METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ENABLING CONTEXT SHARING

• US 20110055912A1
• Filed: 08/25/2009
• Published: 03/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sentillion Incorporated (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Fusari, David, Hartz, George
• Granted Patent: US 8,528,066 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0815 providing single-sign-on or federations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/561 Adding application-functional data or data for application control, e.g. adding metadata

Abstract

Some embodiments relate to processing a web page requested by a web browser. The requested web page is received, and additional code is inserted into the web page that alters and/or augments the functionality of the web page. The web page is then forwarded to the web browser that requested it. The browser executes the code inserted into the web page, thereby augmenting the functionality of the web page.

Claims

1. A method of processing at least one web page of a web-based application program hosted by at least one web server, the method comprising acts of:

receiving a request for the at least one web page from a web browser executing on a client computer;

obtaining the at least one web page of the web-based application program in response to the request;

transforming the at least one web page by inserting, in the at least one web page, software code that is not a part of the web-based application program, to generate a modified web page, wherein the software code, when executed by the web browser on the client, augments the functionality of the at least one web page; and

forwarding the modified web page to the web browser.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the software code that is inserted into the at least one web page, when executed by the web browser, causes the web browser to send information to and receive information from a context server.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the information that the web browser sends to the context server comprises a request to determine if a user of the client computer is logged into the context server and wherein the information that the web browser receives from the context server comprises an indication of whether the user is logged into the context server.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, when it is determined that the user is not logged into the context server, the method further comprises:

redirecting the web browser to a log-in page; and

in response to redirecting the web browser to the log-in page, receiving the user'"'"'s single sign on (SSO) information.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein, when it is determined that the user is logged into the context server, the software code, when executed by the browser, determines whether the at least one web page is a login page for the web-based application program, and when, it is determined that the at least one web page is the login page, determines whether the context server stores the user'"'"'s login credentials for the web-based application program.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, when it is determined that the context server stores the user'"'"'s login credentials for the web based application, the software code receives the user'"'"'s sign on credentials from the context server, enters the user'"'"'s sign on credentials for the web-based application program into the at least one web page and submits the user'"'"'s sign on credentials for the web-based application program to the at least one web server.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, in response to submitting the user'"'"'s sign on credentials to the at least on web server, it is determined whether the log in was successful.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, when it is determined that the log in was not successful, the method further comprises:

prompting the user to input updated sign on credentials for the web-based application program; and

storing the updated sign on credentials.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the software code, when executed by the browser, causes the browser to automatically send an access request to the web-based application program to keep the user logged into the web-based application program.

10. The method of claim 5, where, when it is determined that the context server does not store the user'"'"'s login credential for the web based application, the method further comprises:

prompting the user to input the sign on credentials for the web-based application program; and

storing the sign on credentials for the web-based application.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the act of prompting the user to input the sign on credential for the web-based application program further comprises displaying the login page for the web-based application to the user via the browser.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein login page comprises input fields for inputting login credentials for the web-based application program, and wherein the act of displaying the login page for the web-based application to the user via the browser comprises displaying a watermark in the input field to indicate that the credentials are to be provided to context server.

13. The method of claim 2, wherein the web browser is a first web browser and the web-based application program is a first web-based application program, wherein the at least one web page comprises a page of the first web-based application program, and wherein the information that the first web browser sends to the context server comprises information describing a change in at least one aspect of the context via the first web browser with respect to the first web-based application program.

14. The method of claim 2, wherein the web browser is a first web browser and the web-based application program is a first web-based application program, wherein the at least one web page comprises a page of the first web-based application program, and wherein the information that the first web browser receives from the context server comprises information describing a change in context in a second web browser on the client computer with respect to a second web-based application program.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the software code, in response to receiving the information describing the change in context of the second web browser with respect to the second web-based application program, changes the context of the first web browser with respect to the first web-based application program based on the information describing the change in context.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the acts of receiving the request for the at least one web page, obtaining the at least one web page, transforming the at least one web page, and forwarding the modified web page to the web browser are performed by a web proxy server separate from the client computer and the at least one web server.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the web browser is configured to send requests for web pages on the at least one web server to the web proxy server.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the web browser is configured to determine an IP address of the at least one web server by supplying a domain name of the at least one web server to a domain name service (DNS) server, and wherein the DNS server is configured to map the domain name of the at least one web server to an IP address of the web proxy server.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the web browser is configured to determine an IP address of the at least one web server by supplying a domain name of the at least one web server to a domain name service (DNS) server, and wherein the DNS proxy is configured to intercept requests including the domain name of the at least one web server from the web browser to the DNS server and to respond to the requests by supplying an IP address of the web proxy server.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the acts of receiving the request for the at least one web page, obtaining the at least one web page, transforming the at least one web page, and forwarding the modified web page to the web browser are performed by the at least one web server.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether a most recent user access request to the web-based application program was within a predetermined amount of time; and

when it is determined that the most recent user access request was not within the predetermined amount of time, locking a browser window of the web browser in which the at least one web page is displayed.

22. The method of claim 2, wherein the web browser is a first web browser and the web-based application program is a first web-based application program, wherein the at least one web page comprises a page of the first web-based application program, and wherein the information that the first web browser receives from the context server comprises information describing a change in context in a second remotely executing application program that is emulated on the client computer using an emulation client.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the software code, in response to receiving the information describing the change in context of in the second remotely execution application program, changes the context of the first web browser with respect to the first web-based application program based on the information describing the change in context.

24. At least one tangible computer readable medium encoded with computer-executable instructions that, when executed perform a method of processing at least one web page of a web-based application program hosted by at least one web server, the method comprising acts of:

receiving a request for the at least one web page from a web browser executing on a client computer;

obtaining the at least one web page of the web-based application program in response to the request;

transforming the at least one web page by inserting, in the at least one web page, software code that is not a part of the web-based application program, to generate a modified web page, wherein the software code, when executed by the web browser on the client, augments the functionality of the at least one web page; and

forwarding the modified web page to the web browser.

25. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the software code that is inserted into the at least one web page, when executed by the web browser, causes the web browser to send information to and receive information from a context server.

26. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the information that the web browser sends to the context server comprises a request to determine if a user of the client computer is logged into the context server and wherein the information that the web browser receives from the context server comprises an indication of whether the user is logged into the context server.

27. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein, when it is determined that the user is not logged into the context server, the method further comprises:

redirecting the web browser to a log-in page; and

in response to redirecting the web browser to the log-in page, receiving the user'"'"'s single sign on (SSO) information.

28. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein, when it is determined that the user is logged into the context server, the software code, when executed by the browser, determines whether the at least one web page is a login page for the web-based application program, and when, it is determined that the at least one web page is the login page, determines whether the context server stores the user'"'"'s login credentials for the web-based application program.

29. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 28, wherein, when it is determined that the context server stores the user'"'"'s login credentials for the web based application, the software code receives the user'"'"'s sign on credentials from the context server, enters the user'"'"'s sign on credentials for the web-based application program into the at least one web page and submits the user'"'"'s sign on credentials for the web-based application program to the at least one web server.

30. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 29, wherein, in response to submitting the user'"'"'s sign on credentials to the at least on web server, it is determined whether the log in was successful.

31. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 30, wherein, when it is determined that the log in was not successful, the method further comprises:

prompting the user to input updated sign on credentials for the web-based application program; and

storing the updated sign on credentials.

32. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 29, wherein the software code, when executed by the browser, causes the browser to automatically send an access request to the web-based application program to keep the user logged into the web-based application program.

33. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 28, where, when it is determined that the context server does not store the user'"'"'s login credential for the web based application, the method further comprises:

prompting the user to input the sign on credentials for the web-based application program; and

storing the sign on credentials for the web-based application.

34. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the act of prompting the user to input the sign on credential for the web-based application program further comprises displaying the login page for the web-based application to the user via the browser.

35. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 34, wherein login page comprises input fields for inputting login credentials for the web-based application program, and wherein the act of displaying the login page for the web-based application to the user via the browser comprises displaying a watermark in the input field to indicate that the credentials are to be provided to context server.

36. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the web browser is a first web browser and the web-based application program is a first web-based application program, wherein the at least one web page comprises a page of the first web-based application program, and wherein the information that the first web browser sends to the context server comprises information describing a change in at least one aspect of the context via the first web browser with respect to the first web-based application program.

37. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the web browser is a first web browser and the web-based application program is a first web-based application program, wherein the at least one web page comprises a page of the first web-based application program, and wherein the information that the first web browser receives from the context server comprises information describing a change in context in a second web browser on the client computer with respect to a second web-based application program.

38. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 37, wherein the software code, in response to receiving the information describing the change in context of the second web browser with respect to the second web-based application program, changes the context of the first web browser with respect to the first web-based application program based on the information describing the change in context.

39. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the acts of receiving the request for the at least one web page, obtaining the at least one web page, transforming the at least one web page, and forwarding the modified web page to the web browser are performed by a web proxy server separate from the client computer and the at least one web server.

40. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 39, wherein the web browser is configured to send requests for web pages on the at least one web server to the web proxy server.

41. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 39, wherein the web browser is configured to determine an IP address of the at least one web server by supplying a domain name of the at least one web server to a domain name service (DNS) server, and wherein the DNS server is configured to map the domain name of the at least one web server to an IP address of the web proxy server.

42. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 39, wherein the web browser is configured to determine an IP address of the at least one web server by supplying a domain name of the at least one web server to a domain name service (DNS) server, and wherein the DNS proxy is configured to intercept requests including the domain name of the at least one web server from the web browser to the DNS server and to respond to the requests by supplying an IP address of the web proxy server.

43. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the acts of receiving the request for the at least one web page, obtaining the at least one web page, transforming the at least one web page, and forwarding the modified web page to the web browser are performed by the at least one web server.

44. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the method further comprises:

determining whether a most recent user access request to the web-based application program was within a predetermined amount of time; and

when it is determined that the most recent user access request was not within the predetermined amount of time, locking a browser window of the web browser in which the at least one web page is displayed.

45. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the web browser is a first web browser and the web-based application program is a first web-based application program, wherein the at least one web page comprises a page of the first web-based application program, and wherein the information that the first web browser receives from the context server comprises information describing a change in context in a second remotely executing application program that is emulated on the client computer using an emulation client.

46. The at least one tangible computer readable medium of claim 45, wherein the software code, in response to receiving the information describing the change in context of in the second remotely execution application program, changes the context of the first web browser with respect to the first web-based application program based on the information describing the change in context.

47. At least one computer comprising:

at least one tangible storage medium that stores processor-executable instructions that, when executed, perform process at least one web page of a web-based application program hosted by at least one web server; and

at least one processor, coupled to the at least one tangible storage medium, that executes the processor executable instructions to;

receive a request for the at least one web page from a web browser executing on a client computer;

obtain the at least one web page of the web-based application program in response to the request;

transform the at least one web page by inserting, in the at least one web page, software code that is not a part of the web-based application program, to generate a modified web page, wherein the software code, when executed by the web browser on the client, augments the functionality of the at least one web page; and

forward the modified web page to the web browser.

48. The at least one computer of claim 47, wherein the software code that is inserted into the at least one web page, when executed by the web browser, causes the web browser to send information to and receive information from a context server.

49. The at least one computer of claim 48, wherein the information that the web browser sends to the context server comprises a request to determine if a user of the client computer is logged into the context server and wherein the information that the web browser receives from the context server comprises an indication of whether the user is logged into the context server.

50. The at least one computer of claim 49, wherein, when it is determined that the user is not logged into the context server, the at least one processor executes the processor executable instructions to:

redirect the web browser to a log-in page; and

in response to redirecting the web browser to the log-in page, receive the user'"'"'s single sign on (SSO) information.

51. The at least one computer of claim 49, wherein, when it is determined that the user is logged into the context server, the software code, when executed by the browser, determines whether the at least one web page is a login page for the web-based application program, and when, it is determined that the at least one web page is the login page, determines whether the context server stores the user'"'"'s login credentials for the web-based application program.

52. The at least one computer of claim 51, wherein, when it is determined that the context server stores the user'"'"'s login credentials for the web based application, the software code receives the user'"'"'s sign on credentials from the context server, enters the user'"'"'s sign on credentials for the web-based application program into the at least one web page and submits the user'"'"'s sign on credentials for the web-based application program to the at least one web server.

53. The at least one computer of claim 52, wherein, in response to submitting the user'"'"'s sign on credentials to the at least on web server, it is determined whether the log in was successful.

54. The at least one computer of claim 53, wherein, when it is determined that the log in was not successful, the at least one processor executes the processor executable instructions to:

prompt the user to input updated sign on credentials for the web-based application program; and

store the updated sign on credentials.

55. The at least one computer of claim 52, wherein the software code, when executed by the browser, causes the browser to automatically send an access request to the web-based application program to keep the user logged into the web-based application program.

56. The at least one computer of claim 51, where, when it is determined that the context server does not store the user'"'"'s login credential for the web based application, the at least one processor executes the processor executable instructions to:

prompt the user to input the sign on credentials for the web-based application program; and

store the sign on credentials for the web-based application.

57. The at least one computer of claim 56, wherein the at least one processor prompts the user to input the sign on credential for the web-based application program by displaying the login page for the web-based application to the user via the browser.

58. The at least one computer of claim 57, wherein the login page comprises input fields for inputting login credentials for the web-based application program, and wherein the at least one processor displays the login page for the web-based application to the user via the browser by displaying a watermark in the input field to indicate that the credentials are to be provided to context server.

59. The at least one computer of claim 58, wherein the web browser is a first web browser and the web-based application program is a first web-based application program, wherein the at least one web page comprises a page of the first web-based application program, and wherein the information that the first web browser sends to the context server comprises information describing a change in at least one aspect of the context via the first web browser with respect to the first web-based application program.

60. The at least one computer of claim 58, wherein the web browser is a first web browser and the web-based application program is a first web-based application program, wherein the at least one web page comprises a page of the first web-based application program, and wherein the information that the first web browser receives from the context server comprises information describing a change in context in a second web browser on the client computer with respect to a second web-based application program.

61. The at least one computer of claim 60, wherein the software code, in response to receiving the information describing the change in context of the second web browser with respect to the second web-based application program, changes the context of the first web browser with respect to the first web-based application program based on the information describing the change in context.

62. The at least one computer of claim 61, wherein the web browser is configured to send requests for web pages on the at least one web server to the web proxy server.

63. The at least one computer of claim 62, wherein the web browser is configured to determine an IP address of the at least one web server by supplying a domain name of the at least one web server to a domain name service (DNS) server, and wherein the DNS server is configured to map the domain name of the at least one web server to an IP address of the web proxy server.

64. The at least one computer of claim 62, wherein the web browser is configured to determine an IP address of the at least one web server by supplying a domain name of the at least one web server to a domain name service (DNS) server, and wherein the DNS proxy is configured to intercept requests including the domain name of the at least one web server from the web browser to the DNS server and to respond to the requests by supplying an IP address of the web proxy server.

65. The at least one computer of claim 47, wherein the at least one processor executes the processor-executable instructions to:

determine whether a most recent user access request to the web-based application program was within a predetermined amount of time; and

when it is determined that the most recent user access request was not within the predetermined amount of time, lock a browser window of the web browser in which the at least one web page is displayed.

66. The at least one computer of claim 48, wherein the web browser is a first web browser and the web-based application program is a first web-based application program, wherein the at least one web page comprises a page of the first web-based application program, and wherein the information that the first web browser receives from the context server comprises information describing a change in context in a second remotely executing application program that is emulated on the client computer using an emulation client.

67. The at least one computer of claim 68, wherein the software code, in response to receiving the information describing the change in context of in the second remotely execution application program, changes the context of the first web browser with respect to the first web-based application program based on the information describing the change in context.