(12) United States Patent
`Himmel et al.
`
`USOO6208995B1
`US 6,208,995 B1
`(10) Patent No.:
`*Mar. 27, 2001
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`(54) WEB BROWSER DOWNLOAD OF
`BOOKMARKSET
`
`(*) Notice:
`
`(75) Inventors: Maria Azua Himmel; Herman
`Rodriguez, both of Austin, TX (US)
`(73) Assignee: International Business Machines
`Corporation, Armonk, NY (US)
`This patent issued on a continued pros
`ecution application filed under 37 CFR
`1.53(d), and is subject to the twenty year
`patent term provisions of 35 U.S.C.
`154(a)(2).
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 08/977,634
`(22) Filed:
`Nov. 24, 1997
`
`(51) Int. Cl." .................................................... G06F 7700
`
`(52) U.S. Cl. .............................. 707/104; 706/6; 707/8-10
`
`(58) Field of Search ................................. 706/6; 707/8, 9,
`707/10, 103,104, 1
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`4/1997 Cline et al..
`5,625,781
`4/1998 Gennaro et al. ................ 295/200.33
`5,742,768
`9/1998 Nielsen .................................. 707/10
`5,813,007
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`2328300A 10/1998 (GB).
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`Lee et al., A cyber agent on the World wide web, Proceeding
`of the SPIE, pp. 516–522, See abstract. Apr. 12, 1996.*
`Choinski et al., High marks for SmartMarks, Internet refer
`ences services, pp. 117-123, See abstract, 1996.*
`
`Maarek et al., Automatically organizing bookmarks per
`contents, Computer networks and ISDN Systems, pp.
`1321–1333, See abstract. May 1996.*
`Keller et al., A bookmarking Service for organizing and
`sharing URLS., Computer networks and ISDN systems, pp.
`1103–1114, Sep. 1997.*
`AR Gopher Bookmarks: How To Make Them and What
`They Can Do For you.http://www-lis.gseis.ucla.edu/Lab/
`unote25.html.
`
`(List continued on next page.)
`
`Primary Examiner-Hosain T. Alam
`Assistant Examiner Sanjiv Shah
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm Jeffrey S. LaBaw
`(57)
`ABSTRACT
`Bookmark Sets are provided to a browser in a computer
`System by downloading a respective bookmark Set as a unit.
`The proceSS begins by creating a bookmark Set at a first
`computer System computer System coupled to a network, the
`bookmark Set containing a set of Uniform Resource Loca
`tors (URLs) and downloadable as a unit one or more
`computer Systems. A request for downloading the bookmark
`Set results in Sending the bookmark Set via the network to a
`second computer system. The bookmark set is received and
`used at the Second computer System by a browser to acceSS
`the set of URLs. The request for downloading the bookmark
`Set can be initiated at the first computer System as a push
`operation or at the Second computer System in a pull
`operation. The bookmark Set can be set for automatic
`update; if changes are made at the first computer System, the
`updated bookmark Set to the Second computer System. The
`bookmark Set can be incorporated in a downloaded web
`document. The browser parses for a tag in the web document
`which indicates the presence of a bookmark Set in the web
`document and prompts for whether the incorporated book
`mark set is to made available for use by the browser.
`
`25 Claims, 14 Drawing Sheets
`
`PRESETN&MESOFBOOKMARKSE'S
`
`is:
`
`PASSWORDITH SELECTEDBOOKMARKSET. 153
`
`PROSET FORFASSW3R
`
`155
`
`
`
`TEST
`E4SS,3R)
`goRES
`
`MAKE SELECTED300KMARKSETACTIVE
`
`158
`
`181
`LISTURLSINACTWEBOOKMARKSET
`l--
`SAVECURRENPAGEASBOOKMARKDETECTED 163
`
`SAWEBOCKMAAKT38CTIVE BOOKMARKSET 185
`
`87
`
`M3DY
`ECOKKNARKIN
`
`YES
`
`MODIFYBOOKMARK 88
`
`MO
`
`ELETE. Y. YES
`838KMARK
`SET3
`
`DELETE SET
`
`70
`
`17
`a 'S
`Rxis
`BOKWARK
`SE
`
`REWARESET 72
`
`-1-
`
`Amazon v. Audio Pod
`US Patent 10,805,111
`Amazon EX-1062
`
`

`

`US 6,208,995 B1
`Page 2
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`AS Netscape 2.0-Bookmark Information From Netscape.
`http://www.lib.utah.edu/navigator/netscape/bkmk20/
`nsbkmb20.html.
`ATRucker, J.: Polanco, J.J., ISSN 00010792, Siteseer:pero
`snalized navigation for the Web (Journal Paper) Copyright
`1997, IEEE.
`
`AU High Marks For SmartMarks A Review Article. (Journal
`Paper) ISSN 10875301, Copyright 1997, IEEE, Choinski,
`E.M.
`
`* cited by examiner
`
`-2-
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 27, 2001
`
`Sheet 1 of 14
`
`US 6,208,995 B1
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`OPERATING
`SYSTEM
`
`
`
`48
`
`PROTOCOL
`STACK
`
`52
`
`BROWSER
`
`49
`BOOKMARKSET
`MANAGER 50
`
`OOKMARK )
`
`
`
`DIGITAL
`SIGNAL
`PRO
`CESSOR
`
`MEMORY
`MANAGEMENT
`25
`
`MICRO
`PROCESSOR
`22
`
`HARD FLOPPY
`DISK
`DISK
`26
`27
`
`KEYBOARD
`CONTROL
`LER 28
`
`VIDEO
`MOUSE
`CONTROL- CONTROL-
`LER 29
`LER 30
`
`AUDIO
`CONTROL
`LER 3
`
`
`
`GRAPHIC
`DISPLAY
`
`
`
`SPEAKER
`
`15A
`
`15B
`
`-3-
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 27, 2001
`
`Sheet 2 of 14
`
`US 6,208,995 B1
`
`AUTHORIZATIONTRANSLATION 75
`
`mono
`
`NAMETRANSLATON
`
`77
`
`FIG. 2
`
`PATH CHECKS
`
`RECOGNIZE MIME
`
`SERVICE
`
`SERVICE
`
`ADD LOG
`
`79
`
`81
`
`asare:
`
`85
`
`NEW URL
`
`201
`
`
`
`CHECK URL AGAINST ACTIVE
`BOOKMARKSET
`
`2O3
`
`NO
`
`YES
`
`
`
`
`
`GO TOURLRETRIEVE PAGE 209
`
`CHANGE BOOKMARKSET 207
`
`FIG. 5
`
`-4-
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 27, 2001
`
`Sheet 3 of 14
`
`US 6,208,995 B1
`
`ACTIVATE BOOKMARK MANAGER 10
`
`BEGINCREATION ROUTINE
`
`103
`
`PROMPTUSER FOR PASSWORD 105
`
`107
`
`
`
`YES
`
`NO
`
`PASSWORD
`CORRECT
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`ALLOCATE BOOKMARK FILE
`
`11
`
`PROMPT FOR BOOKMARKSETNAME 113
`
`PROMPT FOR ENTRY OF URLS
`
`115
`
`
`
`
`
`109
`
`END
`
`
`
`
`
`NO
`
`TEST
`BOOKMARKENTRY
`CORRECT?
`
`PROMPT FOR MISSING INFO 119
`
`
`
`
`
`ANOTHER
`BOOKMARK
`
`23
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`PASSWORD
`
`PROTECTED
`
`PROMPTFOR PASSWORD 125
`
`CREATE BOOKMARKSET 127
`
`FIG. 3
`
`-5-
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 27, 2001
`
`Sheet 4 of 14
`
`US 6,208,995 B1
`
`PRESENTNAMES OF BOOKMARKSETS
`
`151
`
`
`
`PASSWORD WITH SELECTED BOOKMARKSET. 153
`
`PROMPT FOR PASSWORD
`
`155
`
`
`
`
`
`NO
`
`157
`
`156
`
`YES
`
`TEST
`PASSWORD
`CORRECT
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`MAKE SELECTED BOOKMARKSET ACTIVE
`
`159
`
`LISTURLS IN ACTIVE BOOKMARKSET
`
`161
`
`SAVE CURRENTPAGE ASBOOKMARKDETECTED 163
`
`SAVE BOOKMARK TO ACTIVE BOOKMARKSET 165
`
`NO
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`167
`
`YES
`
`
`
`MODIFY
`BOOKMARK iN
`SET
`
`
`
`
`
`MODIFYBOOKMARK 168
`
`DELETE SET
`
`1.70
`
`69
`
`YES
`
`NO
`
`DELETE
`BOOKMARK
`SET
`
`17
`
`RENAME
`BOOKMARK
`SET2
`
`RENAME SET 172
`
`FIG. 4
`
`-6-
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 27, 2001
`
`Sheet 5 of 14
`
`US 6,208,995 B1
`
`
`
`Main BOOKmarks
`
`Children
`Game 1
`Game 2
`Game 3
`
`HOme
`- Taxes
`Medical Info
`Austin University
`Shopping
`Sea
`MySpace
`Hobby
`GM cars & parts
`WOOdWorking
`
`Office
`Architecture DOCument
`My department
`Project
`Project 2
`
`Fig.6A
`
`-7-
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 27, 2001
`
`Sheet 6 of 14
`
`US 6,208,995 B1
`
`
`
`Main BOOKmarks
`Children
`Home
`Taxes
`Medical Info
`Austin University
`Shopping
`Sea
`MySpace
`Hobby
`GM cars & parts
`WOOdWorking
`
`Office
`
`Fig. 6B
`
`-8-
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 27, 2001
`
`Sheet 7 of 14
`
`US 6,208,995 B1
`
`BLACKLIST BOOKMARKSETSELECTED 27
`
`VIEWBOOKMARKSETSELECTED
`273
`YES PROMPT FOR
`PASSWORD
`274
`
`PASSWORD
`PROTECTED
`
`272
`
`
`
`
`
`NO
`PRESENTBLACKLIST 276
`
`
`
`FIG. 7
`
`275
`
`PASSWORD
`CORRECT?
`
`ERROR
`277
`
`ERROR
`284
`
`28
`
`PASSWORD
`CORRECT?
`
`ADDBOOKMARKSET SELECTED 278
`279
`YES PROMPT FOR
`PASSWORD
`280
`YES
`
`
`
`PASSWORD
`ROTECT52
`NO
`PRESENTBLACKLIST ADDPANEL 282
`
`
`
`ADDBOOKMARK 283
`
`REMOVE BOOKMARKSET SELECTED 285
`
`
`
`PROMPT FOR PASSWORD 286
`
`PRESENTBLACKLISTDELETEPANEL 288
`
`PASSWORD
`CORRECT?
`
`
`
`DELETE BOOKMARK 289
`
`MODIFY BOOKMARKSETSELECTED 29
`
`PROMPT FOR PASSWORD 292
`
`PRESENTBLACKLIST MODIFY PANEL 294
`
`
`
`PASSWORD
`CORRECT?
`
`DELETE BOOKMARK 295
`
`287
`
`ERROR
`290
`
`ERROR
`296
`
`-9-
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 27, 2001
`
`Sheet 8 of 14
`
`US 6,208,995 B1
`
`CREATE BLACKLIST BOOKMARKSET
`
`301
`
`DETECTENTRY OF URL N. 303
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`MATCH
`BLACKLIST
`
`311
`
`DENYACCESS
`
`305
`
`MATCH ACTIVE
`BOOKMARKSET
`?
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`351
`
`NO
`
`307
`
`ACCESS URL
`
`DENYACCESS
`
`313
`
`FIG. 8
`
`BOOKMARKSETS
`
`DOWNLOAD BOOKMARKSETA
`
`DOWNLOAD BOOKMARKSET B
`
`DOWNLOAD BOOKMARKSETC
`
`FIG. 9
`
`352
`
`
`
`
`
`O) INSTALLAS PERMANENTBOOKMARKSET
`O INSTALLASTEMPORARY BOOKMARKSET
`
`353
`
`
`
`
`
`O SUBSCRIBETOUPDATES FOR BOOKMARKSET
`O NO
`
`-10-
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 27, 2001
`
`Sheet 9 of 14
`
`US 6,208,995 B1
`
`HTTP REQUEST FROM BROWSER
`
`401
`
`RECEPT OF WEBPAGE
`
`403
`
`
`
`BOOKMARKSETDETECTED IN WEBPAGE 404
`
`INSTALL BOOKMARKSET SELECTED
`
`PRESENT INSTALLATION OPTIONS
`
`405
`
`407
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`409
`
`SAMENAMED
`BOOKMARKS
`INSTALLED
`
`FIG. 10
`
`WRITE OVEREXISTING SETDIALOG
`
`41
`
`DELETE EXISTING SET
`
`NSTALL NEW BOOKMARKSET
`
`412
`
`413
`
`MAKE NEWBOOKMARKSET ACTIVE
`
`415
`
`
`
`
`
`423
`
`419
`
`
`
`
`
`DELETE SET
`42
`
`-11-
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 27, 2001
`
`Sheet 10 of 14
`
`US 6,208,995 B1
`
`CREATE BOOKMARKSET
`
`IDENTIFY BROWSER SET
`
`451
`
`453
`
`
`
`DISTRIBUTE BOOKMARKSET TO BROWSERS
`
`455
`
`INSTALL BOOKMARKSETAT BROWSER STARTUP 457
`
`SET FOR AUTOMATIC UPDATE
`
`DETECT CHANGEN BOOKMARKSET
`
`459
`
`46
`
`SENDUPDATED BOOKMARKSET TO BROWSERS 463
`
`ATEACH BROWSER, WHEN STARTUP INSTALL
`UPDATED BOOKMARKSET
`
`465
`
`FIG. 11
`
`
`
`This URL has changed. The new address
`is WWW.neWCar.com. Please make a
`note of it.
`
`FIG. 12
`
`-12-
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 27, 2001
`
`Sheet 11 of 14
`
`US 6,208,995 B1
`
`
`
`AUTOMATIC UPDATE OF BOOKMARKS
`
`501
`
`Client
`BrOWSer
`
`6 as Set
`
`Manager 507
`
`BOOKmark Set
`
`URL=WWW,new
`502
`
`HTTP Request
`HTTP Response
`
`Old Server
`Address
`503
`
`New Server
`Address
`505
`
`FIG. 13
`
`-13-
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 27, 2001
`
`Sheet 12 of 14
`
`US 6,208,995 B1
`
`FIG. 14
`
`REQUEST TO FETCH PAGE
`
`521
`
`often a
`
`523
`
`REDIRECT
`TO NEW URL
`
`CHANGE
`BOOKMARK
`
`DYNAMIC
`UPDATE ALLOWED
`
`MATCH
`BOOKMARK
`
`DYNAMC
`ATTRIBUTE
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`UPDATE BOOKMARK
`
`
`
`533
`
`CONTINUE PROCESSING PAGE
`
`535
`
`-14-
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 27, 2001
`Mar. 27, 2001
`
`Sheet 13 of 14
`Sheet 13 of 14
`
`US 6,208,995 B1
`US 6,208,995 B1
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`OUS1ndSB0IMaSAuedwiooJ0}€00|s1easyeSOOIMOS8nogeO=sawojsnoO=InojnogeOalos©mousyeum©—syonpoidO
`
`O18N(x)[009RMAN_dnyoo7LJOUIAIU|(Nl
`wioo'sizasmmmy/-diiy|:uole00]77—SwIBUYoog_$\
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Jdpind)yolResaWwoHpeojeyplemiojyoeg
`['0F)pueyongaoy‘seas0}aU0o|ay4-adeosyan]as.
`
`
`djaJoyeolUNWWO)OFMal,WPFali
`
`LSLP
`
`IGAD00000
`eaocg0009
`pe
`s
`
`d
`
`d
`
`s
`
`-15-
`
`-15-
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 27, 2001
`
`Sheet 14 of 14
`
`US 6,208,995 B1
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`REQUEST WEBPAGE
`
`
`
`FIND CONSUMER HOT LIST
`
`DOWNLOAD AND SETACTIVE
`
`
`
`PRESENT HOT LIST PULLDOWN
`
`r
`
`PARSE REMAINING HTML
`
`
`
`601
`
`603
`
`605
`
`607
`
`609
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`DETECT SELECTION OF BOOKMARK
`
`61
`
`REQUEST WEBPAGE REFERENCED BY BOOKMARK
`
`613
`
`
`
`PROCESS HTML
`
`615
`
`FIG. 16
`
`-16-
`
`

`

`US 6,208,995 B1
`
`1
`WEB BROWSER DOWNLOAD OF
`BOOKMARKSET
`
`2
`the URL to travel to the page, once there, open the Book
`marks menu and choose the Add BookmarkS Selection. This
`Set of actions adds the URL of the current page as an item
`in the Bookmarks menu.
`Once created, bookmarks offer a means of page retrieval.
`The user can cause the browser to display his bookmark list
`and Select among his bookmarks to go directly to a favorite
`page. Thus, the user is not forced to enter a lengthy URL nor
`retrace the original tortuous route through the Internet by
`which he may have arrived at the Web site. Once a book
`mark is added to a bookmark list, in general, the bookmark
`becomes a permanent part of the browser until removed. The
`permanence and accessibility of bookmarks have made them
`a valuable means for personalizing a user's Internet acceSS
`through the browser.
`Yet despite their usefulness, the current arrangement of
`bookmarks is not without its flaws. As the numbers of web
`Sites and web pages on these sites have increased
`dramatically, So has the number of bookmarks that a typical
`web browser user maintains on his browser. It is not uncom
`mon that hundreds of bookmarks be stored in a bookmark
`file after a few weeks of web browsing. While folders in
`Some browserS have helped the user group his bookmarks by
`category, in reality, the bookmark file is one huge list of
`bookmarks, all accessible to the user through the browser.
`This present invention is concerned with providing structure
`and additional function to this amorphous entity, the book
`mark file.
`One problem not addressed by the current bookmark
`Schemes is access control. In the current browser
`environment, all bookmarks are accessible to the user at all
`times. There are certain environments, e.g., a work environ
`ment or a home environment with young children, in which
`this power is not an unmixed blessing.
`The most common way of adding bookmarks to the
`bookmark file in the browser is manually intensive. Each
`bookmark is added one at a time. A user Visits a web site,
`then Selects that Site as a bookmark entry and, if desired,
`categorizes it manually. Furthermore, the current technology
`used in browsers to update bookmarks, i.e. removing the old
`address and entering the new one, is very slow and ineffi
`cient.
`Bookmarks are currently used merely as an aid for
`navigation on a site by Site basis. Once at a web site, the
`bookmark list is unused in navigation until a new web site
`in the user's bookmark list is desired. Bookmarks lend a
`uniform navigation means to an otherwise unordered Web;
`it is unfortunate that their utility has been untapped for
`intrasite navigation.
`These problems as well as others are addressed in various
`embodiments of the present invention.
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`Therefore, it is an object of the invention to improve the
`management of bookmarks in the browser.
`It is another object of the invention to provide bookmarks
`Sets from a web page Selectable by a browser.
`It is another object of the invention to automatically
`update a browser bookmark list of a Subsequent visit to a
`bookmarked web site.
`These and other objects are accomplished by providing
`bookmark Sets to a browser in a computer System by
`downloading a respective bookmark Set as a unit. The
`process begins by creating a bookmark Set at a first computer
`System computer System coupled to a network, the book
`
`15
`
`40
`
`45
`
`25
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`This invention relates generally to information retrieval in
`a computer network. More particularly, it relates to an
`improved method for providing a Set of bookmarks in a
`browser for retrieving Web pages in an Internet environ
`ment.
`It is well known to couple a plurality of computer Systems
`into a network of computer Systems. In this way, the
`collective resources available within the network may be
`shared among users, thus allowing each connected user to
`enjoy resources which would not be economically feasible
`to provide to each user individually. With the growth of the
`Internet, Sharing of computer resources has been brought to
`a much wider audience. The Internet has become a cultural
`medium in today's Society for both information and enter
`tainment. Government agencies employ Internet Sites for a
`variety of informational purposes. For many companies, one
`or more Internet Sites are an integral part of their business,
`these sites are frequently mentioned in the companies
`television, radio and print advertising.
`The World Wide Web, or simply “the Web”, is the
`Internet's multimedia information retrieval system. It is the
`most commonly used method of transferring data in the
`Internet environment. Other methods exist Such as the File
`Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Gopher, but have not achieved
`the popularity of the Web. Client machines accomplish
`transactions to Web servers using the Hypertext Transfer
`Protocol (HTTP), which is a known application protocol
`providing users access to files, e.g., text, graphics, images,
`Sound, Video, using a standard page description language
`known as the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTML
`35
`provides basic document formatting and allows the devel
`oper to specify “links” to other servers and files. In the
`Internet paradigm, a network path to a server is identified by
`a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) having a special Syntax
`for defining a network connection.
`Retrieval of information is generally achieved by the use
`of an HTML-compatible “browser', e.g., Netscape
`Navigator, at a client machine. When the user of the browser
`Specifies a link via a URL, the client issues a request to a
`naming Service to map a hostname in the URL to a particular
`network IP address at which the server is located. The
`naming Service returns a list of one or more IP addresses that
`can respond to the request. Using one of the IP addresses, the
`browser establishes a connection to a server. If the Server is
`available, it returns a document or other object formatted
`according to HTML. Web browsers have become the pri
`mary interface for access to many network and Server
`Services.
`The entry of the URL in the entry field of a browser can
`be a difficult task for many users. While the URL for the
`main Web page of a major company can be relatively brief,
`e.g., www.ibm.com, Subsidiary pages can have very lengthy
`URLS in, at least to the average user, an arcane Syntax.
`Recognizing the difficulties involved, the developers of
`browserS have provided one useful means of returning to a
`favorite URL, by the creation of user stored “bookmarks' in
`the browser.
`Web browsers offer many options in the user interface for
`creating a bookmark list. Basic options let the user add and
`access a page through a pop-up menu on the location toolbar
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`or through a menu pulldown from the main menu bar. A
`Simple way to add a bookmark for a favorite page is to enter
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`mark Set containing a Set of Uniform Resource Locators
`(URLS) and downloadable as a unit one or more computer
`Systems. A request for downloading the bookmark Set results
`in Sending the bookmark Set via the network to a Second
`computer System. The bookmark Set is received and used at
`the Second computer System by a browser to access the Set
`of URLs. The request for downloading the bookmark set can
`be initiated at the first computer System as a push operation
`or at the Second computer System in a pull operation. The
`bookmark Set can be set for automatic update; if changes are
`made at the first computer System, the updated bookmark Set
`to the Second computer System. The bookmark Set can be
`incorporated in a downloaded web document. The browser
`parses for a tag in the web document which indicates the
`presence of a bookmark Set in the web document and
`prompts for whether the incorporated bookmark Set is to
`made available for use by the browser.
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`only by processor Speed and disk Storage requirements,
`computers in the IBM PC series of computers could be used
`in the present invention. One operating System which an
`IBM personal computer may run is IBM's OS/2 Warp 4.0.
`In the alternative, the computer system might be in the IBM
`RISC System/6000 (TM) line of computers which run on the
`AIX (TM) operating system.
`In FIG. 1, a computer 10, comprising a System unit 11, a
`keyboard 12, a mouse 13 and a display 14 are depicted in
`block diagram form. The System unit 11 includes a System
`bus or plurality of system buses 21 to which various com
`ponents are coupled and by which communication between
`the various components is accomplished. The microproces
`Sor 22 is connected to the System buS 21 and is Supported by
`read only memory (ROM) 23 and random access memory
`(RAM) 24 also connected to system bus 21. A micropro
`cessor in the IBM PC series of computers is one of the Intel
`family of microprocessors including the 386, 486 or Pen
`tium microprocessors. However, other microprocessors
`including, but not limited to, Motorola's family of micro
`processors such as the 68000, 68020 or the 68030 micro
`processors and various Reduced Instruction Set Computer
`(RISC) microprocessors such as the PowerPC chip manu
`factured by IBM. Other RISC chips made by Hewlett
`Packard, Sun, Motorola and others may be used in the
`Specific computer.
`The ROM 23 contains among other code the Basic
`Input-Output system (BIOS) which controls basic hardware
`operations Such as the interaction of the processor and the
`disk drives and the keyboard. The RAM 24 is the main
`memory into which the operating System and application
`programs are loaded. The memory management chip 25 is
`connected to the System bus 21 and controls direct memory
`acceSS operations including, passing data between the RAM
`24 and hard disk drive 26 and floppy disk drive 27. The CD
`ROM 32 also coupled to the system bus 21 is used to store
`a large amount of data, e.g., a multimedia program or
`presentation.
`Also connected to this system bus 21 are various I/O
`controllers: The keyboard controller 28, the mouse control
`ler 29, the video controller 30, and the audio controller 31.
`As might be expected, the keyboard controller 28 provides
`the hardware interface for the keyboard 12, the mouse
`controller 29 provides the hardware interface for mouse 13,
`the video controller 30 is the hardware interface for the
`display 14, and the audio controller 31 is the hardware
`interface for the speakers 15. An I/O controller 40 such as a
`Token Ring Adapter enables communication over a network
`46 to other Similarly configured data processing Systems.
`One of the preferred implementations of the invention is
`as sets of instructions 48-52 resident in the random access
`memory 24 of one or more computer Systems configured
`generally as described above. Until required by the com
`puter System, the Set of instructions may be Stored in another
`computer readable memory, for example, in the hard disk
`drive 26, or in a removable memory Such as an optical disk
`for eventual use in the CD-ROM 32 or in a floppy disk for
`eventual use in the floppy disk drive 27. Further, the set of
`instructions can be Stored in the memory of another com
`puter and transmitted over a local area network or a wide
`area network Such as the Internet when desired by the user.
`One skilled in the art would appreciate that the physical
`Storage of the Sets of instructions physically changes the
`medium upon which it is Stored electrically, magnetically, or
`chemically So that the medium carries computer readable
`information. While it is convenient to describe the invention
`in terms of instructions, Symbols, characters, or the like, the
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`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`These objects, features and advantages will be more
`readily understood with reference to the attached figures and
`following description.
`FIG. 1 depicts a computer System configured according to
`the teachings of the present invention.
`FIG. 2 depicts the processing of an HTTP request in the
`Internet environment.
`FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram of the creation of a list of
`bookmarks.
`FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of rendering a bookmark set the
`active Set according to the present invention.
`FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram of using the bookmark set
`architecture of the present invention to limit access to the
`URLs of the active bookmark set.
`FIGS. 6A and 6B respectively depict user interfaces for
`prior art browsers and a browser which follows the present
`bookmark Set architecture.
`FIG. 7 illustrates the use of a blacklist bookmark set to
`control the URLs visited by the browser.
`FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the blacklist bookmark set
`embodiment.
`FIG. 9 show a user interface for downloading a bookmark
`Set.
`FIG. 10 is a flow diagram showing a pull process for
`network components in a bookmark Set download.
`FIG. 11 is a flow diagram showing a push process for a
`bookmark set download initiated at the browser.
`FIG. 12 shows the user interface of a browser when the
`web site of URLs change.
`FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the interaction of network
`components in an bookmark Set update.
`FIG. 14 is a flowchart depicting a process for dynamic
`update of bookmarkS.
`FIG. 15 shows the use of a consumer hot list at a retail
`web site.
`FIG. 16 is a flowchart of the consumer hot list process.
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`The invention may be run on a variety of computers or
`collection of computers under a number of different oper
`ating Systems. The computer could be, for example, a
`personal computer, a mini computer, mainframe computer or
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`a computer running in a distributed network of other com
`puters. Although the Specific choice of computer is limited
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`S
`reader should remember that all of these and similar terms
`should be associated with the appropriate physical elements.
`Further, the invention is often described in terms that
`could be associated with a human operator. While the
`operations performed may be in response to user input, no
`action by a human operator is desirable in any of the
`operations described herein which form part of the present
`invention; the operations are machine operations processing
`electrical Signals to generate other electrical Signals.
`A web browser is a program that allows Viewing the
`content of the Internet. A well known web browser is
`Netscape Navigator, however, many browsers exist. Some
`are general purpose and have many capabilities to provide a
`variety of functions. Other are less capable and Special
`purpose. In general, a web browser is a program which is
`capable of parsing and presenting a document written in
`HTML, although those skilled in the art would appreciate
`that other markup languages Such as dynamic HTML and
`XML will be used in the browsers of the future. In the
`present invention, the browser must also be equipped with a
`bookmark manager, a Software module which handles Sets
`of bookmarks which provide referents, typically URLs, to
`various locations in the Internet. The bookmark manager is
`preferably part of the browser itself.
`Upon starting a web browser, the first page the user Sees
`is the current “home page'. The URL of the home page can
`be regarded as the first bookmark in the browser. Although
`entry of a URL is one way of browsing the Web, the user
`may also traverse to another Web page by clicking high
`lighted Words, images or graphics in a page activating an
`asSociated hyperlink to bring another page of related infor
`mation to the Screen. Each hyperlink contains URL location
`information that Serves as an address of the web site.
`Navigational aids such as Back and Forward toolbar buttons
`are available to proceed back or forward to pages which
`have been previously accessed. Other navigation aids are the
`bookmarks which are used in the present invention.
`In the Internet, the Web Server accepts a client request and
`returns a response back to the client. A Series of Server
`computerS may be involved in the retrieval of a specific web
`page. The operation of the Server program is governed by a
`number of Server application functions (SAFs), each of
`which is configured to execute in a certain Stop of a
`Sequence. This Sequence, illustrated in FIG. 2, begins with
`the authorization translation step 75 during which the web
`Server translates any authorization information Sent by the
`web client into a user and a group. If necessary, the Step 75
`may decode a message to get the actual client request. At the
`name translation step 77, the URL associated with the
`request may or may not be translated into a System
`dependent file name, a redirection URL or a mirror Site. In
`the path checks step 79, the server performs various tests on
`the resulting path to ensure that the given client may retrieve
`the document.
`In step 81, Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME)
`type information, e.g., text/html, image/gif, for the given
`document is recognized. In the service step 83, the Web
`Server routine Selects an internal Server function to Send the
`retrieved information back to the requesting web client. This
`function can run the normal Server Service routine to return
`a file or Some other Server function, Such as a program to
`return to return a custom document or a CGI program. At the
`Add Log step 85, information about the transaction is
`recorded.
`AURL or “Uniform Resource Locator' is defined in RFC
`1945, which is incorporated herein by reference. As is well
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`6
`known, the URL is typically of the format: http://somehost/
`Somedirectory?parameters .
`. . ” where “somehost' is the
`hostname position of the URL, “somedirectory” is a direc
`tory in which the web page may be found. The usual manner
`in which a URL is resolved into an actual IP address for a
`Web Server is through the use of a nameServer. In an internet
`or intranet network, a nameServer maps hostnames in URLS
`to actual network addresses. An example of a nameserver is
`the Domain Name Service (DNS) currently implemented in
`the Internet. The process of having a Web client request a
`hostname and address from a nameserver is Sometimes
`called resolution. In TCP/IP, the nameserver resolves the
`hostname into a list of one or more IP addresses which are
`returned to the Web client on an HTTP request. Each IP
`address identifies a Server which hosts the requested content
`made by the browser.
`Each bookmark entry is comprised of a URL to a favorite
`page and an associated descriptive text String which
`describes the web page in Such a way to be easily recognized
`by the user. The descriptive text can be entered by the user
`when creating the bookmark Set. Also, the typical browser
`default, when the user does not enter any descriptive text, is
`to use the text within an embedded “title' tag which is often
`sent as part of the HTML header. Other information such as
`pointers to cached copies of the web page can be included
`in the bookmark entry.
`Named Internet Bookmark Sets
`Current web browsers process bookmarks as single URL
`entities within a single repository of bookmarkS. Some
`browserS have the capability to organize the bookmarks by
`folders; however, even if a particular folder is chosen, all
`bookmarks remain available for Selection without restric
`tions. While the user can group the bookmarks into several
`user-specified categories, an entity which operates like the
`“bookmark set described by the Applicants is lacking. The
`inability of prior art browsers to proceSS groups of
`bookmarks, particularly Subgroups of the overall bookmark
`list, as an entity is disadvantageous.
`For example, it is possible to include a list of bookmarks
`in an electronic message to another user. However, this takes
`a lot of manual work by one user to make the list and more
`work by a Second user to incorporate the list into the Second
`user's browser's bookmark list. It is not possible to request
`a downloadable bookmark Set which is Smoothly integrated
`in the bookmark file of prior art browsers in a Single
`operation.
`AS another example, in prior art browsers, bookmarks can
`not be installed as a Set, nor once installed can bookmarks
`be managed, e.g., Stored, Selected or deleted, as a bookmark
`set. When installing bookmark entries, prior art web brows
`erS require the users to install each bookmark individually
`rather than installating a group of bookmarks as a Set. Prior
`art web browsers do not Support the concept of deleting a
`bookmark Set, where all the bookmark entries are deleted as
`a Set. The maintenance of bookmark entries in the prior art
`web browserS requires manual intervention, handling indi
`vidual URLS for all bookmark entries.
`This invention creates the concept of “bookmark sets” to
`provide greater capability than exists in the prior art book
`mark technology.
`A bookmark set is an entity which has attributes of its
`own, e.g., active VS. inactive, and manages attributes and
`behavior, e.g., dynamic VS. Static, of its individual book
`marks. A bookmark Set is a finite collection of bookmarks
`that have Static and dynamic characteristics. An action Such
`as Selection, deletion or e-mail transmission can be accom
`plished for the entire Set in a single operation by the user.
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`Since the bookmark list in prior art web browsers is
`basically one huge list, they allow unrestricted access to all
`bookmark entries, regardless of classification. The present
`invention adds the concept of an “active' bookmark Set.
`Each bookmark Set is a collection of bookmark entries that
`can be made active or inactive as a working Set. The active
`bookmark Set comprises the only bookmarks which can be
`accessed through the bookmark mechanism.
`In Some embodiments below, the active bookmark set is
`the only list of web sites, including their Subdirectories, that
`can be visite