CN106960008B

CN106960008B - Method for searching by browser and browser

Info

Publication number: CN106960008B
Application number: CN201710111073.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杨连强; 马治华; 甘恩平; 任寰
Original assignee: 3600 Technology Group Co Ltd
Current assignee: 3600 Technology Group Co ltd
Priority date: 2012-12-17
Filing date: 2012-12-17
Publication date: 2021-01-29
Anticipated expiration: 2032-12-17
Also published as: CN102982175A; CN106960008A; CN102982175B

Abstract

The invention discloses a method for searching by a browser and the browser, wherein the method comprises the following steps: initiating a first search request to a search engine based on the search keyword and the search category information; loading search category list information and search engine list information in a first sub-window of a browser webpage window; loading a search result according to the first search request in a second sub-window of the browser webpage window; initiating a second search request to the selected search engine according to the search category information selected from the search category list information and the search keyword; and loading the search result according to the second search request in the second sub-window. The invention provides the sub-window for loading the search category list and the search engine list in the browser webpage window, and the user can select the search category and the search engine to perform new search in the current browser window, thereby improving the search efficiency, facilitating the user to check and compare a plurality of search results and improving the user experience.

Description

Method for searching by browser and browser

The application is a divisional application of a method for searching by a browser and the browser:

application date of the original application: 2012-12-17

Application No. of the original application: 201210549218.3

The invention of the original application is named: a method for searching by a browser and the browser are provided.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of internet technologies, and in particular, to a method for searching by a browser and a browser.

Background

With the rapid development of the internet, the amount of information provided on the internet is becoming increasingly large. In order to obtain desired information on the internet, searching for information through a search engine using a web browser is the most common behavior of internet users.

The search engine is a system that collects information from the internet by using a specific computer program according to a certain search strategy, provides a search service for a user after organizing and processing the information, and displays information related to user search to the user. Hundredths, google, 360, etc. are representative of search engines. To improve the accuracy of search results, search engines typically provide different search categories for users to select, such as web pages, videos, pictures, music, and so on. The search engine can perform corresponding search operations according to the search categories selected by the user.

Different search engines may provide different search results even if the user searches using the same search keyword due to different search strategies and different ways of organizing and processing information. Therefore, users often need to search in different search engines with the same search key in order to have a full understanding of the search results, or to have an understanding of different search results of different search engines.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, the present invention has been made to provide a browser and a method for a browser to perform a search, which overcome the above problems or at least partially solve the above problems.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a browser for performing a web search, including:

a first search request generator configured to initiate a first search request to a search engine based on an input search keyword and search category information;

a window generator configured to generate a first sub-window and a second sub-window in a browser web window of the browser;

a first sub-window loader configured to load content in the first sub-window of the browser web window, the loaded content including search category list information of the search category information and search engine list information including the search engine corresponding to the search category information in the search category list information, for a user to select the search category information and the search engine;

a second search request generator configured to initiate a second search request to a search engine selected from the search engine list information corresponding to the search category information, according to the search category information selected from the search category list information and the input search keyword;

and the search result loader is configured to load the search results returned according to the first search request and/or the second search request in the second sub-window.

Optionally, the user interface of the first search request generator is outside the browser webpage window containing the first sub-window and the second sub-window.

Optionally, the user interface of the first search request generator is in a start page, a new tab page or a navigation page of the browser, or is a search bar of the browser.

Optionally, the window generator is operative in response to the first search request of the first search request generator.

Optionally, the window generator is configured to tear out the first sub-window at a side portion of the browser webpage window.

Optionally, the input search keyword in the first search request comprises: searching keywords input by a user through an input box control of a browser; or a search keyword used by the user for the last search; or a search keyword selected by the user from a list of history of search keywords.

Optionally, the window generator is configured to generate a plurality of the first sub-windows, and the first sub-window loader is configured to load the search category list information and the search engine list information in two first sub-windows of the plurality of first sub-windows, respectively.

Optionally, the browser further includes a configuration file for reflecting a mapping relationship between the plurality of search category information and the plurality of search engines; and the first child window loader loads the search category list information and the search engine list information according to the configuration file.

Optionally, the browser further includes a configuration modifier, and the configuration modifier is configured to receive a user modification instruction, and modify and update the configuration file according to the user modification instruction.

Optionally, the first sub-window loader is configured to dynamically load search engine list information corresponding to the selected search category information according to the search category information selected in the search category list information and according to the configuration file; or, the first sub-window loader is configured to dynamically load search category list information corresponding to a selected search engine according to the search engine selected in the search engine list information and according to the configuration file.

Optionally, the configuration file further includes: preferred search engine information and/or preferred search category information set by the browser or browser user.

Optionally, at least a portion of the configuration file is used as browser user information for performing server-side backup, server-side upload, and/or server-side synchronization operations.

Optionally, the second search request generator is configured to generate an http get request as the second search request according to a web site URL corresponding to the selected search category information and search engine and the input search keyword.

Optionally, the window generator is configured to generate a plurality of the second sub-windows, and the search result loader is configured to load search results of a corresponding plurality of the first search requests and/or second search requests in the plurality of second sub-windows, respectively; wherein the plurality of first search requests and/or second search requests originate from the same search keyword but from different search category information and/or from different search engines.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for searching by a browser, including:

initiating a first search request to a search engine on the browser side based on the input search keyword and the search category information;

loading search category list information containing the search category information and search engine list information containing the search engine corresponding to the search category information in the search category list information in a first sub-window of a browser webpage window;

loading a search result returned from the search engine according to the first search request in a second sub-window of the browser webpage window;

according to the search category information selected from the search category list information and the input search keyword, initiating a second search request to a search engine selected from the search engine list information corresponding to the search category information;

and loading a corresponding search result returned by the search engine selected from the search engine list information according to the second search request in the second sub-window.

Optionally, the first search request is initiated outside the browser webpage window including the first sub-window and the second sub-window.

Optionally, the first search request is initiated through a search bar in a starting page, a new tab page, or a navigation page of the browser, or a search bar of the browser.

Optionally, the browser webpage window including the first sub-window and the second sub-window is generated in response to the first search request.

Optionally, the first sub-window is a split window of the browser webpage window, and is located on an edge side portion of the browser webpage window.

Optionally, the number of the first sub-windows is multiple, and two of the first sub-windows load the search category list information and the search engine list information respectively.

Optionally, the method includes providing a configuration file for reflecting mapping relations between the plurality of search category information and the plurality of search engines; and loading the search category list information and the search engine list information according to the configuration file.

Optionally, the configuration file is updated by the browser or configurable by a browser user.

Optionally, dynamically loading search engine list information corresponding to the selected search category information according to the search category information selected from the search category list information and according to the configuration file; or dynamically loading the search category list information corresponding to the selected search engine according to the search engine selected from the search engine list information and the configuration file.

Optionally, the method includes performing server-side backup, server-side upload, and/or server-side synchronization on at least a portion of the configuration file as browser user information.

Optionally, the second search request comprises: and generating an http get request according to the URL of the website corresponding to the selected search category information and the search engine and the input search keyword.

Optionally, the number of the second sub-windows is multiple, and the multiple second sub-windows are respectively used for loading corresponding search results of the multiple first search requests and/or second search requests; wherein the plurality of first search requests and/or second search requests originate from the same search keyword but from different search category information and/or from different search engines.

According to the browser and the method for searching by the browser, provided by the invention, because the first sub-window for loading the search category list information and the search engine list information is provided in the browser webpage window, a user can select a required search category and a required search engine in the current browser window to perform new search, and a search result is displayed in the second sub-window of the current browser webpage window. The method can obviously improve the searching efficiency, is convenient for the user to check and compare different searching results, and improves the user experience.

The foregoing description is only an overview of the technical solutions of the present invention, and the embodiments of the present invention are described below in order to make the technical means of the present invention more clearly understood and to make the above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention more clearly understandable.

Drawings

Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments. The drawings are only for purposes of illustrating the preferred embodiments and are not to be construed as limiting the invention. Also, like reference numerals are used to refer to like parts throughout the drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of one embodiment of a browser in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2(a) shows an exemplary layout of a web page window of a browser of the present invention;

FIG. 2(b) is a first sub-window portion of the browser web page window shown in FIG. 2 (a);

FIG. 2(c) is a second sub-window portion of the browser web page window shown in FIG. 2 (a);

fig. 3-5 each show more exemplary layouts of web page windows of a browser according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary layout of a web page window of a browser in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram for one embodiment of a method for a browser to search, in accordance with the present invention.

Detailed Description

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure may be embodied in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

In order to facilitate the operation of the user, the browser can provide a plurality of search engines and a plurality of search categories in the search interface for the user to select, and can initiate corresponding search requests according to the selection of the user. Such a search interface may be a search bar provided in a starting page, a new tab page, or a navigation page of the browser, or a search bar provided in the browser, and the search results are loaded in a new window of the browser or a window of a new tab page after each search. Thus, after a search, if the user wishes to change to a different search engine, the user may return to the start page, new tab page, navigation page, or search bar to re-select the search engine and/or search category. This is obviously inefficient and cumbersome. Moreover, for multiple searches of different search engines and/or search categories according to user selection, the user may also need to switch between different browser windows or tabbed pages to view or compare multiple search results. This is also inefficient and inconvenient.

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a browser according to the invention. The browser 100 may include a first search request generator 101, a window generator 103, a first sub-window loader 105, a second search request generator 107, and a search result loader 109, as well as an optional configuration file 111 and configuration modifier 113.

The first search request generator 101 is configured to initiate a first search request to the search engine 200 based on the input search keyword and the search category information. In one embodiment, the user interface or search bar of the first search request generator 101 may be in the starting page, new tab page or navigation page of the browser, or at the search bar of the browser. At the user interface of the first search request generator 101, a user may enter a search keyword and select a desired search category and search engine to initiate a first search request. For example, in a search bar for search provided in a navigation page of a browser, a user may select search categories of "web page", "video", "picture", and the like, and select a hundred-degree or google search engine. The search keyword in the first search request may be a search keyword entered by the user in an input box control of the search bar, or may be a search keyword used by the user in a last search, or may be a search keyword selected by the user from a list of history records of search keywords.

It is to be noted that the user interface of the first search request generator 101 may be located outside a browser web page window including a first sub-window 115 and a second sub-window 117, which will be described below.

Referring to fig. 1, the window generator 103 is for generating a first sub-window 115 and a second sub-window 117 in a browser web window of a browser 100. The window generator 103 is preferably operated in response to a first search request initiated by the first search request generator 101. Thus, when the first search request generator 101 issues the first search request to the search engine 200, the window generator 103 generates the first sub-window 115 and the second sub-window 117 in the browser web page window. The browser web page window including the first sub-window 115 and the second sub-window 117 may be a current web page window when the first search request is initiated, a newly-built browser web page window, or a newly-built web page window of a tab page. In one embodiment, the window generator 103 may be a method of breaking out the first sub-window 115 in a side portion of the browser webpage window. The first sub-window 115 may be, for example, at the top, bottom, left side, or right side of the browser web page window.

The first sub-window loader 105 is configured to load content in the first sub-window 115, wherein the loaded content includes at least search category list information and search engine list information. Typically, the search category list information includes other search category information in addition to the search category information on which the aforementioned first search request is based. Similarly, the search engine list information includes other search engines in addition to the search engine for which the aforementioned first search request is directed.

After initiating the first search request, the search results loader 109 can load the corresponding search results returned from the search engine 200 into the second sub-window 117 generated by the window generator 103.

Fig. 2(a) shows an exemplary layout of a browser web page window after initiation of an exemplary first search request, which is a first search request initiated to a search engine "hundredths" based on a search keyword "certain island" and search category information "web page". A first sub-window 115 is split at the top of the browser web page window, as shown in fig. 2(b), which loads a list of search categories including "news", "web pages", "video", etc., and also loads a list of search engines including "360 web pages", "hundredth web pages", and "google web pages" corresponding to the currently selected "web page" category. The portion of the browser web page window other than the first sub-window 115 is a second sub-window 117, as shown in fig. 2(c), which is loaded with search results corresponding to the exemplary first search request.

After the first sub-window loader 105 loads the search category list information and the search engine list information in the first sub-window 115, as shown in fig. 1, the user may send a user selection instruction 119 through the first sub-window 115 by a selection operation to select a desired search category and search engine from the search category list information and the search engine list information so as to initiate a corresponding second search request.

The second search request generator 107 is configured to initiate a second search request to the search engine 200 selected by the user from the search engine listing information in the first sub-window 115, depending on the search keyword and the search category selected by the user from the search category listing information in the first sub-window 115. It should be noted that the search engine 200 shown in fig. 1 is not intended to mean the same search engine, but rather represents all possible various search engines, and refers to a particular search engine selected by the user according to the user's selection. Unlike the first search request initiated outside of the browser web page window, the second search request is initiated, so to speak, through the first sub-window 115 of the browser web page window.

After the second search request generator 107 initiates the second search request, the search result loader 109 may load the corresponding search results returned from the search engine 200 into the second sub-window 117 generated by the window generator 103.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a browser web page window after a user has kept selecting the "web page" search category in the first sub-window 115 but selected another search engine "360 web pages" to initiate a second search request with the same search keyword "island" based on the search behavior shown in FIG. 2 (a). The second search request may be a get request of http generated according to the selected search category and a web site URL corresponding to the search engine and the search keyword. Subsequently, the search result loader 109 loads the search result returned from the search engine of "360 web pages" into the second sub-window 117 in fig. 3. Of course, the user may also change both the search category and the search engine in the first sub-window 115 of the browser web page window, or only the search category. Therefore, the user can directly select different search categories and/or search engines in the current browser webpage window without returning to the user interface for initiating the first search request, and directly browse the corresponding search results in the current browser webpage window, so that the search efficiency can be greatly improved, and the search convenience and the user experience are improved.

In the aforementioned example of the browser web page window shown in fig. 2 and 3, since an interface for inputting a search keyword is not provided to the user in the first sub-window 115, the search keyword used in the second search request generated by the second search request generator 107 may employ the same search keyword as the first search request. This also facilitates a user searching for search results using the same search key but employing different search categories and/or search engines to gain an overall understanding of the search results or to gain an understanding of the differences in different search results for different search engines.

Since different search engines may provide different search categories and each search engine may use different web site URLs for different search categories, and to facilitate maintaining the search category list information and the search engine list information loaded in the first sub-window 115, the browser 100 preferably uses the configuration file 111 to reflect the mapping relationship between the plurality of search categories and the plurality of search engines. In one embodiment, the configuration file 111 may take the form of a mapping table as shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1

In this way, the first sub-window loader 105 can load the search category list and the search engine list in the first sub-window 115 according to the configuration file 111. When loading, the first sub-window loader 105 may dynamically load a search engine list corresponding to a selected search category according to the search category selected in the search category list by the user and according to the configuration file 111; alternatively, the first sub-window loader 105 may dynamically load a search category list corresponding to a selected search engine according to the selected search engine in the search engine list and according to the configuration file 111. As shown in the example of the browser web page window in fig. 4, when the user selects "video" in the search category, the first sub-window loader 105 may select all search engines having "video" category, such as "360 video", "hundredth video", "google video" and "search video", according to, for example, the configuration file 111 shown in table 1, and load these search engines into the first sub-window 115 in the form of a list. It will be readily appreciated that in other embodiments, the user may first select a search engine and then dynamically load the various search categories provided by the search engine by first child window loader 105.

To maintain the configuration file 111, the browser 100 may be updated when it is upgraded, or the configuration modifier 113 may be used to receive user modification instructions 121 and modify and update the configuration file 111 according to the user modification instructions 121. For example, by updating the configuration file 111, search engines can be added or subtracted, and/or search categories can be added or subtracted. In one embodiment, some or all of the configuration file 111 may be used as browser user information for server-side backup, uploading server-side, and/or synchronizing to server-side operations. In this way, when a user uses the browser 100 on different terminals, the information in the configuration file 111 can be kept consistent on different terminals through backup, upload, and/or synchronization operations, so that the user can maintain substantially the same use experience on different terminals.

In the example of the browser webpage window shown in fig. 5, the window generator 103 generates three first sub-windows 501-503, which are all located on the left side of the browser webpage window as a whole. In one of the first sub-windows 501, the first sub-window loader 105 loads an input box control thereto for the user to input a search keyword, such as "island". In another first sub-window 502, the first sub-window loader 105 loads it with a list of search categories. In yet another first sub-window 503, the first sub-window loader 105 loads a search engine list thereto. As previously described, the first sub-window loader 105 may likewise dynamically load a corresponding search engine list in the first sub-window 503 according to the search category selected in the first sub-window 502. In another embodiment, any two or all three of the three first sub-windows 501-503 may be combined into one first sub-window. In yet another embodiment, these first sub-windows 501-503 can also be arranged in other ways, for example, the first sub-window 502 can be formed as a horizontally elongated window located at the top of the browser webpage window.

Referring to fig. 1 and 5, since the first sub-window 501 is also loaded with an input box control for a user to input a search keyword, the user can input a new search keyword 123 through the

first sub-windows

501 and 115 in the current browser webpage window to perform a new search.

In the example shown in fig. 5, a "preferred" option is also included in the list of search categories loaded in the first sub-window 502 to indicate a preferred or default search category. Thus, when initiating a new second search request, the second search request generator 107 will use the preferred search category information when generating and initiating the second search request if the user has not changed the search category. Similarly, although not shown, the search engine list loaded in the first sub-window 503 may also contain the preferred search engines. Such preferred search engine information and/or preferred search category information may be set by the browser itself or the browser user and stored in the configuration file 111.

In the schematic diagram of the browser webpage window shown in fig. 6, the window generator 103 may generate two second sub-windows 117, and the search result loader 109 loads search results corresponding to two search requests (which may be the first and/or second search requests) in the two second sub-windows 107, respectively. Wherein the two search requests may be initiated based on the same search key but based on different search categories and/or different search engines. In operation, after initiating a search request (which may be a first or second search request), window generator 103 generates a first sub-window 115 and a second sub-window 117, such as those shown in fig. 2-5, and loads the search results corresponding to the search request in second sub-window 117. Thereafter, when the user selects a different search category and/or a different search engine in the first sub-window 115 and initiates a second search request (which may be a second search request), the window generator 103 may generate two second sub-windows 117 as shown in fig. 6, respectively for loading search results corresponding to the two search requests. Of course, when the user initiates more search requests, the window generator 103 may generate a corresponding plurality of second sub-windows 117 to load corresponding search results, respectively. Therefore, by loading and displaying the search results for multiple times in the same browser webpage window, the user can conveniently check and compare different search results.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram for one embodiment of a method for a browser to search, in accordance with the present invention. The method 700 is suitable for execution in the browser 100 described above.

The method 700 may begin at step S701 for initiating a first search request to a search engine on a browser side based on an input search keyword and search category information. The first search request may be initiated by the first search request generator 101 of the browser 100 shown in fig. 1. The first search request may be initiated outside of the previously described browser web page window containing the first sub-window 115 and the second sub-window 117. In particular, the first search request may be initiated through a search bar in a starting page, a new tab page, or a navigation page of the browser, or a search bar of the browser. The search key in the first search request may include: searching keywords input by a user through an input box control of a browser; or a search keyword used by the user for the last search; or a search keyword selected by the user from a list of history of search keywords.

Subsequently, the method may proceed to step S703 for loading the search category list information and the search engine list information in the first sub-window 115 of the browser web page window shown in, for example, fig. 1. Typically, the search category list information includes other search category information in addition to the search category information on which the aforementioned first search request is based. Similarly, the search engine list information includes other search engines in addition to the search engine for which the aforementioned first search request is directed. This step S703 is preferably triggered by the first search request initiated in step S701.

As previously described, a configuration file 111 in the browser 100 as shown in FIG. 1 may be provided to facilitate maintenance of the loaded search category listing information and search engine listing information. The configuration file 111 may reflect a mapping between a plurality of search categories and a plurality of search engines. In this way, the search category list information and the search engine list information may be loaded according to the profile 111 in step S703. In one embodiment, a search engine list corresponding to a selected search category may be dynamically loaded according to the search category selected in the search category list information and according to the configuration file; alternatively, the search category list corresponding to the selected search engine may be dynamically loaded according to the search engine selected in the search engine list information and according to the profile. The profile may also include preferred search engine information and/or preferred search category information set by the browser or browser user. Thus, when a second search request, as described below, is initiated, the preferred search category information and/or preferred search engine information is used if the user has not changed the search category and/or search engine. The configuration file is preferably updatable by the browser or configurable by the browser user. Moreover, a part or all of the configuration file can be used as browser user information to perform server side backup, server side uploading and/or server side synchronization operations, so that the information in the configuration file is kept consistent on different terminals used by the user, and the user can keep basically the same use experience on different terminals.

In step S705, the search result returned from the search engine according to the first search request may be loaded in the second sub-window 117 of the browser web page window, for example, as shown in fig. 1. The first sub-window 115 and the second sub-window 117 described above may be generated by the window generator 103 of the browser 100 shown in fig. 1, and the search result corresponding to the first search request may be loaded in the second sub-window 117 by the search result loader 109. Moreover, it is to be understood that steps S703 and S705 may be performed substantially simultaneously. That is, in response to the first search request initiated at step S701, the first sub-window 115 and the second sub-window 117 may be immediately generated by the window generator 103, and step 703 is performed to load the search category list information and the search engine list information in the first sub-window 115, while, upon return of the search result from the search engine, loading is performed in the second sub-window 117.

As shown in fig. 2-5, the first sub-window 115 may be a split window of the browser web window, located at an edge-side portion of the browser web window, such as an upper portion, a lower portion, a left side, or a right side. The first sub-window 115 may be multiple, for example, in the example of fig. 5, three

first sub-windows

501 and 503 are included. Where the

first sub-windows

502 and 503 are used to load search category list information and search engine list information, respectively.

Subsequently, the method may proceed to step S707 to initiate a second search request depending on the search category selected from the search category list information and the search engine selected from the search engine list information in the first sub-window 115 by the user. The second search request may be initiated by the second search request generator 107 of the browser 100 shown in fig. 1, which may be in the form of a get request of http generated from a web site URL corresponding to the selected search category and search engine and a search keyword. In one embodiment, the search key used in the second search request may be the same search key as the first search request. As described above in the description of the browser 100, if the first sub-window loader 105 of the browser 100 also loads an input box control in the first sub-window 115 to allow the user to input a new search keyword, the second search request may also use the search keyword input by the user in the input box control.

Subsequently, the method may proceed to step 709, where the corresponding search results returned by the search engine selected from the search engine list information according to the second search request are loaded in the second sub-window 117. The search result corresponding to the second search request may be loaded in the second sub-window 117 by the search result loader 109 of the browser 100 shown in fig. 1.

Subsequently, it is also possible to return to step S707 again as necessary to initiate still another second search request. In the case of only one second sub-window 117 as shown in fig. 2 to 5, the search result of the current second search request may be updated and loaded in the second sub-window 117 in step S709. In another embodiment, as shown in fig. 6, the second sub-window 117 may be a plurality of sub-windows for loading search results of a corresponding plurality of second search requests, wherein the plurality of second search requests may be initiated according to the same search keyword but according to different search categories and/or different search engines. In this way, each time step S707 is executed, one more second sub-window 117 may be generated in step S709 to load the search result of the current second search request, while the previous search result is retained in the other second sub-windows 117 of the browser webpage, so that the user can view and compare the search results of multiple search requests at the same time.

The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer, virtual machine, or other apparatus. Various general purpose systems may also be used with the teachings herein. The required structure for constructing such a system will be apparent from the description above. Moreover, the present invention is not directed to any particular programming language. It is appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the present invention as described herein, and any descriptions of specific languages are provided above to disclose the best mode of the invention.

In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. It is understood, however, that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the foregoing description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. However, the disclosed method should not be interpreted as reflecting an intention that: that the invention as claimed requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the modules in the device in an embodiment may be adaptively changed and disposed in one or more devices different from the embodiment. The modules or units or components of the embodiments may be combined into one module or unit or component, and furthermore they may be divided into a plurality of sub-modules or sub-units or sub-components. All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and all of the processes or elements of any method or apparatus so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or processes or elements are mutually exclusive. Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise.

Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that while some embodiments described herein include some features included in other embodiments, rather than other features, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention and form different embodiments. For example, in the following claims, any of the claimed embodiments may be used in any combination.

The various component embodiments of the invention may be implemented in hardware, or in software modules running on one or more processors, or in a combination thereof. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a microprocessor or Digital Signal Processor (DSP) may be used in practice to implement some or all of the functionality of some or all of the components in a browser according to embodiments of the present invention. The present invention may also be embodied as apparatus or device programs (e.g., computer programs and computer program products) for performing a portion or all of the methods described herein. Such programs implementing the present invention may be stored on computer-readable media or may be in the form of one or more signals. Such a signal may be downloaded from an internet website or provided on a carrier signal or in any other form.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of elements or steps not listed in a claim. The word "a" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. The invention may be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements, and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In the unit claims enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The usage of the words first, second and third, etcetera do not indicate any ordering. These words may be interpreted as names.

Disclosed herein is a1, a browser for performing a web search, comprising: a first search request generator configured to initiate a first search request to a search engine based on an input search keyword and search category information; a window generator configured to generate a first sub-window and a second sub-window in a browser web window of the browser; a first sub-window loader configured to load content in the first sub-window of the browser web window, the loaded content including search category list information of the search category information and search engine list information including the search engine corresponding to the search category information in the search category list information, for a user to select the search category information and the search engine; a second search request generator configured to initiate a second search request to a search engine selected from the search engine list information corresponding to the search category information, according to the search category information selected from the search category list information and the input search keyword; and the search result loader is configured to load the search results returned according to the first search request and/or the second search request in the second sub-window. A2, the browser of A1, wherein the user interface of the first search request generator is outside the browser webpage window containing the first sub-window and the second sub-window. A3, the browser according to A2, wherein the user interface of the first search request generator is in the browser's start page, new tab page or navigation page, or is the browser's search bar. A4, the browser of any one of A1-A3, wherein the window generator is operative in response to the first search request of the first search request generator. A5, the browser according to any of A1-A4, wherein the window generator is configured to tear out the first sub-window at the side part of the browser web page window. A6, the browser of any one of A1-A5, wherein the input search key in the first search request includes: searching keywords input by a user through an input box control of a browser; or a search keyword used by the user for the last search; or a search keyword selected by the user from a list of history of search keywords. A7, the browser according to any of A1-A6, wherein the window generator is configured to generate a plurality of the first sub-windows, and wherein the first sub-window loader is configured to load the search category list information and the search engine list information in two of the plurality of first sub-windows, respectively. A8, the browser according to any one of A1-A7, further comprising a configuration file for reflecting the mapping relationship between a plurality of search category information and a plurality of search engines; and the first child window loader loads the search category list information and the search engine list information according to the configuration file. A9, the browser according to A8, further comprising a configuration modifier configured to receive user modification instructions and modify and update the configuration file according to the user modification instructions. A10, the browser according to any one of A8-A9, wherein the first sub-window loader is configured to dynamically load search engine list information corresponding to the selected search category information according to the search category information selected in the search category list information and according to the configuration file; or the first sub-window loader is configured to dynamically load search category list information corresponding to the selected search engine according to the search engine selected in the search engine list information and according to the configuration file. A11, the browser according to any of A8-A10, wherein the configuration file further comprises: preferred search engine information and/or preferred search category information set by the browser or browser user. A12, the browser according to any of A8-A11, wherein at least a part of the configuration file is used as browser user information for server side backup, uploading server side and/or synchronizing to server side. A13, the browser of any one of a1-a12, wherein the second search request generator is configured to generate a http get request as the second search request according to a web address URL corresponding to the selected search category information and search engine and the inputted search keyword. A14, the browser according to any of A1-A13, wherein the window generator is configured to generate a plurality of the second sub-windows, and the search result loader is configured to load a corresponding plurality of search results of the first search request and/or the second search request in the plurality of second sub-windows, respectively; wherein the plurality of first search requests and/or second search requests originate from the same search keyword but from different search category information and/or from different search engines.

Disclosed herein is B15, a method of searching by a browser, comprising: initiating a first search request to a search engine on the browser side based on the input search keyword and the search category information; loading search category list information containing the search category information and search engine list information containing the search engine corresponding to the search category information in the search category list information in a first sub-window of a browser webpage window; loading a search result returned from the search engine according to the first search request in a second sub-window of the browser webpage window; according to the search category information selected from the search category list information and the input search keyword, initiating a second search request to a search engine selected from the search engine list information corresponding to the search category information; and loading a corresponding search result returned by the search engine selected from the search engine list information according to the second search request in the second sub-window. B16, the method according to B15, wherein the first search request is initiated outside the browser webpage window containing the first sub-window and the second sub-window. B17, the method according to B16, characterized in that the first search request is initiated through a search bar in the browser's start page, new tab page or navigation page or the browser's search bar. B18, the method according to any of B15-B17, wherein the browser webpage window containing the first sub-window and the second sub-window is generated in response to the first search request. B19, the method according to any of B15-B18, wherein the first sub-window is a split window of the browser web window, located at an edge side of the browser web window. B20, the method according to any of B15-B19, wherein the input search key in the first search request includes: searching keywords input by a user through an input box control of a browser; or a search keyword used by the user for the last search; or a search keyword selected by the user from a list of history of search keywords. B21, the method according to any of B15-B20, wherein the first sub-window is multiple, and two first sub-windows of the multiple first sub-windows are loaded with the search category list information and the search engine list information respectively. B22, the method according to any of B15-B21, comprising providing a configuration file for reflecting mapping relations between a plurality of search category information and a plurality of search engines; and loading the search category list information and the search engine list information according to the configuration file. B23, the method according to B22, wherein the configuration file is updated by the browser or is configurable by a browser user. B24, the method according to any of B22-B23, characterized in that the search engine list information corresponding to the selected search category information is dynamically loaded according to the selected search category information in the search category list information and according to the configuration file; or according to the search engine selected in the search engine list information and according to the configuration file, dynamically loading the search category list information corresponding to the selected search engine. B25, the method according to any of B22-B24, wherein the configuration file further comprises: preferred search engine information and/or preferred search category information set by the browser or browser user. B26, the method according to any of B22-B25, characterized by comprising the operation of server side backup, uploading server side and/or synchronizing to server side of at least one part of the configuration file as browser user information. B27, the method according to any of B15-B26, wherein the second search request comprises: and generating an http get request according to the URL of the website corresponding to the selected search category information and the search engine and the input search keyword. B28, the method according to any one of B15-B27, characterized in that the second sub-windows are multiple, and the multiple second sub-windows are respectively used for loading the search results of the corresponding multiple first search requests and/or second search requests; wherein the plurality of first search requests and/or second search requests originate from the same search keyword but from different search category information and/or from different search engines.

Claims

1. A browser for conducting a web search, comprising:

a search result loader configured to load search results returned according to the first search request and/or the second search request in the second sub-window;

the browser also comprises a configuration file which is used for reflecting the mapping relation between the plurality of search category information and the plurality of search engines;

the first sub-window loader is configured to dynamically load search engine list information corresponding to the selected search category information according to the search category information selected in the search category list information and according to the configuration file; or

The first sub-window loader is configured to dynamically load search category list information corresponding to a selected search engine according to the search engine selected in the search engine list information and according to the configuration file.

2. The browser of claim 1, wherein a user interface of the first search request generator is external to the browser web page window containing the first sub-window and the second sub-window.

3. The browser of claim 2, wherein the user interface of the first search request generator is in a start page, a new tab page, or a navigation page of the browser, or is a search bar of the browser.

4. The browser of claim 1, wherein the window generator is operative in response to the first search request of the first search request generator.

5. The browser of claim 1, wherein the window generator is configured to tear down the first sub-window at a side portion of the browser web page window.

6. The browser of claim 1, wherein the input search key in the first search request comprises:

searching keywords input by a user through an input box control of a browser; or

Searching keywords used by the user in the last search; or

A search keyword selected by a user from a list of history of search keywords.

7. The browser according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the window generator is configured to generate a plurality of the first sub-windows, and the first sub-window loader is configured to load the search category list information and the search engine list information in two first sub-windows of the plurality of first sub-windows, respectively.

8. The browser of claim 1, further comprising a configuration modifier configured to receive user modification instructions and to modify and update the configuration file according to the user modification instructions.

9. The browser of claim 1, wherein the configuration file further comprises: preferred search engine information and/or preferred search category information set by the browser or browser user.

10. The browser of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the configuration file is used as browser user information for server-side backup, server-side upload, and/or server-side synchronization operations.

11. The browser according to claim 1, wherein the second search request generator is configured to generate a http get request as the second search request according to a web site URL corresponding to the selected search category information and search engine and the inputted search keyword.

12. The browser of claim 1, wherein the window generator is configured to generate a plurality of second sub-windows, and wherein the search result loader is configured to load a corresponding plurality of search results of the first search request and/or the second search request in the plurality of second sub-windows, respectively; wherein the plurality of first search requests and/or second search requests originate from the same search keyword but from different search category information and/or from different search engines.

13. A method for a browser to search, comprising:

loading a corresponding search result returned by the search engine selected from the search engine list information according to the second search request in the second sub-window;

providing a configuration file for reflecting the mapping relation between a plurality of search category information and a plurality of search engines;

dynamically loading search engine list information corresponding to the selected search category information according to the search category information selected from the search category list information and according to the configuration file; or

And dynamically loading the search category list information corresponding to the selected search engine according to the search engine selected from the search engine list information and the configuration file.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first search request is initiated outside of the browser webpage window containing the first sub-window and the second sub-window.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first search request is initiated through a search bar in a starting page, a new tab page, or a navigation page of the browser, or a search bar of the browser.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the browser webpage window containing the first sub-window and the second sub-window is generated in response to the first search request.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the first sub-window is a split window of the browser webpage window, and is located on an edge side of the browser webpage window.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the input search key in the first search request comprises:

Searching keywords used by the user in the last search; or

A search keyword selected by a user from a list of history of search keywords.

19. The method according to any one of claims 13-18, wherein the first sub-window is plural, and two first sub-windows of the plural first sub-windows respectively load the search category list information and the search engine list information.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the configuration file is updated by the browser or is configurable by a browser user.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein the configuration file further comprises: preferred search engine information and/or preferred search category information set by the browser or browser user.

22. The method of claim 13, comprising performing server-side backup, server-side upload, and/or server-side synchronization of at least a portion of the configuration file as browser user information.

23. The method of claim 13, wherein the second search request comprises: and generating an http get request according to the URL of the website corresponding to the selected search category information and the search engine and the input search keyword.

24. The method according to claim 13, wherein the second sub-window is plural, and the plural second sub-windows are respectively used for loading search results of corresponding plural first search requests and/or second search requests; wherein the plurality of first search requests and/or second search requests originate from the same search keyword but from different search category information and/or from different search engines.