Web client controlled system, method, and program to get a proximate page when a bookmarked page disappears

• US 6,658,402 B1
• Filed: 12/16/1999
• Issued: 12/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dutta, Rabindranath
• Primary Examiner(s): Metjahic, Safet
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHEN, TE Y
• Application Number:
  US09/464,849
• Time in Patent Office: 1,447 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1-5, 707/10, 707/104.1, 707/500-526, 707/6, 707/102, 709/212-217, 709/223, 709/203, 709/219, 709/226, 709/229, 709/224, 709/227, 709/100-103, 345/738, 345/760, 345/853, 715/512-516
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/748 Hypervideo linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object in the context of video distribution systems H04N21/858
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing

Abstract

A system, method and program of the invention enables an alternate page to be received by a client when the desired page is not found at a Web server. Other pages that were close to the desired page in terms of hyperlink hops are stored along with the bookmark for a page. This is done in the background in the spare cycles of the client by creating a site-map which indicates the hyperlink structure of a Web site containing the desired page. Chains of hyperlinks from the desired page back to the root or home page are then stored along with the bookmark at the time of bookmarking. If a page disappears from the site, the links in the chain are followed back from that page to the root page until a next available page is found. On clicking a bookmark, if the page is not found, another close page is obtained by the client.

Claims

1. A method of bookmarking a page from a Server, comprising:

at a time of bookmarking the page, searching the Web site of the bookmarked page to determine each path from the bookmarked page to home page;

storing with the bookmark, a separate chain for each path; and

prioritizing the chains stored with the bookmark based upon a numerical ordering of a number of hops in each chain.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising finding a closest page having a minimal number of hops from the bookmarked page by traversing the prioritized chains.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

following at least one of the chains for a next available page if the bookmark for the page is selected and the page is not found; and

displaying the next available page in lieu of the bookmarked page.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of searching the Web site further comprises creating a site map of the Web site.

5. A method of bookmarking a page from a Server, comprising:

constructing a link map of the Web server site at bookmarking time;

associating with the bookmark at least one close link having a minimal number of hops from the page as indicated by the link map; and

displaying the close link in lieu of the page if the page is not found.

6. A computer system having means for bookmarking a page from a Server, comprising:

at a time of bookmarking the page, means for causing a search of the Web site of the bookmarked page to determine each path from the bookmarked page to a home page;

storing with the bookmark, a separate chain for each path; and

means for prioritizing the chains stored with the bookmark based upon a numerical ordering of a number of hops in each chain.

7. The computer system of claim 6 further comprising means for finding a closest page having a minimal number of hops from the bookmarked page by traversing the prioritized chains.

8. The computer system of claim 6 further comprising:

means for following at least one of the chains for a next available page if the bookmark for the page is selected and the page is not found; and

means for displaying the next available page in lieu of the bookmarked page.

9. The computer system of claim 6 wherein the means for searching the Web site further comprises means for creating a site map of the Web site.

10. A computer system having means for bookmarking a page from a Server, comprising:

means for constructing a link map of the Web server site at bookmarking time;

means for associating with the bookmark at last one close link having a minimal number of hops from the page as indicated by the link map; and

means for displaying the close link in lieu of the page if the page is not found.

11. A computer program on a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means, comprising:

means for bookmarking a page from a Server;

at a time of bookmarking the page, means for causing a search of the Web site of the page to determine each path from the page to a home page;

means for storing with the bookmark, a separate chain for each path; and

prioritizing the chains stored with the bookmark based upon a numerical ordering of a number of hops in each chain.

12. The program of claim 11 further comprising:

means for following at least one of the chains for a next available page if the bookmark for the page is selected and the page is not found; and

means for displaying the next available page in lieu of the page.

13. The program of claim 11 wherein the means for causing a search of the Web site further comprises means for causing a creation of a site map of the Web site.

14. A computer program on a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means, comprising:

means for bookmarking a page from a Server,

means for constructing a link map of the Web server site at bookmarkingtime;

means for associating with the bookmark at least one close link having a minimal number of hops from the page as indicated by the link map; and

means for displaying the close link in lieu of the page if the page is not found.