Method and apparatus for graphically representing portions of the world wide web

• US 6,070,176 A
• Filed: 01/30/1997
• Issued: 05/30/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Kisor, Gregory H., Downs, Terry
• Primary Examiner(s): Asta, Frank J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): VU, THONG H
• Application Number:
  US08/790,537
• Time in Patent Office: 1,216 Days
• Field of Search: 707/102, 707/103, 707/5, 707/10, 395/600, 395/355
• US Class Current: 715/234
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/338 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing

Abstract

A technique is provided for displaying a map of a portion of the World Wide Web. A number of Web documents are retrieved by a client computer system executing a search engine. Web documents are then represented on a display device as objects and the relevance of the Web documents to the search criteria is indicated by the apparent distance of the corresponding object to the user. Hypertext links between Web documents are represented as arrows between the objects. Additional information relating to Web sites, such as the popularity of a Web site, the length of a Web document, and the number of hypertext links in a Web document, are represented to the user visually using visual attributes of objects, such as color, shape, and texture.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of representing data, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving results of a first search of data distributed among a plurality of computers on a network, the results corresponding to user-provided search criteria, the results including a plurality of sets of data;

automatically refining said results of the first search based on relevance of each of the sets of data to the user-provided search criteria by performing a content examination of said results;

generating a ranking of the plurality of sets of data based on results of said refining;

generating a map of the sets of data, the map for visually indicating the ranking, wherein the map includes a plurality of objects, each of the objects representing one of the data sets; and

causing the map to be displayed on a display device, the map having a three-dimensional appearance, such that the ranking is indicated by the apparent relative positioning of the objects in three dimensions.

2. A computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the network is a wide area network, such that the data sets are distributed over the wide area network.

3. A computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the ranking is indicated in the map, at least in part, by at least one attribute of a given one of the objects from the list consisting of:

a color of the given one of the objects;

a size of the given one of the objects;

a shape of the given one of the objects; and

a texture of the given one of the objects.

4. A computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of sets of data comprises a plurality of World Wide Web pages, such that each of the objects represents one of the World Wide Web pages.

5. A computer-implemented method according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of World Wide Web pages are referenced by a plurality of links, wherein the step of causing the map to be displayed comprises the step of causing the links to be represented on the display device as connections between objects.

6. A computer-implemented method according to claim 4, wherein the method is performed in conjunction with executing a program for browsing the World Wide Web.

7. A method of enabling a target computer to represent a plurality of sets of data, the sets of data distributed among a plurality of computers connected on a network, the method comprising the step of transmitting sequences of instructions from a host computer to a target computer, the sequences of instructions including instructions which, when executed on the target computer, cause the target computer to perform the method recited in claim 1.

8. In a computer system including a processor and a display device coupled to the processor, a method of visually representing hypermedia data sets distributed on a computer network, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving results of a first search, the results including a plurality of hypermedia data sets having a correspondence to user-specified criteria, wherein the plurality of hypermedia data sets are referenced by a plurality of hypermedia links;

automatically refining said results of the first search based on relevance of each of the sets of data to the user-provided search criteria by performing a second search including a content examination of said results;

ranking the plurality of hypermedia data sets based on results of said refining;

generating a map of the plurality of hypermedia data sets based on the results of said ranking, the map including a plurality of objects, each representing one of the plurality of hypermedia data sets; and

causing the map to be displayed on the display device, the map including an arrangement of objects having a three-dimensional appearance, such that the ranking is indicated by the apparent relative positioning of the objects in three dimensions, said step of causing the map to be displayed including causing the hypermedia links to be displayed as connections between the objects, such that a visual attribute of each of the connections indicates a degree of relevance to the user-specified criteria of a corresponding one of the hypermedia data sets.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the method is performed as an aspect of executing a program for browsing the World Wide Web.

10. A method according to claim 8, further comprising the step of representing a parameter associated with one of the hypermedia data sets using a visual attribute of an object corresponding to said one of the hypermedia data sets.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the parameter is one from the list consisting of:

a number of requests for said one of the hypermedia data sets during a period of time;

a number of hypermedia links referenced by said one of the hypermedia data sets; and

a size of said one of the hypermedia data sets.

12. A method according to claim 10, wherein the visual attribute is at least one from the list consisting of:

a color of the object corresponding to said one of the hypermedia data sets;

the size of the object corresponding to said one of the hypermedia data sets;

the shape of the object corresponding to said one of the hypermedia data sets;

the texture of the object corresponding to said one of the hypermedia data sets; and

the degree of focus of the object corresponding to set one of the hypermedia data sets.

13. A method according to claim 10, further comprising the step of receiving a user input for determining the visual attribute.

14. A method according to claim 8, wherein the indication of the ranking comprises at least one attribute of a given object from the list of attributes consisting of:

a color of the given object;

a size of the given object;

a shape the given object;

a texture of the given object;

a contrast of the given object;

a brightness of the given object; and

a degree of focus of the given object.

15. A method according to claim 8, wherein each of the connections includes a direction indicator indicating a logical direction of the corresponding hypermedia link.

16. A method according to claim 8, further comprising the step of, for each of the hypermedia links, causing a description of the hypermedia link to be displayed in proximity with the corresponding connection.

17. A method according to claim 16, wherein the step of causing a description of the hypermedia link to be displayed comprises the steps of:

identifying in one of the hypermedia data sets a hypermedia anchor associated with one of the hypermedia links;

identifying at least one symbol located in proximity to the hypermedia anchor within said one of the hypermedia data sets; and

designating said at least one symbol as the description for the hypermedia link corresponding to the hypermedia anchor.

18. In a computer system including a processor and a display device coupled to the processor, a method of representing a plurality of hypertext documents, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving results of a first search of data distributed among a plurality of computers on a network, the results corresponding to a set of user-provided search criteria, the results including a plurality of hypertext documents;

automatically refining said results of the first search based on relevance of each of the hypertext documents to the set of user-provided search criteria by performing a second search including a content examination of said results;

ranking the plurality of hypertext documents based on a degree of relevance of each of the hypertext documents to the set of the user-specified search criteria;

generating a map of the plurality of said hypertext documents based on the ranking, wherein each of the hypertext documents is represented on the display device as one of a plurality of objects; and

causing the map to be displayed on the display device, wherein the map has a three-dimensional appearance indicative of the ranking, such that the ranking is indicated by the apparent relative positioning of the objects in three dimensions.

19. A method according to claim 18, wherein the plurality of hypertext documents are referenced by a plurality of links, and wherein the method steps further comprise the steps of:

retrieving a hypertext document specified by one of the links; and

causing the hypertext document specified by said one of the links to be displayed on the display device.

20. A method according to claim 18, wherein the plurality hypertext documents are referenced by a plurality of links, and wherein the step of causing the map to be displayed comprises the step of causing the links to be represented on the display device as connections between objects.

21. A method of enabling a target computer to represent a plurality of hypertext documents, the method comprising the step of transmitting sequences of instructions from a host computer to a target computer, the sequences of instructions including instructions which, when executed on the target computer, cause the target computer to perform the method recited in claim 20.

22. A method according to claim 18, further comprising the step of representing a parameter associated with one of the hypertext documents using a visual attribute of an object corresponding to said one of the hypertext documents.

23. A method according to claim 22, further comprising the step of receiving a user input associating the attribute with the parameter.

24. A method according to claim 22, wherein the visual attribute is at least one from the list consisting of:

a color of the object corresponding to said one of the hypertext documents;

a size of the object corresponding to said one of the hypertext documents;

a shape of the object corresponding to said one of the hypertext documents;

a texture of the object corresponding to said one of the hypertext documents; and

a degree of focus of the object corresponding to said one of the hypertext documents.

25. A method according to claim 24, wherein the parameter is one from the list consisting of:

a number of requests for said one of the hypertext documents during a period of time;

the number of hypertext links referenced by said one of the hypertext documents; and

the number of words in said one of the hypertext documents.

26. A computer system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having instructions stored therein which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

receive results of a search of data distributed among a plurality of computers on a network, the results corresponding to user-provided search criteria, the results including a plurality of hypertext documents;

refine said results of the first search based on relevance of each of the hypertext documents to the user-provided search criteria by performing a content examination of the results of the search;

rank the plurality of hypertext documents based on results of the content examination;

generate a map of the hypertext documents based on the ranking, wherein each of the hypertext documents is represented on the display device as one of a plurality of objects; and

cause the map to be displayed on a display device, such that the map visually indicates logical links between hypertext documents, wherein the map includes an arrangement of objects having a three-dimensional appearance, such that a visual indication of the ranking comprises an apparent relative positioning of the objects in each of the three dimensions.

27. A computer system according to claim 26, wherein the visual indication of the ranking comprises at least one attribute of a given object from the list of attributes consisting of:

a color of the given object;

a size of the given object; and

a shape of the given object.

28. A computer system according to claim 26, wherein the plurality of hypertext documents are referenced by a plurality of links, and wherein the plurality of hypertext documents comprises a plurality of World Wide Web pages.

29. A computer system according to claim 28, wherein each of the hypertext documents is one of the plurality of World Wide Web pages.

30. A computer system according to claim 28, wherein the method steps further comprise the steps of:

retrieving a Web page specified by one of the links; and

causing the Web page specified by said one of the links to be displayed on the display device.

31. A computer system according to claim 28, wherein the instructions are executed by the processor in conjunction with execution of instructions for generating a Web browser.

32. A computer system according to claim 28, wherein the logical links between the hypertext documents comprise a plurality of hypertext links corresponding to the World Wide Web pages, wherein the instructions for causing the map to be displayed comprise instructions for causing the hypertext links to be represented on the display device as connections between objects.

33. A computer system according to claim 28, wherein the instructions which cause the processor to generate the visual map further comprise instructions which cause the processor to display a description of each hypertext link in proximity to the corresponding connection for each hypertext link.

44. A machine-readable program storage medium according to claim 31 wherein the method of causing a description of the hypertext link to be displayed comprises the steps of:

identifying one of the Web documents a hypertext anchor associated with one of the hypertext links;

identifying at least one symbol located in proximity to the hypertext anchor within said one of the Web documents; and

designating said at least one symbol as the description for the hypertext link corresponding to the hypertext anchor.

34. A machine-readable program storage medium, the program storage medium tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform method steps for representing a portion of the World Wide Web, the method steps comprising the steps of:

receiving results of a first search of data distributed among a plurality of computers on a network, the results corresponding to user-provided search criteria, the results including a plurality of World Wide Web documents, wherein the plurality of World Wide Web documents are referenced by a plurality of hypertext links;

automatically refining said results of the first search based on relevance of each of the World Wide Web documents to the user-provided search criteria by performing a second search including content examination of said results;

ranking the plurality of World Wide Web documents based on results of said refining;

generating a map of the plurality of World Wide Web documents based on the ranking, wherein each of the World Wide Web documents is represented by one of a plurality of objects; and

causing the map to be displayed on the display device, the map having a three-dimensional appearance such that the ranking is indicated by the relative positioning on the display device at the objects in three dimensions, said step of causing the map to be displayed including causing the links to be represented on the display device at connections between the objects, such that a visual attribute of one of the connections indicates a degree of relevance to the user-specified search criteria of a corresponding one of the World Wide Web documents.

35. A machine-readable program storage medium according to claim 34, wherein the indication of the ranking comprises a color of at least one object.

36. A machine-readable program storage medium according to claim 34, wherein the indication of the ranking comprises a size of at least one object.

37. A machine-readable program storage medium according to claim 34, wherein the indication of the ranking comprises a shape of at least one object.

38. A machine-readable program storage medium according to claim 34, wherein the indication of the ranking comprises a texture of at least one object.

39. A machine-readable program storage medium according to claim 34, wherein the indication of the ranking comprises a contrast of at least one object.

40. A machine-readable program storage medium according to claim 34, wherein the indication of the ranking comprises a brightness of at least one object.

41. A machine-readable program storage medium according to claim 34, wherein the indication of the ranking comprises a degree of focus of at least one object.

42. A machine-readable program storage medium according to claim 34, wherein the method steps further comprise the steps of:

retrieving a Web document specified by one of the hypertext links; and

causing the Web document specified by said one of the hypertext links to be displayed on the display device.

43. A machine-readable program storage medium according to claim 34 wherein the method comprising the step of, for each of the hypertext links, causing a description of the hypertext link to be displayed in proximity to the corresponding connection.

45. An apparatus for rendering a map of a plurality of hypertext-based documents on a display device, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving results of a first search of data distributed among a plurality of computers on a network, the results corresponding to user-provided search criteria, the results including a plurality of hypertext-based documents;

means for automatically refining said results of the first search based on relevance of each of the hypertext-based documents to the user-provided search criteria by performing a second search including content examination of said results;

means for generating a ranking of the plurality of hypertext-based documents based on results of said refining;

means for generating a map of the plurality of hypertext-based documents based on the ranking, wherein the map includes a plurality of objects displayed on the display device, each of the objects representing a least one of the hypertext-based documents, and wherein hypertext links between the hypertext-based documents are represented as connections between the objects; and

means for causing the map to be displayed on the display device such that the map visually indicates the ranking, the map having a three-dimensional appearance, wherein the apparent relative positioning of the objects within the three-dimensional map indicates the degree of relevance of the hypertext-based documents to the user-specified criteria.

46. An apparatus according to claim 45, the apparatus further comprising means for generating a Web browser.