Cross-machine web page download and storage

• US 6,672,775 B1
• Filed: 08/01/1997
• Issued: 01/06/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/01/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Narayanaswami, Chandrasekhar
• Primary Examiner(s): Burgess, Glenton B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): EDELMAN, BRADLEY E
• Application Number:
  US08/904,667
• Time in Patent Office: 2,349 Days
• Field of Search: 395/200.75, 395/200.32, 395/200.33, 395/200.36, 395/200.48, 395/200.49, 395/200.55, 395/200.57, 395/200.58, 395/200.62, 395/200.68, 709/245, 709/247, 709/201, 709/202, 709/203, 709/218, 709/206
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/083 using passwords cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using a predetermined code H04L9/3226
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A method and system is disclosed for downloading data, such as a web page, over a network such as the internet. The method includes the steps of (a) initiating a web page download request with a requesting entity having a first network address, the requesting entity being connected to the network; (b) fulfilling the web page download request with a web page source entity having a second network address; (c) transmitting a requested web page to a destination entity having a third network address; and (d) receiving and storing the requested web page in the destination entity for subsequent use by a user of the requesting entity. In this manner a low performance data processor may specify certain web pages to be downloaded to a higher performance processor over a higher bandwidth link, and may also specify postprocessing to be performed on retrieved web pages prior to a user of the first data processor accessing the stored web pages.

Claims

1. A method to download data from a server over a network, comprising the steps of:

initiating a data download request with a requesting entity having a first network address, the requesting entity having an interface for connecting to the network over a first communication link;

sending the data download request to a destination entity where the request is first verified for authenticity and then modified by the destination entity to include a third network address of the destination entity;

forwarding the modified data download request to a data server;

fulfilling the data download request with the data server entity having a second network address;

transmitting, over a second communication link, the requested data to the destination entity having the third network address; and

testing authorization for receiving said requested data and receiving and storing the requested data in the destination entity for subsequent access by any authorized user if said authorization passes, wherein the requesting entity is different from the destination entity, and wherein the requested data is transmitted from the data server entity to the destination entity without transmitting the requested data from the data server entity or a source entity to the requesting entity.

2. A method as in claim 1, wherein the data is comprised of a web page, and wherein step of initiating includes steps of:

generating a web page download command; and

transmitting the web page download command to the destination entity; and

wherein

the step of fulfilling includes initial steps of,

formulating, in response to receiving the web page download command at the destination entity, a network web page request message; and

transmitting the network web page request message from the destination entity to the web page server entity,

wherein the web page download command is transmitted over the network.

3. A method as in claim 2, wherein the web page download command is transmitted over a second network separate from the network.

4. A method as in claim 2, wherein the step of formulating includes a preliminary step of transmitting a web page download confirmation message from the destination entity to the requesting entity for indicating a receipt of the web page download command.

5. A method as in claim 2, wherein the web page download command is comprised of a plurality of fields, including fields for specifying:

the first, second and third network addresses;

at least one user download preference; and

at least one postprocessing operation to be performed on a received web page.

6. A method as in claim 2, and further comprising steps of:

transmitting a cancellation message from the requesting entity to the destination entity;

receiving the cancellation message; and

in response, terminating an on-going web page download or deleting an already downloaded and stored web page.

7. A method as in claim 5, wherein the at least one user download preference includes at least one of:

a number of web page levels to download;

whether to download graphical data;

a number of retries to download a web page; and

an interval between retries.

9. A method as in claim 1, wherein the data is comprised of a web page, and wherein the step of initiating includes steps of:

generating a network web page request message that includes the third network address; and

transmitting the network web page request message from the requesting entity to the destination entity.

10. A method as in claim 1, wherein the data is comprised of a web page, and wherein the step of receiving and storing includes a step of transmitting a web page download acknowledgement message from the destination entity to the entity for indicating a receipt of a requested web page.

11. A method as in claim 1, wherein the data is comprised of a web page, and wherein the step of initiating includes a preliminary step of responding to a signal from a user through a user interface, the signal indicating that a specified web page is to be downloaded to and stored in the destination entity.

12. A method as in claim 11, wherein the step of responding includes a step of prompting the user to enter information for specifying at least one parameter related to downloading the web page.

13. A method as in claim 11, wherein the step of responding includes a step of retrieving at least one user default parameter related to downloading the web page.

14. A method as in claim 1, wherein the data is comprised of a web page, and wherein the step of receiving and storing the requested web page in the destination entity includes a step of writing data into an index entry associated with the received web page.

15. A method as in claim 14, wherein the index entry is comprised of a plurality of fields, including fields for specifying:

the first and second network addresses; and

a link summary of the web page.

16. A method as in claim 15, wherein the fields further specify at least one of:

a time that the web page was downloaded;

a number of bytes that were downloaded;

a time that the web page download command was received by the destination entity;

a number of retries that were required, if any, to download the web page; and

an error report.

17. A method as in claim 1, wherein the network includes the internet, and wherein the server entity is comprised of a WWW server.

18. A method as in claim 1, wherein the data download request comprises information identifying the third network address.

19. A method as in claim 18, further comprising a user inputting the information identifying the third network address into the data download request.

20. A method as in claim 19, wherein the step of inputting comprises selecting the information identifying the third network address from a default network address, wherein the user can change the third network address to a different address other than the default network address.

21. A method as in claim 1, wherein the step of initiating a data download request with a requesting entity having a first network address further comprises the steps of:

pre-mapping at least one function key of a World Wide Web (WWW) browser such that a predetermined user panel is displayed when the at least one function key is selected;

identifying within the predetermined user panel at least one WWW web page to be downloaded; and

identifying within the predetermined user panel the destination entity to which the at least one WWW web page is to be down loaded.

22. A method as in claim 21, wherein the step of identifying within the predetermined user panel the destination entity to which the at least one WWW web page is to be down loaded further comprises the step of identifying within the predetermined user panel authorized users allowed to access the downloaded data.

23. A method as in claim 21, wherein the step of identifying within the predetermined user panel the destination entity to which the at least one WWW web page is to be down loaded further comprises the step of identifying within the predetermined user panel a user identifier to be matched against a user authorization list held by the destination entity, wherein the user authorization list is used to determine if the user is authorized to request data downloads to the destination entity.

24. A method as in claim 1, wherein the step of sending the data download request to the destination entity further comprises the step of encrypting the data download request.

8. A method as in claim 8, wherein the at least one postprocessing operation includes at least one of:

whether to decompress a received web page;

whether to virus scan a received web page; and

whether to print a received web page.