Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-22
2002-11-26
Trammell, James P. (Department: 3621)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06487557
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network-access management system and method applied to an information transmitting/receiving server which intervenes between a network like the WWW or the like and a client terminal operated by a user, and a computer program product including a server-executable computer program recorded on a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
1. Explanation of WWW
Of late, a kind of network service such as referring to or creating WWW pages on the Internet has become popular, due to which application software and books, etc. teaching how to crate WWW pages have been widely distributed.
WWW is the acronym of the World Wide Web which is a worldwide information network using the Internet.
A WWW page is a unit of information which is a constituent of a Web document stored in a given WWW server on the WWW. A WWW page is a structured document described in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) or SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) or recently in XML (Extensible Markup Language) into which HTML and SGML has been integrated. Image data formatted in GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) or according to JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) can be pasted on a WWW page to be transmitted
Recently, a more dynamically expressed WWW page, formed by accessing a CGI (Common Gateway Interface) loaded in a WWW server or by employing an applet described in a programming language Java (Sun Microsystems), and a WWW page described in VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) for drawing a 3-D graphic on the WWW in real time, have also appeared.
A WWW browser receives data for permitting such WWW pages to be displayed on a client terminal from a Web site, interprets the data and displays the data on the screen of a computer which is executing the WWW browser.
A WWW page or a structured document described in HTML or SGML can contain two-dimensional information such as a text, a drawing, a moving picture, sounds, etc. A WWW page or a structure document described in VRML can integrally contain three-dimensional information.
Owing to VRML, a client user can view three-dimensionally displayed objects from various angles, and can also have an experience such as walking a real-world city displayed as a map in which the objects are laid out arbitrarily.
In general, a method for displaying such a map or a method for displaying information sent from the WWW is known as a cyberspace or a virtual real space.
Due to the above-described function, a client user can view or listen to the information laid open worldwide on a home page, simply by operating his/her terminal, and can also send a page created by himself/herself to all parts of the world.
In normal cases, a structured document, an image, an audio, etc., which are data for enabling the display of the aforementioned page, are stored in a WWW server on the WWW in the state wherein the data has been classified according to user ID information (information such as user accounts, HTTP/IP addresses, etc.) used to operate individual client terminals.
The users who operate client terminals include private individuals, governments, companies and other organizations, etc.
Each user can create hierarchically structured pages by employing a language for creating structured documents.
Of hierarchically structured pages, the particular page which is located in the highest level in the hierarchy is defined as the “home page.”
Each user, who has made hierarchically structured pages, can create links by describing, on the home page, URLs for some pages. One page as the link destination can have a link to another page.
URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) are addresses for identifying individual pages on the Internet. URLs are expressed like “http://www.xxx.co.jp/index.html” and “http://www.xxx.co.jp/index.wrl”, for example, and designate the corresponding pages of HTML and VRML documents.
Normally a link on a page is displayed in the form known as “anchor.”
An anchor on a page displayed by the WWW browser is a symbol (an image or the like which indirectly expresses the address and contents of the link destination page) which represents the link destination page.
In the case of structured documents, they can have mutually related anchors.
For example, a HTML document can have a link to a VRML document, while the VRML document can have a link to the HTML document.
When a user who uses the WWW browser clicks with a mouse on the symbol which indicates the desired link destination, the WWW browser displays the link destination page (that is, the user jumps to the link destination). The user can jump not only to a page in a lower level in the hierarchy but also to a page in a higher level in the hierarchy, as well as to a page on another web site.
On the page currently displayed by the WWW browser, when the user clicks on the symbol which indicates another page, the WWW browser displays the indicated page. On the page as displayed, when the user clicks on the symbol which indicates another page, the WWW browser displays the page as indicated. In this manner, the WWW browser can display subsequent pages from one to another.
At that time, the WWW browser accesses the WWW server specified by the URL corresponding to a clicked symbol, normally via a provider and the Internet, and downloads the target data from a Web site stored in the WWW server to either a memory or storage device of the computer which is executing the WWW browser.
After completing data download or simultaneously with data download, the WWW browser displays the data as a page on the display of the computer.
Currently, Netscape Navigator from Netscape Communications Corporation, Internet Explorer from Microsoft Corporation, etc. are available as WWW browsers and are now being used widely.
2. Explanation of VRML
In order to display a VRML document, the corresponding VRML viewer needs to be prepared. A dedicated browser different from the WWW browsers such as Netscape Navigator, etc., or a VRML plug-in module or helper application of the WWW browsers offers such a VRML viewer.
As explained previously, VRML is a language used to define a three-dimensional space and object on the WWW.
By manipulating human-type avatars belonging to an object class, the users can walk the VRML virtual space (a walk-through) or can make communications with each other in the manner known as a chat, for example.
By setting a camera to a scene in the virtual space, the point of view can be determined through the camera.
VRML was born in 1994, specification VRML 1.0 was formalized in 1995, and the latest specification is VRML 2.0.
There is a considerable difference between those two specifications. With VRML 1.0, a time stopped three-dimensional scene with no sounds can only be created.
With VRML 2.0, however, a scene such as one in which a placed object starts moving suddenly or a color change occurs upon clicking can be created. Using VRML 2.0, a dynamic world with a music can be realized.
Furthermore, in the actual VRML viewer, the avatars and the camera are moved generally by indicating their positions directly with a mouse click or by operating buttons for their forward and backward movements and rotations with a mouse click.
3. Explanation of Bookmark
In addition to a referring method, like “Internet surfing”, of changing a displayed page from one to another in order that a user can refer to the desired page, a method of such a type as typing an URL directly in a location designation area on the GUI (Graphical User Interface) screen displayed by the WWW browsers or the VRML viewer is available in the case where the URL of the page to be displayed is known beforehand.
However, some users may refer to pages for stock price information and news every day.
When a user needs to thus refer to a fixed certain page every time, it would be inconvenient and inefficient for him/her to type an URL consisting of several-ten characters every time.
In consideration of the above, in order to facilitate page display, the WWW browsers, etc. generally have a “bookmark” fun
Casio Computer Co. Ltd.
Frishauf Holtz Goodman & Chick P.C.
Trammell James P.
Wang Mary
LandOfFree
Network-access management system and method applied to... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Network-access management system and method applied to..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Network-access management system and method applied to... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2924798