Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
  • G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
  • G06F3/048—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
  • G06F3/0481—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
  • G06F3/0483—Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
  • G06F16/90—Details of database functions independent of the retrieved data types
  • G06F16/95—Retrieval from the web
  • G06F16/951—Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
  • G06F16/90—Details of database functions independent of the retrieved data types
  • G06F16/95—Retrieval from the web
  • G06F16/955—Retrieval from the web using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
  • G06F16/9566—URL specific, e.g. using aliases, detecting broken or misspelled links

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to user interface mechanisms, and in particular relates to a browser for navigating through hyperlinked pages.
• a typical Web browser presents a hypertext page to a user and responds to the user's selection of a link from the displayed page by requesting, from a server, the page referenced by the selected link and displaying the requested page when it is received from the server.
• the user To select more than one link, the user must select a first link, view the resulting page, then go back to the original hypertext page to select the next link and view the resulting page.
• the browser has multi-window capability, the user can open each resulting page in its own window, but must otherwise proceed back and forth repeatedly from the hypertext page, each time selecting only one of the full group of links to be selected.
• One way to allow for multiple selections is for the designer of a page to include check boxes that the user can select before submitting the selections to the server, as illustrated in FIG. 1. However, for this multiple selection operation to be available, the designer must include that capability at the outset for that particular hypertext page.
• the invention relates to a method of generating and processing a multilinked operation in a hyperlinked browser of a computer system.
• a multilinked operation is an operation representing at least two links.
• a user is presented with a page in hyperlinked format with at least two links thereon and a browser (or server) records link selections of the user. More than one link selection is recorded if the user selects a link selection without unselecting all other previously selected link selections.
• a multilinked operation is generated representing the recorded selections and processed to form a new hyperlinked format page.
• the invention in another embodiment, relates to a method of generating and processing a multilinked query in a hyperlinked browser of a computer system.
• a multilinked query is a query representing at least two drop links and at least one drop target.
• a user is presented with a hyperlinked page with at least two drop links thereon and the browser (or server) records link selections of the user. More than one link selection is recorded if the user selects a link selection without unselecting all other previously selected link selections.
• a multilinked query representing the recorded selections and the drop target is generated and processed to form a new hyperlinked format page.
• FIG. 1 is screen shot of a multiple selection page in a prior art browser.
• FIG. 2 is a screen shot of a multiple selection page according to one embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 3 is a screen shot of a page returned by a hyperlink server in response to submission of the page shown in FIG. 2.
• FIG. 4 is a screen shot of a page listing of records from a database, illustrating the selection of multiple drag elements from the page.
• FIG. 5 is a screen shot of a page showing the results returned a hyperlink server in response to submission of the page shown in FIG. 4.
• FIG. 6 is a screen shot of a page listing of records from a database, illustrating the selection of multiple drag elements from the page including a header item and a record item.
• FIG. 7 is a screen shot of a page showing the results returned a hyperlink server in response to submission of the page shown in FIG. 6.
• FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional approach to giving a user the ability to select multiple links.
• the illustrated page gives a user the opportunity to retrieve a list of automobiles that match criteria defined in three separate categories. As shown there, a user has made a selection by clicking on the check boxes adjacent to the selection label.
• FIG. 2 shows an alternative to the check box approach according to one embodiment of the present invention. This page gives a user the capability to perform the same type of retrieval of a list of automobiles matching certain specified criteria as was shown in FIG. 1.
• a number of links are provided on a hyperlink page, and a user has selected four of the links.
• the order in which the links were selected is indicated in the figure, but the typical display would not include explicit numbers as in the figure.
• the user selected "BMW,” “Mercedes,” “Red,” and "25,000 plus,” in that order. If the user then "clicks” the selection(s), those four selections would be acted on by the browser.
• “selecting" and “clicking" a link are different actions. Selecting a link causes that link to be recorded in an internal list of selected links, while clicking on the selections causes the action to be taken. In some implementations, clicking on a link causes that link to be the final selected link.
• the multiple selection can be recorded.
• the user could be required to hold the CTRL key before each multiple selection (as indicated in FIG. 2) or could alternatively use a key to toggle the multiple-selection capability on and off. Links that have been recorded may be highlighted for the user, for example by displaying them in a different color. Other techniques for recording and highlighting multiple selections will be clear to those of skill in the art.
• the response from the server might be the page illustrated in the screen shot of FIG. 3.
• the order of the selections is noted and used to order results. For example, the user selected “BMW” before “Mercedes,” so the “BMW” records are presented before the "Mercedes” record. If the order of selection is taken into account, it could be used to represent the user's relative preference for the selections. In other implementations, the order of presentation is independent of the order of selection.
• the multiple-selection capability of the invention can readily be applied to the page shown in FIG. 3 as well.
• a user might decide to extract further information on the second and third automobiles. By selecting both of them, a page can then be obtained showing more detailed descriptions of these two selections. It would be considerably more difficult for a designer to include check boxes on a page that is generated "on the fly," as this one is. It is simpler for a designer to implement such check boxes on a static page rather than on one that is generated dynamically in response to information collected by the browser.
• FIGS. 4-7 will now be described with reference to a multiple selection capability according to another embodiment of the present invention. With such an approach, browser users can relate multiple links to a component in one operation.
• a server By allowing the user to select two or more links together and dragging them all to the component in one operation, a server is able to consolidate the various queries and produce one combined result that is presented in a single window. This consolidation of the query saves many resources, because it provides the user with one easy way of generating a desired complex request, reducing the time needed relative to separately generating multiple queries and consolidating them together. The effort of the server is also lowered, since multiple queries are combined into one query. Furthermore, when used with the template mechanisms developed by TopTier Software, Inc., the assignee of the present application, and described in part in U.S. Patent No.
• templates can be processed in less time and less work is required by an HTTP Web server, if used.
• multiple link selection the user's navigation options greatly increase, particularly if the order of link selections is considered. For example, assume a page has L links. If the page is an ordinary HTML Web page viewed in an ordinary browser, the user has only L navigation options. If the page is viewed within a browser using the template mechanism and a component toolbar has C components thereon, the user can b drag any one of the L links to any one of the C components, so the user has L times C navigation options.
• the user can drag any combination of links onto any component.
• ⁇ k ⁇ L!/(L-k)! times C navigation options.
• multiple link selection the user of a hyperlinked purchasing system might select two or more links relating to selected customers and drag the selected links to an invoice component in order to get the list of invoices for all of the selected customers. Another option is to click on the selected links (not dragging them) and get all (and only) the selected customers listed on the same results page.
• multiple link selection it is also possible to do a "select within results" query by selecting the link representing the results of a prior query and another link representing the new constraint to be consecutively applied. Examples of these types of selections are described below with reference to FIGS. 4 - 7.
• FIG. 4 is a screen shot of a listing of records in a database, showing an HTML page with a side toolbar generated by a server such as the server shown in U.S. Patent No. 5,848,424.
• a drag and drop browser determines a result (in this case a query) based on a dragged element and a drop target.
• the browser would process the combination of those elements.
• the user drags the last selected element and the other selected elements follow.
• element 20 is a link to a value "LN” in the state column and element 22 is a link to a value "MD” in the state column.
• the browser converts that action into a query requesting a list of authors from states matching "IN" or "MD.”
• FIG. 5 is an illustration of the results page resulting from that query, listing the database records that match the specified criteria. It should be noted that another query could be started from the page shown in FIG. 5, in an iterative search for desired data.
• FIGS. 6-7 illustrate a process of selecting where one of the links selected is a previously generated query statement.
• a Web page designer can use the above features to enhance a Web page in various ways.
• the response to the selection of multiple links is to process each link as a separate selection, while in others the multiple links are processed as a parsable string, either as a list or an ordered list.
• the operator that is applied to these multiple links can be any operator available to the Web page designer. Where a drag-and-drop browser is used, the method that is responsible for determining what to do (the underlying operator) receives the list of selected links as its input, in the order they were selected.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Data Mining & Analysis (AREA)
• Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
• User Interface Of Digital Computer (AREA)
• Information Retrieval, Db Structures And Fs Structures Therefor (AREA)
• Information Transfer Between Computers (AREA)
• Digital Computer Display Output (AREA)

Priority Applications (6)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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Cited By (2)

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Citations (5)

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• 2000
  • 2000-02-17 AU AU34966/00A patent/AU3496600A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-02-17 IL IL14493500A patent/IL144935A0/xx active IP Right Grant
  • 2000-02-17 WO PCT/US2000/004241 patent/WO2000049491A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2000-02-17 JP JP2000600170A patent/JP3851778B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-02-17 CA CA002362180A patent/CA2362180A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-02-17 EP EP00913534A patent/EP1200888A4/en not_active Withdrawn
• 2001
  • 2001-08-16 IL IL144935A patent/IL144935A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2005
  • 2005-10-07 JP JP2005295778A patent/JP2006114038A/ja active Pending

Patent Citations (5)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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