Expression-based web logger for usage and navigational behavior tracking

• US 20050044101A1
• Filed: 12/30/2003
• Published: 02/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Prasad, Rajeev, Kornelson, Kevin Paul
• Granted Patent: US 7,567,979 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• 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

Abstract

Configurably storing data in a plurality of files based on expressions and conditions associated with the data. Logging software enables tracking of the navigation pattern of users for selected network properties under specified conditions. The logging software is configurable such that most current and future logging specifications may be fulfilled without any code changes to the logging software.

Claims

1. A method of organizing data prior to storing the data, said method comprising:

accessing configuration information associated with the data to be stored, said configuration information including at least one expression;

receiving data including at least one condition;

evaluating the expression based on the condition; and

storing the received data in accordance with the evaluated expression.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising formatting the data in accordance with the accessed configuration information prior to storing the data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the data comprises receiving clickstream web data from a web server.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein storing the received data comprises storing a portion of the received data in accordance with the evaluated expression.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the configuration information from a user.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing the configuration information comprises reading configuration information from a central hierarchical database.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining a history of evaluated expressions to track a sequence of the evaluated expressions.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the data is received from a computing device, and wherein maintaining the history comprises storing a cookie associated with the computing device, said cookie including the sequence of the evaluated expressions.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating the expression comprises recursively evaluating portions of the expression using the condition.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the data is received from a computing device and further comprising:

authenticating the computing device; and

opening a plurality of files to store the received data.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein storing the received data comprises:

preparing column data responsive to the received data and the evaluated expression; and

storing the prepared column data in a file.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating the expression comprises:

forwarding the received data to a filter component to evaluate the expression using the condition; and

receiving the evaluated expression from the filter component.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising sampling the received data prior to storing the received data.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving the data and said evaluating the expression occur in real-time.

15. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 1.

16. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable components for filtering data prior to storing the data, said components comprising:

a configuration component to access configuration information associated with the data to be stored, said configuration information including at least one expression;

an interface component to receive data including at least one condition;

an expression component to evaluate the expression accessed by the configuration component based on the condition received by the interface component; and

a storage component to store the data received by the interface component in accordance with the expression evaluated by the expression component.

17. The computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the configuration component, when executed, creates structured data with enumerated values associated therewith based on the received configuration information.

18. The computer-readable media of claim 16, further comprising a helper component to parse the data received by the interface component for use by the expression component.

19. The computer-readable media of claim 16, further comprising an authentication component to obtain user information associated with the data received by the interface component.

20. The computer-readable media of claim 16, further comprising a scheduling component to create a file for use by the storage component to store the received data.

21. A system for organizing data prior to storing the data, said data including at least one condition, said system comprising:

a memory area to store configuration information associated with the data to be stored, said configuration information including at least one expression;

a computing device to process data; and

a computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions to be executed on the computing device to evaluate the expression based on the condition and to store the received data in accordance with the evaluated expression

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising a web server to generate the data.

23. The system of claim 22, further comprising another computing device to receive the data from the web server.

24. The system of claim 21, further comprising another memory area to store the data in a plurality of files in accordance with the configuration information.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein the computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions to be executed on the computing device in real-time to receive the data and to filter the received data prior to storage of the data by evaluating the expression using the received data.

26. A method for tracking user behavior, said method comprising:

accessing configuration information including at least one expression defining a specific user navigation path;

receiving, from a computing device, clickstream data including at least one condition;

analyzing the clickstream data by evaluating the expression using the condition to determine a relationship between the user navigation path and the clickstream data; and

storing the clickstream data in accordance with the determined relationship.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein storing the clickstream data comprises storing a cookie associated with the computing device in accordance with the evaluated expression.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising formatting the clickstream data in accordance with the accessed configuration information.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein formatting the clickstream data comprises separating the clickstream data into columns.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein storing the clickstream data comprises maintaining a sequence of evaluated expressions to track user navigational behavior.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein analyzing the received clickstream data comprises:

forwarding the received clickstream data to a filter component to evaluate the expression using the condition; and

receiving the evaluated expression from the filter component.

32. The method of claim 26, further comprising sampling the received clickstream data prior to storing the clickstream data.

33. The method of claim 26, wherein said receiving the clickstream data and said analyzing the received clickstream data occur in real-time.

34. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 26.