Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-16
2001-10-09
Black, Thomas G. (Department: 2771)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000, C707S793000, C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06301583
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to computer software used to organize information on a Web site, and in particular, it relates to an end-user access method, identified as a content menu, that is displayed by an applet running on a client computer using menu data generated by an authoring system using an open hierarchical data structure.
BACKGROUND
End-users always have a hard time finding information on a Web site because prior access methods cannot handle the quantity of information or the level of detail. The basis for this problem lies in the underlying technology used to organize or find information. The search engine, the most popular method, matches user supplied words against text in server files or keywords in a database system. However, problems with word matching techniques are well known and include the retrieval of numerous irrelevant “hits” or, worse yet, the missing retrieval of important references simply because the wrong search word was supplied.
To improve end-user access on a Web site, other access methods are used in conjunction with a search engine. These include tables of contents, and more ambitious structures like directory assistance or catalog systems. Unfortunately, each technology has its own set of limitations. For instance, a table of contents only provides a broad overview of a Web site with no specifics, and directory assistance and catalog systems provide detail but they become very difficult to maintain with cross referencing.
The present invention overcomes this end-user access problem on a Web site by referring to methods disclosed by Zellweger (5,530,125 May 13, 1997) to build and manage a content menu. The distinctive advantage of this approach is that the underlying menu structure is designed to handle details and cross references. The menu it produces works like an index in the back of a book where information is ordered by a series of embedded lists. End-users navigate these nested list menus to reach information at the end of a menu path. On a computer these lists go well beyond the physical constraints of a list on a page. There is no limit to the number of items in a content menu lists, and with the open hierarchical data structure, the computer takes care of all the cross references and details.
Zellweger teaches how an interactive authoring system can be used to manage menu data and generate menu data for a content menu on a stand-alone computer. The disclosure also addresses alternative settings such as a client server network but this prior art does not teach how to configure menu data files for an applet running in a client-server setting. The prior art taught how to fetch menu data from a fast storage device. Each time an item was selected from a menu list, new menu list data was retrieved from a storage device on the desktop computer like a hard drive. In a client server network setting, where such traffic can impact a server, this particular program logic is highly inefficient.
More recently, Zellweger (60/046,920) disclosed the way to generate linked hypertext list menus to produce a content menu on a Web site. However, when using hypertext code, list menus look primitive and when they are programmed to track end-user selections limitations inherent in HTML only allow one list menu per file, creating performance bottlenecks by requiring more network traffic than necessary. In order to overcome these technical flaws, the present invention discloses the means to build and maintain a content menu using an applet-based system.
Developers use programming languages like Sun Microsystem's Java to build an applet that runs on a client computer. Applets have distinct advantages over an HTML-based user interface because it has a more windows-like appearance, and an applet running on a client machine has the fill power of a programming language, including the ability to employ local variables and open and close files on a server.
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for a menu authoring system means to maintain and generate menu data used by an applet running on a client computer that displays pop-up list menus that constitute a content menu on a Web site.
One object of the present invention is to provide the software means for building and maintaining applet menu data using an open hierarchical data structure that enables multiple paths to the same information object at the end of a path.
Another object of the present invention is to provide the means to specify the size of a menu data file so the authoring system can generate one or more nested lists to the same file, instead of prior methods that fetched one list at a time, and thereby reduce overall network traffic.
One object of the present invention is to enable Web site developers to select how and when menu data files are generated, in order to enhance content menu performance.
Another object of the present invention is to enable Web site developers to select how and when menu data files are generated in order to use dynamic menu values.
One object of the present invention is to provide the means to enable end-users to navigate through a succession of pop-up list menus to identify detailed information on a Web site, and thereby avoid unnecessary trial and error navigation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide the software means to shift the interactive activity of a client server network from the server to the client.
One object of the present invention is to provide the software means to improve the response of a content menu by loading more menu data on the client platform.
One object of the present invention is to provide the software means to enable information providers to track end-user navigation of a content menu.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The objects of the present invention are attained by providing the methods and apparatus of a menu authoring system that generates menu data files configured for an applet running on a client computer in a client-server network like the World Wide Web, The applet generates one or more nested pop-up list menus that link to content on a Web page. The menu authoring system uses an open hierarchical data structure to build and maintain the menu data for these menus. Web-site developers use the interactive authoring system to create menu paths to individual pages, and end-users navigate these paths to locate relevant information. The authoring system, in the present invention, enables developers to specify when these menu data files are generated and the optimal file size in order to minimize computing demands on the server, reduce network traffic, and improve response time for the end-user on a client computer.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5630125 (1997-05-01), Zellweger
patent: 5732218 (1998-03-01), Bland et al.
patent: 5742768 (1998-04-01), Gennard et al.
patent: 5920696 (1999-07-01), Brandt et al.
patent: 5923885 (1999-07-01), Johnson et al.
patent: 5959630 (1999-09-01), Takeuchi et al.
patent: 5987454 (1999-11-01), Hobbs
patent: 6006252 (1999-12-01), Wolfe
patent: 6070167 (2000-05-01), Qian et al.
U.S. application No. 60/046,920, Zellweger, filed May 16,1997.
Black Thomas G.
Rones Charles L.
Zellweger Paul
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