Navigation assistant-method and apparatus for providing user configured complementary information for data browsing in a viewer context

• US 6,405,192 B1
• Filed: 07/30/1999
• Issued: 06/11/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Lenovo PC International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Paolini, Michael A., Brown, Michael Wayne, Lawrence, Kelvin Roderick
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Sanjiv
• Application Number:
  US09/364,696
• Time in Patent Office: 1,047 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/501, 707/10, 707/104, 707/204, 707/101, 707/102, 707/5, 345/804, 345/762, 345/356, 345/835, 345/846, 345/594, 345/800, 345/802, 709/204, 709/250, 709/206, 341/51
• US Class Current: 707/722
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access

Abstract

A method of browsing the Internet in which a browser retrieves a web page for presentation to a user. While the web page is being presented, using one or more background threads, the web page is parsed for a set of links to a set of linked web pages and that set of linked pages are retrieved. The set of linked pages is parsed for criteria set by the user. In response to finding the criteria on one or more of the linked pages, the presentation of the first page is changed to indicate the presence of the criteria on respective linked page. The linked pages may be located on the Internet or on local database on a standalone machine for browsing off-line.

Claims

1. A method of browsing the Internet comprising the steps of:

retrieving a first page for presentation by a client browser;

while the first page is being presented, parsing the first page for a set of links to a set of linked web pages and retrieving the set of linked pages;

parsing the set of linked pages for criteria set by the user; and

responsive to finding the criteria on a linked page within the set of linked pages, changing the presentation of the first page to indicate the presence of the criteria on the linked page.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said parsing the first page for a set of links is performed on one or more background threads.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least two different criteria are present and the presentation of the first page is altered in different manners responsive to finding the different criteria on respective linked pages.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of presenting an indicator proximate to each link to an inactive site, wherein the indicator indicates that said link is inactive.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

parsing said linked pages for a second set of links to a second set of linked web pages and retrieving the second set of linked web pages;

parsing the second set of linked pages for a second criteria set by the user; and

responsive to finding the second criteria on a linked page within the second set of linked pages, changing the presentation of the first page to indicate the presence of the second criteria on linked page within the second set of linked pages.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of generating a thumbnail of each of the linked pages.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising providing an indicator over a respective thumbnail to indicate the presence of the criteria on a respective linked page.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein said thumbnail is modified to indicate the presence of the criteria on a respective linked page.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein said thumbnail is modified to indicate the absence of the criteria on a respective linked page.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein said thumbnail is replaced with a different image to indicate the presence of the criteria on a respective linked page.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein said thumbnail is replaced with a different image.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein said thumbnail is replaced with a blank image.

13. The method of claim 6, wherein said thumbnail is presented proximate to a respective link to a linked page.

14. A computer software product including program instructions in a computer readable media for browsing the Internet, the computer software product comprising:

first, instructions for retrieving a first page for presentation by a client browser;

second, instructions for parsing, on one or more background threads, while the first page is being presented, the first page for a set of links to a set of linked web pages and retrieving the set of linked pages;

third, instructions for parsing the set of linked pages for criteria set by the user; and

fourth, instructions for changing the presentation of the first page, responsive to finding the criteria on one or more of the linked pages, to indicate the presence of the criteria on a respective linked page or pages.

15. The computer software product of claim 14, further comprising:

fifth, instructions for parsing said linked pages for a second set of links to a second set of linked web pages and retrieving the second set of linked web pages;

sixth, instructions for parsing the second set of linked pages for a second criteria set by the user; and

seventh, instructions for changing the presentation of the first page, responsive to finding the second criteria on one or more of the linked pages, to indicate the presence of the second criteria on respective second linked web page.

16. An Internet browsing system, comprising:

means for retrieving a first page for presentation by a client browser;

means for parsing, on one or more background threads, while the first page is being presented, the first page for a set of links to a set of linked web pages and retrieving the set of linked pages;

means for parsing the set of linked pages for criteria set by the user; and

means for changing the presentation of the first page to indicate the presence of the criteria on respective linked page in response to finding the criteria on one or more of the linked pages.

17. The Internet browsing system of claim 16, further comprising:

means for parsing said linked pages for a second set of links to a second set of linked web pages and retrieving the second set of linked web pages;

means for parsing the second set of linked pages for a second criteria set by the user; and

means, responsive to finding the second criteria on one or more of the linked pages, for changing the presentation of the first page to indicate the presence of the second criteria on respective second linked web page.

18. A method of browsing documents contained within a distributed database comprising the steps of:

retrieving a document from the distributed database;

parsing said document, while presenting said document, for a reference to another document in the distributed database;

prefetching said other document;

parsing said other document for a first criteria set by a user;

indicating to the user whether said other document satisfies said first criteria.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said distributed database is contained within an intranet.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein said distributed database is contained within the Internet.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein said distributed database is contained within a local area network.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein said distributed database is contained within a wide area network.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein said indicating step is performed by modifying the image of said document displayed to said user.

24. The method of claim 18, wherein said document is a web page.

25. The method of claim 18, wherein said document contains a plurality of references to a plurality of other documents.

26. The method of claim 18, further comprising the steps of:

parsing said another page for a second reference to a second referenced document and retrieving the second referenced document;

parsing the second referenced document for a second criteria set by the user; and

responsive to finding the second criteria on said referenced page, indicating to said user whether said second criteria is present on said second referenced document.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein said first criteria is identical to said second criteria.

28. The method of claim 18, further comprising presenting a thumbnail image of said another document proximate to said reference to another document.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein said thumbnail image is surrounded by a border indicating the presence of desired content.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein said thumbnail image is surrounded by a border indicating the presence of undesirable content.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein said thumbnail image is modified prior to presentation to a user.

32. The method of claim 28, further comprising presenting an information summary of said document proximate to said thumbnail image.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein said information summary is a sentence from said another document that contains words for which said user indicated a preference.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein said information summary is a paragraph from said another document that contains words for which said user indicated a preference.

35. A computer software product including program instructions on a computer readable media for browsing documents contained within a distributed database, the computer software product comprising:

first instructions for retrieving a document from the distributed database;

second instructions for parsing said document, while presenting said document, for a reference to another document in the distributed database;

third instructions for prefetching said other document;

fourth instructions for parsing said other document for a first criteria;

fifth instructions for indicating to the user whether said other document satisfies said first criteria.

36. The computer software product of claim 35 further comprising:

sixth instructions for parsing said another page for a second reference to a second referenced document and retrieving the second referenced document;

seventh instructions for parsing the second referenced document for a second criteria set by the user; and

eighth instructions for indicating to said user, responsive to finding the second criteria on said referenced page, whether said second criteria is present on said second referenced document.

37. The computer software product of claim 35 wherein said first criteria is set by a user.

38. The computer software product of claim 35 wherein said first criteria is set by a plugin maker.

39. The computer software product of claim 35 wherein said first criteria is a default criteria.

40. A system for browsing documents contained within a distributed database comprising:

means for retrieving a document from the distributed database;

means for parsing said document, while presenting said document, for a reference to another document in the distributed database;

means for prefetching said other document;

means for parsing said other document for a first criteria set by a user;

means for indicating to the user whether said other document satisfies said first criteria.

41. The system of claim 40 further comprising:

means for parsing said another page for a second reference to a second referenced document and retrieving the second referenced document;

means for parsing the second referenced document for a second criteria set by the user; and

means for indicating to said user, responsive to finding the second criteria on said referenced page, whether said second criteria is present on said second referenced document.

42. A method of browsing a local database comprising the steps of:

retrieving a first page for presentation by a client browser;

while the first page is being presented, parsing the first page for a set of links to a set of linked pages and retrieving the set of linked pages;

parsing the set of linked pages for criteria set by the user; and

responsive to finding the criteria on a linked page within the set of linked pages, changing the presentation of the first page to indicate the presence of the criteria on the linked page.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein said parsing the first page for a set of links is performed on one or more background threads.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein at least two different criteria are present and the presentation of the first page is altered in different manners responsive to finding the different criteria on respective linked pages.

45. The method of claim 42, further comprising the steps of presenting an indicator proximate to each link to an inactive site, wherein the indicator indicates that said link is inactive.

46. The method of claim 42, further comprising the steps of:

parsing said linked pages for a second set of links to a second set of linked pages and retrieving the second set of linked pages;

parsing the second set of linked pages for a second criteria set by the user; and

responsive to finding the second criteria on a linked page within the second set of linked pages, changing the presentation of the first page to indicate the presence of the second criteria on a linked page within the second set of linked pages.

47. The method as recited in claim 42 wherein the local database is located on a stand alone data processor.

48. A data processing system comprising:

a bus system;

a communications unit connected to the bus system;

a memory connected to the bus system, wherein the memory includes a set of instructions; and

a processing unit connected to the bus system, wherein the processing unit executes the set of instructions to retrieve a first page for presentation by a client browser;

parse the first page for a set of links to a set of linked pages and retrieve the set of linked pages while the first page is being presented;

parse the set of linked pages for criteria set by the user;

change the presentation of the first page to indicate the presence of the criteria on the linked page in response to finding the criteria on a linked page within the set of linked pages.

49. The data processing system of claim 48, wherein the processors further executes the set of instructions to parse said linked pages for a second set of links to a second set of linked web pages and retrieve the second set of linked web pages;

parse the second set of linked pages for a second criteria set by the user; and

change the presentation of the first page to indicate the presence of the second criteria on linked page within the second set of linked pages in response to finding the second criteria on a linked page within the second set of linked pages.

50. A method of browsing the Internet comprising the steps of:

retrieving a first page for presentation by a client browser;

parsing the first page for a set of links to a set of linked pages and retrieving the set of linked pages;

parsing the set of linked pages for criteria set by the user; and

responsive to finding the criteria on a linked page within the set of linked pages, changing the presentation of the first page to indicate the presence of the criteria on the linked page.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein the first page is displayed prior to changing the presentation of the first page.

52. A data processing system of browsing the Internet comprising:

retrieving means for retrieving a first page for presentation by a client browser;

first parsing means for parsing the first page for a set of links to a set of linked pages and retrieving the set of linked pages;

second parsing means for parsing the set of linked pages for criteria set by the user; and

changing means, responsive to finding the criteria on a linked page within the set of linked pages, for changing the presentation of the first page to indicate the presence of the criteria on the linked page.

53. The data processing system of claim 52, wherein the first page is displayed prior to changing the presentation of the first page.

54. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for browsing the Internet, the computer program product comprising:

first instructions for retrieving a first page for presentation by a client browser;

second instructions for parsing the first page for a set of links to a set of linked pages and retrieving the set of linked pages;

third instructions for parsing the set of linked pages for criteria set by the user; and

fourth instructions, responsive to finding the criteria on a linked page within the set of linked pages, for changing the presentation of the first page to indicate the presence of the criteria on the linked page.

55. The computer program product of claim 54, wherein the first page is displayed prior to changing the presentation of the first page.