WO2003090111A1

WO2003090111A1 - Method of renewing display of web browser in real time and recording medium for recording the same

Info

Publication number: WO2003090111A1
Application number: PCT/KR2003/000762
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ho-Jung Shin
Original assignee: Road To Future Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2002-04-19
Filing date: 2003-04-15
Publication date: 2003-10-30
Also published as: KR100502114B1; KR20020041370A; AU2003225380A1

Abstract

Provided is a method of receiving data from a data updating server and renewing a display of a web browser. The method includes receiving the data, and updating data of a certain portion of the web browser with the received data. According to the method, when there is a change in data of a web server, data of a portion of a display of a web browser, which is to be changed, can be changed without creating an additional display for new data and sending said additional display to the web browser. Therefore, it is possible to easily refresh the displayof the web browser without weighing down a computer of a user.

Description

METHOD OF RENEWING DISPLAY OF WEB BROWSER IN REAL TIME AND RECORDING MEDIUM FOR RECORDING THE SAME

Technical Field The present invention relates to a method of receiving data from a data updating server and renewing a display of a web browser in real time.

Background Art In a server for providing bidding prices in an auction or stock market prices via the Internet, data stored in the server is updated whenever there is a change in the bidding prices or stock market prices. However, the updated data is not presented on a user's display connected to the server via a web browser unless the user renews his/her display. For instance, if the user is connected to the server via Internet Explorer, he or she must click a reload button to renew his/her display whenever there is a change in data stored in the server.

There are many conventional methods of solving this inconvenience. FIGS. 1 and 2 are diagrams illustrating conventional methods of renewing a display of a web browser.

The method of FIG. 1 was introduced in earlier stages. According to this method, a user connects to a web server 140 in order to download an ActiveX or Java program 130 from the web server 140. The downloaded ActiveX or Java program 130 includes a timer 131 and therefore transmits a reload command 106, which instructs a web browser 120 to request the web server 140 to send a web browser screen to the web browser 120 at predetermined intervals of time.

The web browser 120 requests the web server 140 to resend the display in step 101, and then, the web server 140 requests a real-time data server 150 to send current data in step 102. After step 102, the web server 140 receives data 141 from the real-time data server 150, renews the current display, which consists of HyperText Markup Language (HTML) 142 and other languages as such, by including the data 141 into a background display of the current display, in step 104. After step 104, the web server 140 transmits the refreshed display to the web browser 120 in step 105. Next, the web browser 120 receives a display composite element 121 , which consists of image files and HTML, and allows the user to look at the display composite element 121.

The method of FIG. 1 is advantageous in that it is possible to update data at predetermined intervals of time without the user directly using the computer. However, this method is disadvantageous in that a transmission is encumbered with a heavy load since a whole display must be downloaded from the web server 140. Further, upon receiving a request of resending a display, the web server 140 requests the real-time data server 150 to send the data 141 , receives the data 141 from the real-time data server 150, and renews a current display by incorporating the data 141 into the current display. In this case, time-efficiency is a concern. For these reasons, the method of FIG. 1 is not suitable for transmitting data in real time.

The method of FIG. 2, which is an improvement of the method of FIG. 1 , has recently been used as an emulator only for use in a brokerage firm. According to this method, a user first connects to a web server 240 via a web browser 220 and downloads screen composite elements constituting a user's display from the web server 240, in step 202. Next, the web browser 220 checks whether a module 230, which is used for the web server 240 to which the user connects, is available, in step 203. Here, the module 230 consists of an ActiveX or Java program. If the web browser 220 is an emulator only for use in a brokerage firm or the user has connected to the web server 240 at least once, the web browser 220 determines that the module 230 is available and initializes the module 230, in step 205. If this is not the case, the web browser 220 downloads the module 230 from the web server 240, in step 204. After step 204 or 205, the module 230 requests a real-time data server 250 to send data at predetermined intervals of time in step 206. After receiving data from the real-time data server 250 in real time in step 207 and receiving a background display from the web server 240 in step 208, the module 230 creates a display to be presented in a portion of the display of the web browser 220 utilizing the background display and real-time data, in step 209.

The module 230 sends the created display portion to the web browser 220 in step 210, and the web browser 220 renews the current display by incorporating the created display portion into the display of the web browser 220 in step 211.

That is, according to the method of FIG. 2, the web browser 220 allocates a portion of a display to the module 230 consisting of an ActiveX or Java program, and the module 230 creates a current display with the portion of a display. This method is convenient in that the module 230 directly receives data from the real-time data server 250. However, whenever there is a change in the display, the module 230 is required to receive a background display and data from the web server 240 and the real-time data server 250, respectively. In this case, the transmission line is encumbered by a heavy load. Further, the current display must be renewed with received background display and data, and thus, heavy loads lag a user's computer. In particular, the greater the increase in the number of regions constituting a display due to the module 230, the greater the loads exponentially weigh down a user's computer.

Disclosure of the Invention

The present invention provides a method of updating data of a web display in real time without creating a display with a web browser and an ActiveX or Java program, and also a computer-readable recording medium recording the same.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method which updates data of a display of a web browser in real time by receiving the data from a data updating server, the method including receiving the data and updating data of a certain portion of the web browser with the received data.

It is preferable that the method further includes requesting the server to send the data.

It is preferable that during the updating of data, a background display of the certain portion of the web browser is presented with display composite elements constituting the display of the web browser and is not changed by the received data. It is more preferable that the background display of the certain portion is determined by HyperText Markup Language (HTML) constituting the web browser.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable recording medium which records a program that can execute a method of receiving data from a data updating server and renewing a display of a web browser, the medium including a communication unit which receives the data from the server, and a web browser connection unit which updates the data of a certain portion of the web browser with the received data.

It is preferable that the communication unit further comprises a function of requesting the server to send the data.

It is preferable that the communication unit is programmed by an ActiveX or Java program, and the web browser connection unit is programmed by script language.

Brief Description of the Drawings The above aspect and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail a preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional method of renewing a display of a web browser;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a conventional method of renewing a display of a web browser;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of renewing a display of a web browser according to the present invention; and FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system for renewing a display of a web browser according to the present invention.

Best mode for carrying out the Invention

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for renewing a display of a web browser 320 according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, a user first connects to a web server 340 via a web browser 320 in step 301 , and downloads display composite elements from the web server 340 in step 302. The display composite elements refer to a HyperText Markup Language (HTML) document and image files. The web browser 320 also downloads script languages, such as JavaScript and VBScript (Visual Basic Script), from the connected web server 340 so as to use services provided by the web server 340. The script language controls the operation of the web browser 320 and the web browser 320 basically interprets the script language. The web browser 320 checks to see if a communication module

330 is available in step 303. If the web browser 320 has ever been connected to the connected web server 340, the communication module 330 is regarded as being available, and thus, the web browser 320 initializes the communication module 330 in step 305. If this is not the case, the communication module 330 is downloaded from the web server 340 in step 304.

Next, the communication module 330 requests a real-time data server 350 to send real-time data in step 306, and receives the real-time data in step 307. After step 307, the communication module 330 changes data of a current display by transmitting the data to a module (not shown), which is programmed with script language connecting the web browser 320 and the communication module 330, in step 308. It is preferable that the communication module 330 can be programmed by an ActiveX or Java program.

The ActiveX or Java program is introduced to perform functions that the web browser 320 cannot perform. In general, a web browser, such as Internet Explorer, has an interface that is connected to the ActiveX or Java program to add a new function. Therefore, the application of such a web browser can be diversified using various types of ActiveX or Java programs.

In the conventional method of FIG. 2, the module 230 consisting of an ActiveX or Java program is given a portion of a display of the web browser 320, combines a background display in the portion of the display from the web server 240 with real-time data received from the real-time data server 250, respectively, and sends the combination result to the web browser 220.

Therefore, a file, which is created by the module 230 and sent to the web browser 240, contains information regarding a background display and data of a region presented by the module 230. In other words, a portion of the information in the file is unnecessarily overlapped with a portion of the information contained in the HTML when creating a display of the web browser 220. Also, in order to update data regarding a plurality of separated regions in a display in real time, the module 230 creates a plurality of files each containing data regarding the respective region to be updated. However, each file contains both redundant information of the background display and data to be updated. The redundant information unnecessarily increases the amount of information to be sent to the web browser 220.

Further, newly designing a web page by the web server 220, e.g., changing the size of a font on the web page, is not achieved by solely changing a portion in which the size of the font of an HTML document to be transmitted is changed. That is, changing the size of font requires additional work to be performed on a display created by an ActiveX or Java program. Compared to the module 230 used in the conventional method of

FIG. 2, the communication module 330 according to the present invention only requests the real-time data server 350 to send real-time data at predetermined intervals of time and sends the received real-time data to a module that is programmed with script language. Also, the communication module 330 may continuously be connected to the real-time data server 350 until a user terminates the connection to the web browser 320. In this case, when there is a change in data of the real-time data server 350, the communication module 330 can detect this change and receive the new data. In contrast, the web browser 320 is not suitable for continuous receipt of real-time data because it communicates according to a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) method. Thus, if the connection to the real-time data server 350 is continuously maintained using the communication module 330 according to the present invention, the above problem can be solved. A technique of maintaining connection to a certain server is well known to those skilled in the art, and thus, a description thereof will be omitted here.

If the communication module 330 receives real-time data from the real-time data server 350 in step 307, the communication module 330 generates an event. Then, the web browser 320 invokes predetermined script language to send the real-time data to the module that is programmed with script language.

The module, which is programmed with the invoked script language, functions as a unit for connecting the web browser 320 and the communication module 330 and changes a certain region of the display of the web browser 320 using the received real-time data, in step 308.

Hereinafter, a system for renewing a display of a web browser 420 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of this system.

Referring to FIG. 4, a user receives data from a web server 440 and a real-time data server 450. Alternatively, according to the present invention, the web server 440 and the real-time data server 450 may be installed to provide various information from brokerage firms and stock prices, respectively, or to provide various information from auction companies and bidding prices of auctions, respectively.

The functions of the web server 440 and the real-time data server 450 are not restricted, rather, these servers can be applied to various fields in which real-time information is provided. Also, in the present invention, the web server 440 and the real-time data server 450 are described as different servers but one server may perform the functions of both servers. The web browser 420 downloads display composite elements 421 , such as HTML and image files or a module 460, which is programmed with script languages such as JavaScript or VBScript, from the web server 440 in operation 401. A communication module 430, which is programmed with an ActiveX or Java program, requests the real-time data server 450 to send real-time data 431 in operation 402 and receives the real-time data 431 in operation 403. The communication module 430 connects to the real-time data server 450 in operation 402, and detects a change in data contained in the real-time data server 450 and receives new data while the connection of the communication module 430 to the real-time data server 450 is maintained, in operation 403.

The communication module 430 generates an event and sends the received real-time data 431 to the module 460 that connects the web browser 420 and the communication module 430, in operation 404. In operation 405, the communication module 430 presents the received real-time data 431 at one of first through third HTML output regions 471 , 472, and 473 of a browser screen 470 in operation 405, thereby changing data of the HTML output regions 471 , 472, and 473.

The module 460, which is programmed with script languages, receives the real-time data 431 and designates a position of the browser screen 470, i.e., one of the HTML output regions 471 through 473, to which the real-time data 431 is output, according to a position of the real-time data 431 in a received file or according to information, such as a tag, added to the real-time data 431. Next, the module 460 outputs the real-time data 431 to the designated position based on the attributes of he HTML constituting the browser screen 470. As a result, previous data of the browser screen 470 is updated with the real-time data 431. Therefore, it is not required to make an additional display including information on a background display, unlike in the conventional method of FIG. 2.

There are various methods of changing the browser screen 470 using script languages. In general, the browser screen 470 is changed using one of the following:

(1) a FORM TAG:

"document.forml .amtvalue = 100;";

(2) a document object model (DOM): "0bject.firstChild.firstChild.childNodes(1).getElementsByTagName("TD").item(1). innerText = 100"

(3) a table object model (TOM):

Row = object. rows[1]; Row.cells[1] = 100;

(4) innerHTML: html ~ "<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0>"; html = html + "<fr>"; html = html + "<td width='70' class='cblackright'>" + time + "<Ad>"; html = html + "<td width='70' class='cblackrighf>" + amt + "</td>"; html - html + "<td width='70' class='cblackright'>" + daebi + "</td>"; html = html + "<td width='70 class='cblackright'>" + maedo+ "</td>"; html = html + "<Λr>"; html - html + "</table>"; object.innerHTML = html;

The present invention can be embodied as a computer readable code in a computer readable medium. Here, the computer readable medium may be any recording apparatus capable of storing data that can be read by a computer system, e.g., a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a compact disc (CD)-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, and so on. Also, the computer readable medium may be a carrier wave that transmits data via the Internet. The computer readable recording medium can be remotely installed in a computer system connected to a network, and stored and executed as a computer readable code by a distributed computing environment. While this invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Industrial Applicability

As described above, according to the present invention, when there is a change in data of a web server, data of a portion of a display of a web browser, which is to be changed, can be changed without creating an additional display for new data and sending said additional display to the web browser. Further, an attribute of a portion of the web browser display, which is to be changed, can be changed by changing attributes of HTML constituting the web browser display. Therefore, it is possible to easily refresh the display of the web browser without weighing down a computer of a user.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method which updates data of a display of a web browser in real time by receiving the data from a data updating server, the method comprising: receiving the data; and updating data of a certain portion of the web browser with the received data.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising requesting the server to send the data.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein during the updating of data, a background display of the certain portion of the web browser is presented with display composite elements constituting the display of the web browser and is not changed by the received data.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the background display of the certain portion is determined by HyperText Markup Language (HTML) constituting the web browser.

5. A computer readable recording medium which records a program that can execute a method of receiving data from a data updating server and renewing a display of a web browser, the medium comprising: a communication unit which receives the data from the server; and a web browser connection unit which updates the data of a certain portion of the web browser with the received data.

6. The recording medium of claim 5, wherein the communication unit further comprises a function of requesting the server to send the data.

7. The recording medium of claim 5, wherein the communication unit is programmed by an ActiveX or Java program.

8. The recording medium of claim 5, wherein the web browser connection unit is programmed by script language.

9. The recording medium of claim 5, wherein connection of the communication unit to the server is maintained until a user terminates the connection.

10. A computer readable recording medium recording a program that can execute a method of any one of claims 1 through 4.