Structured document browser

• US 5,933,841 A
• Filed: 05/17/1996
• Issued: 08/03/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Ameritech Corp. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Matthews, James E., Schumacher, Robert M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild, Joseph H.
• Application Number:
  US08/649,271
• Time in Patent Office: 1,173 Days
• Field of Search: 395/761, 395/762, 395/773, 395/774, 395/776, 395/777, 395/335, 395/347, 395/348-349, 395/354, 345/172, 345/335, 345/347, 345/348, 345/439, 345/354, 345/350, 345/352, 707/500, 707/501, 707/512, 707/513, 707/514, 707/515, 707/517
• US Class Current: 715/236
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/986 Document structures and storage, e.g. HTML extensions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0489 using dedicated keyboard keys or combinations thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/106 Display of layout of documents; Previewing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces

Abstract

A structured document browser includes a constant user interface for displaying and viewing sections of a document that is organized according to a pre-defined structure. The structured document browser displays documents that have been marked with embedded codes that specify the structure of the document. The tags are mapped to correspond to a set of icons. When the icon is selected while browsing a document, the browser will display the section of the structure corresponding to the icon selected, while preserving the constant user interface.

Claims

1. In a computer, a browser for viewing documents having embedded codes that identify parts of documents according to at least one predefined document structure, said browser comprising:

a user interface comprising a display window that displays a document to a user;

a plurality of input devices;

a first plurality of display regions that are responsive to said input devices, said display regions of said first plurality being continuously displayed as part of the user interface automatically and configured to correspond to respective parts of the predefined document structure regardless of what part of the document is in the display window; and

a controller operative to cause a selected part of the document to be displayed in the display window when a user uses one of said input devices to enable one of said display regions that corresponds to the selected part.

2. A browser as claimed in claim 1 wherein said plurality of input devices comprises:

a screen pointer that moves on the display window of the user interface and maintains a current position responsive to a user controlled pointing device; and

a selecting device that selects the current position of the screen pointer when enabled by a user;

wherein the controller causes a selected part of the document to be displayed on the display window when a user moves the screen pointer to the display region that corresponds to the selected part and enables the selecting device.

3. A browser as claimed in claim 2 wherein said plurality of input devices further comprises:

a first set of keys on a keyboard, each of said keys configured to highlight one of said display regions that is next in a sequence of said display regions as one of said first set of keys is pressed; and

at least one select key on the keyboard configured to select the highlighted region when said select key is pressed;

wherein the controller causes a selected part of the document to be displayed on the display window when a user presses said at least one select key while the display region that corresponds to the selected part is highlighted.

4. A browser as claimed in claim 2 further comprising a document menu that lists documents that the user can select for viewing by moving the screen pointer to the document menu and enabling the selecting device.

5. A browser as claimed in claim 4 further comprising:

a next part region that has been predefined to display a next part in the document when the next part region is selected by the user by moving the screen pointer to the next part region and enabling the selecting device; and

a previous part region that has been predefined to display a previous part in the document when selected by the user by moving the screen pointer to the previous part region and enabling the selecting device.

6. A browser as claimed in claim 4 further comprising a region on the user interface that is predefined to correspond to the action of opening a new display window in which the user can input a note.

7. A browser as claimed in claim 1 wherein said plurality of input devices comprises:

a set of keys on a keyboard, each of said keys configured to correspond to a specific part of the predefined document structure;

wherein the controller causes a specific part of the document to be displayed in the display window when a user presses the key that corresponds to the specific part.

8. A browser as claimed in claim 1 wherein the embedded codes that identify parts of the document conform to a document type definition that has been prepared according to the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML).

9. A browser as claimed in claim 1 wherein the embedded codes that identify parts of the document according to a predefined structure conform to the Hyper-Text Markup Language (HTML).

10. A browser as claimed in claim 1 wherein the embedded codes are elements of SGML and the coded document is an SGML instance according to an SGML document type definition.

11. A browser as claimed in claim 10 further comprising a document type menu that lists at least one document type having a predefined structure that can be selected to alter the document menu to list documents that conform to the predefined structure of the document type selected by moving the screen pointer to the document type menu and enabling the selecting device.

12. A browser as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a second plurality of display regions that are responsive to said input devices, said display regions of said second plurality configured to correspond to respective parts of the predefined document structure in response to the part of the document that is displayed in the display window.

13. The browser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first plurality of display regions are automatically displayed as part of the user interface without prompting by the user.

14. The browser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first plurality of display regions remain displayed as part of the user interface even after a user enables one of said display regions.

15. In a computer, a method for browsing a document within the context of a predefined document structure comprising the steps of:

initializing a browsing tool having document navigation tools that include a first plurality of display regions that are continuously displayed as part of the browsing tool during browsing, said display regions of said first plurality automatically configured to correspond to respective sections of the predefined document structure regardless of what part of the document is displayed, and operative to display the respective sections;

displaying a document; and

enabling one of said plurality of display regions to display the respective section.

16. The method of browsing a document as claimed in claim 15 wherein the plurality of display regions are enabled with a set of keys on a keyboard.

17. The method of browsing a document as claimed in claim 15, further comprising the step of:

initializing a browsing tool having document navigation tools that include a second plurality of display regions, said display regions of said second plurality corresponding to respective sections of the predefined document structure in response to the part of the document that is displayed, and operative to display the respective section.

18. The method of browsing a document as claimed in claim 15, wherein the first plurality of display regions are automatically displayed as part of the browsing tool without prompting by the user.

19. The method of browsing a document as claimed in claim 15, wherein the first plurality of display regions remain displayed as part of the browsing tool even after a user enables one of said display regions.

25. A method for browsing a document as claimed in claims 15, 20 or 24 wherein the steps for browsing a document further comprises the steps of:

displaying a next part in the predefined document structure of the document by repeating the steps of;

moving the screen pointer over a next part region of the document navigation tools configured to display a part of the document that follows a part of the document that is currently displayed in the display window; and

selecting the next part region by enabling the selecting device; and

displaying a previous part in the predefined document structure of the document by repeating the steps of;

moving the screen pointer over a previous part region of the document navigation tools configured to display a part of the document that follows a part of the document that is currently displayed in the display window; and

selecting the previous section region by enabling the selecting device.

26. The method of browsing a document as claimed in claim 15, further comprising the step of:

initializing a browsing tool having document navigation tools that include a second plurality of display regions, said display regions of said second plurality configured to correspond to respective parts of the predefined document structure in response to the part of the document that is displayed in the display window.

20. In a computer comprising a graphical user interface, a method for browsing a document within the context of a predefined document structure comprising the steps of:

initializing a browsing tool having document navigation tools that include a first plurality of display regions, said display regions of said first plurality being continuously displayed as part of the browsing tool during browsing and automatically configured to correspond to respective parts of the predefined document structure regardless of what part of the document is displayed;

displaying a document in a display window; and

viewing parts of the document by repeating the steps of;

moving a screen pointer that maintains a current position on the display window responsive to a user-controlled pointing device over a selected display region of the document navigation tools configured to correspond to a corresponding part of the predefined document structure; and

selecting the selected display region by enabling a selecting device.

21. The method of browsing a document as claimed in claim 20, further comprising the step of:

initializing a browsing tool having document navigation tools that include a second plurality of display regions, said display regions of said second plurality configured to correspond to respective parts of the predefined document structure in response to the part of the document that is displayed in the display window.

22. The method of browsing a document as claimed in claim 20, wherein the first plurality of display regions are automatically displayed as part of the browsing tool without prompting by the user.

23. The method of browsing a document as claimed in claim 20, wherein the first plurality of display regions remain displayed as part of the browsing tool even after selection of a display region.

24. In a computer with graphical user interface capabilities, a method for browsing a document within the context of a predefined document structure comprising the steps of:

creating one or more documents having the predefined document structure;

embedding codes in the documents to identify parts of the predefined document structure;

initializing a browsing tool having document navigation tools that include a first plurality of display regions, said display regions of said first plurality being continuously displayed as part of the browsing tool during browsing and automatically configured to correspond to respective parts of the predefined document structure regardless of what part of the document is displayed;

displaying a document in a display window; and

viewing parts of the document by repeating the steps of;

moving a screen pointer that maintains a current position on the display window responsive to a user-controlled pointing device over a selected region of the document navigation tools configured to correspond to a corresponding part of the predefined document structure;

maintaining said selected display region accessible regardless of what part of the document is in the display window; and

selecting the selected region by enabling a selecting device.

27. The method of browsing a document as claimed in claim 24, wherein the first plurality of display regions are automatically displayed as part of the browsing tool without prompting by the user.

28. The method of browsing a document as claimed in claim 24, wherein the first plurality of display regions remain displayed as part of the browsing tool even after selection of a display region.

29. In a computer comprising a graphical user interface, a browser having a user interface for viewing documents having embedded codes that identify parts of documents according to a predefined document structure, said browser comprising:

a display window that displays a portion of the document to a user;

a screen pointer that moves on the user interface and maintains a current position responsive to a user controlled pointing device;

a selecting device that selects the current position of the screen pointer when enabled by the user;

a document menu that lists documents that the user can select for viewing by moving the screen pointer to the document menu and enabling the selecting device;

a document type menu that lists at least one document type having a predefined structure that can be selected to alter the document menu to list documents that conform to the predefined structure of the document type selectable by moving the screen pointer to the document type menu and enabling the selecting device;

a first plurality of display regions on the user interface, said display regions of said first plurality accessible to the user and configured to correspond to a respective part of the predefined document structure regardless of what part the document is currently in the display window; and

a controller operative to cause a selected part of the document to be displayed in the display window when a user moves the screen pointer to the region that corresponds to the selected part and enables the selecting device.

30. A browser as claimed in claim 29, further comprising a second plurality of display regions on the user interface, said display regions of said second plurality configured to correspond to a respective part of the predefined document structure in response to the part of the document that is displayed in the display window.