Managing state information across communication sessions between a client and a server via a stateless protocol

• US 20040181598A1
• Filed: 04/29/2003
• Published: 09/16/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Paya, Ismail Cem, Chow, Trevin, Purpura, Stephen J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,634,570 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching

Abstract

Managing state information across communication sessions between a client and a server via a stateless protocol. The server delivers to the client a cacheable web page with a hyperlink to non-cacheable embedded content. In the hyperlink to the non-cacheable embedded content, the server adds a token or an identifier uniquely associated with the user. When the user obtains embedded content from the cached web page via the hyperlink, the identifier is also sent to the server. Upon receipt of the identifier from the client, the server accesses the stored state information. In this manner, the server manages state information related to the client across communication sessions without the use of cookies as long as the client caches the web page with the unique identifier.

Claims

1. A method of managing state information across a plurality of communication sessions between a client and a server, said client and server being coupled to a data communication network, said client obtaining web content from information stored in a first memory area, said information being inaccessible to the server, the obtained web content including a reference to additional content stored in a second memory area, the reference including a client identifier specific to the client, the method comprising:

receiving, at the server, a request from the client for the additional content stored in the second memory area, the received request including the client identifier;

generating the additional content, said additional content being client-specific; and

accessing a database in response to the received client identifier to manage the state information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing the database comprises accessing the database to add state information or delete state information or both in response to the received client identifier.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first memory area comprises a browser cache accessible to the client and inaccessible to the server.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second memory area comprises a memory area accessible to the server.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference to additional content stored in the second memory area comprises a hyperlink to a location on the data communication network.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising delivering the requested, additional content to the client in response to the received request.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein delivering the requested, additional content comprises generating a client redirect by which the client accesses the additional content.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the client redirect includes a hypertext transfer protocol meta-refresh.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the additional content stored in the second memory area comprises one or more of the following:

an image file, a sound file, a script, an applet, a cascading style sheet, an extensible markup language data island, and text.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the additional content stored in the second memory area is referenced as a frame or an inline frame relative to the web content.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the web content in the first memory area includes a hypertext markup language (HTML) document, wherein the reference comprises a hyperlink to a location on the data communication network, and wherein the additional content is accessible by the client from within the HTML document via the hyperlink.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing data specific to the client in the database.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the server and the client communicate via a stateless protocol having request-response semantics.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request from the client for the web content;

generating the client identifier in response to the received request;

adding the generated client identifier to the reference within the web content, the reference providing a link to the additional content stored in the second memory area; and

delivering, to the client, the web content with the reference having the added client identifier, wherein the client stores, upon receipt, the delivered web content in the first memory area inaccessible to the server.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising identifying the web content with the reference having the added client identifier for long-term storage by the client.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more computer readable media have computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 1.

17. A method of managing state information across a plurality of communication sessions between a client and a server coupled to a data communication network, the method comprising:

receiving, at the server, a request from the client for web content accessible by the server;

generating the client identifier in response to the received request;

associating state information related to the received request with the generated client identifier to enable state management;

storing the state information in a database;

adding the generated client identifier to a reference within the web content, the reference providing a link to additional content stored in the second memory area;

delivering, to the client, the web content with the reference having the added client identifier, wherein the client stores, upon receipt, the delivered web content as information in a first memory area, said information stored in the first memory area being inaccessible to the server;

receiving, at the server, another request from the client for the additional content stored in the second memory area, the received other request including the client identifier;

generating the additional content, said additional content being client-specific; and

accessing the database in response to the received client identifier to manage the state information.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving, from the client, a query to determine if the web content accessible by the server has changed; and

delivering a response to the client indicating that the web content accessible by the server has not changed, wherein the client obtains the web content from the first memory area.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein accessing the database comprises accessing the database to add state information or delete state information or both in response to the received client identifier.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the first memory area comprises a browser cache accessible to the client and inaccessible to the server.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the second memory area comprises a memory area accessible to the server.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the reference to additional content comprises a hyperlink to a location on the data communication network.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the web content in the first memory area includes a hypertext markup language (HTML) document, wherein the reference comprises a hyperlink to a location on the data communication network, and wherein the additional content is accessible by the client from within the HTML document via the hyperlink.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein the server and the client communicate via a stateless protocol having request-response semantics.

25. The method of claim 17, wherein one or more computer readable media have computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 17.

26. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable components for managing state information across a plurality of communication sessions between a client and a server, said client and server being coupled to a data communication network, said client obtaining web content from information stored in a first memory area, said information being inaccessible to the server, the obtained web content including a reference to additional content stored in a second memory area, the reference including a client identifier, the components comprising:

an interface component for receiving, at the server, a request from the client for the additional content stored in the second memory area, the received request including the client identifier; and

a profile component for generating the additional content, said additional content being client-specific, said profile component further accessing a database in response to the received client identifier to manage the state information.

27. The computer-readable media of claim 26, further comprising a customization component for:

generating the client identifier in response to another request from the client for the web content;

adding the generated client identifier to the reference within the web content, the reference providing a link to the additional content stored in the second memory area; and

delivering, to the client, the web content with the reference having the added client identifier, wherein the client stores, upon receipt, the delivered web content in the first memory area inaccessible to the server.

28. The computer-readable media of claim 26, wherein the first memory area comprises a browser cache accessible to the client and inaccessible to the server.

29. The computer-readable media of claim 26, wherein the second memory area comprises a memory area accessible to the server.

30. The computer-readable media of claim 26, wherein the reference to additional content comprises a hyperlink to a location on the data communication network.

31. The computer-readable media of claim 26, wherein the web content in the first memory area includes a hypertext markup language (HTML) document, wherein the reference comprises a hyperlink to a location on the data communication network, and wherein the additional content is accessible by the client from within the HTML document via the hyperlink.

32. The computer-readable media of claim 26, wherein the server and the client communicate via a stateless protocol having request-response semantics.

33. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a data structure representing web content customized for a client, the data structure for use in managing state information across a plurality of communication sessions between the client and a server, said client and server being coupled to a data communication network, the data structure comprising:

a first field storing web content; and

a second field, within the first field, storing a reference to additional content, the reference including a client identifier, wherein the server sends the client the data structure for storage as information in a memory area, said information being inaccessible to the server, wherein the client subsequently requests the additional content from the server via the reference, wherein the server generates the additional content, said additional content being client-specific, and wherein the server associates state information regarding the client with the client identifier received in the request for additional content and stores the associated state information.

34. The computer-readable medium of claim 33, wherein the first field comprises a hypertext markup language (HTML) document.

35. The computer-readable medium of claim 33, wherein the second field comprises a hyperlink to a location on the data communication network.

36. The computer-readable medium of claim 33, wherein the second field stores a reference to one or more of the following:

a frame, an inline frame, an image file, a sound file, a script, an applet, a cascading style sheet, an extensible markup language data island, and text.

37. The computer-readable medium of claim 33, wherein the data structure is represented as a hypertext markup language (HTML) document.

38. A method of managing state information across a plurality of communication sessions between a client and a server, said client and server being coupled to a data communication network, said client obtaining web content from information stored in a client browser cache, the obtained web content including a reference to additional content hosted by the server, the reference including a client identifier specific to the client, the method comprising:

receiving, at the server, a request from the client for the additional content hosted by the server, the received request including the client identifier; and

accessing a database in response to the received client identifier to manage the state information.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising:

receiving a request from the client for the web content;

generating the client identifier in response to the received request;

adding the generated client identifier to the reference within the web content, the reference providing a link to the additional content hosted by the server; and

delivering, to the client, the web content with the reference having the added client identifier, wherein the client stores, upon receipt, the delivered web content in the client browser cache.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein one or more computer readable media have computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 38.