Enterprise web browser extension

• US 20080184157A1
• Filed: 10/30/2007
• Published: 07/31/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Selig, Roy A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,527,881 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/781
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/174 Form filling; Merging

Abstract

Systems, methodologies, media, and other embodiments associated with web browsers are described. One exemplary embodiment includes a browser extension for a web browser that can communicate with a remote web service from an enterprise application to retrieve content. The content can then be displayed in sidebar window panes within the browser.

Claims

1. A browser extension for operating with a web browser on a computing device having a display screen, the browser extension comprising:

toolbar logic to create and display a toolbar with one or more icons on the display screen, where an icon is configured to initiate an associated command; and

sidebar logic to;

communicate with a remote web service to determine a group of sidebar content to display on the display screen based on a rule;

communicate with the remote web service to retrieve the group of sidebar content;

display a group of sidebar windows on the display screen based on the retrieved group of sidebar content where a sidebar content is displayed in an associated sidebar window, the group of sidebar windows being displayed in combination with the toolbar; and

configure one or more of the sidebar windows to communicate to one or more remote web services from an enterprise application based on the sidebar content displayed therein.

2. The browser extension of claim 1 where the browser extension is configured to display the toolbar and the group of sidebar windows separate from a web page window configured to display web page content by the web browser.

3. The browser extension of claim 1 where the group of sidebar windows are configured to be selectively expanded or collapsed on the display screen.

4. The browser extension of claim 1 where the browser extension is configured to be installed in the web browser on the computing device and executed as part of the web browser.

5. The browser extension of claim 1 where the browser extension is configured to transmit user information to the remote web service, where the user information is used by the rule to determine user-specific sidebar content to be retrieved as the group of sidebar content.

6. The browser extension of claim 1 where the browser extension is embodied as processor readable instructions on a computer-readable medium.

7. The browser extension of claim 1 where the group of sidebar content includes one or more different types of content and where the sidebar logic displays a different sidebar window for containing each different type of content.

8. A computing device including a web browser for locating and displaying web pages from a network, the computing device comprising:

toolbar logic to create and display a toolbar with icons for initiating an associated command; and

sidebar logic to create and display multiple window panes in combination with the toolbar, where each of the window panes having associated code for communicating with a remote web service from an enterprise application to retrieve content from the enterprise application and display the content in the associated window pane, the multiple window panes being displayed simultaneously within the web browser.

9. The computing device of claim 8 where the multiple window panes are determined based on user rights assigned to a user.

10. The computing device of claim 8 where the multiple window panes are configured to be selectively expanded or collapsed.

11. The computing device of claim 8 where the toolbar logic and sidebar logic are embodied as a browser extension that is selectively installed into or uninstalled from the web browser, and executable as resident software code in the web browser when installed.

12. The computing device of claim 8 where the web browser is further configured to display an icon in the toolbar for each of the multiple window panes that are displayed so that the icons in the toolbar are synchronized with the multiple window panes, where a selected icon is associated to function with a selected window pane.

13. The computing device of claim 8 further including a display screen.

14. A computer-readable medium having processor executable instructions that when executed, cause a computing device to perform a method, the method comprising:

displaying a web browser window on a display screen including a web page window for displaying web page content;

communicating with a pre-determined remote web service from an enterprise application to retrieve sidebar content;

displaying, on the display screen, one or more sidebar window panes for which the sidebar content is retrieved;

displaying the retrieved sidebar content in the corresponding sidebar window panes; and

displaying, on the display screen, a toolbar with one or more icons where an icon is configured to initiate a command for an associated sidebar window pane from the one or more sidebar window panes.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14 further including executable instructions to:

establish communications between each of the sidebar window panes and one or more remote web services from the enterprise application based on the sidebar content displayed therein.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 14 further including executable instructions for:

communicating with the remote web service from the enterprise application to retrieve sidebar content that has been pre-designated for a user.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 14 where the communicating with the pre-determined remote web service from the enterprise application includes:

transmitting user identification data to the remote web service that causes the remote web service to;

determine a user profile associated with the user identification data; and

transmit user-specific sidebar content associated with the user profile; and

receiving the user-specific sidebar content for the one or more sidebar window panes from the enterprise application based on the user profile.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 14 where the icon, configured to initiate the command for the associated sidebar window pane, is configured to cause a display option of the associated sidebar window pane to change values.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 14 further including:

communicating with a web site to retrieve and display the web page content within the browser window;

where the web site is a different entity from the remote web service and where the web page content is distinct from the retrieved sidebar content.

20. A system, comprising:

means for displaying a web browser window on a display screen including a web page window for displaying web page content;

means for communicating with a pre-determined remote web service from an enterprise application to retrieve sidebar content; and

means for displaying one or more sidebar window panes for which the sidebar content is retrieved and displaying the retrieved sidebar content in the corresponding sidebar window panes.