JP2002511627A - Computer system for managing links and method of implementing the system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates primarily to computer systems for links, especially hypertext links, and methods of implementing such systems. The computer system of the present invention includes a link change server (3) that collects information about a change to a page address and a link to a deleted page, preferably a page (1.1) including an external link. When a page is changed or deleted, the link change server (9) notifies the associated web server (1) specifying the old address of the page. The invention applies primarily to pages containing links to the World Wide Web.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention claims priority from French application No. 9804660 filed on Apr. 15, 1998,
This French application is hereby incorporated by reference. Primarily the invention relates to computer systems for managing links, especially hypertext links, and methods of implementing such systems.

Network of networks: The Internet provides a continuous interconnection between computer networks, in part when the network is connected to a temporary connection, in particular the Internet, and the source of access or “provider” "
For ease of access through a telephone connection to computers belonging to the World Wide Web, or a subset of the Internet known as the "www". Due to the ease with which they can be searched, they are becoming increasingly successful.
Pages written in the HTML language are interpreted and displayed by browser software, particularly "Navigator" from Netscape or Internet Explorer from Microsoft. Each Internet computer has a series of digitized permanent or temporary IP addresses separated by dots. Nevertheless, in order to access a "web server" computer with pages displayed in the HTML language via the Internet, users typically use the form http://www.xxx.com/ All you need to know is the domain name formed by the string.

It is the Internet that transcodes domain names into corresponding IP addresses. Similarly, each document on the web is identified by a string known as a Universal Resource Locator or “URL”.

[0004] For example, http://www.xxx.com/abc/other/mypage.html is described in HTML and is a subdirectory other of the directory abc of the web server www.xxx.com.
Corresponds to the URL of the page entitled mypage located in.

While the Web makes browsing easy and user-friendly due to the presence of links, when a link is selected, specifically by clicking on a link in a page written in the HTML language, Allows you to perform various actions:-Go to one page (bookmark)-Go to another page of the same document (same server, internal link)-Send a message to a box to receive email Sending, or-Going to a different web server (external link) page.

The external link to the default page of the subdirectory other of the directory abc on the server www.xxx.com is written in the HTML language as follows. <a href=“http://www.xxx.com/abc/other/”> By default, links are displayed as underlined blue text in HTM
Appears on page L. This text, incorporated into the code for this page and following the link, is terminated by the string <a/>.

[0007] Other indications (other colors, images, etc.) can also be shown. After passing on the link,
The cursor changes to a graphic representing a hand pointing up.

[0008] This browsing technique, without requiring the user to know the URL or even key-in, makes the Web significantly user-friendly. However, if the link points to the wrong address, an unwanted page is displayed. On the other hand, if the URL of the link is not valid, an HTTP protocol error 404 occurs and the following type of message is displayed:

FILE NOT FOUND The requested URL / xyz.htm was not found on this server.

Exceptionally, such errors arise from errors in the URL entered for the link, but more generally because the URL indicates a page that was later moved or deleted. ,Occur. This link is said to be "broken." During browsing, the appearance of such messages is particularly unfriendly. This means that the person responsible for the website, or "webmaster", has no tools to ensure that the links are consistent and does not necessarily notify when the address of the page pointed to by the link has changed. This is especially true for external links that may not be done. To remedy this problem, proposals have been made to replace the link with an invariant symbol name known as the Universal Resource Name or URN. D, three name servers are immutable U
Translate RN to URL. Only those name servers know the physical location of the document, thereby preventing such information from being stored redundantly by all servers that use them. Name servers can be easily updated. Such a solution has never been adopted on the Internet because of its many drawbacks. First of all, in order to connect to a site, it is necessary to first connect to a name server. This doubles the number of connections and consequently doubles the time required to obtain the required information. In addition, name servers are signaled by numerous web servers, resulting in a very severe bottleneck penalty for communicating information.

PITKOW: “Supporting the Web: Distributed Hyperlink Database System”, Computer Network and ISDN Systems, Vol. 28, No. 11, 1996
May 1998, pages 981-991, a "map server" for communicating with another "map server" incorporated in another web server and notifying other "map servers" of page changes. Incorporation into a web server is described. Therefore, each web server must have a “map server”. In contrast, the system of the present invention can have only one link server that works with numerous web servers.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a computer system that can avoid the appearance of broken links, especially on the World Wide Web.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system that generates only a small amount of traffic on the network.

Another object of the invention is to provide a system that operates very reliably.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for updating a bookmark for specifying a favorite site in the browser software of each diagnostic station.

These objects have a page, in particular a page containing links, preferably external links, described in the HTML language, and a link translation server that collects information about changes to page addresses and page deletions. This is achieved by the computer system of the present invention. When a page is modified or deleted, the link translation server notifies the associated web server specifying the old address of the page.

Preferably, information about the page including the link is collected in cooperation with a web server that provides the page.

Preferably, the notified change is automatically executed on a server providing a page containing a link to be corrected.

The invention will be better understood from the following description and the accompanying drawings, given by way of non-limiting example.

In FIGS. 1-6, the same reference numerals are used to indicate the same elements.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show three web servers 1, 3, 5 connected by an Internet 7 to a link server 9, a conventional type of diagnostic station 11 and a diagnostic station 13 of the present invention.

Typically, pages published on the web are described in the HTML language and are first defined by the name and location of a file stored on a server, and secondly, optionally by tags
Defined by the title embedded in the code of the page with <title>. For example, the server 1 stores pages 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1 ..
Give access to 4 and 1.5.

The server 3 gives access to pages 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 described in the HTML language, for example. The server 5 is, for example, a page 5. written in HTML language.
Give access to 1,5.2 and 5.3.

However, the present invention is in no way limited to using the HTML language,
Links, in particular, for example, the following page description languages: SGML, XML, DHTML,
It should be understood that it applies to any description of content that allows hypertext links to be created by using ASP, hypercard software from Apple, or software for managing document creation. is there.

[0027] Page 1.1 is to go to the top of the page without using the scroll bar,
Has the first link 15.1 Link 15.2 points to page 1.3. Links 15.1 and 15.2 are internal links that are relatively easy to manage. First, the site creation software can incorporate tools for managing the consistency of internal links. Second, usually all of pages 1.1 to 1.5 are under the responsibility of only one person, the webmaster of web server 1.

The link 15.3 indicates the area from the page 1.1 to the area below the page 3.2 of the server 3. Link
15.4 shows page 1.1 to page 3.1 of server 3. Link 15.5 points from page 1.1 to page 5.3 of server 5. Links 15.3 to 15.5 are external links, as long as they point to pages stored on servers other than server 1 that provides page 1.1.

A user using the diagnostic station 11, usually a microcomputer having browser software such as Internet Explorer for examining a page, can connect to the server 1 and display the page 1.1 on the station, for example. it can. Links 15.1 to 15.5 make browsing information easier.

Other links, not shown, can point to images, Java applets, and the like. The link pointing to the image me.gif in the directory abc on the server www.xxx.com is written in HTML as follows. <img source = "http://www.XXX.com/abc/me.gif"> By clicking on one of the links, the user changes the page or position on the page, but the user Without knowing the URLs of the various pages indicated by 15.2 to 15.5 and without having to key in,
In addition, changes can be made without knowing the bookmark pointed to by link 15.1. This state is interrupted, as shown in FIG. 2, by either the disappearance or the movement of a link, especially a page pointed to by an external link. In fact, some web server pages keep their position unchanged, just to avoid breaking the links pointing to those pages. The server on which these pages are served can be developed, but the webmaster freezes its structure to avoid breaking links.

In the example of FIG. 2, link 15.3 is broken because page 3.2 has been deleted.
The content of page 5.3 has been moved to page 5.1 of web server 5. Page 3.1
Has been moved to page 5.5 of the web server 5.

Therefore, the user of the diagnostic station 11 connected to the Internet
If links 15.3, 15.4 and 15.5 were not updated, they would suffer from a failure to diagnose. Unless the webmasters of Computers 3 and 5 can find out which link points to a page offered on their server without a long search on the web, such a Updating is not easy.

In the present invention, if a list of links is generated and a page has been modified or deleted (servers 3 and 5), an alert will be provided with a link pointing to the moved or no longer existing page. The update is continued so as to be issued to the server (1) having the server.

After the correction, the link 15.3 in FIG. After correction, the link in Figure 2
15.4 is denoted by reference numeral 15.4 '. After the correction, the link 15.5 in FIG. After the correction, the link 15.6 in FIG.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the link server 9 keeps storing and updating the list of external links on the Internet, in particular on the World Wide Web. If there is a change in the page pointed to, the server alerts the associated server whose link points to the page. Preferably, the list is generated and / or updated in a manner cooperating with a web server declaring pages created, modified, destroyed or moved, and pages indicated by links in pages provided by the server. You. This cooperation is particularly important for servers with limited access. It is particularly important for servers that require access passwords that make it impossible for Internet servers and computer robots to search the pages and extract the links of the resulting pages. In a different embodiment, the browser software of the diagnostic station 13 also declares the favorite site or bookmark for diagnostics on the web to the link server 9, possibly with its own email address. In the case of a change of the address of the site or of a page of the site, the server 9 informs the diagnostic station 13 having the browser software according to the invention of the update which needs to be performed or connects directly to the server 9 If so, make such a change.

For example, the diagnostic station 13 has a shortcut 15.6 to page 3.1 of the web server 3. After being notified by the link server 9, the shortcut 15.6 'of the diagnostic station 13 points to page 5.5 of the web server 5.

However, the same link 15.6 to page 3.1 in a diagnostic station 11 of the conventional type is not automatically modified and thus points to a page which is no longer relevant.

As another variation, upon detecting a broken link (HTTP error 404), the browser software does not display the associated message, but connects to the link server 9 to read the new address of the specified page. In this way, the link server 9 is checked only for broken links, thereby limiting traffic on the Internet 7.

Preferably, the computer system of the present invention includes the following modules. A module for sending information about links installed on various web servers as shown in FIG. 3; a link server 9 for providing a module for receiving information about links as shown in FIG. A module for obtaining or receiving information about changes to pages on various web servers, as shown in FIG. 5; a receiver module as shown in FIG. 6, preferably a receiver module of the receiver module; Preferably, it is distributed on various web servers to receive information about the modification page indicated by the link.

The receiver module of FIG. 3 has a step 16 for storing a difference file indicating a history of changes to page addresses, ie, a Δ file. As a variant, any change (deletion, movement) of a page can be made without having to create a Δ file by scanning all of the provided pages during a search for links to process. Is notified directly to the link server 9. Preferably, scanning is restricted to external links. Proceed to 17. For example, scanning step 17 consists of exhausting the code on the page for the next type of character string.
<a href=protocol://server/directory/file> Here, protocol means a used protocol such as HTTP. server means the address or name of the host server. directory means the directory where code files are stored and any subdirectories. file means the name of the code file that forms the page.

Proceed to 19.

At 19, the current list i contains the links to be processed (especially external links)
Are all shown. List i also contains logical locations corresponding to various HTML pages.

Proceed to 21.

At 21, a check is made whether a previous list exists. If there is, go to 23. If not, go to 25.

At 23, the current list (list i) is compared with the previous list (list i-1) and the difference is stored in a difference file or Δ file.

Proceed to 27.

At 25, the current list (list i) is stored in a difference file or Δ file.

Go to 27.

At 27, the Δ list is sent to the link server 9. As a variant, the delta list is made available for diagnosis via the Internet, optionally with an approximately complete history of changes to the various pages provided by the server.

As an example, the Δ list comprises: Add page message related to newly added page; Change page message related to renamed or moved page; Delete page message related to deleted page; Add link related to newly created external link A message; a link modification message for the modified link; and a link deletion message relating to the deleted link.

For example, server 3 alerts the link server that page 3.2 has been deleted and page 3.1 has been modified. On the other hand, the web server 5 notifies that the pages 5.1 and 5.3 have been modified and the pages 5.4 and 5.5 have been added.

Transmission 27 can be performed by e-mail, and the procedure can be performed automatically or to the effect that the notification to the link server 9 is consistent, correct and does not contain confidential information. This can be done after the webmaster confirms with the sender to confirm.

In particular, when the link server 9 issues a response command to the web server, the transmission can also be executed using the network transmission protocol TCP / IP.

The transmission 27 can also be performed by a high-level protocol of the HTTP type. For example, the link server 9 is connected to a web server and creates a standard script using, for example, a common gateway interface, ie, a standard known as “CGI”, and preferably, especially for manipulating arbitrary strings. Create a script written in the optimized PERL language. The script displays a list of the Δ files recovered by the link server 9. Link server 9
Visits all web servers that declare to contain the sending module. Preferably, the Δ file is deleted on the web server.

More generally, transmission 27 uses any protocol that can be understood, such as text-to-speech, fax, pager or short message system (SMS) messages sent to the webmaster of the server involved. Can be executed.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show how the link server 9 operates.

At 29, the server receives the Δ file by email, TCP / IP mode transmission, or HTTP mode transmission.

Proceed to 31.

At 31, the link server 9 updates the link database 32, which particularly relates to external links of the World Wide Web. As a variant, the server also receives a bookmark or a favorite declaration from the browser software of the station 13 of the present invention.

At 33 (FIG. 5), the link server receives a notification of a change to the URL of the web page. Information about these changes can be included in the Δ file or can be stored and communicated separately.

As a variant, in the non-cooperative mode, the link server 9 provides a list of web pages,
It scans various web servers to create their location, and the links to which those pages pertain. The list can also be created from an Internet index database established by the search engine and containing an index of the links. Preferably, the web server 9 may assign a compact signature to the page. This signature may be based on the occurrence of the sentence, image, page layout used and / or the meaning of the text, in order to make the HTML page tag <title> preferably easier to identify the moved page. Includes a parse or checksum, that is, the sum of the values of the characters that make up the page, along with data appropriate to identify the page with values that may be weighted.

As a variant, pages 3.1, 3.2 and 5.3 provided by other servers 3 and 5
The server 1 that provides the page having the external links 15.3 to 15.5 instructing the server 3 informs the servers 3 and 5 of the existence of the links and their contents. Instead, when moving from page 3.1 to 5.1 or deleting page 3.2, the server 3
, 5 notify the server that has provided that the page having the link pointing to the changed page is being provided.

Proceed to 35.

At 35, the link server 9 scans the link base to set up a list of any links affected by the changed or deleted page, ie, a list of pages containing currently broken links.

Proceed to 37.

At 37, the link server 9 notifies the web server whose link is broken that the page has been changed, moved or deleted.

This notification can also be executed by an electronic mail, a notification in a TCP / IP transmission mode, an HTTP type transmission mode, or the like.

The operation of the web server 1 that has been notified is shown in FIG.

At 39, the server 1 receives a notification regarding a change in the URL of the page indicated by the links 15.3 to 15.5.

Proceed to 41.

At 41, preferably, the webmaster verifies the proposed changes.
If the verification fails, go to 43. Verification may fail due to uncertainty about the origin of the message received at 39 or its relevance.

If the verification is successful, go to 45.

At 45, the URL in the associated HTML page 1.1 is changed. The program ends at 43.

The sending and receiving modules on the various servers 1, 3 or 5 can be executed periodically by being manually activated by the webmaster, especially after the page has been modified. Alternatively, in particular, it can be activated when an HTML page is changed and act as a background task. For example, on a server running under the UNIX operating system, these modules
Whereas it can be constituted by a program known as AMON, WIN
For servers running under the DOWS NT operating system, the SER
It may consist of a module known as VICE.

Preferably, in a combined cooperative and non-cooperative mode, the robot roaming on the World Wide Web to create a database related to the URLs of HTML pages and their associated links, Avoid searching for collaborative servers that have notified the list.

As a variant, when the server 3 or 5 changes or deletes a page, it queries the list of servers 1 containing the page 1.1 with links 15.3, 15.4 and 15.5 pointing to the changed page. , To the link server 9. Then, it notifies the server 1 itself.

Very preferably, the system of the present invention may be provided with a security device which prevents false notifications, in particular malicious notifications and / or attempts to create unwanted links. In particular, any conventional type of security system can be used to prove that the message sender and its contents are reliable. As an example, for example, RSA, DSA, PGP, PGP / Mine or S / M
The message can be encrypted using a so-called "public key" encryption algorithm, such as the ime protocol. Public key-based encryption systems are known in particular from US-A-4 200 770, US-A-4 218 582, US
SA-4405829, U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,414, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,082, and are also described in Applied cryptograph.
hy ", Bruce Schneier, 2nd edition.

As a variant, a callback mechanism can be used. The server recalls the sender of the message using the embedded authentication random number. The reply includes a random number or a number derived from the authentication random number.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention takes advantage of the fact that website webmasters, especially small websites, often have a local copy of the site on a computer or workstation that is not permanently connected to the Internet. It is to consider. In contrast, website servers are permanently connected to the Internet. Changes in local copy pages are uploaded to the appropriate web server, for example, using the FTP protocol. Under such circumstances, the webmaster loads the client software on a computer with a local copy of the site to cooperate with the link server 9.

The webmaster may provide the website address (eg: http: //www.myserve
r.com or, if your site is split, subdirectories http: // www.
aserver.com/mydirectory/) and its email address (for example, myname @ mys
erber.com) on the link server 9. This is done by writing in a form on the website of the link server 9 or by configuring the client software.

In a first different embodiment, a list with multiple pairs (link location, link) examines all of the files contained in the local copy of the site, and uses the language corresponding to the link, especially HTML Created by client software to extract tags. For each link found, the client software creates a new entry in the list that contains the address on the web server that the page containing the link has the appropriate and relevant link value. Once the list is created, the client software connects to the link server 9 via, for example, the HTTP protocol, and transfers a plurality of pairs of lists (link positions, links).

In the preferred embodiment, the client software simply establishes a list of pages on its own site and registers the list in the link server 9. To do this, the client software examines all of the files contained in the local copy of the site, connects to the link server 9 via the HTTP protocol, for example, and passes the address of the page examined with parameters.

If the connection to the link server 9 is up, the file is copied into a “delta” (Δ) directory for later use for comparison.

The link server connects to the page registered by this method using HTTP, checks the page, and searches for an external link. Any external links found are User 3
In addition to the link base associated with the website.

The link server continuously monitors all registered links belonging to unregistered servers that connect through HTTP.

Once it has been detected that a link has been broken or moved, whether it is due to the link server 9 performing the direct detection or by notification of another user via the link server 9 Instead, an electronic message requesting synchronization with the link server is sent to the user 3.

The webmaster 3 receiving the notification message requesting the synchronization uses the client software to connect to the link server by HTTP. The date of the last update of "Client" is passed as a parameter during the connection, and all changes after that date and relating to the current site are H
Sent to the "client" in TML format.

The client software interprets the HTML code returned in the previous step and applies the corresponding changes to the local copy of the site's files. This is done by deleting the link (for deleted pages) or replacing the link (for moved pages), and after confirmation by the webmaster.

The webmaster operates on a local copy of the site to delete, add, move or change the contents of that page.

The webmaster updates the appropriate website permanently connected to the Internet by copying a local copy of the file (eg, via FTP) to the appropriate site.

Webmasters use client software to specify all of the changes that apply to the site.

The software detects pages that have been added, deleted, moved or changed by comparing a “delta” (Δ) directory with a local copy of the site.

This information can be confirmed and changed by the webmaster.

The client software connects to the link server 9 by HTTP and notifies the server of the change.

[0093] Preferably, the link server verifies the validity of the information transferred in the previous step by connecting to the webmaster's site via HTTP via the Internet. The changed or added pages are examined to determine whether they have external links. For the moved page, it is ascertained that the old page no longer exists and that the new page actually exists. For deleted pages, it is ascertained that old pages no longer exist.

The purpose of this step is to avoid falsification of the information and the risk of false notification from malicious intent.

Once the information has been verified, the link base is examined and the relevant sites 1,1
1, 13 are notified by e-mail.

As a variant, the webmaster can register directly from a suitable website permanently connected to the Internet and receive notifications there.

However, it should also be understood that the server 9 can detect when a page has been moved or deleted on a server that is not registered with the link server 9. Under such circumstances, it is assumed that the internal coherence of each website is properly managed, i.e. that the internal links are updated when pages are moved within the website Is done.

The website is scrutinized to find internal links to pages pointed to by external links that may then be desired to be corrected. The address of the page containing the internal link is stored like the content of the link.

When the indicated page no longer exists (HTTP error 404), the page containing the internal link is connected and the new address indicated by the link is determined. Since the internal links would have already been logically updated by the site's webmaster, a new address for the page is thus obtained, thereby resolving the external links. The address pointed to by the corrected internal link is notified as a corrected external link to a page of another web server including an external link equal to the old internal link.

The invention applies to any computer system having links, especially external links, such as a document management system, a local network, a bulletin board.

The present invention is mainly applied to pages including links on the World Wide Web.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram of several computers connected to the Internet, including valid links. FIG. 2 is a similar view of the computer after some links have been modified. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing how the “Emitter” module keeps track of links. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process for receiving a notification of a link change. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for receiving a URL modification notification. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a module for receiving a notification of a URL change.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (81) Designated country EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, IT, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE ), OA (BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, GM, KE, LS, MW, SD, SL, SZ, UG, ZW), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY , CA, CH, CN, CU, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP , KE, KG, KP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LV, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RU, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ, TM, TR, TT, UA, UG, US, UZ, VN, YU, ZW (71) Applicants Sapphire Court, Bell Street, Maidenhead, GB-Berkshire SL6. 1BU (Great Britain)

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A data storage means for storing a link and / or a shortcut to a display page, an automatic means for confirming a stored link or a shortcut, and a list [link position (1.1) Links (15.3,15.4,
15.5)] means for generating and automatically storing links (15.3, 15.4, 15.
If there is a change in the address of the page (3.1, 3.2, 5.3) specified by 5), the change can be notified to correct the corresponding link (15.3 ', 15.4', 15.5 '). , Means for making the list available, and further comprising: the plurality of pairs of lists [link position (1.1) and link (15.3, 15.4, 15.5)] The computer system further comprising means for transmitting to the link server (9) receiving a plurality of pairs of lists from the computer system. 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said system is a server on a network, in particular an Internet server, preferably a web server (1); 2. The system of claim 1 further comprising means for extracting external links from the system. 3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the display page is described in HTML or XML language. 4. The system for a station (13) for online diagnosis of a website (1,3,5) and for storing shortcuts (15.6) to favorite sites or pages. The computer system of claim 1 including means. 5. A means for creating a list of links and / or shortcuts pointing to a World Wide Web page provided on a plurality of computer systems providing the page, and providing a list of indicated pages (3.1, 3.2, 5.3) means for determining whether there is a change in the address, and a computer system (1, 1,
13) A link server comprising means for notifying in 13). 6. A list composed of a plurality of pairs transmitted by the computer system according to claim 4 [link position (1.1) and link (15.3, 15.4, 15.5)].
And a means for notifying a computer system (1, 13) that provides a medium including a link or a shortcut of a change in the address of the designated page. 7. A means for examining a displayed page published on the Web (1.1), a means for extracting an external link embedded in the code of the page, a list consisting of a plurality of pairs [original page ( 1.1), link (15.3, 3.2; 15.4, 3.1)
15.5, 5.3)], comprising: means for generating and storing a list of pages containing links to each processed page. 8. The web server according to claim 5, further comprising means for notifying a change in the address of the web page (3.1, 3.2, 5.3). 9. A means for examining a web page, a means for identifying a web page, a means for storing a plurality of pairs [web page identifier, web address], a conventional web page address and a current web page address. Means for comparing the web page address with the web page address and deducing therefrom a list identifying the web page with the changed address, and identifying the missing web page. 7 or 8 servers. 10. A method for repairing broken links on the Internet, especially on the World Wide Web, comprising: receiving a notification of a link or shortcut pointing to a web page; and changing a web page address. Generating a list of web pages pointing to the page whose address has been changed; and providing a computer system providing a link pointing to the web page whose address has been changed. Notifying the change. 11. A method of repairing broken links or shortcuts, comprising:-examining web pages accessible on the World Wide Web and extracting from them external links pointing to web pages provided on other sites. Storing addresses of various web pages indicated by links or shortcuts; creating a list of web pages indicating pages whose addresses have been changed; and links indicating web pages whose addresses have been changed. Notifying the computer system providing the change of the address of the designated web page. 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of: changing a link pointing to the web page whose address has been changed to be the corresponding notified address. 13. The method further comprising the step of notifying a server providing a link indicating the page whose address has been changed, wherein the server is isolated by means for restricting and authorizing access, in particular the Internet. 13. The method according to claim 10, wherein the method is a server. 14. storing an external link to be protected; searching for a page containing an internal link to the indicated page, searching a web server providing the page indicated by the link; Storing at least one internal link location related to: if the indicated page is lost, connect to a web server and read a new link in place of the indicated page link; 14. The method of claim 10, 11, 12 or 13 including the step of using or notifying a new internal link as a new correction link pointing to the page pointed to by.