Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-16
2001-06-05
Black, Thomas (Department: 2171)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000, C707S793000, C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06243700
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to computer software used to organize informatin on a Web site, and in particular, it relates to an end-user access method, identified as a content menu, that is generated by an authoring system that produces linked hypertext list menu files by merging hypertext program code like HTML with menu data managed by an open hierarchical data structure.
BACKGROUND
The conventional use of hypertext links in Web site design makes information-rich sites unnecessarily deep. This forces end-users to navigate in a trial and error fashion to locate relevant information. More direct access methods, such as a table of contents or a search engine, exist but these prior art methods present their own set of limitations. Tables of contents can only provide very broad overviews of sites because they cannot handle the detail, and search engines have a “black box” approach that hides content from end-users and requires them to know what they should ask for.
On a corporate Intranet network with content on multiple servers, the scope and supply detailed information is significantly greater and makes end-user access on this type of Web site even more challenging. End-user services, like a directory assistance, site map, or site index, attempt to scale themselves to the level of detail but, once again, limitations with the underlying technology limit their effectiveness.
For instance, these access services are either built and maintained by hand, or they are based on hierarchical structures that have mutually exclusive paths. While these structures are well suited to handle details, they are inadequate because they cannot cross reference. At the same time, the more flexible hand-coded access methods that easily represent cross links run into major problems when the links and references get too numerous or complex.
Tabb et. al. (Feb. 11, 1997 U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,025) disclose the means to produce cross-indexed hypertext documents that enable end-users to drill-down to investigate details. Meske et. al. (Jun. 25, 1996) also disclose the means to generate links that cross reference a set of information files. Both of these disclosures use HTML links to produce and maintain a set of linked files that enable end-users to access detailed information. However, since both of these methods depend solely upon their own document file structures they cannot be used in a more general way as end-user access tools.
Zellweger (May 13, 1997 U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,125) discloses the means to employ an open hierarchical data structure to organize and manage detailed information about a collection of information. When used with the disclosed authoring system, the structure generates a content menu that supports an extensive set of cross references. Advances brought about by the interactive authoring make it fairly easy to build and maintain the complete network of menu paths, and end-users find it easy to navigate its nested list menus and find what they need.
The Zellweger disclosure addresses both stand-alone and client-server environments but is does not disclose how to generate menu files for a content menu that can overcome performance issues related to client-server networks like the World Wide Web. The authoring system in the prior art generated a single menu file that contained all the nested lists in a content menu. In a stand-alone desktop setting, the invention optimizes response time by fetching data for each list menu from its own storage device. Yet, in a client-server setting, the overhead associated with requesting and transmitting data for each menu list from a remote source on a network, makes this list-by-list retrieval method extremely inefficient, particularly when the succession involves a series of short list menus.
The present disclosure shows how to overcome this problem by generating a series of hypertext menu files that consolidate a series of short, nested list menus into a single file that downloads to the client computer. As the end-user navigates down a content menu the present disclosure also shows how to link one of these menu files to another and how to regulate the overall size of these files. These teachings enable menu developers to benchmark different sets of menu files in order to identify an optimal download file size.
When a content menu has been optimized for a client-server network, as disclosed by this invention, there are a number of unintended benefits. First, the content menu provides an alternative way to access Web pages that has a direct impact on Web sit design. Until now developers had to use “link pages” to furnish page access that produces artificially deep Web site layouts. Second, the menu organizes details on a group of closely related information so end-users can easily compare one unit to another using a single list menu. This allows end-users to pinpoint target information on a Web site, and thereby avoid unnecessary trial and error navigation. Third, information providers get much more information about an end-user's navigating path compared to Web page tracking methods disclosed by Graber et. al. (Jan. 27, 1998, U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,979) and Graber et. al. (May 10, 1998 U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,860) because the provider has overall control of the entire menu path.
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for an authoring system means that can be used to generate and maintain hypertext files that can serve as a content menu on a Web site.
One object of the present invention is to provide the software means for building and maintaining a series of nested link menus derived from an open hierarchical data structure implemented in a hypertext language, like HTML, that is recognized by browser software on a client computer.
Another object of the present invention is to enable Web site developers to select how and when hypertext files are generated so they can configure a content menu application that performs well on a client server network.
One object of the present invention is to provide the means to specify the size of an output hypertext file so the authoring system can generate one or more nested lists to the same file, instead of using the prior method of one list per file, and thereby reduce overall network traffic.
Another object of the present invention is to enable Web site developers to select when hypertext files are generated so they can configure a content menu application that uses dynamic menu data.
One object of the present invention is to provide the means to enable end-users to navigate through a succession of hypertext list menus to locate detailed information and thereby avoid unnecessary trial and error navigation on a Web site.
Another 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 nested list menus in tow or more hypertext files that serve as a content menu on a Web site. The authoring system merges menu data stored in an open hierarchical data structure with elements of a hypertext language to produce hypertext files that contain one or more nested list menus per file. Web site developers use the 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 supports special settings associated with the output hypertext files that enable the menu developer to specify how and when these files are generated to improve sever response, reduce network traffic, or track end-user navigation.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5530852 (1996-06-01), Meske et al.
patent: 5603025 (1997-02-01), Tabb and Hermann
patent: 5630125 (1997-05-01), Zellweger
patent: 5712979 (1998-01-01), Garber et al.
patent: 5717860 (1998-02-01), Garber et al.
patent: 5920696 (1999-07-01), Brandt et al.
patent: 5923885 (1999-0
Black Thomas
Rones Charles L.
Zellweger Paul
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