Method for identifying and obtaining computer software from a network computer using a tag

• US 6,256,668 B1
• Filed: 10/09/1998
• Issued: 07/03/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/18/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Zhigu Holdings Limited
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Webber, Jeffrey S., Slivka, Benjamin W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrell, Robert B.
• Application Number:
  US09/169,618
• Time in Patent Office: 998 Days
• Field of Search: 717/11, 709/200, 709/202, 709/203, 709/221, 709/316, 709/220, 709/218, 709/315, 341/55, 713/176, 380/4, 380/30, 705/59, 705/500, 705/501, 705/513, 705/515, 705/516
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57

Abstract

Creators of computer software provide the most up-to-date versions of their computer software on an update service. A user who has purchased or downloaded free computer software calls an update service or a network service provider (e.g., an Internet provider) on a periodic basis. The update or network service automatically inventories the user computer to determine what computer software (e.g., a network browser) may be out-of-date, and/or need maintenance updates. If so desired by the user, the update service computer automatically downloads with a secure software transfer process and installs computer software to the user computer. By making periodic calls to an update or network service, the user always has the most up-to-date computer software immediately available. The update or network service may also alert the user to new products (i.e. including new help files, etc.), and new and enhanced versions of existing products which can be purchased electronically by a user and transferred immediately from the update or network service. When an upgrade is available, a tag in a hypertext document indicates an upgrade should be automatically downloaded from a location provided in the tag when the hypertext document is browsed by a computer having a browser.

Claims

1. In a local computer with a network browser in communication with a remote server computer over a computer network, a method of installing software on the local computer, the method comprising:

during browsing of a hypertext document with the network browser, encountering with the network browser at the local computer a hypertext tag indicative of a software program resident on the server computer to be automatically installed at the local computer, wherein the hypertext tag resides in the hypertext document;

responsive to encountering the hypertext tag in the hypertext document, automatically downloading from the server computer an executable file for installing the software program; and

executing the executable file at the client computer to install the software program at the client computer.

2. A computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps of the method in claim 1.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

sending a file request from the local computer to the server computer upon encountering the tag; and

generating at the server computer the executable file in response to the file request, wherein the executing step comprises;

executing at the client computer the executable file to extract an installation utility and a grouping of software from the executable file; and

automatically executing the installation utility at the local computer to install the grouping of software at the local computer.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the executable file has a digital signature and wherein the method further comprises:

verifying the digital signature before the executing step to determine if the digital signature is proper; and

inhibiting the executing step if the verifying step indicates the digital signature is improper.

5. In a local computer system with an operating system, a network browser for browsing hypertext pages available from remote computer systems connected to the local computer over a network, the network browser operable for acquiring an executable file comprising a software upgrade from a server computer, the browser comprising:

a facility for identifying a tag indicative of a software upgrade when encountered in one of the hypertext pages, the tag indicative of the executable file'"'"'s location;

a facility for downloading the executable file from the server computer automatically upon encountering the tag;

a facility for automatically submitting the executable file to the operating system for execution to install the software upgrade at the local computer after it is downloaded by the downloading facility.

6. The network browser of claim 5 wherein the tag comprises a description of the software upgrade and a time stamp indicating a date of the software upgrade.

7. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a hypertext page with a tag data structure for identifying to a browsing client computer a software upgrade to be installed at the client computer automatically upon browsing the page, the data structure comprising:

a tag name instructive to automatically install the software upgrade; and

a link to a server computer on which a downloadable file comprising the software upgrade is stored.

8. The computer-readable medium of claim 7 wherein the data structure further comprises:

a field indicative of a time stamp associated with the software upgrade; and

a field describing the upgrade.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 7 wherein the tag data structure is in HTML, format to trigger automatic downloading and installation of the software from the server when the tag data structure is encountered by an HTML browser recognizing the tag name.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the software upgrade is a viewer for use with the HTML browser.

11. In a local computer system having a network browsing system, a method of delivering a remotely-located piece of software to the local computer, the method comprising:

downloading a document;

encountering in the document a tag identifying a location of the remotely-located piece of software; and

responsive to said encountering, downloading to the local computer system the piece of software from the location identified by the tag.

12. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the actions of the method in claim 11.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the piece of software is embedded in a file comprising an installation utility for installing the piece of software and an extractor positioned in the file to be executed upon execution of the file, wherein the extractor extracts the piece of software and the installation utility from the file when executed, the file further comprising a section of executable code for automatically invoking the installation utility after the extractor extracts the piece of software and the installation utility from the file, the method further comprising:

executing the file to execute the extractor to extract the piece of software and the installation utility from the file and automatically invoke the installation utility to install the extracted piece of software.

14. In a local computer system having a network browsing system comprising a set of installed software, a method of updating the network browsing system with the network browsing system, the method comprising:

downloading a document to the local computer system;

with the network browsing system, encountering in the document a tag identifying a location of a file comprising a remotely-located piece of software, wherein the remotely-located piece of software updates the set of installed software to update the network browsing system; and

responsive to said encountering, downloading the file from the location identified by the tag to the local computer system to install the piece of software identified by the tag on the local computer system to update the network browsing system.

15. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the actions of the method in claim 14.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the document is downloaded by the network browsing system.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein

the location is specified in the tag as a conventional hypertext markup language uniform resource locator; and

said downloading retrieves the file via the hypertext markup language uniform resource locator.

18. The method of claim 14 wherein the tag further identifies a title associated with the remotely-located piece of software.

19. The method of claim 14 wherein the piece of software is a viewer for the network browsing system.

20. The method of claim 14 wherein the piece of software is embedded in a file comprising an installation utility for installing the piece of software and an extractor positioned in the file to be executed upon execution of the file, wherein the extractor extracts the piece of software and the installation utility from the file when executed, the file further comprising a section of executable code for automatically invoking the installation utility after the extractor extracts the piece of software and the installation utility from the file, the method further comprising:

executing the file to execute the extractor to extract the piece of software and the installation utility from the file and automatically invoke the installation utility to install the extracted piece of software.

21. In a local computer, a self-updating network browser system comprising:

document downloading means for downloading and rendering remotely-located documents;

tag detection means for detecting in the documents a tag specifying a location of a remotely-located software program upgrading the browser system; and

software program downloading means to download the remotely-located software program upgrading the browser system from the location specified to the local computer.

22. The self-updating network browser system of claim 21 wherein the software program is a viewer for rendering elements embedded within the remotely-located documents.

23. The self-updating network browser system of claim 21 further comprising:

a program launcher for executing the software program downloaded to the local computer to install an upgrade to the network browser system.