KR20040021428A - System for seeking and contacting information of web site and method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A system and a method for confirming/connecting to contact information of a web site are provided to get web site owner's information without connecting to the web site. CONSTITUTION: If an indicator(60) of an input device of a client(5) is positioned on the URL data(46,52) in an application program such as a web browser(40) or a word-processor(50), the URL(Uniform Resource Locator) is extracted. The contact information is collected based on the extracted information. The collected contact information is displayed to the client.

Description

System for seeking and contacting information of web site and method therefor}

The present invention relates to a system for confirming / accessing a contact information of a website and a method thereof, and more particularly, to contact information for a subject who operates a website without having to access the website. The present invention relates to a system for confirming / accessing a contact information of a website that can automatically access a website subject using mail, and the like.

Recently, due to the development of the Internet, a large number of users access websites through the Internet to obtain necessary information online or to perform electronic commerce. By the way, when using the website to obtain information or electronic commerce, etc., various information about the subject that operates the website is required.

For example, an Internet user may need a variety of information such as the type of main business of a company that operates a website he wants to use, services that can be provided, sales, credit, and technology. In addition, it may be necessary to contact the subject running the website (hereinafter referred to as the "website subject") in order to confirm the accuracy of the information or to obtain additional information which cannot be obtained only by the provided web page. In such cases, you must know the address, telephone number, e-mail address, fax number, etc. ("Contact Information") for the subject of the website.

However, at present, in order to obtain contact information for a website subject, the user must actually access the website or use other offline methods. Therefore, in the related art, in order to obtain contact information about a website subject, the user has to directly access the corresponding website, which causes a lot of waste of user time and computer resources. In particular, even if the user simply needs the contact information, the network traffic is increased because the user has to visit the website directly by using the Internet, and the resources of the user's computer such as the CPU and disk are used. The load increases. There is a problem in that the user's time is wasted even when using other offline methods to obtain contact information for the website subject.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a contact information confirmation / access system and a method of contact information of a subject operating a website without accessing the website. To provide.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a contact information confirmation / access system of a website capable of providing a user with contact information on a subject who operates a website while minimizing user's time, network load, and user computer load. To provide a way.

1 is a network diagram showing the operating environment of the contact information confirmation / access system of the website according to the present invention

2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a screen on which a contact information confirmation / access system of a website according to the present invention operates.

3 is a flowchart schematically showing an embodiment of a contact information confirmation / access system and a method of a website according to the present invention;

<Description of Symbols for Major Parts of Drawings>

1: internet 3: server

5: Client 40: Web Browser

50: word processor 60: indicator of input device

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a UEL extraction step of automatically extracting the UAL when the indicator of the client input device is located in the UEL data in the application program of the client; An information collecting step of collecting contact information on a subject who operates the UAL using the extracted UAL; And a display step of displaying the collected contact information to the client.

Preferably, the contact information includes an address, a phone number, an e-mail address, and a fax number of the UEL operating entity.

In addition, the contact information confirmation / access method of the web site preferably further comprises a UEL subject access step to enable the contact to the relevant UAl using the collected contact information.

That is, when a telephone number is selected from the contact information, it is preferable to automatically start the Internet phone service program using the telephone number. In addition, when an e-mail address is selected among the contact information, it is preferable to automatically start an e-mail service program using the e-mail address. In addition, if a fax number is selected among the contact information, it is preferable to automatically start the fax service program using the corresponding fax number.

On the other hand, the contact information confirmation / access method of the website more preferably further comprises an information storage step of storing the contact information obtained in the information collection step in a UAL table of a predetermined format.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the present invention provides a recording medium storing a method for confirming / accessing contact information of the aforementioned website.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus comprising: a UEL extracting means for extracting a UAL when an indicator of an input device is located near UAL data of an application program; Information collecting means for collecting contact information on a subject who operates the UAL using the extracted UAL; A contact information confirmation / access system of a website including display means for displaying collected information and displaying the information to a user is provided.

The contact information confirmation / access system of the website may further include contact means for automatically contacting the website subject using the contact information collected by the information collecting means.

In addition, the contact information confirmation / access system of the website preferably further comprises a data storage means for storing the contact information collected by the information collecting means in a predetermined format.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain contact information for the website subject without accessing the website.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, preferred embodiments of the present invention that can specifically realize the above object.

First, referring to FIG. 1, a contact information confirmation / access system of a website and an environment in which the method operates according to the present invention will be described below.

The Internet 1 is connected to various servers 3, for example, a web server 3a, a mail server 3b, an FTP server (File Transfer Protocol Server) 3c, other servers 3d, and the like. In 1), various clients 5 using the information of the servers 3 are connected by wire or wirelessly. The Internet 1 is also connected to servers 7a, 7b, 7c of various authorized institutions.

In this case, the client 5 is a concept including all devices capable of accessing the Internet. For example, the client 5 may be a portable portable computer 5a, a general computer 5b that is usually fixed and used, a mobile terminal 5c that is wirelessly connected to the Internet, and a home appliance 5d capable of connecting to the Internet. And the like. The general computer 5b includes a desktop, a workstation, a PC server, a Macintosh, and the like. The portable computer 5a includes a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a palmtop computer, and the like, and the mobile terminal 5c includes an Internet phone, a PDA, Including a cellular phone, an IMT 2000 terminal, and the like, the home appliance 5d capable of accessing the Internet includes a set top box, an Internet TV, an internet refrigerator, and the like. In addition, the client 5 may include a supercomputer, a main frame, a console and a terminal connected to a server, and the like.

First, the process of using the general Internet is as follows.

Internet users can use general-purpose web browsers such as Explorer, Netscape, Opera, Power Browser, etc., dedicated browsers (including proprietary programs provided by carriers such as Chillian, Hitel, Netsgo, etc.) or other utility programs that use web browser controls. (Hereinafter, referred to as "web browser" inclusive) to access various servers 3 and various pages (files) within the server (3).

The user accesses the website or selects a URL link by entering a URL (Uniform Resouce Locator or URI: Uniform Resouce Identifier) that distinguishes the server 3 (or a website) into the URL input box of the web browser. Click to access the website. When the user accesses the URL, the web page of the website is displayed on the screen. In general, since a web page includes various types of information about a website subject, a user may obtain information about the website subject from a web page displayed on a screen.

However, according to the present invention, a user can obtain contact information about a website subject without directly accessing the website, and the user can make a means such as telephone, e-mail, or fax to the website subject based on the information. It can be used to obtain necessary information or to verify the reliability of the information.

That is, the contact information confirmation / access system of the website according to the present invention is installed on the client 5 and is automatically started at the start of the client 5 or when the web browser is operated to contact information about the operating subject of the website. Will be provided to the user. That is, the contact information of the desired website subject can be known without directly accessing the website. Of course, the information can be known at the same time or after the connection to the website, and the system according to the present invention can be selectively operated by the user's selection.

Furthermore, even when various programs such as word processors (hereinafter referred to as "application programs") as well as web browsers are operated on the client 5, they are automatically started or selected by the user to operate the website. Information to the user. In other words, an application program means a program that runs on any computer that can access the network regardless of the operating system and firmware, and includes a web browser, general software (office products, groupware, utilities, tools, Java applets, Java programs, etc.), Contains various modules (plugin modules, standalone programs, custom controls, components, scripts, libraries, etc.).

In addition, the contact information confirmation / access system and method of the website according to the present invention may be implemented separately from all the application program, or may be implemented in its own module in the application program.

First, referring to Figs. 1 to 3, a preferred embodiment of a contact information confirmation / access system and a method of a website according to the present invention will be described.

The present invention is located when the indicator 60 of the input device of the client 5 is located in the UEL data 46, 52 in an application such as the web browser 40 or the word processor 50 of the client 5, etc. The UAL extraction step 100 for extracting the corresponding UEL, the information collecting step 200 for collecting contact information based on the extracted information, and the display step 300 for displaying the collected contact information to the user in a predetermined manner It is configured to include).

Each step will be described in detail as follows.

In general, when an application program such as the web browser 40 or the word processor 50 is operated in the client 5, predetermined data is displayed on the screen. That is, the work page is displayed on the screen. For example, when a web browser 40 is executed to access an arbitrary website, the web page is displayed, and when the word processor 50 is executed, the page is displayed.

A web page typically contains a number of UAL data 46. In addition, the UAl data 46 may exist in various forms, but is usually in the form of Uallink. In other words, if you select (click) the URL link, you will be connected to the website. In the present invention, when the indicator 60 of the input device such as a mouse pointer is located near the UAL data in the form of a UEL link, the UAL is automatically extracted.

There are various ways to extract the UAL from the UAL link, but typically UAL can be extracted by hooking a window message or using Browser Helper Object, DDE, OLE, COM, Active X, Subclassing, or Scripting. In addition, programs that use general-purpose web browsers and browser controls can use their own URLs because they know the current URL links. The method of extracting UEL may be various, such as the above-described method, and all possible methods may be used in the present invention.

On the other hand, in recent years, in addition to the web browser, many application programs, for example, the word processor 50 includes the UAL data 52, and also the UEL data 52 can be made in the form of a UEL link. In particular, it is common for programs using browser controls to contain UAL data. Therefore, UAL can be extracted from many applications besides the web browser.

In addition, even if the URL data 46 and 52 are not in the URL link format in the application including the web browser, the corresponding URL may be extracted. For Ualel is made according to fixed rules. For example, when the UEL data 46 and 52 are in a simple text format, the text in the vicinity of the indicator of the input device may be automatically extracted to check whether the text is the UEL, and the UEL may be extracted.

Next, the step (200) of using the extracted UAL to collect the contact information for the subject operating the UAL (website) is described as follows.

There are many ways to collect contact information about the subject of a website. For example, in a state in which the user is not aware, the system according to the present invention may directly access a corresponding website to capture and analyze a specific page and collect contact information. In addition, if the website operator records contact information in a specific page (file), for example, "contactinfo.txt", the contact information can be collected simply by using the file. In addition, when the website receives a predetermined authentication code including the contact information through the server (7) of the authorized institution and includes the authentication code in a specific file or the header of the file, it is also possible to use this.

As described above, there are various ways of collecting contact information, but in view of reliability of contact information, it is preferable to use an authentication code received from a publicly recognized authority, such as a method previously filed by the present inventors.

On the other hand, the above contact information is the main information such as the address, telephone number, e-mail address, fax number, etc. for the subject of the UEL, of course, it is also possible to include other necessary information.

On the other hand, in the above-described embodiment has been described to automatically collect the contact information for one Ual subject, but the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, information can be collected according to the user's selection. For example, when the indicator 60 of the input device is located in the UAL data 46, the information may be collected after receiving the user's instruction. It may also collect contact information for a number of EU entities. For example, using the indicator 60 of the input device, it is also possible to select a specific area of the displayed web page, extract all the UAL data included in the selected area, and collect contact information about it.

Next, the display step 300 of displaying the collected contact information will be described. In the display step 300 to inform the user of the collected contact information, the information may be output on the screen of the client 5 or may be output by sound. The display method can be variously configured according to a user's selection.

For example, the display method may be in the form of a pop-up window. That is, the pop-up window is automatically displayed on the screen and the contact information collected in the pop-up window is output.

On the other hand, it is preferable to include an information storage step 250 for storing the contact information obtained in the information collection process 200 to the user before or after displaying the contact information in a predetermined format UAL table (not shown). This is because storing the collected contact information and using it again can increase network traffic or computing efficiency of the client 5. Here, the UL table refers to a means for storing contact information about the UE and the UE operating in a predetermined format, and may be a database, a simple file, or a memory.

As described above, in the case of recording the collected contact information in the UAl table, before the contact information is collected using the Ual extracted in the Ualel extraction step 100, the Ualel is searched and the contact information for the Ualel extracted is Ualel It is desirable to find out whether it exists in the table and collect contact information about the operating entity of the UAL only by accessing the network only if it does not exist. Of course, even if the contact information already exists, it is preferable that the user is authorized to determine whether to re-collect the information according to the selection.

On the other hand, in the above-described embodiment, when the user launches the application programs 40 and 50, and the indicator 60 of the input device is placed in the arbitrary UAL data 46 and 52 in the application programs 40 and 50, the corresponding program is applied. Extracting the UAL, and collecting the information of the UEL operators described the display of the collected information to the user.

However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the user may use any application 40 or 50 in the client 5 to create a work page (for example, a web page of a web browser or a work page such as a word processor). When opened, it is preferable that the UEL table is updated by automatically extracting UEL data from the work page and automatically collecting contact information about the UEL subject regardless of the position of the indicator 60 of the input apparatus. This is because it is preferable to automatically collect information and store it in the UAL table in terms of network traffic and reducing the load on the client.

On the other hand, as described above, by selecting a specific area of the web page to collect contact information for a number of Ualel subjects included in the area, or when a particular web page is displayed automatically for the Ualel existing on the web page When collecting contact information, it is advisable to establish appropriate collection criteria. For example, you can search the UEL table to find an unidentified UAL and collect only contact information for an unidentified UAL. Of course, it is also possible to set other criteria. In addition, it is desirable to classify the unidentified UALs that have not been identified by grouping each site and to arrange the UELLink groups for each site.

In addition, in the case of collecting contact information for a plurality of UAL, the information collection step (200) using the multi-threading (Multi-threading) or multi-processing (Multi-processing) method to simultaneously request information to multiple websites and It is desirable to receive the result. In addition, it is desirable to properly control a large number of running processes or threads in terms of network traffic and client load.

1 to 3, the operation of the contact information confirmation / access system and the method of the website according to the present invention described above will be described.

The user executes various applications 40 and 50 including a web browser on the client 5 and moves the indicator 60 of the input device within the applications 40 and 50. When the indicator 60 of the input device is located in the vicinity of the UEL data 46 and 52, the contact information for the subject who operates the UAL (web site) automatically, for example, an address, a phone number, an e-mail address, Collects a new fax number or retrieves it from the UEL table and prints out the information in the format specified by the user.

In other words, according to the present invention, when the user does not directly access a specific website, but the indicator 60 of the input device such as a mouse pointer is located near the UAL data in the form of a UAl link, the website subject is automatically displayed. Information about the user is displayed.

As described above, if the contact information for the Ualel subject is displayed, the user can contact the Ualel (company) by phone or the like based on this.

On the other hand, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the present invention further includes a corresponding UEL subject connection step (400). It will be described in detail as follows.

The user obtains contact information about the Ualel subject, and when the user directly contacts the Ualel subject, the user usually uses a telephone, an email, a fax, and the like. Therefore, it is desirable to allow the user to automatically connect with the relevant UalL subject using the information displayed in the information display step 300 if desired. For example, when the user places the indicator of the input device on the telephone number displayed in the information display step 300 and presses a specific key, the Internet phone service program is automatically started to enable the user to talk with the other party using the Internet phone. That is, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically connect to the UalL subject without the input of a separate telephone or telephone number. Here, the Internet phone means to make a call using the Internet widely, and the description thereof is well known, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition, when the user places the indicator of the input device on the fax number and presses a specific key, the fax service program is automatically started so that the user can immediately send the fax. In addition, when the user places the indicator of the input device on the e-mail number and presses a specific key, the e-mail client program is automatically started so that the user can use the e-mail immediately.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and as can be seen in the appended claims, those skilled in the art can make modifications without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It will be understood that it belongs to the scope of the invention.

Referring to the effect of the contact information confirmation / access system and method of the website according to the present invention described above are as follows.

First, according to the present invention, the Internet users can know the contact information for the subject who operates the website without directly accessing the specific website. Thus, users can contact the website operator based on this information. Therefore, the present invention has a kind of yellow page (phone book) function, which has the advantage of improving the Internet use environment. In addition, according to the present invention, since it is possible to know the information about the subject who operates the website simply and quickly, it is possible to eliminate the waste of time using the Internet, reduce the amount of meaningless network traffic and reduce the load on the user's computer. have.

Second, according to the present invention, the user can directly contact the website subjects through the Internet phone, etc., which makes the Internet use environment more convenient.

Claims (11)

A UAL extraction step of automatically extracting the UEL when the indicator of the input device of the client is located in the UEL data in the application of the client; An information collecting step of collecting contact information on a subject who operates the UAL using the extracted UAL; And And a display step of displaying the collected contact information to the client. The method of claim 1, wherein the contact information includes an address, a phone number, an e-mail address, and a fax number of the UEL operating entity. The contact information of the website according to claim 2, wherein the method for checking / accessing contact information of the website further comprises a UEL subject access step for automatically contacting the corresponding UAl using the collected contact information. Confirmation / connection method. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein if a telephone number is selected among the contact information, an Internet phone service program is automatically started using the telephone number. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein if an e-mail address is selected among the contact information, an e-mail service program is automatically started using the e-mail address. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein if a fax number is selected among the contact information, a fax service program is automatically started using the corresponding fax number. The contact information of the website according to claim 1, wherein the contact information checking / accessing method of the website further includes an information storing step of storing the contact information obtained in the information collecting step in a UL table of a predetermined format. Confirmation / connection method. A recording medium storing a method for confirming / accessing contact information of a website according to any one of claims 1 to 7. A yuelel extraction means for extracting the yuelel if the indicator of the input device is located near the yuel data of the application program; Information collecting means for collecting contact information on a subject who operates the UAL using the extracted UAL; A contact information confirmation / access system of a website comprising display means for displaying the collected information and displaying the information to a user. 10. The web according to claim 9, wherein the contact information confirmation / access system of the website further comprises contact means for automatically contacting the website subject using the contact information collected by the information collecting means. Contact information confirmation / access system of the site. The contact information confirmation / access system according to claim 10, wherein the contact information confirmation / access system of the website further comprises data storage means for storing contact information collected by the information collecting means in a predetermined format. Connection system.