Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1998-03-18
2001-04-17
Feild, Joseph H. (Department: 2176)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000, C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06219679
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to the bookmarking of user-interactive information accessed over a communication network.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is common for computer users to access user-interactive information content over a communication network. The most prevalent example of this today involves the access of HTML (hyper-text mark-up language) files over the WWW (world wide web). User-interactive information content such as HTML files may be referenced over the communications network of interest with a file pointer which in the case of HTML files is referred to as a URL (universal resource locator). Typically, due to size limitations of the screen and/or window being used to view the user-interactive information content, only a portion of the content, which may include text and graphics for example, may be displayed at any instant. The amount of data content which may be viewed may depend upon physical limitations of the screen, or upon a limitation imposed due to the size of a window in which the contents are being viewed, this window size being selected by the user. The remainder of the content may be viewed by scrolling which causes different portions of the content to be displayed.
Conventional web browsing software has bookmarking functionality which allows the URL of frequently accessed WWW pages to be stored for convenient retrieval. It is frequently the case that within a page, it will be desirable to access a particular portion repeatedly. For example, some stock quote web pages feature several advertisements at the top, followed by some other useless information, and followed finally by the stock quotes appearing in a box. The box may appear in the same location within the page each time the page is accessed. Each time a user accesses the quotes, he must scroll down past the advertisements, and possibly widen or lengthen the window size to show the entire quote box.
Typically, these scroll positions and window sizes are stored only in temporary memory, and then erased from that memory when the windows are closed. This means that the user must perform the same scrolling and window-resizing each time a particular portion of a page is to be viewed. This problem is most severe in screens having physical screen-size limitations because the scrolling function may be slow.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to obviate or mitigate one or more of the above identified disadvantages.
According to a first broad aspect, the invention provides a method of providing enhanced user-interactive information content bookmarking in the context of page access from a remote service provider. In the process of creating a bookmark a page is accessed having a remote access file pointer. A create enhanced bookmark option is then selected. The remote access file pointer is stored in a bookmark directory record. The bookmark directory record includes a locator element which enables an identification of a subset of the page. In the process of using a bookmark a previously created enhanced bookmark record is selected. The page identified in the remote access file pointer of the selected bookmark is downloaded into memory, and the subset of the downloaded page is displayed.
According to a second broad aspect, the invention provides a method of providing enhanced bookmarking in the context of accessing a page of user-interactive information content from a remote service provider. A superbookmark is first created by selecting a plurality of bookmarks each containing a respective remote access file pointer. In the process of using such a superbookmark. A previously created superbookmark is selected. A page identified in the remote access file pointer of each of the bookmarks identified by the superbookmark is downloaded and a respective subset of each of the downloaded pages is displayed.
According to a third broad aspect, the invention provides a method of providing enhanced bookmarking in the context of accessing a page of user-interactive information content from a remote service provider. A user first creates a plurality of enhanced bookmarks. A superbookmark record is created by selecting a plurality of enhanced bookmarks. In the process of using a superbookmark a previously created superbookmark is selected. The page Identified in the remote access file pointer of each of the enhanced bookmark identified by the superbookmark is downloaded into memory, and the subset of each of the downloaded pages is displayed.
According to a fourth broad aspect, the invention provides an enhanced bookmarking system for use in a processing platform connectable to a service provider for providing enhanced bookmarking of pages of user-interactive information content. The processing platform is connected to a display. The system has a memory for storing enhanced bookmark records, each record containing a remote access file pointer and at least one locator element. A browser is provided for accessing a page having a remote access file pointer and displaying the page on the display. The browser has a create enhanced bookmark option which when selected stores the remote access file pointer of the currently displayed page and at least one locator element in a new bookmark directory record in the memory. The browser also has an access bookmark option which provides for the selection of a particular one or the bookmark records in the memory, which upon selection of a particular bookmark downloads into memory the page identified in the file access pointer of the selected bookmark record and displays on the display a subset of the downloaded page, the subset being determined by the at least one locator element.
According to a fifth broad aspect, the invention provides a superbookmarking system for use in a processing platform connectable to a service provider for providing enhanced bookmarking of pages of user-interactive information content. The processing platform is connected to a display. The system has a memory for storing a super-bookmark record, a selecting mechanism for selecting a plurality of user-interactive information content pages each having a remote access file pointer. The processing platform stores the remote access file pointers in the super-bookmark record. There is also a browser having an access super-bookmark option which provides for the selection of a super-bookmark record, which upon selection downloads into memory the pages identified in the remote file access pointers of the selected superbookmark record and displays on the display each downloaded page.
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Brisebois Michel A.
Roberts Jobe
Feild Joseph H.
Nortel Networks Limited
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