Categorising and retrieving items

• US 20030095139A1
• Filed: 10/09/2001
• Published: 05/22/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Davidsson, Marcus
• Granted Patent: US 6,934,718 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/700
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/355 Class or cluster creation or modification
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/968 interface for database querying and retrieval

Abstract

A web browser is configured to categorise book marked web pages. The browser runs a process that provides markers (CM1, 2, 3), which generate marker signals corresponding to individual categories for the content of the web pages. A user interface (21) is operable to allow the user to collocate a selection of the plurality of marker signals with network address data for the web page to be book marked, and also to allow the user to retrieve book marked web pages on the basis of the marker signals collocated to them.

Claims

1. Data processing apparatus for categorising items, comprising:

markers operable to generate marker signals corresponding to individual categories for the items, and a user interface operable to allow a user to collocate data corresponding to an individual item to be categorised with a selectable plurality of the marker signals corresponding to a user selection of the categories and to retrieve those items for which its corresponding data have been collocated with at least one selectable marker signal corresponding to at least one of said individual categories.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the categories associated with the markers are pre-assigned.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the user interface is operable to permit the user to associate an individual user defined category with an individual one of the markers.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 operable to categorise and retrieve items which themselves provide access to individual sources of information.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 operable to categorise items that comprise bookmarked web pages.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4 operable to categorise items that correspond to TV programs for a TV guide.

7. Apparatus according to claim 4 operable to categorise items that correspond to items of multimedia content in a multimedia database.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said user interface comprises a graphical user interface.

9. Apparatus according to claim 1 and comprising a browser operable to perform a bookmarking process for said items, and a categorisation process to provide said markers which produce said marker signals, the bookmarking process being operable to collocate the marker signals selected by the user with the bookmarked item.

10. Apparatus according to claim 1 and comprising a browser operable to perform a bookmarking retrieval process for items that have been collocated with user selected ones of the marker signals, and a categorisation process to provide said markers which produce said marker signals, the bookmarking retrieval process being operable to select those of the bookmarked items that are collocated with a user selection of the marker signals supplied by the categorisation process to the retrieval process.

11. Apparatus according to claim 1 operable to cache data corresponding to the individual item to be categorised together with individual collocated flag signals representing the selected marker signals.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein the cached data comprises a network address, thumbnail data comprising a precis of the data to be found at the address, and data corresponding to the flag signals.

13. A computer program product to be run by data processing apparatus to categorise items, the program providing markers operable to generate marker signals corresponding to individual categories for the items, and a user interface operable to allow a user to collocate an individual item to be categorised with a selectable plurality of the marker signals corresponding to a user selection of the categories and to retrieve those items that have been collocated with at least one selectable marker signal corresponding to at least one of said individual categories.

14. A method of operating data processing apparatus to categorise items, comprising:

generating marker signals corresponding to individual categories for the items, and operating a user interface so as to collocate an individual item to be categorised with a selectable plurality of the marker signals corresponding to a user selection of the categories, and operating said interface to retrieve those items that have been collocated with at least one selectable marker signal corresponding to at least one of said individual categories.

15. Data processing apparatus for categorising bookmarked web pages, comprising marker devices operable to generate marker signals corresponding to individual categories for the bookmarked web pages, a user interface operable to allow a user to associate an individual bookmarked web page with a selectable plurality of the marker signals corresponding to a user selection of the categories and to retrieve those bookmarked web pages that have been associated with at least one selectable marker signal corresponding to at least one of said individual categories.