WO2008023376A2

WO2008023376A2 - Live web pages system and method

Info

Publication number: WO2008023376A2
Application number: PCT/IL2007/001050
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mayan Lazar
Original assignee: Mayan Lazar
Priority date: 2006-08-23
Filing date: 2007-08-23
Publication date: 2008-02-28
Also published as: WO2008023376A3

Abstract

Live Web Pages (LWPs) are web pages (121)with an added ability of providing updated information about any changes made to them. An LWP client (112, 113) such as a serving web server is automatically updated. An LWP server (12) sends updates (24) to registered clients (11) based on desired content. It is possible to send notifications only for changed items or parameters (23), to send information based on authorization (22), or to use other servers (112, 113) for sending LWP information. An LWP page includes active updated content (121, 122) and can be provided using XML and XSLT. Updateable Live Web Links can be included as well.

Description

Live Web Pages System and Method

Cross-Reference to Related Applications

The present application is related to, and claims priority from, the patent application No. US 60/839,431 filed on 23 August 2006 in U.S.A. by the present applicant and entitled "Live web pages (LWPs)".

Technical Field

This invention relates to a method and system for providing updated information about any changes made to selected Internet web pages.

Background Art

Web pages may change often. Users may desire to be notified about changes in these web pages. Actually, the users may find it undesirable to be notified of any change in any page, as there are a multitude of such pages and such reports may be impossible to handle. Rather, users may desire to receive reports on changes made to specific pages they have an interest in.

There are a multitude of possible data structure, web pages structure and sites structure. Moreover, various users may be interested in different aspects of changes in the pages - maybe only whether the page is available or not, in construction or not, etc.

Sometimes a web page changes without the specifics of these changes being reported to the users community. The changes may not be readily detectable.

Prior art systems apparently do not address these problems.

Such prior art systems and methods include:

* Push Technology - Push Technology refers to the ability of a server to initiate content delivery to the client. It refers to the protocols and methods of pushing information to clients. SMS (Short Message Service) is an example of Push technology, as messages are pushed to a mobile device by a centralized server. Push technology is significantly different from Live Web Pages and Live Web Links; it is an underlying technology for content delivery, not a system for managing and sharing web page states, not for making such a state an integral part of a web page.

* HTTP

* XML, XSLT

Disclosure of Invention

Live Web Pages (LWPs) are web pages with an added ability of providing updated information about any changes made to them. A Live Web Page does not contain only content, but specific information about the current state of the page and of changes in that state. An LWP server updates all Live Web Page clients which have registered for state updates, with the new state information about the page that has changed.

For example, a Live Web Page changes its state when it is created or when its content is changed, when it becomes available or unavailable for viewing, when it is replaced or moved, when its format or style has changed, when its hierarchical position in a data structure has changed, when it is under construction and so forth. Recording such changes in the state of a page is an integral part of Live Web Pages.

Live Web Pages (LWPs) may be represented by standard URLs, or by Live Web Links (LWLs), which are URL-like identifiers whose syntax reflects the state change of the page. Live Web Links point not only to the location of a web resource (as URLs do) but also provide state information about a web resource.

When changes in the state of Live Web Pages occur, notifications are sent to LWP clients by the LWP server, informing them about these state changes.

Thus, the present disclosure relates to improvements in methods and systems for providing updated information about any changes made to selected Internet web pages.

Further objects, advantages and other features of the present invention will become obvious to those skilled in the art upon reading the disclosure set forth hereinafter. Brief Description of Drawings

Fig. 1 illustrates the operation of a Live Web Pages apparatus

Fig. 2 details the method of operation with Live Web Pages at the LWP Client

Fig. 3 details the method of operation with Live Web Pages at the LWP Server

Fig. 4 details a block diagram of a system supporting Live Web Pages

Fig. 5 illustrates the operation of a LWP apparatus for keeping content up-to-date across web servers

Fig. 6 illustrates a live web pages-capable web server.

Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention

Glossary

ASP - Active Server Pages

Live Web Pages(TM)

Live Web Links(TM)

HTTP - Hypertext Transfer Protocol

XML - Extensible Markup Language

XSLT - Extensible Style Language Transformations

LWP - Live Web Pages(TM)

LWL - Live Web Links(TM)

SMS - Short Message Service

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 illustrates the operation of a Live Web Pages apparatus comprising: LWP Client 11, also: Requesting Web Server or Local server, and LWP Server 12, also: Serving Web Server or Remote server. Flow of information between such servers may include several events as illustrated:

Event 21, Page request and registration for page states. For example: lwp://www.livewebpages.net/sample.html or REGISTER/ www.livewebpages.net/sample.html/HTTP/l .1

Event 22, Registration confirmed and page delivered.

Event 23, Page status changed (page was modified, moved, edited, restricted, etc.); the LWP server processes the change.

For example the LWP HTML page 121: lwp://www.livewebpages.net/sample.html - is revised to LWP HTML page 122.

Event 24, Updated page state is sent by the LWP server. The page itself may also be sent upon request.

A system implementing Live Web Pages is comprised of the following elements:

Live Web Pages Server - This is a server, which manages and shares information about Live Web Pages. This may be a standalone server or an LWP module integrated into another server such as a web server.

Live Web Pages Client - This is a client (typically another web server), which can receive Live Web Pages notifications and Links.

Live Web Page - This is a web page, which contains state information.

Web Parameter Extractor Module 124, see Fig. 4 - This is an optional module, which enables pass-through of the parameters of a web page or multiple web pages before compilation time (pre-processing) or in runtime, so that the notification document is built automatically.

A possible flow of the operation of a Live Web Pages apparatus is described in the bullets and diagram below. In this example, a user requests content from a web server (called the local' web server).

The content is not local to the web server, but resides on a remote server. This example describes the flow of LWP information between the local and remote web servers. 1. The local web server 11 acts as an LWP client, requesting to receive a web page and to register for updates about that page 21.

2. The web page is sent to the local web server (LWP client) and the LWP client's registration to the page is confirmed 22.

3. A change of state occurs in the web page, or change of status 23.

4. The LWP Server (remote server) 12 sends a notification 24 to the local server (LWP client), notifying it of the change, and delivering (if requested) the new page.

The notification 24 about any subsequent change in the source location of the web page will be sent to the local server (LWP client).

Notifications could be sent in full (the whole parameters of the page) or just incremental parameters (only those that have been changed).

Method of operation with Live Web Pages at the LWP Client

Fig. 2 details the method of operation with Live Web Pages at the LWP Client, including:

1. user desires to be notified about changes in another page? 31

2. user requests a web page and registration to changes reporting 32 (this may be implemented in two stages, first viewing the page, then registering to changes if the user so desires) The user specifies which types of changes are to be reported, and how to structure the reports (incremental changes or accumulating changes; send only the update state, or also the page itself).

3. the request is sent to a LWP server where the desired page resides 33

4. when the designated page changes, a report is received from the LWP server indicating the state of the page and optionally the page itself 34

5. the change, the state of the page and the new page are reported to the user 35

6. user desires to stop changes reporting in a page? 36 7. a request to stop reporting changes in a page is sent to a LWP server 37 ** End of method **

Method of operation with Live Web Pages at the LWP Server

Fig. 3 details the method of operation with Live Web Pages at the LWP Server, comprising:

1. received a request to report changes in a web page or in an LWP? 41

2. update subscriber file with the new request 42

3. send registration confirmation and deliver page to the LWP client 43

4. received a request to stop reporting changes in a web page? 44

5. update subscriber file (delete request) 45

6. send confirmation to the LWP client 46

7. a page changed? 47

8. compile list of differences 48

9. send report to subscribers in that page 49

Authorization may be configured in the LWP server in this method for providing only allowed content. ** End of method ** Fig. 4 details a block diagram of a system supporting Live Web Pages

The system includes: LWP Clients 11, 112, 113, also: Requesting Web Server or Local server connected each to a plurality of browsers 14.

LWP Server 12, also: Serving Web Server or Remote server included in server 12:

LWP HTML pages storage 123

Parameter extractor module 124

Web pages status storage 125

Subscribers storage 126

Reporting unit 127.

Changes to web pages input channel 129 - means for changing web pages, for example a pages' editor with a graphic terminal, etc.

Possible implementations for Live Web Page communication can include a dedicated protocol for LWP communications (for example lwp://www.liveweblpages. net/sample. html), or expanding existing protocols such as HTTP (for example, adding a REGISTER command, which may appear as: REGISTER/www Jiveweblpages.net/sample.htoiV HTTP/1.1).

NOTE: the prefix "lwp://" is just one possible syntactic implementation of Live Web Pages, and is by no means final or exclusive. Live Web Pages are an added dimension for web pages, not merely a syntax addition. This is true for all instances syntax is used in this text. It is meant solely for explanatory purposes and does not hinder different implementations for LWP and LWL. Various embodiments of this inventive concept are possible.

Web Page States

Live Web Pages and Links accommodate any states, which may be relevant for a web page. For example, these states may include:

Page Added

Page Deleted

Page Modified

Page Disabled

Page Enabled

Page Under Construction

Page Access Permissions Changed

Page Moved Page Unavailable

Page Restricted (may not be accessible to some people, for example)

Page Requirements (page now requires a Flash plug-in to view, for example)

Page Language (page now contains the following languages)

Page Links (links on this page were updated/added)

The list is by no means exhaustive, as LWP allows developers to define any states relevant for web pages.

Authorization mechanism

An LWP Server defines which LWP clients can access what information, in a granularity of per web-page, parameter, set of parameters, specific states, etc. Page Restricted state will be returned in case LWP client is not authorized to access it.

Live Web Pages and Live Web Links

Information about a page's state is managed by the LWP Server. It may also be reflected in the code of the Live Web Page, or in the link pointing to that page, known as a Live

Web Link (LWL)s.

Storing state information within the code of a Live Web Page may be performed using specific LWP tags. Complementary information, such as the timestamp for the state change or further details, may accompany these entries of page state.

For example, the state of a page that has been modified at a specified time and date, to reflect new content about tour dates and locations, may look like:

The following example represents another record of a change in the state of a web page, this time indicating that new technical capabilities are needed to properly view the page:

NOTE: As noted previously, Live Web Pages are an added dimension of web page state, not merely a syntax addition. All instances of syntax used in this text are meant for explanatory purposes and may differ from actual implementations of Live Web Pages. Information about the state of pages may apply to parts of web content smaller or larger than a page, i.e. may apply to specific sections within a page or to sections of a website encompassing more than one page.

In addition to maintaining a page's state inside the code of the page, this state may be expressed in a Live Web Link, a URL-like identifier of the page.

For example, a web page's state change and the accompanying timestamp and comments may be delivered as a Live Web Link as follows: lwp://www.livewebpages.net/sample.html$PageModified#TS-20051218142305#"Tour dates and locations updated".

In addition to reflecting information about the state of the page using Live Web Pages code or Live Web Links, this information may be managed and shared in other forms by an LWP server. It is the management and sharing of this information, which is key, not the specific technical implementations of such sharing.

The Live Web Pages Server

The Live Web Pages Server mainly manages page states, deals with page state requests by clients, and manages the delivery of page state updates. In addition the server manages authorization for clients' access. An LWP Server may be a standalone server or an LWP module integrated into another server such as a web server. LWP Servers may manage the state of pages, which are hosted on remote servers.

The LWP Server could manage the information in any data structure. For example, one or more XML documents could be used to represent the parameters of a web-page.

Web Parameter Extractor Module

This is an optional module of the Live Web Pages system. It enables pass-through of the parameters of a web page or multiple web pages before compilation time (preprocessing) or in runtime, so that the notification document is built automatically. When a change occurs in one or more parameters a notification on the existence of a new LWP will be sent to the LWP client.

For example, in the case of a dynamic LWP, such as an ASP document, the parameters (e.g. asp:Parameter) are monitored by LWP Server, as the server is capable of extracting these parameters from an existing web page.

For example, parameters can be extracted from ASP documents, and mapped into XSLT files. Each ASP document can be represented by one or more XSLT files. This process can be achieved at a pre-completion time, or in runtime, in case the ASP code is compiled with a module, which traces the ASP parameters. An XML file can be generated in runtime for each of the XSLT files, by mapping the values of the ASP parameters into XML values on a pair parameter basis. Thus, a webpage can be represented by an XML file.

Live Web Pages Clients

Live Web Page Clients may request to be notified about any change in a page's state, or about specific changes. LWP clients can be other web servers, indexing servers, end-user browsers, or any other application implementing LWP support.

Examples

1. Keeping content up-to-date across web servers using LWP

A central LWP-capable web server hosts content services, such as news, weather or traffic information. Several other web servers have registered to receive updates when specific content changes, so that they can present it to their users. As soon as a page is updated on the central server, a state change occurs, the other web servers, which act as LWP clients, receive LWP notifications of the updated content, and possibly the content itself. A performance gain also accompanies this apparatus, as the user need not access remote content, only local content, which is as updated as the remote content, yet closer on the network.

Fig. 5 illustrates the operation of a LWP apparatus for keeping content up-to-date across web servers. The system includes:

LWP Clients 11, 112, 113 , connected to a plurality of browsers 14, and LWP Server 12, also: Central content server.

2. Web Indexing based on Live Web Pages

An indexing service may act as an LWP client. The Indexing service registers to receive updates of the state of the web pages it wishes to index. Whenever a page changes, the indexing service is notified of the change, and may re-index the page or simply record the information that it receives in the state-update notification. This differs significantly from indexing based on the constant 'crawling' of the web by indexing spiders or bots. Using LWP, the indexing service is notified about updated pages, and only these pages need to be re-accessed for indexing.

3. An end-user request for notification about a web page change

A user requests to be notified whenever a specific web page is updated. The user's LWP client (possibly embedded within the browser) requests a registration for that page from the LWP server. The registration is confirmed by the server. Upon the next time that web page is updated, a notification is sent to the user's LWP client about the update.

The notification document could be represented using XML document or any other format. There could be one or more parameters in every document, and parameters could be nested to represent more complex formats. XSLT document could be used then to format the XML notification document into a specific format.

Fig. 6 illustrates a live web pages-capable web server.

4. Automatic, dynamic data integration by LWP servers

Assuming a fan is querying a web site specializing in selling baseball game tickets. The fan might only be interested in the attending a game, if the forecasted temperature on the game's time and location is higher than 7OF. The ticketing site's web server should be capable of cross-referencing forecast information originating from the weather forecast service's web server.

The ticketing site's web server would possess up to date information of temperature corresponding to location and time. This is not done by polling / querying, but by receiving LWP server notifications from the weather website. The baseball websites receives weather notifications only for locations where a baseball game is scheduled to take place.

When the fan is searching for the baseball ticket, the ticketing web server will filter out any game forecasted to have a temperature of less than 7OF. <Weather> <item>

<pubDate>Sat, 15 JuI 2006 21:02:12 -0100</ρubDate> <title>San Francisco's Weather </title> <link>http://weatherl212-1212.com/SFO</link> <Sunday>

<temperature>75F</temperature> <Humidity >45 % </Humidity > <UV>MEDIUM</UV> </Sunday> <Monday>

<item>

<title>New- York's Weather </title>

</Tuesday> <item> </Weather>

In case the fan is interested to watch a game in either San Francisco or New York, the following days will be offered according to the example below after filtering done by the baseball web-site:

San Francisco - Sunday or Monday

New York - Sunday or Tuesday

* * End of method **

Industrial Applicability

Live Web Pages (LWPs) and Live Web Links (LWLs) enables providing updated web pages, whilst saving the need to constantly look for updates or changes as updates are provided by an LWP server. Furthermore, using LWP it is possible to provide relevant content and to send parameters which were modified. The state of the page and additional information from additional LWP servers can be sent automatically as well, allowing to keep web pages updated.

Various embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reading the present disclosure together with the drawings. Other embodiments of the invention may be implemented, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

ClaimsWhat is claimed is:

1. A method for providing Internet web pages with dynamic content, referred to as Live web Pages (LWPs), comprising:

A. Registration by an LWP client in one or more serving web servers (referred to as LWP servers) through the Internet, wherein the registration includes definitions for a specific content or pages for which updates or notifications of changes would be sent;

B. The central server maintains or manages the pages or contents, and sends them to the client;

C. When there is a change or update in the pages' content, state or status hosted at the central server, the specific content, notification or the pages' changes, are sent to the LWP client, as required according to the registration definitions;

D. The updated content is provided to one or more LWP clients and represented in a desired format.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the LWPs comprise updateable web pages which include pages' state, wherein the LWP client is a server and the registration defines cross-referencing of two or more parameters.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein it is defined at the LWP server which clients can access what information or parameters.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein in step B the central server is registered in additional LWP servers, so that the additional LWP servers send relevant updated content to the LWP server automatically.

5. An Internet web page with dynamic content, referred to as a Live web Page (LWP), comprising: regular static content, updated content which is registered at another LWP server or LWP module, definitions for sending updated content placed at each relevant LWP server or LWP module and means for receiving the updated LWP content and representing the content based on a desired format.

6. The Live web Page (LWP) according to claim 5, wherein the LWP further includes one or more LWP tags and one or more Live Web Links (LWLs), and wherein the LWP tags include LWP state tags which include update information and wherein there are means for updating the tags as the page is modified by an LWP server or module, and wherein each LWL includes a web link and additional LWP related information, regarding that link.

7. The Live web Page (LWP) according to claim 6, wherein the LWP is implemented using existing XML to represent the parameters of a web-page and XSLT to provide relevant parameters.

8. The Live web Page (LWP) according to claim 6, wherein LWP communication is implemented using HTTP protocol at a web address.

9. A network system for providing Internet web pages with dynamic content, referred to as Live web Pages (LWPs), comprising: one or more LWP client computers connected to the Internet with means for registering and requesting LWPs; one or more LWP server computers or modules connected to the Internet with means for sending and updating LWPs; wherein the LWPs include pages' state and updated content, and further including memory means for defining at the LWP server computers or modules which clients to update by which information.

10. The network system according to claim 9, wherein the LWP server computers or modules further include means for sending to the LWP clients parameters that has been changed in relevant LWPs.

11. The network system according to claim 9, wherein the LWP server computers or modules comprise a module at an LWP client server and wherein the module further includes means for managing authorization for clients' access.

12. The network system according to claim 9, wherein the LWP server computers or modules further include means for passing through parameters of a web page or multiple web pages before compilation time or in runtime, so that a notification document to the LWP client is built automatically, when a change occurs in one or more parameters.