Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Remote data accessing – Using interconnected networks
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-02
2004-02-17
Jones, Hugh (Department: 2123)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Remote data accessing
Using interconnected networks
C707S793000, C707S793000, C345S215000, C345S215000, C345S215000, C345S215000, C345S215000, C715S252000, C715S252000, C715S252000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06694357
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer systems and, in particular, to accessing, viewing and manipulating archived information in a computer system.
2. Related Art
Systems that allow users to store and retrieve information in a computer system, such as database management systems, are well known. A database is a collection of data arranged according to a predefined structure. A telephone book is a classic example of a database containing a listing of telephone service subscribers, their respective telephone numbers and, optionally, their addresses. The data stored in such a database is organized in a structure
100
having three fields: a subscriber name field
110
, a subscriber telephone number field
120
and a subscriber address field
130
, as shown in FIG.
1
A. Records
150
are copies of structure
100
that contain information specific to individual telephone subscribers. Multiple records
150
are stored in database
140
, as shown in FIG.
1
B.
Database management systems typically provide means for searching the database to retrieve a portion of the records stored in the database that satisfy certain search parameters. These searches are generally referred to as queries. Using the telephone book database of
FIG. 1B
as an example, one could search for all records in which the telephone subscriber has a certain address, or for all records in which the user has a certain name or, or for all records in which the user has a certain name and a certain address. Typically, however, database management systems do not allow users to manipulate the results of the queries, although some database management systems allow users to sort the order in which the records returned by a query are displayed. Other systems allow users to combine multiple search parameters in a single query; however, this approach still requires a new search to be performed. Accordingly, there is a need for a computer information system that allows results of searches to be manipulated and stored for future use, without requiring a new search to be performed.
Furthermore, current global network information systems, such as the World Wide Web, allow user to retrieve information stored on different host computers connected to a global network (e.g., the Internet). The World Wide Web is described on pages 681-723 of “Computer Networks” by Andrew S. Tanenbaum (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 3rd ed. 1996), which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. The information stored on the World Wide Web, for example, is organized in a plurality of web pages. Each web page contains information in different formats, including multimedia. In addition, each web page may contain “links” to a other web pages. A user typically accesses the web pages through a web browser (i.e., a program executed by a computer connected to a global network that is able to retrieve and display data organized in web pages) by specifying an http address of a given web page. A user can then access other web pages either by specifying their http address or by “following a link” (i.e., clicking a hypertext field on a web page currently displayed by the web browser). This process is generally referred to as “navigating” or “surfing” the World Wide Web.
Users, however, cannot generally modify web pages to discard irrelevant information. In addition, currently available web browsers do not provide facilities for easily storing and manipulating a collection of links without interrupting the current search operation or performing a new search. Typically, web browsers employ a search engine to search the World Wide Web for web pages that meet the parameters of the search. Search engines then generate one or more web pages containing links to the web pages that meet the parameters of the search. The web browser, in turn, displays the web pages generated by the search. Thus, there is no easy way of manipulating the list of links contained in the web pages generated by the search engine. Accordingly, there is a need for a more flexible and faster method of organizing, searching and manipulating data than is currently available.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for accessing, viewing and manipulating data stored in a computer system. This is achieved by selecting one or more of the non-modifiable data objects stored in a computer system, creating references to the selected data objects and adding the references to a reference list. The reference list is then manipulated to allow a user to add to, remove from or search the references in the reference list.
Furthermore, the invention provides a method and apparatus for accessing, viewing and manipulating data stored in a computer system in which different operations are performed by different computers connected to a computer network. This is particularly advantageous for Internet related applications in which data objects are stored on a server computer and searched by client computers connected to the server computer over the Internet. A reference list is stored on the client computers and can be directly manipulated by the user without a need for further interaction with the server computer.
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Bingham & McCutchen LLP
Copernican Technologies, Inc.
Jones Hugh
Marino Fabio E.
Smith Jeffrey S.
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