Methods and apparatus for enabling dynamic resource collaboration

• US 6,298,356 B1
• Filed: 11/20/1998
• Issued: 10/02/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Aspect Communications Corporation (Alvaria Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Aspect Communications Corporation (Alvaria Incorporated)
• Inventors: Dilip, Venkatachari, Jawahar, Janardhanan
• Primary Examiner(s): Choules, Jack
• Assistant Examiner(s): LEWIS, CHERYL RENEA
• Application Number:
  US09/197,011
• Time in Patent Office: 1,047 Days
• Field of Search: 707/201, 707/202, 707/2, 707/10, 707/513, 709/204, 709/203, 711/113
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/323 Visualisation of programs or trace data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3495 for systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/875 Monitoring of systems including the internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5191 interacting with the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99952 Coherency, e.g. same view to multiple users

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for enabling collaboration with web pages and other resources is described. A method includes the step of establishing a collaboration session between a first client and a second client. A requested resource is cached with the session host in response to a request having a first uniform resource locator (URL) issued by the first client, if the requested resource is a pre-determined type of resource. A second URL is provided to the second client. The second URL identifies the requested resource or the cached resource in accordance with whether the requested resource is cached. Apparatus for enabling collaboration includes a web server, a cache, and a filter. The web server provides a requested web page in response to a first client'"'"'s request. The filter stores the requested web page in the cache, if the requested web page is a pre-determined type of web page. A number of pre-determined characteristics for caching are described in various embodiments of the methods and apparatus. In one embodiment, the requested resource is cached if it is a dynamic web page. In one embodiment an expiration date of the requested resource determines whether the requested resource should be cached. In another embodiment, a filename associated with the requested resource determines whether the requested resource should be cached. In another embodiment, components of the request determine whether the requested web page should be cached.

Claims

1. A method comprising the steps of:

a) establishing a collaboration session between a first client and a second client with a session host;

b) providing a requested web page from a resource host to the first client in response to a request having a first uniform resource locator (URL) identifying the session host as the resource host; and

c) conditionally caching the requested web page as a cached web page, wherein the collaboration session host caches the requested web page if the requested web page has a pre-determined characteristic.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the requested web page is cached in step c) if it is a dynamic web page.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein an expiration date of the requested web page is indicative of whether the requested web page is to be cached in step c).

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the requested web page is cached in step c) if it is associated with a filename having a specified characteristic.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the request is issued in accordance with a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), wherein the requested web page is cached if the request includes a selected one of a PUT, a DELETE, a LINK, an UNLINK, a HEAD, and a POST method.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

d) providing the second client with a second URL, wherein the second URL is the first URL if the requested web page was not cached, wherein the second URL identifies the cached web page if the requested web page was cached.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein step b) further comprises the step of embedding the second URL within the requested web page before providing the requested web page to the first client.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising the step of:

e) accessing one of the requested web page and the cached web page in accordance with the second URL, wherein the request of step b) is generated by a first client browser application, wherein the first client browser application communicates the second URL to a second client browser application in step d), wherein the second client browser application accesses one of the requested web page and the cached second web page in accordance with the second URL.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein the first client browser application extracts the second URL from the requested web page.

10. A method comprising the steps of:

a) establishing a collaboration session between a first client and a second client with a session host; and

b) caching a requested resource from a resource host as a cached resource with the session host in response to a request issued by the first client, if the requested resource is a pre-determined type of resource, wherein the request identifies the session host as the resource host.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the pre-determined type of resource is a dynamic resource.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the requested resource is identified as a dynamic resource if a filename associated with the requested resource has a predetermined characteristic.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein an expiration date of the requested resource indicates whether the requested resource is dynamic.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein the request indicates whether the requested resource is the pre-determined type of resource.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein the request is issued in accordance with a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), wherein the requested resource is classified as the pre-determined type if the request includes a selected one of a PUT, a DELETE, a LINK, an UNLINK, a HEAD, and a POST method.

16. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

c) providing the second client with a selected one of the requested resource and the cached resource in accordance with whether the requested resource is the pre-determined type of resource.

17. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of:

c) providing the requested resource to the first client.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the request includes a first uniform resource locator (URL), wherein step c) further comprises the step of:

embedding a second URL in the requested resource before providing the requested resource to the first client, wherein the second URL identifies the requested resource if the requested resource is not cached, wherein the second URL identifies the cached resource if the requested resource is cached.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising the step of:

d) providing the second client with the second URL, wherein the request is generated by a first client browser application of the first client in step b), wherein the first client browser application communicates the second URL to a browser application of the second client.

20. The method of claim 17 wherein the request includes a first uniform resource locator (URL), wherein step c) further comprises the step of embedding a second URL in the requested resource before providing the requested resource to the first client, wherein the second URL identifies the requested resource if the requested resource is not cached, wherein the second URL identifies the cached resource if the requested resource is cached.

21. An apparatus comprising:

a) a web server, wherein the web server provides a requested web page to a first client in response to a first client request identified by a first uniform resource locator (URL);

b) a cache; and

c) a filter coupled to the cache and the web server, wherein the filter stores the requested web page in the cache, if the requested web page is a predetermined type of web page, wherein the first client provides a second client with a second URL, wherein the second URL is the first URL if the web page is not cached, wherein the second URL identifies the cached web page if the requested web page is cached.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the session host embeds the second URL in the requested web page before providing the requested web page to the first client.

23. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the predetermined type of web page is a dynamic web page.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the requested web page is identified as a dynamic web page if a filename associated with the requested web page has a predetermined characteristic.

25. The method of claim 21 wherein the client request indicates whether the requested web page is the predetermined type of web page.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the first client request is issued in accordance with a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), wherein the requested web page is classified as the predetermined type if the first client request includes a selected one of a PUT, a DELETE, a LINK, an UNLINK, a HEAD, and a POST method.

27. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein a browser application of the first client issues the first URL, wherein the web server embeds the second URL in the requested web page before providing the web page to the first client, wherein the first client browser application extracts the second URL from the provided web page, wherein the first client browser application provides the extracted second URL to a browser application of the second client.