Persisting the state of visual control elements in uniform resource locator (URL)-generated web pages

• US 10,372,783 B2
• Filed: 04/26/2016
• Issued: 08/06/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bertram, Randal L., Bragiel, John S., Fink, Edward N., Wood, Brian O.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dyer, Andrew R
• Application Number:
  US15/139,004
• Publication Number:
  US 20160239477A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,197 Days
• Field of Search: 715205, 715208, 715234
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/205 Parsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/20 Drawing from basic elements, e.g. lines or circles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method for using a key to recreate a state of a visual control element includes retrieving a key from memory. The key represents a state of a visual control element to be output to a dynamically-generated web page. The method also includes parsing the key to obtain a plurality of key-value pairs representing parameters of a uniform resource locator (URL) which is used to recreate the visual control element. Also, the method includes outputting the visual control element to the dynamically-generated web page using the URL according to the state obtained from the key.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

creating a dynamically-generated web page using a uniform resource locator (URL), wherein a visual control element is output to the dynamically-generated web page and the URL references at least one widget and at least one resource to render the dynamically-generated web page on demand;

creating a list of key-value pairs for each of a plurality of parameters specified in the URL by parsing the URL;

determining one or more first parameters that are specific to an individual instance of a web page and do not provide specificity to any visual control elements;

discarding the one or more first parameters from the list of key-value pairs prior to concatenating the list of key-value pairs;

determining whether a data set is associated with the visual control element;

determining an identifier that specifically identifies the associated data set in response to determining the data set is associated with the visual control element;

determining the key includes an empty indicator in response to determining the data set is not associated with the visual control element;

inserting additional parameters into the list of key-value pairs prior to concatenating the list of key-value pairs;

concatenating the list of key-value pairs into a key represented by a string of characters; and

storing the key to a memory.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, comprising:

receiving input navigating away from the dynamically-generated web page;

receiving input navigating back to the dynamically-generated web page;

retrieving the key from the memory;

obtaining a state of the visual control element and a plurality of key-value pairs representing parameters of the URL by parsing the key; and

recreating the visual control element on the dynamically-generated web page using the URL according to a state obtained from the key after retrieving the key from the memory.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the dynamically-generated web page is configured to load and/or manage widgets based on a context of a computing system and/or a context of a network hosting the dynamically-generated web page;

wherein loading and/or managing the widgets comprises dynamically adjusting the widgets for changing conditions of the computing system and/or changing conditions of the network; and

wherein dynamically adjusting the widgets is performed without reloading or refreshing the URL.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

determining that one or more parameters are each independently included in multiple instances of the visual control element; and

discarding the one or more parameters from the list of key-value pairs prior to being concatenated into the key.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the memory is a local memory of a system which loaded the dynamically-generated web page.

6. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the state obtained from the key is a previous state of the visual control element;

and

wherein the previous state of the visual control element was established by a user during a previous interaction with the dynamically-generated web page.

7. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

retrieving a uniform resource locator (URL) that created a dynamically-generated web page on which a visual control element is output, wherein the URL references at least one widget and at least one resource to render the dynamically-generated web page on demand;

creating a list of key-value pairs for each of a plurality of parameters specified in the URL by parsing the URL;

determining one or more first parameters that are specific to an individual instance of a web page and do not provide specificity to any visual control elements;

discarding the one or more first parameters from the list of key-value pairs prior to concatenating the list of key-value pairs;

determining whether a data set is associated with the visual control element

in response to determining the data set is associated with the visual control element, determining an identifier that specifically identifies the data set, and setting the identifier as one of a plurality of additional parameters of the visual control element;

in response to determining the visual control element is not associated with any data sets, setting an empty indicator as one of the additional parameters of the visual control element;

inserting the additional parameters into the list of key-value pairs prior to concatenating the list of key-value pairs;

concatenating the list of key-value pairs into a key represented by a string of characters;

storing the key to a memory; and

retrieving the key from the memory and recreating the visual control element on the dynamically-generated web page using the URL according to a state obtained from the key after retrieving the key from the memory.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the memory is a local memory of a system which loaded the dynamically-generated web page.

9. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the one or more first parameters comprise a timestamp.

10. The method as recited in claim 7, comprising:

determining that one or more first parameters are each independently included in multiple instances of the visual control element prior to discarding the one or more first parameters from the list of key-value pairs; and

wherein the one or more first parameters comprise an identifier of the dynamically-generated web page.

11. The method as recited in claim 7, comprising alphabetizing the list of key-value pairs prior to the list of key-value pairs being concatenated into the key.

12. The method as recited in claim 7, comprising discarding one or more second parameters from the list of key-value pairs prior to being concatenated into the key, the one or more second parameters including parameters that are each independently included in multiple instances of the visual control element.

13. The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising obtaining the state of the visual control element and a plurality of key-value pairs representing parameters of the URL by parsing the key prior to recreating the visual control element on the dynamically-generated web page.