APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR RETRIEVING INFORMATION OVER A COMPUTER NETWORK
First Claim
1. A system for retrieving information from a network and forwarding the retrieved information to a user access device, comprising:
- means for storing one or more user configuration files, each said configuration file being associated with a user, specifying one or more types of information to be retrieved, and specifying how the retrieved information is to be formatted; and
means for responding to an information request from a requesting user by associating said information request with said requesting user, retrieving one of said configuration files corresponding to said requesting user, retrieving and formatting information from the network in accordance with said corresponding configuration file, and forwarding said formatted information to the access device of said requesting user.
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Abstract
Personalized information retrieval from a network is enabled through a user configuration file which is created and/or edited by the user and stored in a database server. The file specifies what information the user would like to retrieve from the network and how that information is to be displayed. When a user attempts to retrieve information from the network, a system server responds to the request by uploading one or more request-servicing software modules, identifying the requesting user, and retrieving the user'"'"'s configuration file from the database server. The system server then retrieves and formats network information in accordance with the configuration file. Finally, the formatted information is forwarded to the user'"'"'s access device for display. By providing network users with a personalized information retrieval scheme, the invention allows each user to tailor the retrieval of information to the user'"'"'s personal needs and to the capabilities of the user'"'"'s network access device.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A system for retrieving information from a network and forwarding the retrieved information to a user access device, comprising:
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means for storing one or more user configuration files, each said configuration file being associated with a user, specifying one or more types of information to be retrieved, and specifying how the retrieved information is to be formatted; and
means for responding to an information request from a requesting user by associating said information request with said requesting user, retrieving one of said configuration files corresponding to said requesting user, retrieving and formatting information from the network in accordance with said corresponding configuration file, and forwarding said formatted information to the access device of said requesting user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for retrieving information from a network and forwarding the retrieved information to a user access device, comprising the steps of:
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storing one or more user configuration files in a storage means, each said configuration file being associated with a user, specifying one or more types of information to be retrieved, and specifying how the retrieved information is to be formatted; and
responding to an information request from a requesting user by associating said information request with said requesting user, retrieving one of said configuration files corresponding to said requesting user, retrieving and formatting information from the network in accordance with said corresponding configuration file, and forwarding said formatted information to the access device of said requesting user. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification