Delayed transmission of controls from a server to a client

• US 6,493,004 B1
• Filed: 11/14/1995
• Issued: 12/10/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Ellison-Taylor, Ian M.
• Primary Examiner(s): SAX, STEVEN PAUL
• Application Number:
  US08/557,480
• Time in Patent Office: 2,583 Days
• Field of Search: 395/340, 395/326, 395/339, 395/342, 395/341, 395/200.01, 395/128, 395/332, 395/335, 395/329, 395/396, 395/357
• US Class Current: 715/804
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

A server optionally may delay the transmission of a child window control to a client in order to reduce transmission time of a document that includes the child window control. After a non-negligible period of time elapses, the server may transmit the child window control to the client transparently relative to the user of the client. The child window control may be transmitted to the client in the background mode of operation. This approach is especially well adopted for use in the transmission of web pages from a server to a client.

Claims

1. In a distributed system having a server and a client, a method comprising the steps of:

providing a document at the server that includes a child window control;

receiving a request at the server from the client to receive a copy of the document; and

transferring the document to the client wherein the child window control is not initially transferred as part of the transferring of the document and wherein drawing commands are transferred to the client from the server to draw a dummy window that has a like appearance to the child window control.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of transferring the child window control from the server to the client after a non-negligible predetermined period of time in a fashion that is transparent to a user.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the computer system supports a background mode of operation and wherein the transferring of the child window control from the server to the client occurs in the background mode of operation.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the document is a web page.

11. The server of claim 1 wherein the child window control transmitter transmits the child window control to the client in a fashion that is transparent to a user of the client.

5. In a system having a server and a client having a video display, a method comprising the steps of:

receiving a request at the server to forward a document to the client, said document including a child window control;

transferring the document without the child window from the server to the client;

sending drawing commands from the server to the client to draw a dummy control that has the appearance of the child window control on the video display of the client; and

creating a proxy control at the client to act on behalf of the child window control.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of transferring the child window control from the server to the client after a non-negligible period of time in a fashion that is transparent to a user of the client.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of replacing the proxy control at the client with the child window control that has been transferred from the server.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the client maintains a registry of configuration information and wherein the method further comprises the step of registering the child window control that has been transferred from the server in the registry.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein the document is a web page.

10. A server comprising:

a storage for storing a document that includes a child window control;

a document transmitter for transmitting at least a portion of the document that does not include the child window control to a client;

a drawing command transmitter for transmitting drawing commands to the client to draw a dummy control at the client in place of the child window control that was not transferred; and

a child window control transmitter for transmitting the child window control to the client a predetermined non-negligible amount of time after the document was transmitted by the document transmitter to the client.

12. At a client that interacts with a server, a method comprising the steps of:

requesting a document from the server, wherein said document includes a child window control;

receiving a portion of the document that does not include the child window control;

determining that the child window control was not received and in response, creating a proxy control at the client to act on behalf of the child window control; and

receiving and executing drawing commands for the server to draw a dummy window for the child window control.

13. A client computer system for interacting with a server, comprising:

a document requester for requesting a document with a child window control from the server;

a document receiver for receiving the document from the server, said document not including the child window control;

a drawing command receiver for receiving drawing commands from the server to draw a dummy window in place of the child window control in the document at the client; and

a proxy control creator for creating a proxy control at the client to act on behalf of the child window control.

14. The client computer system of claim 13, further comprising:

a child window control receiver for receiving the child window control from the server in a fashion that is transparent to a user of the client computer system.

15. At a server that interacts with a client, a method comprising the steps of:

receiving a request for a document that includes a child window control from the client;

transmitting the document without the child window control to the client; and

after a non-negligible amount of time, transmitting the child window control to the client in a fashion that is transparent to a user of the client.