JP2001109776A - Web browser - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simply reuse an object on a Web page. SOLUTION: A Web page described in an XML is received through the Internet. A page table being a list of objects is prepared and displayed by analyzing Web page data. An object is selected in the displayed Web page. The selected object is retrieved from the page table to be registered in a session table, and an entry of the session table is also displayed. The object registered in the session table is displayed in a designated format. Also, only an object meeting a designated condition can be displayed by analyzing the object registered in the session table.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a Web browser, and more particularly to a Web browser that can easily reuse Web page objects described in an object definition language such as XML.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art WWW was originally considered as a place for researchers to exchange information, and achievements and papers are still being actively published. In WWW, typically H
Using TML, information is presented unilaterally from the information provider to the user in page units. However, from the viewpoint of those who want to find and refer to a dissertation, for example, they want to extract only bibliographic information such as the title, author, and date of publication and add it to their reference list. Or you want to statistically analyze the values shown in the paper.

As described above, the functional requirements of an information system are as follows:
Acquisition and reuse of information. In order to perform both processes flexibly while switching, it is necessary for the information provider (server) and the information user (client) to maintain a series of information exchange as a session. In systems that handle fixed information, such as business systems, unique session maintenance techniques have been developed for client-server database systems and distributed database systems.

A network information system such as WWW which handles distributed atypical information uses a page description language for describing a page which is an information unit, and stores the page between an information provider (server) and an information user (client). It consists of three elements: a protocol for exchanging data between the two, and browsing software (browser) for interpreting a page description language and displaying it to a user.

[0005] Such a system that handles distributed, irregular information has the characteristic that there is no centralized server that holds all information. HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), which is the basic protocol of WWW,
Stateless, that is, a protocol that does not depend on the communication history. In order to realize history-based communication (application example: database search) on the WWW, CGI (Common Gateway Interface)
Use cookie technology. The CGI is a port for transmitting client information to the server, and the Cookie is exchanged through the CGI and serves as an ID for authenticating the client. The server authenticates the client with the cookie, determines at what stage the communication has been reached, and returns the next optimal response to the client. In this way, HTTP
, Communication depending on the history is realized.

As a means for defining an object locally in a unit more detailed than a page on the client side, D
OM (Document Object Model) and XML (eXtensible Markup Language) that describes it are standardized. As a method of realizing interactivity on a page basis, Dynamic HTML (DHTML) based on DOM is used.
r Text Markup Language) has been proposed. The lifetime of an object realized by XML and DHTML is basically a single page display period. To realize an object having a long life span required for information exchange depending on history, another method is required. A mechanism is needed. The following are some systems that have been proposed in the past.

[0007] A system has been proposed for integrating and reusing information from a plurality of distributed WWW information sources using local objects. For example, as shown in FIG.
Yasuhiko Kitamura, Tomoya Noda, Shoji Tatsumi: "WWW Information Integration System on Client Machine", 1st Internet Technology Workshop (WIT98), 1998. and Yasuhiko Kitamura, Tetsuya Nozaki, Shoji Tatsumi: "WWW based on script" Information Integration Support System and Its Application to Genome Database ”, IEICE Transactions on Information and Systems, vol.J81-D-1, N
o.5, pp.451-459,1998. In the system proposed in, a local object interprets a description of HTML or the like transmitted by a server to integrate distributed information, and the local object is defined and functions independently of the server. This local object is defined on the server side, sent to the client, and functions on the client side. Since the object can be defined on the server, the information can be provided to the client in a format that sufficiently reflects the intention of the information provider. This can be said to be an agent in a broad sense.

[0008] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-26970 discloses an "execution method and apparatus by a computer for retrieving information"
An automatic method and apparatus for retrieving information based on a user-defined profile (eg, personalized news paper). The user control client establishes communication with the stateless server, and the user presents the client with a list of options between the server and the client. The client performs the identification of the user-defined profile. The server is engaged in a first application program, which searches for a user-defined profile. In so doing, the user-defined profile identifies information of interest to the user. First
The application program searches a database of information and automatically retrieves a subset of the information from the database based on which information the user is interested in as identified in the user-defined profile.

[0009] The "computer network for WWW server data access via the Internet" disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-26972 discloses an unnecessary user intervention when a web server supports HTTPD. Eliminate or reduce. The World Wide Web browser makes requests to web servers on the network. The web server receives and fulfills requests as agents of browser clients that constitute a distributed sub-agent as a distributed integration solution (DIS) server on the intranet network that supports it. It has an access agent server accessible via the Internet. The DIS server has selected capsules that perform programmable functions on commands received from the web server control program agent.
Executing the object and retrieving request information from multiple databases from a database gateway coupled to multiple database resources based on a single request made from a hypertext document, in a selected format; Report to web browser.

[0010] The "information search and collection method and system" disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-228488 discloses a method for efficiently searching and collecting information on the Internet by converting information required by a user into one set of information. It is often taken out. Define a category class that expresses each content category based on object-oriented programming, set information items to be collected for each category as properties, and obtain information and information processing methods for each property. Set the method that describes. Then, the request input from the user is converted into a request input format that can be understood by the system, the request input is classified into the category class, and information items output by the system in response to the request input are classified into a class to which the request input belongs. And retrieves and collects information based on the contents described in the method, and outputs the information as comprehensive information according to a user's request input.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 10-293737 discloses a "method of fusing and displaying information on a distributed DB", in which information of a plurality of WWW servers on an internet / intranet is stored in one WWW.
This is a method of capturing information on a W browser and synthesizing and displaying information. As shown in FIG. 5, a function providing WWW server is set on the internet / intranet, and the user uses a WWW browser to link to the HTML file of the function providing WWW server and load each applet. Function providing WW using the function to specify the location of the information providing WWW server information to be taken in by the information acquisition applet
The location of the information to be captured is passed to the information relay program operating on the W server. The information relay program requests the information providing WWW server to transfer the corresponding information, takes in the information to the function providing WWW server,
Import on WWW browser.

[0012]

However, information obtained from a distributed atypical information system such as WWW is basically volatile (except when stored using a simple history function of viewing software). There is a problem that even if you visit a homepage and find good information, you cannot reuse it unless you save the entire page and review it later.

[0013] In addition, since the conventional browser can handle only Web pages that do not correctly treat the home page as a group of operable objects, it has been difficult to analyze and reuse the objects in the page. Selecting an object in which specific contents are described has a problem that even if natural language processing or the like is performed, only an indeterminate result is obtained, and there is a problem that a target object must be searched for manually. There is a problem that information cannot be integrated or reused across multiple servers.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problem and store and reuse information provided by an information provider as an object having operability.

[0015]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a Web browser which creates a page table which is a list of Web page objects described in an object definition language; First display control means for displaying an object of a web page mounted on the page table, means for retrieving a selected object from the displayed web page from the page table and registering the object in the session table, , And third display control means for displaying the objects registered in the session table in a specified format.

With this configuration, a plurality of W
Objects on the web page can be easily selected, the contents of the objects can be analyzed and reused.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention employs X
A Web browser that creates a page table that is a list of Web page objects described in ML, registers selected objects in a session table, and displays the objects registered in the session table in a specified format. .

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a browser according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a page table is a table for temporarily storing page objects. The session table is a table for registering an object selected from a page.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the browser according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, Web page data 1 is data described in XML. The page table creating means 2 is a means for creating a page table, which is a list of Web page objects. The page table 3 is a table for temporarily storing page objects. The display unit 4 is a unit that displays a Web page described in XML. The selection means 5 is a means for selecting an object from the displayed Web page. The registration means 3 displays the displayed We
This is means for retrieving a selected object from the page b from the page table and registering it in the session table.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the browser according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, the main part is
This is the area where the document list and manual input format are displayed. The session section is an area that displays a list of objects stored in the session table and indicates the state of the session table. The control unit is an area for controlling the main unit and performing operations on the session table.

The operation of the browser according to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. In the server client system for distributed atypical information shown in FIG. 1, a local object table reflecting a part of the server data is dynamically constructed on the client, and the user performs processing, reuse, and display processing on the local object table. Do. (1) When a user requests browsing of a page via the Internet, the server executes object definition language (XML).
To the client containing the page description. (2) The client uses an object definition language (XM
A page table is created based on L). Each time the page is displayed, it interprets the data object in the page described in Object Definition Language (XML),
An object table (page table) corresponding to each page is constructed on a one-to-one basis. Also, the object is displayed to the user using the group of object processing / output / display functions. (3) Construct an object table (session table) for temporarily holding objects from a plurality of pages according to a user's selection. The user selects necessary data from a plurality of pages and loads the data into the session table. At this time, a function group provided for selectively introducing an object from the page table to the session table is used. (4) The user processes, outputs, and reuses the object stored in the session table as needed using the object processing, output, and display functions.

Referring to FIG. 2, each function of the browser will be described. (1) Web displayed by the page table creation means 2
Create a page table, which is a list of page objects. Every time a Web page is displayed, the Web page data 1 described in the object definition language (XML) is interpreted by the XML parser of the page table creation means 2, and all objects are described in the page table. (Page Table 2) is constructed. When the page being referred to is no longer displayed, the page table corresponding to that page is deleted. The page table 3 is a temporary table corresponding to the displayed page. (2) The display means 4 displays a Web page described in XML. The object is displayed to the user by using the group of object processing / output / display functions of the display means 4. (3) The user points and clicks the icon of the necessary data in the displayed page with the mouse of the selection means 5 to select it. (4) The registration means 6 constructs an object table (session table 7) for temporarily holding objects from a plurality of pages according to a user's selection. The selected object in the displayed Web page is searched from the page table and registered in the session table 7 by the registration means 6. At this time, a function group for selectively introducing an object from the page table to the session table is used. Session table 7
It is retained from the start of one session to the end. It disappears when the session ends. (5) The display means 4 displays the objects registered in the session table in a specified format. The user processes, outputs, and reuses the object stored in the session table at any time using the object processing, output, and display functions. If the search means is used, the object registered in the session table 7 is analyzed,
The display means 4 displays only objects that meet the specified conditions.
Can also be displayed.

Next, a specific example will be described with reference to FIG. "BIDEEE" shown in FIG. 3 is a homepage that can easily create a reference list of articles and a list of personal achievements. If you want to find and refer to a dissertation,
It extracts only bibliographic information such as the title, author, and date of publication, adds it to its own reference list, and statistically analyzes the numerical values shown in the paper. Using this, you can select the required ones from the existing bibliography and create new items manually,
Reuse of bibliographic information of documents becomes possible.

When the "BIDEEE" page is opened, a session table for holding objects is created. "BIDEEE" is composed of three parts. The main section displays a document list described in the object definition language and a format for manual input.
The object in this case is the bibliographic information of the document. In the main unit, the page is displayed, and at the same time, the object definition language is interpreted and a corresponding page table is created. When a user selects a document by clicking a check box in the document list, a corresponding object is introduced from the page table into the session table and registered. When a document is registered manually, a new object is created and introduced into the session table. Even if the page of the main part moves to the next page, the session table is maintained and the object does not disappear unless the user leaves "BIDEEE".

The session section displays a list of objects stored in the session table up to a certain point in time, and displays the state of the session table. The control unit is a unit that performs not only control of the main unit but also operations on the session table. For example, stored objects can be converted to HTML format or BIBTEX.
You can add operations such as displaying in format.

As described above, while selecting a reference by walking through a reference list having a huge number of pages, sometimes the user manually inputs necessary references and accumulates information. The stored data can be redisplayed in a different format for confirmation or saving. All of this functionality is implemented solely by the client. Since all changes in the format of the information are performed at the client according to the user's intention, the processing of the server and the load on the network are reduced.

In addition to the examples described above, the present invention can be used for online shopping, network games, network navigators, book search systems, network application prototyping, and any other user services on the Internet.

The present invention is a distributed object technology for treating information on a homepage as an operable object, transferring the object from a server to a client, and reusing the object on the client. By incorporating a CORBA standard that has been defined so that it can be used, a more usable object can be provided to the client.

In the present embodiment, the W described in XML
Although the example in which the web page is displayed has been described, the present invention can be similarly applied to a web page described in another object definition language. Further, it is needless to say that it can be used not only on the Internet but also on other networks.

As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention,
A Web browser creates a page table which is a list of Web page objects described in XML,
Since the selected object is registered in the session table and the object registered in the session table is displayed in a specified format, a plurality of Web
You can easily select objects on the page, analyze the contents of the objects and reuse them.

[0032]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the Web browser is provided with means for creating a page table which is a list of Web page objects described in the object definition language, and mounted on the page table. First display control means for displaying the object of the displayed Web page, means for retrieving the selected object in the displayed Web page from the page table and registering the object in the session table, and displaying the entry of the session table And a third display control means for displaying an object registered in the session table in a specified format.
An effect is obtained that objects of a plurality of Web pages can be easily selected and reused.

Further, since means for analyzing the objects registered in the session table and displaying only the objects meeting the specified conditions are provided, it is possible to analyze and reuse the contents of the objects on a plurality of Web pages. The effect that it can be obtained is obtained.

According to the present invention, while a huge amount of atypical information existing on distributed servers is confirmed and displayed while walking over a plurality of pages, sometimes new information is inserted by itself or stored as needed. I can go. Whenever you want, you can change the format of the stored information, redisplay it, operate it, and save it. All of this functionality
It is realized only by processing on the client (viewing) side.
Since all changes in the format of the information are performed at the client according to the user's intention, the processing of the server and the load on the network are reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a browser according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a browser according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of a browser according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of a conventional information integration system using virtual WWW,

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of a conventional integrated display system of information on a distributed DB.

[Description of Signs] 1 Web page data 2 Page table creation means 3 Page table 4 Display means 5 Selection means 6 Registration means 7 Session table

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. We described in an object definition language
means for creating a page table, which is a list of objects on page b, and a Web mounted on the page table
First display control means for displaying a page object; means for retrieving a selected object in a displayed Web page from a page table and registering the object in a session table; and second display for displaying an entry in the session table. Display control means for displaying objects registered in the session table in a specified format.
A Web browser comprising: a display control unit. 2. The Web browser according to claim 1, further comprising a fourth display control unit that analyzes objects registered in the session table and displays only objects that meet specified conditions. .