WO2010034585A1 - Method for displaying content dynamically on a portal - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a dynamic display method on the pages of a user interface of a device (1) comprising a web browser (1.8) suitable to interpret a first code to display said pages, the browser offering the possibility of entering text in the zones of the page, these zones being accessible by naming to allow a second code to point to these zones. The method comprises the steps for configuring (S1) the web browser from an initialisation file stored in said set-top box to configure said zones of the page in order to make them invisible on the page, receiving (S2) a file comprising the first code to perform the declaration of such a zone and comprising the second code to display the text in said zone, configuring said zone (S3), and displaying (S4) text in said zone.

Description

Method for Displaying Content Dynamically on a Portal

Technical domain of the invention

The present invention relates in a general manner to web browsers and in particular to a method for displaying the content in a dynamic manner.

Technological background of the invention The World Wide Web or web is a system of interconnected hypertext documents accessible via the Internet network. A web browser is software designed to consult information on the web. The browser connects to a web address, generally that of a web server, that hosts an item of information. It downloads the information, which it then makes available to a user. Generally, the information is a web page that the browser displays on a screen. The browser is capable of displaying text, graphic and audible elements and interactive functions. The web pages are coded according to the Hypertext Markup

Language (HTML). The HTML language informs the browser of the text to display, as well as the structure of the formatting of the corresponding page or pages. The browser interprets the HTML code to display the corresponding pages. The interpretation and display of the pages can differ according to the type of browser. Hence, a browser in text mode only displays text in a standard typography, without any additional effect. So a more advanced browser can display the text with a more varied typography and graphic effects.

In particular, some web browsers are adapted to devices having limited memory and processing capacities, such as mobile devices or others. These browsers provide a more limited number of functions than fixed devices such as desktop computers. For example, the Fresco browser (filed model) is an onboard browser for a set-top box.

A web browser generally has a Document Object Model (DOM). It is an application programming interface for HTML and XML documents. DOM defines the logical structure of the documents and the manner in which a document is accessed and manipulated. It makes it possible to access and dynamically modify the content and structure of an HTML document. DOM was specified by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to provide a standard programming interface that can be used in a wide variety of environments and applications. DOM is designed to be used with any type of programming language. The W3C has thus standardised several versions of DOM. In particular, the second generation called DOM2 defines the InnerText function that enables a text to be updated on the page once it is displayed.

The Fresco onboard browser only has a first generation DOM, DOM 1 , which does not contain a function of the InnerText type enabling a text to be updated dynamically. To be able to update a text dynamically, one solution is to use an Inline Frame (IFrame) object on the HTML page with texts in the form of static images The IFrame object is an HTML element that makes it possible to insert one HTML document into another HTML document. This object is generally complex to interpret from the viewpoint of the browser. It consumes the resources of the processor both during its creation and during the interpretation of the HTML page that it includes Finally, it consumes memory during its lifetime. This object is therefore not suitable to a device seeking to economise on the memory and resources of the processor.

General description of the invention

The present invention relates to a method capable of resolving the problems of the prior art.

The present invention intends to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art by proposing a solution that uses limited resources to display content dynamically on a web page.

The invention relates to a dynamic display procedure on the pages of a user interface of a device comprising a web browser suitable to interpret a first code to display said pages, the browser offering the possibility of entering text in the zones of the page, these zones being accessible by naming to allow a second code to point to these zones. The method comprises the reception step of a file comprising the first code to carry out the declaration of such a zone and comprising the second code to display the text in said zone. The solution presented has the advantage of changing a text dynamically without requiring I-Frame reloading. The solution enables dynamic operation while minimising the use of the resources and the memory of the device.

According to a particular embodiment, the file comprises all the variables to be displayed in the zone.

The invention thus enables a list of dynamic textual elements to be displayed without reloading the page for the consultation of information such as a textual catalogue, or a list of channels.

According to a particular embodiment, the method comprises a configuration step of the web browser from an initialisation file stored in said device to configure said zones of the page in order to make them invisible on the page.

According to a particular embodiment, the configuration step consists in removing the border of the corresponding zones.

According to a particular embodiment, the first code is of the HTML type.

According to a particular embodiment, the second code is of the JavaScript type.

According to a particular embodiment, the zones correspond to the

HTML INPUT and/or TEXTAREA tags. According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the method comprises a display step of said text in said zone.

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the method comprises an update step of said text.

The invention also applies to a computer program product comprising program code instructions for the execution of the steps of the method according to the invention, when this program is executed on a computer. "Computer program product" is understood to mean a computer program medium that can consist not only in a storage space containing the program, such as a diskette or cassette, but also a signal, such as an electrical or optical signal.

Brief description of the figures

The invention will be better understood and illustrated by means of the following embodiments and implementations, by no means limiting, with reference to the figures attached in the appendix, wherein:

- figure 1 is a functional diagram of a system according to an embodiment of the invention,

- figure 2 is a functional diagram of a set-top box according to an embodiment of the invention, and

- figure 3 is a stream diagram according to an embodiment of the invention.

In Figures 1 and 2, the modules shown are functional units that may or may not correspond to physically distinguishable units. For example, these modules or some of them can be grouped together in a single component, or constitute functions of the same software. On the contrary, some modules may be composed of separate physical entities. Description of a preferred embodiment of the invention The embodiment falls within the scope of a set-top box using a web browser of the Fresco type, but the invention is not limited to this particular environment and can be applied in other devices using a browser with a first generation DOM. More generally, the invention can be applied to a device using a browser that does not comprise a function of the InnerText type.

The set-top box 1 (STB) according to the embodiment is part of a system shown in figure 1. It is connected to a server 3, of the web server type, by means of a network 2 of the IP type. It is also connected to a screen 4 making it possible to display the multimedia content via a portal 41 , and in particular text in a window 42 in a dynamic manner.

The STB 1 is shown in figure 2. It comprises a network interface 1.4, which is an interface of the Ethernet type in the embodiment. It comprises a memory of the Random Access Memory type, noted as RAM 1.2 corresponding to the main memory, and a secondary memory of the Flash type 1.3, that can store data even when the device is no longer powered up. The STB also includes a central processor 1.1. The audio-video decoder 1.5 and the graphical user interface 1.6 prepare the content that is sent to a screen by means of the audio-video interface. It also comprises a web browser 1.8 of the Fresco type, and also a HTML client module 1.9. The data travels between the different modules via an internal bus 1.10.

Hence, the STB receives, from the server, pages in HTML format comprising JavaScript code, as indicated below. These pages are interpreted by the web browser and displayed on screen 4.

The method according to the embodiment is shown in figure 3.

During the start-up of the STB, according to the step S1 of the method, the latter starts up among other things with an initialisation file dedicated to the configuration of the browser. This file configures some parameters of the browser. It is located in the Flash memory. It was previously placed in the memory during the manufacture of the device or subsequently updated. In particular, according to the embodiment, it configures the HTML INPUT and TEXTAREA tags in such a manner as to remove the border from the corresponding zones. The border is a frame that is displayed around these zones. It is used to delimit the zones on the page. When the border has been removed, the zone is no longer visible on the page. This configuration is applied to all the INPUT and TEXTAREA tags used by the browser. For the Fresco browser, the configuration of these tags is carried out by giving the following values to the parameters: - browser.colour.border.whte:no

- browser.colour.border.write.highlightno

The configuration is naturally carried out in a similar manner on other types of browsers. The configuration is carried out at the initialisation of the page. It is possible to modify this configuration subsequently; this then requires the STB to be started up again.

The INPUT and TEXTAREA tags are interactive HTML elements designed to be inserted in a FORM tag. The FORM tag is designed to delimit the interactive forms of a web page and gather together several form elements such as the buttons or the input fields. The INPUT tag defines an input field; the TEXTAREA tag defines a text area.

The advantage of these tags is that they enable the text to be changed dynamically in the corresponding zones. It is also possible to name these zones directly, and to point to these zones. Hence, a function generated by the JavaScript code can point to these zones to display text there.

Next, the STB receives an HTML page from the server 3, step S2 of the method. The page is constructed by the HTML server and sent to the HTML client of the STB. The HTML page particularly contains elements enabling some zones corresponding to the INPUT and TEXTAREA tags to be configured. The configuration can indicate the background colour and transparency of the zone. The configuration is taken into account when the HTML page is read by the browser, step S3 of the method. The zone is defined statically. In particular, the background colour can be set to transparent. This allows the zone to be integrated into the background as a background image for instance. The background colour can also be chosen according to nearby images, so that in the entire graphic, the single colour specified for the zone is integrated; the aim being that visually, the zone itself is not visible.

An example in HTML language of declaration of an Example zone corresponding to the FORM exampleForm tag of the INPUT tag type is shown below:

// HTML

<FORM name="exampleForm">

<INPUT type="text" name="Example" size="8" maxlength="9" bgcolor="transparent" class="ChannelList_Type"> </FORM>

Here, the zone is of transparent colour and there is no text in the

Example zone. This configuration is used to include the dynamic zone completely in the page so that the user is unaware of its presence; it is included in the background of the zone. The declaration of the zone also makes it possible to define the font and colour of the text displayed in the zone. These parameters are fixed and cannot be changed dynamically.

The HTML page received from the server also contains the

JavaScript type code. This code enables the zone corresponding to the INPUT and TEXTAREA tags to be used dynamically, step S4 of the method.

The page also contains a library that comprises all the JavaScript variables used for the zone.

For example, to cause the text "here is an example" to appear in the Example zone, the following function is called:

// Javascript this.document.forms["exampleForm"].elements["Example"].value = "here is an example"; When it is called, this function enables the text to be changed dynamically in the exampleForm INPUT zone declared above. The display is instant. The change is carried out after a call conning for example from a user, with a remote control that enables instructions to be sent to the STB. The browser manages events coming from the remote control. In particular, the onKeyPress event is associated with a JavaScript function. Through calls between JavaScript functions, specific actions are carried out according to the key code. When the user presses a key on the remote control, the

JavaScript function of the page executes the requested function, here the display of the text "here is an example" in the Example zone.

Hence, more generally, the HTML page contains functions in the form of JavaScript code that enable the text to be displayed dynamically in the configured zone. As indicated in the aforementioned example, the zone can be addressed by a JavaScript function and used to display text.

The HTML page received enables lists of dynamic textual elements to be created without reloading the page. For example, this enables a list of available television channels to be displayed dynamically in a window. More precisely, a list of channels comprising one hundred channels is displayed on the page by subsets of ten channels. For this, a list of channels is defined in a library associated with the page; the list of channels is contained in a variable of the JavaScript code. The JavaScript code thus enables for example a list of ten channels to be displayed in ten INPUT zones of the window. Each INPUT zone is addressed individually, and a text is assigned to it by the JavaScript function. When the user performs an action, by means of a remote control, to access the list of the first 10 channels, the portal writes the name of the first ten channels of the list into the corresponding ten INPUT zones; one channel per input. Upon an additional action by the user, the next ten channels of the list are displayed. A channel can then be selected by the user, according to the means and methods that fall outside of the scope of the invention. The zones defined by the INPUT and TEXTAREA tags are therefore diverted from their normal use in HTML. These zones are normally used to enter text into a form. Here, these zones do not appear as input zones. They make it possible to display text that is not modified by the user but handled fully by the client portal.

The embodiment is more generally applicable to other types of first generation browsers. To do this, it is sufficient for the browser to offer the possibility of changing the text dynamically on the zones of the page, these zones being accessible by naming to enable the JavaScript code to point to these zones.

It is also applicable to an incomplete DOM 2 browser not comprising the InnerText function.

The invention is described in the preceding text as an example. It is understood that those skilled in the art are capable of producing variants of the invention without leaving the scope of the patent.

Claims

1. Dynamic display method on the pages of a user interface of a set-top box (1 ) comprising a web browser (1.8) suitable to interpret a first code to display said pages, the browser offering the possibility of entering text in the zones of the page, these zones being accessible by naming to allow a second code to point to these zones, said method comprising the steps of:

- configuration (S1 ) of the web browser from an initialisation file stored in said set-top box to configure said zones of the page in order to make them invisible on the page,

- reception (S2) of a file comprising the first code to carry out the declaration of such a zone and comprising the second code to display the text in said zone.

- configuration of said zone (S3), and

- display (S4) of text in said zone.

2. Method according to claim 1 , characterized in that said file comprises all the variables to be displayed in the zone.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the configuration step (S3) consists in removing the border of the corresponding zones.

4. Method according to any one of the previous claims, the web browser having a first generation Document Object Model.

5. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first code is of the HTML type.

6. Method according to claim 5, characterized in that the second code is of the JavaScript type.

7. Method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the zones correspond to the HTML INPUT and/or TEXTAREA tags.

8. Method according to the aforementioned claim, characterized in that it comprises an update step of said text.

9. Method according to claim 8, the update step being performed in a dynamic manner.

10. Method according to one of claims 8 or 9, the update step being performed at the request of the user.

11. Computer program product, characterised in that it comprises program code instructions for executing the steps of the method according to one of claims 1 to 9 when the said programme is executed on a computer.