Extensible ordered information within a web page

• US 6,317,760 B1
• Filed: 01/14/1998
• Issued: 11/13/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Byrd, Marion Michael, Hyman, Michael Irvin, David, Paul Christian
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild, Joseph H.
• Application Number:
  US09/006,732
• Time in Patent Office: 1,399 Days
• Field of Search: 707/501, 707/502, 707/513, 707/514, 395/702, 395/705, 395/707, 395/708, 717/1-3, 717/5, 717/8, 717/10
• US Class Current: 715/237
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/986 Document structures and storage, e.g. HTML extensions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/123 Storage facilities

Abstract

An extensible set of commands to be executed in an ordered manner, such as a series of vector graphics commands, is provided in a Web page written in a markup language. The commands are embedded in statements in the Web page in a format that is conventionally used to define property variables. In each of such statements with embedded commands, the command and its associated data are included as the value specified for the property variable of that statement. The names of the property variables of the statements are provided according to a predetermined naming convention such that they indicate the sequence in which their associated commands as specified by their respective values are to be executed. When a Web control reads the Web page, it extracts the commands and their associated data from the values of the property variables of the statements, and executes the commands according to the sequence indicated by the names of the property variables.

Claims

1. In a computer system, a method of processing a Web page written in a markup language, comprising the steps of:

presenting a plurality of requests for values for a plurality of property variables, the names of the plurality of property variables named in accordance with an order-defining naming convention to indicate an execution sequence;

receiving from the Web page the values for the plurality of property variables requested, the Web page having a plurality of statements defining the property variables;

obtaining from the value of each of the plurality of property variables a command associated with said each property variable; and

executing the commands associated with the respective property variables in the execution sequence indicated by the names of the property variables.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the commands include commands for generating graphical images associated with the Web page.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the name of each of the property variables includes a sequence number indicating an execution order for the command obtained from the value of said each property variable in relation to the commands obtained from the values of other property variables.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the name of said each property variable includes an alphanumeric prefix and a numerical suffix as said sequence number.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of obtaining includes parsing the value of said each property variable to retrieve the command associated with said each property variable.

6. The method of claim 1, further including the step of storing the commands associated with the respective property variables in an ordered command list in accordance with the execution sequence prior to execution of the commands.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the markup language is the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML).

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the statements defining the property variables represent PARAM elements of the HTML Web page.

9. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps of:

retrieving values of a plurality of property variables from a Web page written in a markup language and having a plurality of statements defining said plurality of property variables, the names of the plurality of property variables provided in accordance with an order-defining naming convention to indicate an execution sequence;

obtaining from the value of each of the property variables a command associated with said each property variable; and

executing the commands associated with the property variables in the execution sequence indicated by the names of the property variables.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the commands associated with the property variables include commands for generating graphical images.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the name of each of the property variables includes a sequence number indicating an execution order for the command associated with said each property variable in relation to the commands associated with the other property variables.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, where in the name of said each property variable includes an alphanumeric prefix and a numerical suffix as said sequence number.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the step of obtaining includes parsing the value of said each property variable to obtain the command associated with said each property variable.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, including further computer-executable instructions for performing the step of storing the commands obtained from the values of the property variables in an ordered command list in accordance with the execution sequence prior to execution of the commands.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the markup language is the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML).

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the statements defining the property variables represent PARAM elements of the HTML Web page.

17. A computer-readable medium having stored therein a data structure representing a Web page written in a markup language, comprising statements defining a plurality of property variables, each of said statements having a first field containing data representing a name of a property variable and a second data field containing data representing a value of the property variable and specifying a command associated with the property variable, the names of the plurality of property variables provided in accordance with an order-defining naming convention to indicate an execution sequence of the commands specified in the respective values of the property variables.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the markup language is the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML).

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the statements defining the property variables represent PARAM elements of the HTML Web page.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the commands specified in the values of the property variables include commands for generating graphical images.