predetermined area of the web page, and the received preview screen is displayed on the generated preview window (S600).

In this instance, it is possible to add the step for checking whether a new preview request signal is transmitted from the client terminal before transmitting preview data to the client terminal in the step of S590. In this instance, when the new preview request signal is transmitted from the client terminal before transmitting the preview screen, the step of S590 for transmitting the preview data is canceled, and the steps after S520 for generating a new preview screen are performed again. Through the above-noted method, the web page preview service can be provided from the preview service server 150 to the client terminal.

FIG. 7 shows an HTML tag phrase of a preview request signal transmitted to the preview service server by the client terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The URI of the contents providing server for receiving the preview screen can be designated on the former part of the HTML tag document of the preview request signal. In FIG. 7, the part

"preview_agent=www.testsite.com/preview_agent" is for designating the URI of the contents providing server for receiving the preview screen. An encode type is described in the HTML tag document of the preview request signal and is then transmitted to the preview service server through the HTTP request header of the web browser. In this instance, the encode type is described as follows: "enctype=application/x-www-preview-urlcoded".

On receiving the URL of the contents providing server and the encode type described preview request signal, the preview service server 150 receives the web page from the URL designated contents providing server 160 to form a preview screen, adds a string such as <preview> to the HTTP header, and transmits the same to the client terminal so that the web browser may identify them as data to be used for a preview.

The client terminal user moves a cursor to the document or a notice available for the preview function and selects the preview of the corresponding document or notice on the web page screen displayed to the web browser.

When the document or notice is selected, the image of the document or the notice is displayed as a preview screen on the predetermined preview window.

The data displayable as the preview screen include HTML, XHTML, XML, text documents, and image files (e.g., gif, jpg, and bmp). In general, the web browser can process all the above-noted data formats, and updates the web browser by using the wired/wireless Internet when there is a data format that cannot be processed.

In this instance, the preview window is generated beside the selected anchor or at a specific part of the predetermined web page as shown in FIG. 8 when the document or notice, that is, the anchor, is selected. In this instance, the preview screen can be directly displayed to the generated preview window as the user moves the mouse button, and the preview screen can be displayed when a request such as the user's clicking a button is generated. Also, when the client terminal has a small screen in a like manner of the mobile terminal 120, it is possible to form a preview screen by using text without displaying pictures included in the document, and then set them to be displayed.

The above-noted preview service is applicable to a digital TV or an IP TV as well as a personal computer and a mobile terminal.

The existing web page supports a notice preview function for partially displaying the document when the anchor is selected. Also, it supports the function for enlarging the window and executing a moving picture when the anchor is placed at a predetermined part.

However, the web page preview function and the moving picture execution function use the method for transmitting all the HTML tag phrases related to the preview when the contents providing server provides the web page to the client terminal. That is, the existing notice preview function includes and transmits the preview screen when the contents providing server provides the web page to the client terminal, and the embodiment of the present invention transmits the web page screen through the contents providing server, and generates a preview screen through the preview service server and transmits the preview screen to the client terminal when the client terminal requests to provide the preview screen.

Accordingly, it is required to transmit a large volume of HTML tag phrases when providing an initial web page in the case of the existing notice preview function, many wired and radio resources are spent and traffic may be generated. However, the preview screen transmitted by spending many wired and radio resources may not be used.

However, in the embodiment of the present invention, the preview screen is generated and provided when a preview request is generated, and hence, no wired and radio resources are spent in transmitting the preview screen that may not be used, and substantial traffic is not generated.

The above-described exemplary embodiment of the present invention is realized not only by the device and the method, but also by a program for realizing the functions corresponding to the configuration of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention or a recording medium for recording the program, which will be easily realized by a person skilled in the art through the descriptions on the exemplary embodiment.

While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

According to the present invention, a web page is provided to the user in advance so that the user may easily determined whether he desires the contents, and hence, the user's unneeded time waste is prevented and his convenience is increased. Also, the user's undesired movement on the web pages is prevented to prevent network resource waste and traffic generation according to generation of a load.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. In a preview service providing system for providing contents of a document linked through hypertext on a preview screen on a web browser of a client terminal receiving an Internet service, a system for providing a preview service, comprising: a contents providing server for storing a web page and contents data to be provided through the Internet service, providing the stored web page and contents data according to a request by the client terminal, and providing a web page for forming the preview screen; and a preview service server for converting the web page provided by the contents providing server into an image to form a preview screen, and providing the image to the client terminal.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the preview service server comprises: a program storage unit for storing an image converting program for converting the received web page into an image and a control program for controlling the preview service server; a controller for receiving a preview service providing request from the client terminal, converting the web page provided by the contents providing server into an image to generate a preview screen, and transmitting the preview screen to the client terminal to thus totally control the preview service server; and a memory for temporarily storing the data processed by the controller and the preview screen image.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the controller comprises: a service request receiving module for receiving a preview request signal from the client terminal, and checking the preview request signal; a search module for searching a contents providing server providing the preview requested web page from among a plurality of connected contents providing servers according to the preview request signal; and an image generating module for converting the web page provided by the contents providing server into an image to generate a preview screen.

4. The system of claim 2, further comprising a network interface card (NIC) for providing an interface for communication with the Internet; a contents providing server manager, connected to a plurality of contents providing servers, for receiving a web page from the contents providing server, and providing an address of the contents providing server and service information according to a contents providing server search request by the controller; a key input unit for inputting an instruction for controlling the preview service; and a display for displaying a processing status according to an operation state of the preview service server and a key input of the key input unit.

5. The system of claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the controller further comprises a transmitting/receiving module for receiving a preview request signal through the network interface card (NIC), transmitting the same to the service request receiving module, transmitting a web page providing request signal for forming the preview screen to the contents providing server manager checked by the search module, receiving the web page from the contents providing server manager, and transmitting the preview screen generated by the image generating module to the Internet through the NIC.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the client terminal includes one of a personal computer for using a modem or a LAN to access the Internet and receiving a wired Internet service, and a mobile terminal for accessing the Internet through a mobile communication network and receiving a wireless Internet service.

7. In a preview service providing method for providing contents of a document linked through hypertext on a preview screen on a web browser of a client terminal receiving an Internet service, a method for providing a preview service comprising:

(a) receiving a preview request signal for providing the preview screen from the client terminal;

(b) checking a contents providing server for providing a web page for forming the preview screen through the preview request signal;

(c) requesting the checked contents providing server to provide a web page for forming the preview screen;

(d) receiving the web page for forming the preview screen, and forming a preview screen image; and

(e) transmitting the preview screen to the client terminal.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step (e) comprises adding an identifier for notifying of transmission of the preview screen to an HTML header and transmitting the added result to the client terminal.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein, before the step (a), the client terminal receives the web page including an HTML tag on the preview providing status from the contents providing server, selects an anchor for providing the preview screen, and transmits the preview request signal.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the HTML tag on the preview providing status comprises a <preview> tag for indicating a part supporting a preview and a </preview> tag for indicating a part not supporting a preview.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the HTML tag on the preview providing status comprises a <preview=yes> tag for indicating a part supporting a preview and a <preview=no> tag for indicating a part not supporting a preview.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the step (a) comprises receiving the preview request signal including a uniform resource identifier (URI) of the contents providing server for providing the preview screen and an encoding type (enctype) for transmitting data as binary data.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein, before the step (e), transmission of the preview screen is stopped and the process after the step (b) is performed when a new preview request signal is transmitted from the client terminal.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein the step (d) comprises forming the preview screen on the web page by using text.

15. In a preview screen displaying method for providing contents of a document linked through hypertext on an additional preview screen on a web browser of a client terminal receiving an Internet service, a method for displaying a preview screen, comprising: (a) receiving a web page including an HTML tag on the preview providing status from a contents providing server for providing web pages;

(b) selecting an anchor for providing the preview screen, and transmitting the preview request signal to the preview service server through the Internet; (c) receiving a preview screen image through the Internet; and

(d) generating a preview window at a predetermined area of the web browser, and displaying the received preview screen in the generated preview window.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the step (b) comprises transmitting an identifier or a URL of the contents providing server for providing the preview screen together with the preview request signal.