Method and apparatus for providing an expandable, hierarchical index in a hypertextual, client-server environment

• US 6,199,098 B1
• Filed: 02/23/1996
• Issued: 03/06/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Silicon Graphics Incorporated (Graphics Properties Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Jones, Kirsten Lynn, Weber, Katherine Ellis
• Primary Examiner(s): Treat, William M.
• Application Number:
  US08/606,364
• Time in Patent Office: 1,838 Days
• Field of Search: 395/200.01, 395/776, 707/501, 707/513, 707/514, 709/203, 709/310
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided for navigating through electronically stored information using an expandable, hierarchical index or TOC, in a hypertextual client-server network environment such as the World Wide Web. The client-server network comprises at least one client computer coupled by network link to at least one server computer. In accordance with the invention, a publisher of the TOC provides to the server a digital specification of the TOC, defining the TOC as a plurality of hierarchically related nodes. In a preferred feature of the invention, the digital specification includes a unique name, a display label, and a hierarchial level for each node of the TOC, and an optional target URL for each leaf node of the TOC. Using a browser program or the like at the client computer, an end-user transmits a network request including an address path to the server. Upon receiving the network request, and based upon the address path and the digital specification, the server dynamically generates a network page specifying display of a hierarchical portion of the TOC entries. This network page is transmitted from the server to the client, for display to the end-user. In another feature of the present invention, when the server dynamically generates the network page, it assignes a path address as a hypertextual link for one or more of the TOC nodes in the hierarchical portion of the TOC to be displayed. The path address specifies a modified display status for the TOC entries that are hierarchical descendants of the at least one TOC entry. In this way, the present invention can preferably be used to provide an interactively expandable TOC in a client-server environment. When an end-user, utilizing a browser of the client, interactively selects one of the currently displayed TOC nodes, the assigned hypetextual link will automatically be transmitted to the server as part of a new network request, and will cause the server to dynamically generate a new network page specifying a modified display status for TOC nodes that are hierarchical descendants of the selected node, thus effectively expanding or contracting the TOC hierarchy beneath the selected node. In this way, the TOC hierarchy can interactively be expanded or contracted in an incremental fashion, with the current display state of the TOC being represented in portions of each hypertext path address.

Claims

1. A method for providing an expandable, hierarchical table of contents (“

TOC”

) to use with a computer network comprising at least one client computer coupled by a network link to at least one server computer, said method comprising ;

providing to the server a predetermined digital specification of the TOC comprising a plurality of hierarchically related nodes;

receiving, by the server, an address path from the client;

dynamically generating by the server a network page specifying display of a selected hierarchical portion of the TOC nodes, without collapsing a previously selected hierarchical portion, the selected hierarchical portion being determined based on the path address and the digital specification; and

transmitting the network page from the server to the client.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital specification has a unique name, a display label, and a hierarchical level for each node of the TOC, and an optional hypertext link for each leaf node of the TOC.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said dynamically generating a network page further includes assigning a different path address as a hypertextual link for at least one of the TOC nodes in the selected hierarchical portion, wherein the different path address specifies a modified display status for the TOC nodes that are hierarchical descendants of the at least one TOC node.

4. An apparatus for providing an expandable, hierarchical table of contents (“

TOC”

) for use with a computer network comprising at least one client computer coupled by network link to at least one server computer, said apparatus comprising;

a predetermined digital specification of the TOC comprising a plurality of hierarchically related nodes, said digital specification coupled to the server;

first server means for receiving an address path from the client;

second server means for dynamically generating a network page specifying display of a selected hierarchical portion of the TOC nodes, without collapsing a previously selected hierarchical portion, said second server means determining the selected hierarchical portion based on the path address and said digital specification; and

third server means for transmitting the network page to the client.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said digital specification has a unique name, a display label, and a hierarchical level for each node of the TOC, and an optional hypertext link for each leaf node of the TOC.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said second server means further includes means for assigning a different path address as a hypertextual link for at least one of the TOC nodes in the selected hierarchical portion, wherein the different path address specifies a modified display status for the TOC nodes that are hierarchical descendants of the at least one TOC node.

7. A method for providing an expandable, hierarchical table of contents (“

TOC”

) for use with a computer network comprising at least one client computer coupled by network link to at least one server computer, said method comprising;

transmitting a network page from the server to the client, the network page specifying display of a hierarchical portion of the TOC, the TOC comprising a plurality of hierarchically related nodes;

displaying the hierarchical portion of the TOC by the client, as specified by the network page;

interactively selecting one of the displayed TOC nodes, by the client;

dynamically generating by the server a new network page specifying a modified display status for the TOC nodes that are hierarchical descendants of the selected node, without collapsing a previously selected hierarchical portion of the TOC; and

transmitting the new network page from the server to the client.

8. A method for providing an expandable, hierarchical table of contents (“

TOC”

) from a server computer to a client computer over a network, comprising;

providing to the server a predetermined digital specification of the TOC having a plurality of hierarchically-related nodes, and an address path from the client for a selected TOC node; and

generating, by the server, a network page containing a collapsed portion of the TOC for the selected node if the selected node was previously expanded, and an expanded portion of the TOC for the selected node if the selected node was previously unexpanded, without collapsing another expanded node, the portions of the TOC generated being based upon the path address and the digital specification, and transmitting the network page from the server to the client for display.

9. An apparatus for providing an expandable, hierarchical table of contents (“

TOC”

) for use with a computer network comprising at least one client computer coupled by network link to at least one server computer, said apparatus comprising;

a predetermined digital specification of the TOC comprising a plurality of hierarchically related nodes, said digital specification coupled to the server;

a first server unit receiving an address path from the client;

a second server unit dynamically generating a network page specifying display of a selected hierarchical portion of the TOC nodes, without collapsing a previously selected hierarchical portion, said second server unit determining the selected hierarchical portion based on the path address and said digital specification; and

a third server unit transmitting the network page to the client.

10. An apparatus, comprising a system having a web interface displaying an expanded first node and allowing expansion of a second node without closing the first node.

11. A method, comprising displaying, via a web interface, an expanded first node and allowing expansion of a second node without closing the first node.