System and method for context specific content handling

• US 20060184899A1
• Filed: 02/11/2005
• Published: 08/17/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Original Assignee: Research In Motion Limited (Blackberry Limited)
• Inventors: Dunk, Craig A., Klassen, Gerhard Dietrich
• Application Number:
  US11/055,963
• Publication Number:
  US 20060184899A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/825
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation

Abstract

A system, method and computing device are provided for context specific content handling. An application program is executed which calls an information viewing and selecting program to select and retrieve content from a remote system. Information regarding the context from which the viewing and selecting program was called by the application program and/or information regarding the content type of the content being sought for retrieval may be provided to the information viewing and selecting program. This information is used to extend the functionality of the information viewing and selecting program beyond its pre-programmed set of functions. Different application programs may be executed and may cause different functional extensions to the information viewing and selecting program.

Claims

1. An application-specific method of retrieving remote content using a web browser, the method comprising the steps of:

executing an application program;

from the application program, calling the web browser application to retrieve content from a remote system, wherein the web browser application provides a set of functions for processing selected content;

providing information to the web browser regarding the context from which it was called by the application program;

extending the functionality of the web browser using the context information by adding at least one function to the set of functions that is dependent upon the context information; and

using the web browser to select and retrieve the remote content and processing the selected remote content using the added function.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

executing a second application program;

from the second application program, calling the web browser application to retrieve content from a remote system, wherein the web browser application provides a set of functions for processing selected content;

providing information to the web browser regarding the context in which it was called by the second application program;

extending the functionality of the web browser using the context information by adding a second function distinct from the at least one function to the set of functions that is dependent upon the context information regarding the second application program; and

using the web browser to select and retrieve the remote content and processing the selected remote content using the second function.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

executing the application program and the second application program simultaneously; and

executing two instances of the web browser simultaneously, one instance for each of the application program and the second application program;

wherein the two instances of the web browser provide a different set of functions depending on whether they were called by the application program or the second application program.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

opening a communication channel between the web browser and a remote site; and

accessing remote content stored on the remote site via the communication channel.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the communication channel is the Internet.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the remote site is an FTP site.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the remote site is a web site.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

the web browser providing a graphical menu of the set of functions for processing selected content;

adding a menu selection to the menu of the set of functions corresponding to the at least one function; and

in response to selecting and retrieving the remote content, displaying the menu selection including the at least one function for processing the selected remote content.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

providing information to the web browser regarding the type of content being sought by the calling application; and

extending the functionality of the web browser using the content type information by selectively providing for the selection of the at least one function dependent upon the content type of the selected content.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the application program and the web browser are executed by a common computing device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the computing device is a mobile communication device having both voice and data capabilities.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the remote content is used to customize the operation of the computing device.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the information is provided to the web browser from the application program.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the information is provided to the web browser through an operating system.

15. A system for retrieving remote content using a web browser, comprising:

means for executing an application program;

means for calling the web browser application to retrieve content from a remote system, wherein the web browser application provides a set of functions for processing selected content;

means for providing information to the web browser regarding the context from which it was called by the application program;

means for extending the functionality of the web browser using the context information by adding at least one function to the set of functions that is dependent upon the context information; and

means for selecting and retrieving the remote content and processing the selected remote content using the added function.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

means for executing a second application program;

means for calling the web browser application to retrieve content from a remote system, wherein the web browser application provides a set of functions for processing selected content;

means for providing information to the web browser regarding the context in which it was called by the second application program;

means for extending the functionality of the web browser using the context information by adding a second function distinct from the at least one function to the set of functions that is dependent upon the context information regarding the second application program; and

means for selecting and retrieving the remote content and processing the selected remote content using the second function.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

means for executing the application program and the second application program simultaneously; and

means for executing two instances of the web browser simultaneously, one instance for each of the application program and the second application program;

wherein the two instances of the web browser provide a different set of functions depending on whether they were called by the application program or the second application program.

18. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

a communication channel between the web browser and a remote site; and

means for accessing remote content stored on the remote site via the communication channel.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the communication channel is the Internet.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the remote site is an FTP site.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the remote site is a web site.

22. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

means for providing a graphical menu of the set of functions for processing selected content;

means for adding a menu selection to the menu of the set of functions corresponding to the at least one function; and

means responsive to selecting and retrieving the remote content for displaying the menu selection including the at least one function for processing the selected remote content.

23. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

means for providing information to the web browser regarding the type of content being sought by the calling application; and

means for extending the functionality of the web browser using the content type information by selectively providing for the selection of the at least one function dependent upon the content type of the selected content.

24. The system of claim 15, wherein the application program and the web browser are executed by a common computing device.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the computing device is a mobile communication device having both voice and data capabilities.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein the remote content is used to customize the operation of the computing device.

27. The system of claim 15, wherein the information is provided to the web browser from the application program.

28. The system of claim 15, wherein the information is provided to the web browser through an operating system.

29. A computing device capable of retrieving remote content using information viewing and selecting software, comprising:

an application program that calls the information viewing and selecting software to retrieve content from a remote system, wherein the information viewing and selecting software provides a set of functions for processing selected content;

a software interface for providing information to the information viewing and selecting software regarding the context from which it was called by the application program;

a graphical user interface that provides extended functionality for the information viewing and selecting software using the context information by adding at least one function to the set of functions that is dependent upon the context information; and

wherein the information viewing and selecting software selects and retrieves the remote content and processes the selected remote content using the added function.

30. The computing device of claim 29, further comprising:

a second application program that calls the information viewing and selecting software to retrieve content from a remote system, wherein the information viewing and selecting software provides a set of functions for processing selected content;

the software interface providing information to the web browser regarding the context in which it was called by the second application program;

the graphical user interface providing extended functionality of the information viewing and selecting software using the context information by adding a second function distinct from the at least one function to the set of functions that is dependent upon the context information regarding the second application program; and

wherein the information viewing and selecting software selects and retrieves the remote content and processes the selected remote content using the second function.

31. The computing device of claim 30, further comprising:

a processing device that executes the application program and the second application program simultaneously; and

wherein the processing device executes two instances of the information viewing and selecting software simultaneously, one instance for each of the application program and the second application program;

wherein the two instances of the information viewing and selecting software provide a different set of functions depending on whether they were called by the application program or the second application program.

32. The computing device of claim 29, further comprising:

a communication channel between the information viewing and selecting software and a remote site; and

software that accesses remote content stored on the remote site via the communication channel.

33. The computing device of claim 32, wherein the communication channel is the Internet.

34. The computing device of claim 33, wherein the remote site is an FTP site.

35. The computing device of claim 33, wherein the remote site is a web site.

36. The computing device of claim 29, further comprising:

a graphical menu of the set of functions for processing selected content;

an interface that adds a menu selection to the menu of the set of functions corresponding to the at least one function; and

a display that displays the menu selection including the at least one function for processing the selected remote content.

37. The computing device of claim 29, further comprising:

the software interface providing information to the information viewing and selecting software regarding the type of content being sought by the calling application; and

the graphical user interface extending the functionality of the information viewing and selecting software using the content type information by selectively providing for the selection of the at least one function dependent upon the content type of the selected content.

38. The computing device of claim 29, wherein the computing device is a mobile communication device having both voice and data capabilities.

39. The computing device of claim 29, wherein the remote content is used to customize the operation of the computing device.

40. The computing device of claim 29, wherein the information is provided to the information viewing and selecting software from the application program.

41. The computing device of claim 29, wherein the information is provided to the information viewing and selecting software through an operating system.

42. The computing device of claim 29, wherein the information viewing and selecting software is a web browser program.