Shortcut Sets For Controlled Environments

• US 20090077200A1
• Filed: 10/26/2007
• Published: 03/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kumar, Amit
• Granted Patent: US 7,752,285 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A method and apparatus for shortcut sets to data sources, such as web sites, is disclosed. The shortcut sets may be associated with a controlled environment. A controlled environment might be a home, corporation, business, etc. As an example, an information technology (IT) manager configures shortcuts for the employees of the company. As another example, a family member configures shortcuts that are common to all family members, when at home. A user may enter a shortcut into a search box of a web browser to be directed to a data source. If the shortcut indicates a search at the data source is desired, then a search is automatically performed at the data source.

Claims

1. A machine implemented method comprising:

receiving, from a client, a request containing a particular hint token;

identifying an environment to which the client belongs;

from a plurality of shortcut sets, selecting a shortcut set that is specifically associated with the environment, wherein each shortcut set contains hint tokens associated with data sources;

determining whether the selected shortcut set contains the particular hint token; and

in response to determining that the selected shortcut set contains the particular hint token, directing the client to a data source associated, within the selected shortcut set, with the particular hint token.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the shortcut set is a first shortcut set and further comprising:

in response to determining that the selected shortcut set does not contain the hint token with an associated data source, performing the following steps;

selecting a second shortcut set based on further information associated with the request;

determining whether the second shortcut set contains the hint token with an associated data source; and

in response to determining that the second shortcut set contains the hint token with an associated data source, directing the client to a website corresponding to the data source.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of directing the client to a data source comprises directing the client to initiate a search at the data source associated with the particular hint token.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of directing the client to a data source comprises directing the client to a website associated with the data source.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

in response to receiving input from an administrator of the environment, establishing the shortcut set that is specifically associated with the environment.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the environment to which the client belongs comprises receiving, from a proxy device within the environment, information that uniquely identifies the environment.

7. A method comprising performing a machine-executed operation involving instructions, wherein said instructions are instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform certain steps including:

receiving, from a client, a request containing a particular hint token;

receiving information that uniquely identifies an environment to which the client belongs;

based on the information, determining whether any of a plurality of shortcut sets is specifically associated with the environment, wherein each shortcut set contains hint tokens associated with data sources;

in response to determining that there is a shortcut set that is specifically associated with the environment, determining whether the selected shortcut set contains the particular hint token; and

in response to determining that the shortcut set that is specifically associated with the environment contains the particular hint token, directing the client to a data source associated, within the selected shortcut set, with the particular hint token;

wherein the machine-executed operation is at least one of (a) sending said instructions over transmission media, (b) receiving said instructions over transmission media, (c) storing said instructions onto a machine-readable storage medium, or (d) executing the instructions.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the shortcut set is a first shortcut set and further comprising:

in response to determining that the selected shortcut set does not contain the hint token with an associated data source, performing the following steps;

selecting a second shortcut set based on further information associated with the request;

determining whether the second shortcut set contains the hint token with an associated data source; and

in response to determining that the second shortcut set contains the hint token with an associated data source, directing the client to a website corresponding to the data source.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of directing the client to a data source comprises directing the client to initiate a search at the data source associated with the particular hint token.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of directing the client to a data source comprises directing the client to a website associated with the data source.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of:

in response to receiving input from an administrator of the environment, establishing the shortcut set that is specifically associated with the environment.

12. The method of claim 7, in response to determining that the plurality of shortcut sets do not contain a shortcut set that is specifically associated with the environment, providing, to a device in the environments, a message that indicates that a shortcut set was not found for the environment.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

the proxy accessing a shortcut set that is specifically associated with the environment; and

based on information in the shortcut set accessed by the proxy, directing the client to a data source that is associated with the particular hint token.

14. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable medium communicatively coupled to the processor, said computer readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions, which when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of;

receiving, from a client, a request containing a particular hint token;

identifying an environment to which the client belongs;

from a plurality of shortcut sets, selecting a shortcut set that is specifically associated with the environment, wherein each shortcut set contains hint tokens associated with data sources;

determining whether the selected shortcut set contains the particular hint token; and

in response to determining that the selected shortcut set contains the particular hint token, directing the client to a data source associated, within the selected shortcut set, with the particular hint token.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the one or more sequences of instructions, which when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the step of directing the client to a data source comprise one or more sequences of instructions, which when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the step of directing the client to initiate a search at the data source.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the one or more sequences of instructions, which when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the step of directing the client to a data source comprise one or more sequences of instructions, which when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the step of directing the client to a website associated with the data source.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising one or more sequences of instructions, which when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the step of:

in response to receiving input from an administrator of the environment, establishing the shortcut set that is specifically associated with the environment.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the one or more sequences of instructions, which when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the step of identifying the environment to which the client belongs comprise one or more sequences of instructions, which when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the step of receiving, from a proxy device within the environment, information that uniquely identifies the environment.