Composite Web page built from any web content

• US 6,278,448 B1
• Filed: 02/17/1998
• Issued: 08/21/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Squires, Matthew C., Schmidt, Michael A., Brown, Christopher R., Ramasubramanian, Sankar, Anderson, Edward Jason, Flynn, Sean L.
• Primary Examiner(s): dela Torre, Crescelle N.
• Application Number:
  US09/024,673
• Time in Patent Office: 1,281 Days
• Field of Search: 345/333, 345/334, 345/339, 345/342, 345/348, 707/501, 707/513, 707/530
• US Class Current: 715/866
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance

Abstract

A method of creating a composite desktop built from Web content retrieved from one or more Web sites is disclosed. A component on a Web page can be selected and positioned on the composite desktop. The component can be a static image or an active desktop component providing dynamic content. An entire Web page can also be selected and positioned as a component on the composite desktop. Components can be selected for the composite desktop using one of several mechanisms. Selection of a control on a Web page causes the selection of a corresponding component on the Web page. A control panel utility allows the designation of a URL to select the corresponding Web page for inclusion as a component on the composite desktop. Images from Web pages and objects representing URLs can be dragged and dropped onto the composite desktop. Icons on a composite desktop are displayed in front of the composite desktop components. A user can create multiple composite desktops and switch to a different desktop when desired.

Claims

1. A computer-based method of displaying information in a graphical user interface displayed on a computer monitor, the method comprising:

providing a composite desktop having an icon layer and a markup language layer, the icon layer being configured to display icons that are linked to resources of a computer system, the markup language layer being configured to display components identified by markup language instructions stored in association with the markup language layer;

receiving a specification of at least one component to be included in the markup language layer, wherein the specification includes an associated address specification that identifies a location at which data related to the component is available for retrieval; and

displaying, in the markup language layer, an image representative of the data related to the component by processing the markup language instructions stored in association with the markup language layer.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to receiving the specification of the component, automatically creating instructions to display the image.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the instructions include instructions for updating the image according to a specified schedule.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the markup language instructions are hypertext markup language instructions.

5. The method of claim 1, comprising receiving a specification of a plurality of components.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying at least one icon separate from the image and in front of the image on the desktop display; and

maintaining an ordering of the icon and the image so that the icon remains in front of the image when a user interacts with the image.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the graphical user interface includes a plurality of icons, further comprising:

creating an icon window that includes the plurality of icons; and

displaying the icon window in front of the desktop display.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the icon window is a transparent window or a complex regional window comprising a plurality of discontiguous regions, each region including at least a portion of a corresponding icon.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a Web page including an image of the component and a control corresponding to the component, wherein activation of the control by a user causes the component to be included in the desktop view.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface includes at least one application window, the method further comprising:

displaying the application window in front of the image representative of the component; and

maintaining an ordering of the image so that the image remains behind the application window.

11. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 1.

12. A computer-based method of interpreting and displaying an image described by HTML data comprising:

invoking, by a first program, an add component method having a method parameter that specifies a component, said add component method including HTML data that describes an image;

receiving, by a second program, the add component method invocation including the method parameter; and

adding the component specified by the method parameter to an HTML layer of a composite desktop of a graphical user interface having an icon layer and an HTML layer for interpreting and displaying the image described by the HTML data.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

invoking, by the second program, a modify component method having a plurality of method parameters comprising a specification of data to be modified and a designation of replacement data;

receiving, by the first program, the modify component method invocation and parsing the invocation to receive the modify component parameters; and

modifying the component specified by the specification of the component to be modified.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising receiving the second program from a server computer prior to the invocation of the add component method.

15. A computer-based system for controlling the display of elements on a desktop having a plurality of icons displayed thereon, the system comprising:

a composite desktop having an icon layer and an HTML layer, the icon layer including an icon window including the plurality of icons; and

the HTML layer including a component window including the elements,

wherein the icon window is displayed in front of the component window.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the icon window is a transparent window or a discontiguous window comprising a plurality of regions, each region containing at least a portion of an associated icon.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the icon window includes at least a portion that is transparent, and wherein at least part of a component is visibly displayed within a transparent portion of the icon window.

18. The system of claim 15, further comprising program code for:

receiving a specification of an network address; and

associating the network address with a component.

19. A computer-based method of displaying information on a graphical user interface composite desktop displayed on a computer monitor, the method comprising:

displaying a component of a Web page in a Web browser application visible in the graphical user interface, wherein the component has an associated network address specifying a location for obtaining data pertaining to the component;

providing a control embedded in the Web page;

said control being associated with the displayed component, the control containing code for invoking the command to add the component to the composite desktop;

receiving a command to add the component to the composite desktop, the command including the associated network address;

receiving a specification of a location on the composite desktop for displaying the component;

retrieving the data pertaining to the component from the location specified by the network address; and

displaying the data pertaining to the component on the composite desktop.

20. The method of claim 19, comprising:

dragging an image representing the component from the Web page to the desktop; and

dropping the image representing the component on the desktop.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the control invokes the command in response to receiving a selection of the control by a user.