JPH11110100A - Data processing system and its operating method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an object that can be easily recognized by a user by accessing plural documents from an external network via a communication interface and assigning one of proper representations corresponding to each of plural documents via a central processor. SOLUTION: When a user saves a web page URL as a shortcut or a book mark, a CPU 110 of a data processing system inquires of a web page about an icon tag via a communication adapter 134. Then the image that is accessed by the icon tag is saved in an image directory stored in a memory such as a RAM 114, etc., of the data processing system. Then the image corresponding to the inquired icon tag is assigned to the shortcut or book mark that is related to the web page URL, and a title that is related to a proper icon is shown to the user.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to computer networks, and more particularly, to a graphical user interface that represents individual URL addresses within a computer network.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A worldwide computer network, commonly referred to as the "Internet," has exploded in recent years. This growth has been fueled by the introduction and prevalence of web browsers that provide easy graphical user interface access to network servers. Network servers support documents formatted as "web pages". "World Wide Web"("www
w ") is a hypertext transfer protocol (HTT
It is commonly used to refer to a collection of servers on the Internet that use P). HTTP means that users can use text, graphics, audio, video, etc.
A well-known application protocol that allows files of various formats to be accessed using a standard page description language called Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTML is
Provide basic document formatting capabilities and allow developers to specify links to other servers and files. To use an HTML-compliant client browser, you need a Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
You need to specify the link via. When a link is specified via a URL, the client makes a "tcp / ip" request to the server specified by the link and receives the returned "web page". "Web page"
Is a document formatted according to HTML.

[0003] In order to access various types of web pages, a user may implement several techniques to store the URL of the web page in a convenient format on a display of his data processing system. Can be. Generally, the techniques used to store web page URLs include bookmarks or "shortcuts." Bookmarks, shortcuts, or other similar means are implemented in most currently available operating systems. Such operating systems include UNIX, OS / 2, and Windows '95. When creating a bookmark or shortcut, the operating system creates a default icon corresponding to the web page URL. The title of the icon is
It is created from the "title" designation in the HTML code corresponding to the page. Further, the graphics associated with the default icon are the same for all bookmarks and shortcuts. In other words, each time a user creates a shortcut or bookmark to a web page URL, the same icon is used,
Only the text title associated with the icon will be visually different.

In the case of a user having a plurality of bookmarks and shortcuts, the user cannot distinguish the icon attached to the web page, which adversely affects the interaction between the user and the user's data processing system in terms of graphic expression. Thus, in the current embodiment, a user cannot easily access a web page at a glance, and must search through multiple titles associated with similar icons. Such a situation
It's like having to enter a parking lot where 20 identical red cars are parked and identify the car by looking only at the license plate number.

[0005]

Therefore, there is a need to provide a user of a data processing system with a URL object that can be easily recognized.

[0006]

The above needs are met by the present invention. Accordingly, in a first aspect, a data processing system is provided. The data processing system includes a communication interface for accessing a plurality of documents from an external network, and a central processing unit that assigns each one of the plurality of documents a corresponding one of a plurality of unique expressions.

In a second aspect, a method is provided for operating a data processing system. The method includes accessing a URL associated with a first document stored on an external network. This method
Accessing the software code segment corresponding to the URL. Further, the method includes evaluating the software code segment to determine when a graphics tag value has been identified within the software code segment. The graphics tag value indicates a unique representation corresponding to the document.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The data processing system and method of the present invention implements a user interface that provides a unique graphical identifier associated with a web page URL. By using the method of the present invention,
The user can easily recognize the web page URL. In addition, the present invention provides a visual differentiation of URL objects on a user's data processing system,
A more user-friendly and flexible graphical user interface is obtained. In addition, implementations of the present invention allow web page providers to better control the determination of the representation of desktop icons assigned to web pages on external user systems. The data processing system and method implemented by the present invention are described below.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without such specific details. In other instances, well-known circuits are shown in block diagram form in order not to obscure the present invention in unnecessary detail. In general, details regarding timing considerations and the like have been omitted as long as such details are not necessary for a complete understanding of the present invention and are within the skill of those in the art.

Referring to FIG. 1, an example of a data processing system 100 that can be used in the present invention is shown. This system is based on the "The
PowerPC Architecture: A Specification for a New Fa
mily of RISC Processors "(2nd edition, 1994)
Central processing unit such as werPC microprocessor (CP
U) 110, which is incorporated herein by reference ("PowerPC" is a trademark of IBM Corporation). For a more specific implementation of a PowerPC microprocessor, see “PowerPC 604 RISC
Microprocessor Users Manual "(IBM Corporation, 1994), which is incorporated herein by reference. CPU 110 includes a history buffer (not shown) of the present invention. C
PU 110 is coupled to various other components by a system bus 112. Read-only memory ("RO
M ") 116 is coupled to system bus 112 and includes a basic input / output system (" BIOS "). The BIOS controls certain basic functions of the data processing system 100.
Also coupled to the system bus 112 is a random access memory ("RAM") 114, an I / O adapter 118, and a communication adapter 134. The I / O adapter 118 provides a small computer system interface ("SCS") for communicating with the disk storage device 120.
I ") Adapter. Communication adapter 13
4 interconnects the bus 112 with an external network, allowing the data processing system to communicate with other similar systems. An input / output device is also connected to the system bus 112 via a user interface adapter 122 and a display adapter 136. Keyboard 124, track ball 132, mouse 126, and speaker 128 are all interconnected with system bus 112 via user interface adapter 122. A display 138 is connected to the system bus 112 by a display adapter 136. In this way, the user can enter the keyboard 12
4, input to the system via the trackball 132 or mouse 126 and output data from the system via the speaker 128 and the display 138. In addition, an operating system such as AIX ("AIX" is a trademark of IBM Corporation) may be used to coordinate the functions of the various components shown in FIG.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention include embodiments as a computer system programmed to perform the methods described herein and embodiments as a computer program product. According to an embodiment of the computer system, the set of instructions for performing the method resides in the random access memory 114 of one or more computer systems configured generally as described above. This set of instructions is stored in a disk drive 120 (and eventually disk drive 12) until needed by the computer system.
Other computer storage media, such as a removable storage media such as an optical disk or a floppy disk used in a computer program product, can be stored as a computer program product. Further, the computer program product may be stored on another computer,
It can also be sent to the user's workstation over a network or an external network such as the Internet when desired. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the physical storage of a set of instructions physically modifies the medium on which it is stored to hold computer readable information. This change can be an electrical, magnetic, chemical, or other physical change. While it is convenient to describe the invention in terms of instructions, symbols, characters, or similar terms, it should be understood that all of these and similar terms should be associated with the appropriate physical elements. Please keep in mind.

It should be noted that the present invention describes terms such as comparison, verification, selection or other terms that can be associated with a human operator. However, for at least some of the operations described herein that form part of the invention, treatment by a human operator is undesirable. Most of the operations described herein are mechanical operations that process electrical signals to produce other electrical signals.

Suppose during operation of the data processing system 100 of the present invention that an external user has decided to save a web page URL as a shortcut or bookmark. Stores pointers to web page URLs according to known techniques currently available in the field of data processing technology. Such techniques are well known and will not be described in detail herein. Note that this step of storing the web page URL corresponds to step 202 of the flowchart shown in FIG.

When a user saves a web page URL as a shortcut or a bookmark, the CPU 110 of the data processing system 100
Query the web page via 4 for icon tags. When CPU 110 queries a web page for an icon tag, CPU 110 essentially accesses the HTML source code corresponding to the web page to determine whether the source code specifies an icon tag value. to decide. The CPU 110 uses the CP
Similar to the steps performed when U110 queries a web page for a title tag,
Queries the page for an icon / tag (step 20)
4).

However, in the present invention, in addition to the access to the title value, the icon / tag is also accessed. Note that the title value is typically stored in a string of HTML code. However, the icon tag of the present invention indicates a path in the Internet network from which a unique page icon can be retrieved.

If the icon tag associated with the web page is not specified by the HTML source code (step 204), or if its unique image does not exist (step 205), CPU 110 will execute the currently available data processing. A technique is used to assign a default image to be displayed with the web page URL shortcut or bookmark (step 206).

However, if a unique image does exist, CPU 110 stores the image accessed by the icon tag in an image directory stored in a memory such as RAM 114 of data processing system 100 at step 208. Thereafter, at step 210, the image corresponding to the queried icon tag is assigned to a shortcut or bookmark associated with the web page URL. Step 212
Thus, the unique icon and the title associated therewith are displayed to the external user. This display step is C
This occurs when PU 110 provides appropriate control and data signals to display adapter 136. Display adapter 136 then enables display device 138 to display the icon and its associated title. The methods used to display information on the display 138 under the control of the CPU 110 are well known to those skilled in the data processing arts, and thus will not be described in detail herein.

The data processing system of the present invention can store this icon in the system icon directory using the method of the flowchart shown in FIG. 2 and then use the default browser directory of the prior art system. This unique icon, rather than an icon, can be used to indicate whether the shortcut or bookmark was created by the operating system associated with the data processing system. Further, the web page providing the icon provides a unique picture of the URL web page that allows a user to visually distinguish the web page from other web pages.

FIG. 3 shows the display 138 in operation of one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, a web browser 302 has been activated and is used to access various web pages. Element 310 of FIG.
I accessed by web browser window 302
The BM Aptiva (Aptiva is a trademark of IBM) web page 310 is illustrated. When a shortcut to the IBM Aptiva web page 310 is created, the CPU 11
0 queries the HTML source code associated with the web page to determine if the Aptiva web page has a unique icon identified by an icon tag. Assuming that the icon tag is present in the HTML source code associated with the IBM Aptiva web page 310,
Access the icon tag pointing to the path associated with the page icon. Thereafter, the unique web page icon is accessed according to well-known methods. After accessing the unique web page icon, the CPU
110 stores the icon in a system icon directory within data processing system 100. CPU
110 then uses this unique icon instead of the default browser icon when displaying the bookmark or shortcut on display 138.

Therefore, as can be seen from element 304,
The unique icon associated with the IBM Aptiva web page 310 has already been accessed and the display 1
38. Similarly, a unique icon 306 associated with a web page URL previously stored as a shortcut to a Windows '95 web page
Is also displayed on the display device 138. Such unique visual elements help the user distinguish one icon from all other URL icons displayed on the display 138.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention in which the icon image is improved to more accurately represent the contents of a web page. For example, referring to FIG. 4, assume that the user decides to store the URL associated with the application's support web page (element 402 of FIG. 4). In addition, web page 40
2 shall be designed with interactive means of communication allowing individuals to communicate with professionals on web pages. In one embodiment, a graphic telephone can be used to link an individual directly to a technical support provider. Such graphic phones can be implemented in accordance with the following co-pending patent applications, which are incorporated herein by reference. "DATA PROCESSING SYST" by Bardon et al. Filed on November 20, 1996.
EM ANDMETHOD FOR SCALING A REALISTIC OBJECT ON AU
Patent application entitled "SERR INTERFACE", November 20, 1996
`` SIZING NON-RECTANGULAR, REAL
ISTICALLY-RENDERED OBJECTS "
"DATA PROCESSING" by Bardon et al. Filed on November 20, 1996.
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A VIEW OF A REAL
Patent application entitled "ISTIC OBJECT INA DISPLAY DEVICE", filed on November 20, 1996 by Burton et al., "DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM ANDMETHOD FOR VIEWING OBJ"
Patent application entitled "ECTS ON A USER INTERFACE", 19
“MUL” such as Isensee filed on November 20, 1996
Patent application entitled "TIFUNCTIONAL OBJECT", 1996.1
`` DATA PROCESSING SYS '' filed on January 20 by Eisensee and others
TEM AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING AUTOMATIC ACTIONS IN
A patent application entitled "A Graphical User Interface", filed on November 20, 1996 by Morgan et al.
IORITIZATION OF BACKGROUND DISPLAY DURING ANIMATIO
N and a patent application named "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MAINTAINING" filed on November 20, 1996, such as Morgan.
SIZE AND POSITION RELATIONSHIPS FOR NON-RECTANGULA
R REAL WORLD OBJECTS.

The embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 4 allows the graphical user interface to be rectangular,
Note that there need not be any particular shape typically associated with the icon. The image can also reflect different file types that the current operating system does not yet support.
These file types include ".gif" and ".jpg" files.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the display device 138 implemented according to one embodiment of the present invention.
Note that the present invention can be modified to access icons with a three-dimensional interface rather than two-dimensional icons. Such a three-dimensional interface allows a user to directly access the application and is not limited to icon implementations only.

FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of HTML source code for specifying a URL icon or URL image to be displayed on a display 138 associated with the user data processing system. HE of this HTML source code
By inserting the following line in the AD section, the <icon> http: //path/to/icon/image.ico <icon> HTML source code will allow the operating system accessing the corresponding web page to access the network. -Indicates that a unique graphic file on the server needs to be accessed. The unique graphics file corresponds to the URL address specified in the accessed HTML source code. For example, in the above source code, the URL address associated with the graphics file is "http: // path / to / i
con / image.ico "and the accessed file is" i
mage.ico ". Note that this ".ico" file can now be downloaded from the server just like accessing other files such as ".gif" and ".hlml" from the server. In addition, other options for specifying unique icons are: <meta name = "icon" content = "http: // path / to / icon
Note that it can conform to HTML standards for meta-elements such as /image.ico ">.

Note that meta-elements can also be an easily implemented solution. In addition, some web browsers can support icon tags as HTML extensions, much like Netscape and Internet Explorer each support their own extensions. In that case, these additional extensions will eventually be HT
Can be the ML standard.

In summary, the following matters are disclosed regarding the configuration of the present invention.

(1) Data including a communication interface for accessing a plurality of applications from an external network, and a central processing unit for assigning a corresponding one of a plurality of named expressions to each application of the plurality of applications. Processing system. (2) The data processing system according to (1), further including a display device that displays a plurality of named expressions in response to a plurality of control signals generated by the central processing unit. (3) The data processing system according to (1), wherein the network is the Internet. (4) The data processing system according to (1), wherein the plurality of applications further include a plurality of web pages on the Internet. (5) The data processing system according to (4), wherein each of the plurality of web pages has a uniform resource locator. (6) The data processing system according to (5), wherein the central processing unit assigns each of the plurality of named entities to the plurality of uniform resource locators corresponding to the plurality of web pages. (7) the communication interface accesses a first software code segment corresponding to a first application of the plurality of applications;
The data processing system according to (1), wherein the first software code segment specifies a location of a first named entity among a plurality of named entities. (8) The data processing system according to (7), wherein the location of the first named entity among the plurality of named entities is a uniform resource locator indicating a data processing system on the network. (9) The data processing system according to (7), wherein the first software code segment is a hypertext markup language code segment. (10) The central processing unit accesses the location of the first named entity of the plurality of named entities to obtain the first named entity of the plurality of named entities, (7). A data processing system according to claim 1. (11) The central processing unit generates a plurality of control signals so that the first one of the plurality of named entities can be displayed on a graphical user interface. The data processing system according to 10). (12) the plurality of named expressions include a plurality of icons;
The data processing system according to the above (1). (13) accessing a uniform resource locator associated with a first document stored on a network; accessing a software code segment corresponding to the uniform resource locator; Evaluating a code segment to determine when a graphic tag value is identified in the software code segment, wherein the graphic tag value indicates a named entity corresponding to the document How to operate a data processing system. (14) The method according to (13), further comprising the step of selectively accessing a named entity corresponding to the first document from a second document stored on a network. (15) The method according to (14), further comprising storing the named entity in a memory in the data processing system. (16) The method according to (14), further comprising assigning the named entity to an object corresponding to the uniform resource locator. (17) The method according to (14), further comprising displaying the named entity on a graphical user interface of the data processing system. (18) The method of (13), further comprising selectively assigning a default representation to the first document if the software code segment does not identify the graphics tag value. . (19) The method according to (13), wherein the graphics tag value is identified by a meta element. (20) The method according to (13), wherein the graphics tag value is identified by an element having a format of icon.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a data processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method performed by the data processing system of FIG. 1, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a display device according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a display device according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a display device according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating, in text form, one embodiment of an HTML source code list according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 data processing system 110 central processing unit 112 system bus 114 random access memory 116 read-only memory 118 I / O adapter 122 user interface adapter 124 keyboard 126 mouse 128 speaker 132 track ball 134 communication adapter 136 display adapter 138 Display device 302 Web browser 306 Unique icon

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A data processing system comprising: a communication interface that accesses a plurality of applications from an external network; and a central processing unit that assigns a corresponding one of a plurality of named entities to each of the plurality of applications. system. 2. The data processing system according to claim 1, further comprising a display device for displaying a plurality of named expressions in response to a plurality of control signals generated by said central processing unit. 3. The data processing system according to claim 1, wherein the network is the Internet. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of applications further include a plurality of web pages on the Internet.
A data processing system according to claim 1. 5. The data processing system according to claim 4, wherein each web page of said plurality of web pages has a uniform resource locator. 6. The data processing system according to claim 5, wherein said central processing unit assigns each of a plurality of named entities to said plurality of uniform resource locators corresponding to said plurality of web pages. . 7. The communication interface accesses a first software code segment corresponding to a first application of the plurality of applications, wherein the first software code segment includes a plurality of named entities. The data processing system according to claim 1, wherein a location of a first named entity is specified. 8. The data processing system of claim 7, wherein the location of the first named entity of the plurality of named entities is a uniform resource locator pointing to a data processing system on the network. 9. The data processing system of claim 7, wherein said first software code segment is a hypertext markup language code segment. 10. The central processing unit accesses a location of the first named entity of the plurality of named entities to obtain the first named entity of the plurality of named entities. 8. The data processing system according to 7. 11. The central processing unit generates a plurality of control signals so that the first one of the plurality of named entities can be displayed on a graphical user interface. The data processing system according to claim 10. 12. The data processing system according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of named expressions include a plurality of icons. 13. Accessing a uniform resource locator associated with a first document stored on a network; accessing a software code segment corresponding to the uniform resource locator; Evaluating the software code segment to determine when a graphic tag value is identified in the software code segment, wherein the graphic tag value corresponds to the document. A method of operating a data processing system. 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of selectively accessing a named entity corresponding to said first document from a second document stored on a network. 15. The method according to claim 1, further comprising storing the named entity in a memory in the data processing system.
4. The method according to 4. 16. The method of claim 14, further comprising assigning the named entity to an object corresponding to the uniform resource locator. 17. The method of claim 14, further comprising displaying the named entity on a graphical user interface of the data processing system. 18. The method of claim 13, further comprising selectively assigning a default representation to the first document if the software code segment does not identify the graphics tag value. Method. 19. The method of claim 13, wherein said graphics tag value is identified by a meta element. 20. The method of claim 13, wherein said graphics tag value is identified by an element having the form icon.