Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-20
2003-03-25
Feild, Joseph H. (Department: 2176)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C345S215000, C709S218000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06539406
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electronic documents, Web pages, and portions or elements of electronic documents, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for creating electronic space on the virtual flipside of Web pages or elements, referred to as “Web Back Space”, and to allow additional information to reside thereon and for the Web Back Space and the information thereon to be easily accessed, managed, distributed, tracked and displayed.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic documents are key components in the transfer of electronic information. An electronic document is a non-executable computer file containing information for use in various applications such as word processing (Word), spreadsheets (Excel) and database management systems (dBase)
Electronic documents can display digital information to computer users on the Internet, the global network connecting a multitude of users. The World Wide Web (WWW) is a system of Internet servers designed to specially support formatted documents. The most common delivery unit of an electronic formatted document is a Web page. The Internet uses Web pages to display information to the Internet users. A Web page is an electronic document located on the WWW. Documents are created on the WWW using a standard language called Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML). A specific site location on the WWW is referred to as a Web site. Each Web site contains a home page, which is the first document a user sees when first entering the site. The site may also contain different documents or pages.
A unique Uniform Resource Locator (URL) identifies each Web page. A URL is a Web address that identifies a particular Web page and its location on the WWW.
The WWW uses a standard set of procedures or protocols defining how requests are formatted and transmitted. This set of standard protocols is called Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP). HTTP is a stateless protocol since each command is executed independently, without knowledge of the commands that came before it. When a user enters a URL in his or her browser, which is a software application used to locate and display Web pages, an HTTP command is sent to the Web server directing it to fetch and transmit the requested Web page. Output, in HTML form, is sent to the user via the HTTP protocols and the user's computer receives the requested, formatted Web page. When this Web page arrives at the user's computer, the browser will normally store a local copy of the Web page in the end user's local browser. This step is known as caching.
Electronic document elements refer to any discrete item within an electronic document page such as text, graphics, data, banners, links, or any other visible entity within the electronic document page. This may include a banner, such as a strip of graphics within an electronic document having a standard size containing advertising or other information in graphical form.
Web pages and Elements are two dimensional in nature. In other words, they are flat entities composed of a standard width and height. A user sees one page at a time and can therefore only interact with the information contained within the “four corners” of the displayed page or element.
This physical restriction places a challenge to Web site architects during the initial design. Web site architects and Web page designers must carefully decide and rank information in terms of importance so that it can be placed in the best possible location throughout the Web site and in the best possible location within the Web page itself.
Even after carefully designing and building a Web site, the end result could be a Web site that is very large, extensive and complicated to navigate. Finding specific information in such a complex Web site can be a time consuming and difficult task.
Web site architects may often find themselves running out of available space on a Web page. Information, logically associated with the information contained within the Web page may have to be left out.
Adding the possibility to display information on the back space of the same Web page or electronic document element allows the Web site architect to build a more condensed and logically organized version of the same Web site, and it will also allow the user to have access to information at a faster rate than with a conventional, one-sided Web page. This increase in speed is accomplished by a technique known as precaching, which “pre-downloads” the information housed in the Web Back Space to the end user's local browser.
The Web Back Space refers to the infinite amount of “virtual hidden space” behind both the Web page and the elements displayed thereon. It refers to anything not currently seen on the front page. Once created, this “virtual real estate” may be used to store information. This technology is compatible with any media which displays electronic document pages or elements including but not limited to, Palm Pilots, WebTV (as in infomercials), and/or any future technology which displays electronic document pages, since the technology has a built-in capacity to be adapted for future technological developments.
Much like a cube which contains multiple, interconnected sides and surfaces, the multi-dimensional nature of the present invention allows the user to add information to each “side”, while assuring each side maintains a relationship with each other side.
The present invention contains code that creates additional back space on an electronic document page or electronic element. This task is accomplished by providing the Web site architect with the back space code. This back space code may be cut and pasted at any point during the process in order to create the back space on any electronic document page or element within a Web site. Upon the creation of the back space, a Back Space icon is activated.
Theoretically, an infinite number of back pages may be added to an electronic document page, or Web page. The created back space may remain devoid of information for a given length of time, said information to be added at a later time, or information may be created and stored on the newly-created space immediately after the back space has been created.
Today, however, a Web page that needs such additional information must depend on linking to a separate Web page to display such information.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a system and method that overcomes the restriction discussed above by providing the required technology to create the back space on a Web page or Web page element and to display information on the back space, in addition to the front side of the Web page or element, where said information located on the back space may or may not be related to the information located on the front side of the Web page.
It is, therefore, to the effective resolution of the aforementioned problems and shortcomings of the prior art that the present invention is directed.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention allows users to create and use the virtual back space of an electronic document page such as a Web page on the Internet, or an electronic document element and to house and display additional content information thereon.
In particular, the present invention provides a method for publishing information on the back side of an electronic document page comprising the steps of providing a user with a list of available electronic document pages, determining if the electronic document page contains information which is to appear on a back side of the electronic document page, adding the information to the back side of the electronic document page, linking the front side of the electronic document page to a respective back side of the electronic document page, displaying the front side of a requested electronic document page, providing triggering means to allow the user to display the back side of the electronic document page, and displaying the back side of the electronic document page.
In an alternate embodiment, the present invention provides a m
Ibarra Rodolfo
Valverde Fernando
Conectron, Inc.
Feild Joseph H.
Malin Haley & DiMaggio, P.A.
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