Web browser system

• US 5,793,964 A
• Filed: 06/07/1995
• Issued: 08/11/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Lagarde, Konrad Charles, Rogers, Richard Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Sheikh, Ayaz R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Myers, Paul R.
• Application Number:
  US08/479,481
• Time in Patent Office: 1,161 Days
• Field of Search: 395/600, 395/200.1-200.21, 395/200.32, 395/200.79
• US Class Current: 709/202
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation

Abstract

A World Wide Web browser makes requests to web servers on a network which receive and fulfill requests as an agent of the browser client, organizing distributed sub-agents as distributed integration solution (DIS) servers on an intranet network supporting the web server which also has an access agent servers accessible over the Internet. DIS servers execute selected capsule objects which perform programmable functions upon a received command from a web server control program agent for retrieving, from a database gateway coupled to a plurality of database resources upon a single request made from a Hypertext document, requested information from multiple data bases located at different types of databases geograhically dispersed, performing calculations, formatting, and other services prior to reporting to the web browser or to other locations, in a selected format, as in a display, fax, printer, and to customer installations or to TV video subscribers, with account tracking.

Claims

1. A web browser system, comprising:

a web browser, means for associating said web browser with a homepage by a coupling or addressing with a uniform resource locator (URL or UAL),

a control program agent node located somewhere on the Internet supporting a control program agent coupled to and supporting said homepage by a coupling or addressing with a uniform resource locator,

said control program agent node being coupled via a network with facilities provided within an intranet for private owner facilities and which may be protected by firewalls at the intranet boundary,

said control program agent being coupled to a command file server and said command file server being coupled to a database gateway for gathering information from databases coupled to said database gateway and located on different database servers, said command file server supporting a plurality of command file objects which are programmed to perform web browser service support functions at the request of a user of said web browser to access information within the intranet and to gather information located elsewhere via the Internet as a sub-agent of said control program agent.

2. A web browser system according to claim 1,

wherein by submission of a request at a web browser a user can not only access information within an intranet, but can reach outside the intranet to gather information located elsewhere via the Internet.

3. A web browser system according to claim 1,

wherein there are on the networking including an intranet and the Internet a plurality of database gateways, and at the command of a command file running within a command file server one database gateway is coupled to another database gateway via the network by an inter-network routing protocol.

4. A web browser system according to claim 1,

wherein there are on the networking including an intranet and the Internet a plurality of database gateways, and at the command of a command file running within a command file server one database gateway is coupled to another database gateway via the network by an inter-network routing protocol invoking coupling of database gateways by URL or UALs.

5. A web browser system according to claim 4, wherein said second database gateway is coupled to its own command file server.

6. A web browser system according to claim 1,

wherein a web browser initiated request is distributed via an intranet to the Intranet whereby access of data is obtained not only intranet, but also via the Internet to gather data from a database supported by a command file server located outside the intranet.

7. A web browser system according to claim 1,

wherein a web browser initiated request is distributed via an intranet to the Intranet whereby access of data is obtained not only intranet, but also via the Internet to gather data from a database supported by a command file server located outside the intranet and coupled to said command file server with public access or access obtained after processing of variable access authorization data provided through said command file server.

8. A web browser system according to claim 1, further comprising,

at least one intranet network supporting a plurality of web servers having a control program agent and having an access agent coupled to the Internet;

at least one web server coupled to said web browser client for receiving and fulfilling a request as an agent of said client;

at least one intranet network supporting said web server and having an access agent coupled to the Internet.

9. A web browser system according to claim 8, further comprising,

a plurality of information access servers for acting as sub-agents for said web server during a process of fulfilling requests, said access servers having capsule objects which perform programmable functions which are executable upon a received command from said web server, at least one of said access servers being located on said intranet network;

said web server including a control program agent for receiving a user request initiated at the web browser client for information and for transmitting said request to a sub-agent access server having capsule objects which execute upon command programmable functions requested by said web server.

10. A web browser system, comprising:

a web browser, means for associating said web browser with a homepage by a coupling or addressing with a uniform resource locator including

a first control program agent node located somewhere on the Internet supporting a control program agent coupled to and supporting said homepage by a coupling or addressing with a uniform resource locator,

a second control program agent node located somewhere on the Internet supporting a second control program agent by a coupling or addressing with a uniform resource locator,

said second control program agent node

being coupled via a network with facilities provided within an intranet for private owner facilities and which may be protected by firewalls at the intranet boundary,

said first control program agent being coupled to said second control program agent node located somewhere on the Internet supporting said second control program agent and coupled to and supporting a a command file server, said command file server being coupled to a database gateway for gathering information from databases coupled to said database gateway and located on different database servers, said command file server supporting a plurality of command file objects which are programmed to perform web browser service support functions at the request of a user of said web browser to access information within the intranet and to gather information located elsewhere via the Internet as a sub-agent of said a control program agent of said first control program agent node.

11. A web browser system according to claim 10,

wherein said first control program agent resides on a first web server supporting said web browser and said second control program agent resides on a second web server which is coupled via its own network to an associated command file server to perform tasks requested by said web browser and results are communicated to said web browser after passing through multiple networks.

12. A web browser system according to claim 10, further comprising,

at least one intranet network supporting a plurality of web servers having a control program agent and having an access agent coupled to the Internet;

at least one web server coupled to said web browser client for receiving and fulfilling a request as an agent of said client;

at least one intranet network supporting said web server and having an access agent coupled to the Internet.

13. A web browser system according to claim 12, further comprising,

a plurality of information access servers for acting as sub-agents for said web server during a process of fulfilling requests, said access servers having capsule objects which perform programmable functions which are executable upon a received command from said web server, at least one of said access servers being located on said intranet network;

said web server including a control program agent for receiving a user request initiated at the web browser client for information and for transmitting said request to a sub-agent access server having capsule objects which execute upon command programmable functions requested by said web server.

14. A web browser system, comprising:

a web browser, means for associating said web browser with a homepage including

a first control program agent node supporting a control program agent coupled to and supporting said homepage and supporting an API to access a database available to said first control program agent node,

said control program agent and API (Application Programming Interface) enabling a user of said web browser to gather information from said database available to said first control program agent node and to gather information from an intranet resource and to provide access thereto in response to an interrogation initiated at a remote web browser.

15. A web browser system according to claim 14,

where in said remote web browser is also coupled to a second control program agent node located on the Internet, said second control program agent node supporting a second control program agent supporting an API to access a database available to said first control program agent node via said second control program agent

said second control program agent and API enabling a user of said web browser to gather information from a database available to said first control program agent node via said second control program agent node and to gather information from an intranet resource and to provide access thereto in response to an interrogation initiated at said web browser across the Internet by a coupling or addressing with a uniform resource locator to said second control agent node and from resources available on an intranet coupled to said second control program agent node.

16. A web browser system according to claim 14,

wherein

said second control program agent node is coupled via a network with facilities provided within an intranet for private owner facilities and which may be protected by firewalls at the intranet boundary,

said second control program agent node located somewhere on the Internet supporting said second control program agent by a coupling or addressing with a uniform resource locator,

said first control program agent being coupled to said second control program agent node located somewhere on the Internet supporting said second control program agent and coupled to and supporting a a command file server, said command file server being coupled to a database gateway for gathering information from databases coupled to said database gateway and located on different database servers, said command file server supporting a plurality of command file objects which are programmed to perform web browser service support functions at the request of a user of said web browser to access information within the intranet and to gather information located elsewhere via the Internet as a sub-agent of said control program agent.

17. A web browser system according to claim 14,

wherein said web browser is at a web server location with said web server providing said control program agent node, and browser requests, if authorized for access across said intranet, accesses a command file agent in a web server on said intranet providing said second command file agent node, which then utilize DIS (Data Interpretation System) capsules provided by a DIS Server functioning as a command file server.

18. A web browser system according to claim 14,

wherein the intranet network is provided with an access server to make physical connections across the Internet.

19. A web browser system according to claim 17

wherein said DIS server invokes an InterNetwork Routing Protocol (INR) to create a logical coupling between an application processing server to an external intranet application processing server.

20. A web browser system according to claim 14,

wherein a web browser request is a Hypertext document request asking for a field to be searched and indexing with a Hyperlink a web server providing a command file agent node on the same network which would have its own program control agent function duplicating the control program agent resident in said control program agent node.

21. A web browser system according to claim 14,

wherein a web browser request for a menu topic, when selected in a Hyperlink setting, indexes to a particular second control program agent node and a particular document within that second control program agent'"'"'s environment.

22. A web browser system according to claim 14,

wherein said second control program agent node, besides being linked to its own application processing server has a direct link, to a transaction processing server for handling transaction processing.

23. A web browser system according to claim 22,

wherein said transaction processing enables use of the Internet for authorized access and transmission of data, but said transaction processing server is located beneath a firewall for retention of data integrity.

24. A web browser system according to claim 22,

wherein said transaction processing server'"'"'s output is provided to said second control program agent node server and from said second control program agent node server to a requested destination on the internet specified by the request initiated by said web browser.

25. A web browser system according to claim 14, further comprising,

at least one intranet network supporting a plurality of web servers having a control program agent and having an access agent coupled to the Internet;

at least one web server coupled to said web browser client for receiving and fulfilling a request as an agent of said client;

at least one intranet network supporting said web server and having an access agent coupled to the Internet.

26. A web browser system according to claim 25, further comprising,

a plurality of information access servers for acting as sub-agents for said web server during a process of fulfilling requests, said access servers having capsule objects which perform programmable functions which are executable upon a received command from said web server, at least one of said access servers being located on said intranet network;

said web server including a control program agent for receiving a user request initiated at the web browser client for information and for transmitting said request to a sub-agent access server having capsule objects which execute upon command programmable functions requested by said web server.

27. A web server system for supporting a web browser, comprising

means for receiving from a world wide web browser a request to be fulfilled as an agent of the browser client,

a control program agent for organizing distributed sub-agents as distributed integration solution servers on an intranet network supporting the web server which also has an access agent server accessible over the Internet, said distributed integration solution server executes selected capsule objects which perform programmable functions upon a received command from said web server control program agent.

28. A web server system according to claim 27, further comprising,

a plurality of distributed integration solution servers.

29. A web server system according to claim 28, further comprising,

a database gateway coupled to a plurality of database resources for supplying upon a single request made from a Hypertext document, requested information from multiple data bases located at different types of databases geographically dispersed.

30. A web server system according to claim 29, further comprising,

command objects for performing calculations, formatting, and other services prior to reporting to the web browser or to other locations, in a selected format a requested result report selected from a set of result reports, including a display report, facsimile report, a printer report, a report to customer installations, and a report to TV video subscribers, with account tracking.