Serving data from a resource limited system

• US 6,314,456 B1
• Filed: 01/28/1998
• Issued: 11/06/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Allegro Software Development Corporation (R&R Biotech Partners, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Allegro Software Development Corporation (R&R Biotech Partners, LLC)
• Inventors: Van Andel, Robert J., Becker, Robert H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Zarni
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cardone, Jason D.
• Application Number:
  US09/014,947
• Time in Patent Office: 1,378 Days
• Field of Search: 709/219, 709/214, 709/216, 709/217, 709/218, 709/229, 709/231, 707/501, 707/10, 345/333, 345/335
• US Class Current: 709/218
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A data resource request signal is received on a first device connected to a network. A first resource object is selected in the first device. For a plurality of sequential page items associated with the first resource object, successive data fragments are generated according to instructions specified by the successive page items. At least the successive data fragments are concatenated to form a stream of formatted data. The stream of formatted data is transmitted to a second device via the network.

Claims

1. A method for serving data from a networked device having a memory, a microprocessor, and a network interface, comprising the steps of:

(a) storing in the memory an executable program image comprising a server program, a plurality of resource objects and a plurality of page items, each resource object having associated with it at least one page item;

(b) receiving a data resource request signal at the microprocessor;

(c) executing instructions in the server program to select a first resource object from the plurality of resource objects in the executable program image according to the data resource request signal;

(d) for a plurality of the page items in the executable program image that are associated with the first resource object, executing instructions in the server program to generate successive data fragments according to instructions specified by the successive page items, at least some of the successive data fragments containing only portions of instructions in a markup language;

(e) concatenating at least the successive data fragments to form a stream of data containing complete instructions in a markup language; and

(f) transmitting the stream of formatted data from the microprocessor to a second device via the network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data resource request signal is a message received from the second device via the network.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

(g) receiving a data resource request signal comprising web page form data;

(h) selecting a second resource object in the executable program image;

(i) identifying a name=value pair in the web page form data;

(j) selecting one of a set of page items associated with the second selected resource object and with the name of the name=value pair; and

(k) processing the value of the namc=value pair according to instructions specified by the selected page item.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein at least one of the plurality of successive page items in step (d) is the same as the selected page item in step (j).

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising, during step (d), determining a value associated with the name of the name=value pair identified in step (i), according to instructions specified by the page item selected in step (j).

6. The method of claim 3, wherein steps (c)-(f) are performed after steps (g)-(k).

7. The method of claim 3, further comprising selecting the second resource object according to information in the data resource request signal and selecting the first resource object according to information in the second resource object.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the message received from the second device is an email message.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the message received from the second device is an HTTP message.

10. The method of claim 2, further comprising receiving coded information from the second device, performing a test on the coded information and generating a data fragment according to the results of the test.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein the message received from the second device includes a Universal Resource Locator.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the data resource request signal is a signal generated within the networked device.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the networked device lacks data storage devices other than semi-conductor memories.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the networked device does not have a motorized storage device.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising substituting tokens specified by a page item with text strings according to a lookup dictionary.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating data fragments according to instructions contained in a plurality of page items specified by a page item.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the first resource object according to information in the data resource request signal.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the memory is a non-volatile semiconductor memory.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the stream of formatted data comprises HTML data.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the stream of formatted data comprises an email message.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the stream of formatted data using the HTTP protocol.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising, transmitting the stream of formatted data using the SMTP protocol.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a second resource object in the executable program image and,

for a plurality of page items associated with the selected second resource object, including at least one of the page items associated with the selected first resource object, generating a sequence of respective data fragments according to instructions specified by the respective page items.

24. A networked device comprising:

a memory;

a microprocessor; and

a network interface;

wherein the memory comprises an executable program image comprising;

a server program;

a plurality of resource objects;

a plurality of page items, each resource object being associated with at least one page item; and

instructions in the server program for causing the microprocessor to;

(a) receive a data resource request signal;

(b) in response to the data resource request signal, select a first one of the resource objects;

(c) for a plurality of the page items associated with the selected first resource object, generate a sequence of respective data fragments according to instructions specified by the respective page items, at least some of the respective data fragments containing only portions of instructions in a markup language;

(d) concatenate at least the sequence of respective data fragments to form a stream of formatted data containing complete instructions in a markup language; and

(e) transmit the stream of formatted data to a second device via the network interface.

25. The networked device of claim 24, wherein the instructions comprise instructions for causing the microprocessor to receive a data resource request signal from the second device via the network interface.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the instructions further comprise instructions for causing the microprocessor to:

(f) receive a data resource request signal comprising web page form data;

(g) select a second one of the resource objects;

(h) identify a name=value pair in the web page form data;

(i) select one of a set of page items associated with the second selected resource and with the name of the name=value pair; and

(j) process the value of the name=value pair according to instructions specified by the selected page item.

27. The networked device of claim 26, wherein at least one of the page items specifies instructions for generating a data fragment and instructions for processing the value of a name=value pair contained in the web page form data.

28. The networked device of claim 24, wherein at least one of the page items is associated with at least two distinct ones of the resource objects.

29. The networked device of claim 26, further comprising instructions for causing the microprocessor to select the second selected resource object according to information received from the data resource request signal and to select the first resource object according to information in the second selected resource object.

30. The networked device of claim 25, wherein the instructions comprise instructions for causing the microprocessor to receive an HTTP message comprising a data resource request signal.

31. The networked device of claim 25, wherein the instructions comprise instructions for causing the microprocessor to receive an email message comprising a data resource request signal.

32. The networked device of claim 26, wherein the instructions instruct the microprocessor to perform steps (b)-(e) after steps (f)-(j).

33. The networked device of claim 25, wherein the instructions include instructions for causing the microprocessor to receive a data resource request containing coded information, to perform a test on the coded information, and to generate web page data based on the results of the test.

34. The networked device of claim 25, further comprising instructions for receiving a data resource request signal comprising a Universal Resource Locator.

35. The networked device of claim 24, wherein the instructions comprise instructions for causing the microprocessor to receive a data resource request signal generated within the networked device.

36. The networked device of claim 24, further comprising a lookup dictionary, and wherein the instructions specified by at least one page item include instructions for substituting tokens with text strings according to the lookup dictionary.

37. The networked device of claim 24, wherein the instructions specified by at least one page item include instructions for generating data fragments according to instructions specified by a plurality of other page items specified by the page item.

38. The networked device of claim 24, wherein the networked device lacks data storage devices other than semi-conductor memories.

39. The networked device of claim 24, wherein the networked device lacks motorized storage device.

40. The networked device of claim 24, further comprising instructions for causing the microprocessor to select the first selected resource according to information in the data resource request signal.

41. The networked device of claim 24, wherein the stream of formatted data comprises HTML data.

42. The networked device of claim 24, wherein the stream of formatted data comprises an email message.

43. The networked device of claim 24, wherein the instructions further comprise instructions for transmitting the stream of formatted data using the HTTP protocol.

44. The networked device of claim 24, wherein the instructions further comprise instructions for transmitting the stream of formatted data using the SMTP protocol.

45. The networked device of claim 27, wherein at least one of the page items specifies instructions for generating a data fragment and instructions for processing the value of a name=value pair contained in the web page form data, and wherein the instructions specified by the page item for generating a data fragment include instructions for determining a value associated with the name of the name=value pair.

46. The networked device of claim 24, wherein the memory is a non-volatile semiconductor memory.

47. A method for serving data from a networked device having a memory, a microprocessor, and a network interface, comprising the steps of:

(a) storing in the memory an executable program image comprising a plurality of resource objects and a plurality of page items;

(b) receiving a data resource request signal;

(c) selecting a first resource object from the plurality of resource objects in the executable program image;

(d) for a plurality of the page items in the executable program image that are associated with the first resource object, generating successive data fragments according to instructions specified by the successive page items;

(e) concatenating at least the successive data fragments to form a stream of formatted data; and

(f) transmitting the stream of formatted data to a second device via the network;

(g) initializing state information associated with a particular page item;

(h) while a test specified by the particular page item produces a positive result, repeating steps comprising;

i. generating data fragments according to instructions specified by a plurality of page items specified by the particular page item;

ii. performing other steps specified by the particular page item.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein:

the state information is an index variable;

the state information is initialized by setting the index variable to a start value specified by the particular page item;

the test compares the index variable to a limit value specified by the particular page item; and

the other steps specified by the particular page item include incrementing the index variable by an amount specified by the page item.

49. A networked device comprising:

a memory;

a microprocessor; and

a network interface;

wherein the memory comprises an executable program image comprising;

a plurality of resource objects;

a plurality of page items, each page item associated with one or more resource objects; and

instructions for causing the microprocessor to;

(a) receive a data resource request signal;

(b) in response to the data resource request signal select a first one of the resource objects;

(c) for a plurality of the page items associated with the selected first resource object, generate a sequence of respective data fragments according to instructions specified by the respective page items;

(d) concatenate at least the sequence of respective data fragments to form a stream of formatted data; and

(e) transmit the stream of formatted data to a second device via the network interface,

wherein the instructions specified by at least one of the page items comprise instructions for;

initializing state information associated with the page item; and

while a test specified by the page item produces a positive result, repeating steps comprising;

 

i. generating data fragments according to instructions specified by a plurality of page items specified by the page item;

 

ii. performing other steps specified by the page item.

50. The networked device of claim 49, wherein:

the state information is an index variable;

the state information is initialized by setting the index variable to a start value specified by the page item;

the test compares the index variable to a limit value specified by the page item; and

the other steps specified by the page item include incrementing the index variable by an amount specified by the page item.