Classifications

• • 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
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F15/00—Digital computers in general; Data processing equipment in general

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a web page accessing apparatus and method using electronic mail addresses. More specifically, the present invention relates to a web page accessing apparatus and method for searching for a uniform resource location (URL) corresponding to an electronic mail address provided by a client and providing a web page corresponding to the searched URL to the client.
• URL uniform resource location
• ISP Internet service providers
• ISP Internet service providers
• the user In order to access web pages, the user must exactly know the URL of the web page address or search using a search engine such as Yahoo, but there are a lot of web pages, it is not easy to search the web pages, and further in the case of personal web pages, they are rarely searched by the search engine, and hence, the user must exactly know the exact URL of the personal homepages. Therefore, in most cases, the personal homepage managers and their acquaintances are the only ones to access the personal homepages.
• a web page address access apparatus in a web page address access apparatus accessed via a client and a network, comprises a database server for storing users' electronic mail addresses and URL information of web pages corresponding to the electronic mail addresses; and a contents server for requesting, when a user inputs an electronic mail address via the client, to referral to the URL of the web page corresponding to the input electronic mail address to the database server, receiving URL information of the searched web page, generating an access file for accessing the URL of the searched received web page, and transmitting the access file to the client.
• the client comprises a contents server access unit for generating a query statement for searching for the URL of the web page corresponding to the input electronic mail address provided by the user, and accessing the
• a web page address access apparatus in a web page address access apparatus accessed via a client and a network, comprises a contents server for generating, when a user inputs an electronic mail address via a client, a directory corresponding to the input electronic mail address, and generating an access file for accessing a URL of a web page corresponding to the input electronic mail address; and a directory server having a directory corresponding to the electronic mail address, and storing the access file in a corresponding directory.
• the apparatus further comprises a database server for storing user information, user electronic mail address and URL information of the web page corresponding to the user's electronic mail address by using a key value.
• FIG. 1 shows a web page address accessing system according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention
• FIG. 2 shows a registration process of the web page address accessing system according to the first preferred embodiment of the present
• FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of a web page address accessing method according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention
• FIG. 4 shows a web page address accessing system according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention
• FIG. 5 shows a registration process of the web page address accessing system according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention
• FIG. 6 shows a flow chart of a web page address accessing method according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 7 shows a flow chart of a web page address accessing method according to a third preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 8 shows a web page address accessing system according to a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 9 shows a registration process of the web page address accessing system according to the fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 10 shows a flow chart of a web page address accessing method according to the fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 1 shows a web page address accessing system according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• the electronic mail accessing system according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a client 100, a contents server 200, a database server 300 and a target server 400.
• the web page address accessing apparatus according to the first preferred embodiment comprises the contents server 200 and the database server 300.
• the client 100 is a system for a user to access web servers using a web browser such as Netscape or Explorer, and a personal computer is used as for the client 100.
• the client comprises a contents server access unit 120 that generates a query statement for searching for the URL corresponding to the input electronic mail address and accesses the contents server 200 when the user inputs an electronic mail address instead of the URL.
• the contents server 200 When receiving the query statement from the client 100, the contents server 200, directly accessed by the client 100 via the web browser, requests to referral to the URL corresponding to the electronic mail from to the database server 300.
• the contents server 200 When receiving the URL from the database server 300, the contents server 200 generates a file for accessing the URL and transmits the file to the client 100.
• the database server 300 stores users's personal information such as user IDs, passwords, residence registration numbers, telephone numbers and addresses, and electronic mail addresses and URLs corresponding to the electronic mail addresses.
• the database server 300 searches for the URL corresponding to the requested electronic mail and transmits search results to the contents server 200.
• FIG. 2 shows a registration process of the web page address accessing system according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• the user accesses the contents server 200 via the web browser of the client 100 in step S100, and inputs the user's personal information, electronic mail address and URL to be corresponded to the electronic mail address in step S110. At this time, the user can match a plurality of electronic mail addresses to the respective web page URLs.
• the contents server 200 When the user information is input via the client 100, the contents server 200 generates a key value in step S120, and stores the user's personal information, electronic mail address and web page URL corresponding to the electronic mail address in the database server 300.
• the user inputs an electronic mail address via the client 100 using a plug-in method, an application method, a hypertext markup language (HTML) method or a pop-up method via a click operation of a mouse in step
• a plug-in method an application method
• a hypertext markup language (HTML) method or a pop-up method via a click operation of a mouse in step
• the contents server access unit 120 of the client 100 analyzes syntax of the input electronic mail address and determines whether the input data correspond to the electronic mail syntax in step S210.
• the contents server access unit 120 When it is determined that the data provided by the client 100 correspond to the electronic mail syntax, the contents server access unit 120 generates a query statement for referral ing to the URL corresponding to the electronic mail, and accesses the contents server 200 in step S220.
• the web browser of the client 100 uses the query statement to access the contents server 200 in step S220.
• the contents server 200 requests the database server to search the URL of the web page corresponding to the electronic mail address, that is, abc@mail.com provided by the client 100, and the database server 300 searches the URL(e.g., www.abc.co.kr) of the web page corresponding to the electronic mail address provided by the client and transmits the same to the contents server 200 in step S230.
• the database server 300 searches the URL(e.g., www.abc.co.kr) of the web page corresponding to the electronic mail address provided by the client and transmits the same to the contents server 200 in step S230.
• the contents server 200 generates a file for accessing the URL of the web page provided by the database server 300 and transmits the same to the client 100 in step S240.
• the web browser of the client 100 receives the URL access file, accesses the target server 400 using the URL corresponding to the electronic mail address, and requests a URL resource in step S250.
• the target server 400 In response to the URL resource request, the target server 400 outputs a URL resource such as an HTML document, files and frames to the client 100 in step S260.
• the web browser of the client 100 outputs the transmitted URL resource in order for the user to read the URL resource.
• the process according to the first preferred embodiment is terminated, and it returns to the original browser function.
• the input syntax is not an electronic mail address syntax but a URL syntax such as www.domain.com
• the browser of the client executes the original function of going to the web site corresponding to the syntax.
• the web page address accessing apparatus transmits the URL access file of the web page corresponding to the input electronic mail address to the client in order for the client to access the web page.
• any one can easily know the electronic mail address as opposed to differing from the URL (particularly, the URL of the personal homepage) of the web page (particularly, the URL of a personal homepage), the user can easily access desired web pages by inputting the electronic mail address.
• FIG. 4 shows a web page address accessing system according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• the web page address accessing system comprises a client 500, a contents server 600, a database server 700, a directory server 800 and a target server 900.
• the web page address accessing device according to the second preferred embodiment comprises the contents server 600, the database server 700 and the directory server 800.
• the client 500 is a system for a user to access the web server using a the web browsers such as Netscape or Explorer and comprises a contents server access unit 520.
• the contents server access module 520 When a user inputs an electronic mail address, the contents server access module 520 according to the second preferred embodiment generates a syntax for accessing the directory server 800 storing information on the URL corresponding to the input electronic mail address.
• the contents server 600 is a server for the client 500 to initially access using a web browser, and when a user inputs the electronic mail address and the URL of the web page to be corresponded to the electronic mail address via the client 500, the contents server 600 generates a directory corresponding to the input electronic mail address, generates a file for accessing the URL of the web page corresponding to the input electronic mail address and stores the file in the directory.
• the database server 700 stores personal information such as user IDs, passwords, residence registration numbers and addresses, electronic mail addresses and URL information corresponding to the electronic mail addresses.
• the directory server 800 has directories corresponding to the respective electronic mails generated by the contents server 600, and stores URL access files in the respective directories.
• FIG. 5 shows a registration process of the web page address accessing system according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• a user accesses the contents server 200 via a web browser of the client 500 in step S300 and inputs the user's personal information, electronic mail address and URL of the web page corresponding to the electronic mail address in step S310.
• the contents server 600 When the user information is input by the client 500, the contents server 600 generates a key value in step S320, and stores the user's personal information, electronic mail address and URL of the web page corresponding to the electronic mail address in the database server 700. Also, the contents server 600 generates a directory corresponding to the input electronic mail address using the key value, and generates a file for accessing the URL of the web page corresponding to the input electronic mail address in step S340. For example, in the case the input electronic mail address is abc@mail.com, a directory of AAA/abc@mail.com is generated.
• the AAA represents a root directory, and the name of the root directory is identical with the URL (e.g., domain.com) of the contents server 600 according to the second preferred embodiment.
• the contents server 600 according to the second preferred embodiment generates the input electronic mail address in the name of a subdirectory of the URL (root directory) of the contents server, and the directory can be generated through other methods.
• the contents server 600 stores the generated URL access file in the directory (e.g., www.domain.com/abc@mail. com) in step S350.
• the directory e.g., www.domain.com/abc@mail. com
• a user inputs an electronic mail address via the client 500 in step S400.
• the inputting methods include the plug-in method, application method, HTML method and pop-up menu method via a mouse click.
• the contents server access unit 520 of the client 500 analyzes the syntax of the input electronic mail address, and determines whether the input data correspond to the electronic mail syntax in step S410. When it is determined that the data input by the client 500 do not correspond to the electronic mail syntax in the step S410, the process according to the second preferred embodiment is terminated, and it returns to the original browser function.
• the contents server access unit 520 When it is determined that the data input by the client 500 correspond to the electronic mail syntax in the step S410, the contents server access unit 520 generates a syntax for accessing the directory that stores information on the URL corresponding to the electronic mail in step S420. For example, when it is set that the input electronic mail address is abc@mail.com and the URL of the contents server 600 is www.domain.com,
• the contents server access unit 520 generates a syntax of www.domain.com/abc@mail. com.
• the web browser of the client 500 uses the above-noted syntax to access the directory server 800 via the contents server 600, and receives a file for accessing the URL corresponding to the input electronic mail address from the directory server.
• the web browser of the client 500 uses the URL corresponding to the electronic mail address to access the target server (or web page) 900 and requests a URL resource in step S440.
• the target server 900 outputs a URL resource such as an HTML document, files and frames to the client 500.
• the web browser of the client 500 outputs the transmitted URL in order for the user to read the URL resource.
• the contents access unit 520 differing from the first preferred embodiment wherein the contents access unit stores the URL access file corresponding to the input electronic mail address, the contents access unit 520 according to the second preferred embodiment generates a syntax for directly accessing the directory server 800, and the client 500 uses this syntax to directly access the directory server 800, and therefore, the client can receive the URL access file faster than that of the first preferred embodiment. That is, in the first preferred embodiment, the contents access unit generates a query syntax and transmits the same for searching for the URL corresponding to the electronic mail, and the contents server requests the database server to search the URL of the web page corresponding to the input electronic mail address, receives requested results, generates a file for accessing the received URL and transmits the file to the client.
• the URL access file is previously stored in the directory server, and the client directly accesses the directory server and receives the URL access file stored in the directory corresponding to the input electronic mail address, and therefore, the client can receive the file faster than that of the first preferred embodiment.
• the query access method can be applied to the web page address access system shown in FIG. 4, and this will be described referring to FIG. 7.
• FIG. 7 shows a flow chart of a web page address accessing method according to a third preferred embodiment of the present invention. Since the membership registration method according to the third preferred embodiment is identical with that as shown in FIG. 5, no repeated description will be provided.
• a user inputs an electronic mail address via the client in step S500.
• the contents server access unit 520 of the client 500 analyzes the syntax of the input electronic mail address and determines whether the input data correspond to the electronic mail syntax in step S510.
• the process according to the third preferred embodiment is terminated, and it returns to the original browser function.
• the contents server access unit 520 of the client 500 generates a query syntax for referral ing to the URL corresponding to the electronic mail and accesses the contents server 600 in step S520.
• the web browser of the client 500 uses the above-noted query syntax to access the contents server 600.
• the contents server 600 requests the database server 700 to search the URL of the web page corresponding to the electronic mail address provided by the client, that is, abc@mail.com, and the database server 700 checks the states of the electronic mail address provided by the client according to the request of the contents server 600, and reports check results to the contents server 600.
• the contents server 600 accesses the directory server 800, and brings a file for accessing the URL corresponding to the input electronic mail address from a corresponding directory, and transmits the access file to the client 500 in step S530.
• the web browser of the client 500 uses the URL corresponding to the electronic mail address to access the target server (web page) and requests a URL resource in step S550.
• the target server 900 In response to the URL resource request, the target server 900 outputs a URL resource such as an HTML document, files and frames to the client 500.
• the web browser of the client 500 outputs the transmitted URL in order for the user to read the URL resource in step S560.
• the contents server generates a file for accessing the URL of the web page corresponding to the electronic mail address and stores the same in the directory server, and the client receives the web page address access file and accesses the URL of the corresponding web page. Further, the contents server can directly access the target server and output the corresponding URL resource to the client. This will be described referring to FIGs. 8 to 10.
• FIG. 8 shows a web page address accessing system according to a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• the contents server 600 when a user inputs an electronic mail address and a URL of a web page to be corresponded to the electronic mail address via the client 500, the contents server 600 generates a directory corresponding to the input electronic mail address, and sets the directory to be redirected to the URL of the web page corresponding to the input electronic mail address.
• the directory server 800 has directories corresponding to the respective electronic mails generated by the contents server 600, and the directories are redirected to the URLs of the corresponding web pages.
• FIG. 9 shows a registration process of the web page address accessing system according to the fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• a user accesses the contents server 200 via the web browser of the client 500 in step S500 and inputs the user's personal information, electronic mail address and URL of the web page to be corresponded to the electronic mail address in step S510.
• the contents server 600 When the user information is input via the client 500, the contents server 600 generates a key value in step S520, and stores the user's personal information, electronic mail address and web page URL corresponding to the electronic mail address in the database server 700. Also, the contents server 600 generates a directory corresponding to the electronic mail address using the key value, and sets the respective directories to be redirected to the URLs of the web pages corresponding to the input electronic mail addresses in step S530.
• the contents server 600 when it is set that the input address of the electronic mail is abc@mail.com and the URL of the contents server 600 is www.domain.com, the contents server 600 generates a directory of www.domain.com/abc@mail. com corresponding to the input electronic mail address, and sets the directories to be redirected to the URLs of the web
• FIG. 10 shows a flow chart of a web page address accessing method according to the fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• a user inputs an electronic mail address via the client 500 in step S600.
• the inputting methods include the plug-in method, application method, HTML method and pop-up menu method via a mouse click.
• the contents server access unit 520 of the client 500 analyzes the syntax of the input electronic mail address, and determines whether the input data correspond to the electronic mail syntax in step S610.
• the process according to the fourth preferred embodiment is terminated, and it returns to the original browser function.
• the contents server access unit 520 When it is determined that the data input by the client 500 correspond to the electronic mail syntax in the step S610, the contents server access unit 520 generates a syntax for accessing the directory that stores information on the URL corresponding to the electronic mail in step S620. For example, when it is set that the input electronic mail address is abc@mail.com and the URL of the contents server 600 is www.domain.com, the contents server access unit 520 generates a syntax of www. domain. com/abc@mail. com. The contents server 600 is redirected to the URL of the target server corresponding to the electronic mail from the directory server 800 to request a URL resource in step S630.
• the target server 900 In response to the URL resource request, the target server 900 outputs a URL resource such as an HTML document, files and frames to the client 500.
• the web browser of the client 100 outputs the transmitted URL resource in order for the user to read the URL resource in step S640.
• the web page address access apparatus transmits the URL access file corresponding to the input electronic mail address to the client in order for the client to access the web page.
• the user can easily access the desired web page by inputting the electronic mail address.

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Citations (3)

• 1999
  • 1999-11-09 KR KR10-1999-0049553A patent/KR100377208B1/ko not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2000
  • 2000-11-08 WO PCT/KR2000/001278 patent/WO2001035237A1/en active Search and Examination
  • 2000-11-08 JP JP2001536703A patent/JP2003514303A/ja active Pending

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