Techniques for changing the behavior of a link in a hypertext document
First Claim
1. A computer system comprising, in combination,a source of addressable hypertext records each of which may contain one or more links to different records, said links consisting of a displayable portion and a record address portion,a source of at least one link identifier, andoutput display means for displaying a selected one of said hypertext records, said display means including:
- means for forming a comparison between said link identifier and each given link in said selected record, andmeans for controlling the display of a visual cue associated with the displayable portion of said given link in response to said comparison.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A network based hypertext display system employing a supervisory computer interconnected with one or more information display units and one or more remote document servers via a network, such as the Internet. The supervisory computer controls the content displayed by the display units by transferring to each unit a control information file as well as hypertext document files which are locally stored in the display units. The control file determines the extent to which the display unit can access remotely stored information and provides additional information which is used to alter the presentation to the user. Stored control information is used to rewrite hypertext document such that certain links are disabled, and to suppress the appearance of visual cues associated with the displayed anchor which identifies selected links in the referencing document. Links and other information in local and remotely accessed documents are rewritten in accordance with commands created by a content developer using an interactive content authoring system. The hypertext display system further controls the duration of a given user session in response to the material selected for display, the time of day, and user demographics. Locally stored data copied from original documents stored on remote servers is periodically validated and updated when the validation indicates that the original has been modified.
520 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A computer system comprising, in combination,
a source of addressable hypertext records each of which may contain one or more links to different records, said links consisting of a displayable portion and a record address portion, a source of at least one link identifier, and output display means for displaying a selected one of said hypertext records, said display means including: -
means for forming a comparison between said link identifier and each given link in said selected record, and means for controlling the display of a visual cue associated with the displayable portion of said given link in response to said comparison. - View Dependent Claims (2, 12)
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3. A computer system for interactively displaying hypertext records comprising:
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a source of stored hypertext records each of which may contain one or more links to other hypertext records, a source of a plurality of link identifiers, means for comparing the content of a given hypertext record with said link identifiers to identify links to authorized records contained in said given record, output means for displaying said given record, said output means including means for displaying a visual cue associated with each link to an authorized record and for suppressing the display of a visual cue associated in links to records which are not authorized, and access means responsive to the selection by a user of a link to an authorized record for retrieving said authorized record for display by said output means.
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4. A computer system comprising, in combination,
a source of addressable hypertext records, each of which may contain one or more links, each of said links containing a locator specifying a displayable data record, a source of at least one link substitution command record consisting of a link identifier and a substitute locator, access means for retrieving a selected one of said hypertext records, means for comparing said link identifier with the content of said selected hypertext record to identify a particular link in said selected record having a predetermined relationship to said link identifier, output means for displaying said selected hypertext record, and means responsive to the selection of said particular link by a user for retrieving a further record specified by said substitute locator in said link substitution command.
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5. A computer system for interactively displaying information in response to record selection requests from a user, said system comprising:
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a source of stored hypertext records each of which may contain one or more links specifying other hypertext records, a source of at least one stored insertable display record, output display means for displaying a selected one of said stored hypertext records including means for displaying a visual cue representative of each operative link contained in said selected record, input means for accepting from a user a designation identifying one of said operative links, and record access means responsive to said designation for first retrieving and displaying a one of said insertable display records and subsequently retrieving and displaying the record specified by the link identified by said designation. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computer system for interactively displaying hypertext records comprising:
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a source of stored hypertext records each of which contains displayable information and may contain one or more links identifying other hypertext records, a source of at least one rewrite command consisting of a target text identifier and an text revision directive, output display means for displaying text and image information contained in a selected one of said hypertext records and for displaying visual cues indicative of links contained in said selected record, record retrieval means including input means for accepting from a user a designation of a selected link indicated by one of said visual cues, and means responsive to said designation for retrieving a particular hypertext record identified by said selected link, and automatic text revision means comprising; means for comparing the content of said particular hypertext record as retrieved with said target string identifier to detect matching text in said particular record which bears a predetermined relationship to said target string identifier, means responsive to the detection of said matching text for rewriting said particular hypertext record in accordance with said text revision command to form a rewritten hypertext record, and means for supplying said rewritten hypertext record to said output display means. - View Dependent Claims (11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer system for interactively displaying hypertext records comprising:
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a source of a plurality of stored hypertext records each of which may contain one or more links to other hypertext records, record browsing means comprising means for displaying a current one of said records from said source, input means manipulatable by a user for choosing a selected one of said links contained in said current record, and access means responsive to said input means for substituting the record identified by said selected link as the current displayed record, and session control means comprising; means for detecting the time at which a given user begins using said system, means for discouraging the continued use of said system by said given user upon the expiration of a permitted session period, means for assigning a rating value to at least selected ones of said records, and means for varying the duration of said permitted session period in response to the rating values assigned to those records chosen for display by said given user. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification