System, method, and computer program product for extracting information from remote devices through the HTTP protocol

• US 20080065784A1
• Filed: 09/08/2006
• Published: 03/13/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Motoyama, Tetsuro, Fong, Avery
• Granted Patent: US 7,574,489 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/245
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0226 Mapping or translating multiple network management protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0253 using browsers or web-pages for accessing management information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0293 for accessing web services by means of a binding identification of the management service or element
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications

Abstract

There is provided a method, system, and computer program product for extracting information related to a monitored device communicatively coupled to a network using an HTTP communication protocol. The method includes: retrieving, from a first memory, vendor and model information of the monitored device; determining vendor and model through the web page from the monitored device; obtaining the device state information; and storing, in a second memory, the device information obtained in the accessing step, in association with the vendor and model information.

Claims

1. A method of extracting information related to a monitored device communicatively coupled to a network using an HTTP communication protocol, comprising:

obtaining a webpage address and a corresponding plurality of model names;

accessing a webpage using the obtained webpage address;

parsing the accessed webpage to attempt to find at least one of the plurality of model names; and

if one of the model names is found in the parsing step, then normalizing the found model as the model name of the monitored device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the parsing step comprises:

searching the webpage line-by-line until at least one of the plurality of model names is found or until all lines in the webpage have been searched.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the database stores the webpage address and the corresponding plurality of model names in correspondence with a vendor name, and

the method further includes repeating the obtaining, accessing, and parsing steps for a plurality of webpage addresses stored in the database for the vendor name.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining step includes accessing a database, wherein the database has a structure including a vendor name as a key and a value field corresponding to the key, the value field including a vector of pairs, each pair including a web page definition and vector of model names.

5. A computer program product having a computer readable medium for extracting information related to a monitored device communicatively coupled to a network using an HTTP communication protocol, comprising:

instructions for obtaining a webpage address and a corresponding plurality of model names;

instructions for accessing a webpage using the obtained webpage address;

instructions for parsing the accessed webpage to attempt to find at least one of the plurality of model names; and

instructions for normalizing the found model as the model name of the monitored device if one of the model names is found in the parsing step.

6. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein the instructions for parsing comprises:

instructions for searching the webpage line-by-line until at least one of the plurality of model names is found or until all lines in the webpage have been searched.

7. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein the database stores the webpage address and the corresponding plurality of model names in correspondence with a vendor name, and the computer program product further includes

instructions for repeating the instructions for obtaining, accessing, and parsing for a plurality of webpage addresses stored in the database for the vendor name.

8. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein the instructions for obtaining includes instructions for accessing a database, wherein the database has a structure including a vendor name as a key and a value field corresponding to the key, the value field including a vector of pairs, each pair including a web page definition and vector of model names.

9. A system for extracting information related to a monitored device communicatively coupled to a network using an HTTP communication protocol, comprising:

means for obtaining a webpage address and a corresponding plurality of model names;

means for accessing a webpage using the obtained webpage address;

means for parsing the accessed webpage to attempt to find at least one of the plurality of model names; and

means for normalizing the found model as the model name of the monitored device if one of the model names is found by the means for parsing.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the means for parsing comprises:

means for searching the webpage line-by-line until at least one of the plurality of model names is found or until all lines in the webpage have been searched.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the database stores the webpage address and the corresponding plurality of model names in correspondence with a vendor name, and the system further includes means for causing the means for obtaining, means for accessing, and means for parsing to repeat.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the means for obtaining includes means for accessing a database, wherein the database has a structure including a vendor name as a key and a value field corresponding to the key, the value field including a vector of pairs, each pair including a web page definition and vector of model names.