Apparatus for and method of gathering information, which can automatically obtain HTML file of URL even if user does not specify URL

• US 6,707,470 B1
• Filed: 05/08/2000
• Issued: 03/16/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Sashihara, Toshiyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Application Number:
  US09/566,466
• Time in Patent Office: 1,408 Days
• Field of Search: 345/745, 345/747, 345/744, 345/760, 345/740, 345/741, 345/854, 345/738, 345/748, 345/811, 345/812, 345/866, 709/201-203, 709/217, 709/229, 709/219, 709/213, 709/216, 707/501.1, 707/10, 715/501.1
• US Class Current: 715/745
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]

Abstract

An information gathering apparatus includes a history memory unit, an assigning unit, a requiring unit, and an HTML obtaining unit. The history memory unit stores a plurality of specific URL (Uniform Resource Locator) data specified to be browsed, as a browsing history data. The assigning unit assigns priorities to the plurality of specific URL data based on the browsing history data. The requiring unit generates a request to obtain a HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) file of the specific URL data to which the highest-priority is assigned by the assigning unit. The HTML obtaining unit obtains the HTML file corresponding to the request from a WWW (World Wide Web) server in response to the request.

Claims

1. An information gathering apparatus, comprising:

a history memory unit which stores a plurality of URLs and a browsing history data;

an assigning unit which assigns priorities to said plurality of URLs based on said browsing history data;

a requiring unit which generates a request to obtain an HTML file corresponding to a particular one of said URLs based on a priority assigned by said assigning unit;

an HTML obtaining unit which obtains said HTML file from a WWW server in response to said request;

wherein said history memory unit stores as said browsing history data a period data indicating a time that elapsed after a first URL of said plurality of URLs is specified until a second URL is specified subsequent to said first URL.

2. An information gathering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said history memory unit stores as said browsing history data a number indicating the number of characters in corresponding HTML files of each of said plurality of URLs.

3. An information gathering apparatus, comprising:

a history memory unit which stores a plurality of URLs and a browsing history data;

an assigning unit which assigns priorities to said plurality of URLs based on said browsing history data;

a requiring unit which generates a request to obtain an HTML file corresponding to a particular one of said URLs based on a priority assigned by said assigning unit;

an HTML obtaining unit which obtains said HTML file from a WWW server in response to said request;

wherein said history memory unit stores as said browsing history data a time data indicating a date and time when each of said plurality of URLs is specified; and

wherein said history memory unit stores as said browsing history data an update time data indicating a time that elapsed before each corresponding HTML file of each of said plurality of URLs is updated.

4. An information gathering apparatus, comprising:

a history memory unit which stores a plurality of URLs and a browsing history data;

an assigning unit which assigns priorities to said plurality of URLs based on said browsing history data;

a requiring unit which generates a request to obtain an HTML file corresponding to a particular one of said URLs based on a priority assigned by said assigning unit;

an HTML obtaining unit which obtains said HTML file from a WWW server in response to said request;

wherein said requiring unit generates said request at a defined time automatically;

and wherein if each of said plurality of URLs is browsed n (n is a positive integer) times, said assigning unit searches for a day of a week on which each URL is browsed each of said n times and detects a difference period indicating a difference between said searched day and a day corresponding to said defined time, and determines a corresponding evaluation value for each URL based on said difference periods, and assigns the priorities based on the evaluation values.

5. An information gathering apparatus, comprising:

a history memory unit which stores a plurality of URLs and a browsing history data;

an assigning unit which assigns priorities to said plurality of URLs based on said browsing history data;

a requiring unit which generates a request to obtain an HTML file corresponding to a particular one of said URLs based on a priority assigned by said assigning unit;

an HTML obtaining unit which obtains said HTML file from a WWW server in response to said request;

wherein said history memory unit stores as said browsing history data a time data indicating a date and time when each of said plurality of URLs is specified; and

wherein if each of said plurality of specific URL data is browsed m (m is a positive integer) times, said assigning unit detects a difference time indicating a difference between a present time and a time corresponding to said time data each of said m times and determines a corresponding evaluation value for each URL based on said difference times, and assigns the priorities based on the evaluation values.

6. An information gathering method, comprising:

storing a plurality of URLs and a browsing history data;

assigning priorities to said plurality of URLs based on said browsing history data;

generating a request to obtain an HTML file corresponding to a particular one of said URLs based on a priority assigned by said assigning;

obtaining said HTML file corresponding to said request in response to said request;

wherein said storing step includes storing as said browsing history data a period data indicating a time that elapsed after a first URL of said plurality of URLs is specified until a second URL is specified subsequent to said first URL.

7. An information gathering method according to claim 6, wherein said storing step includes storing as said browsing history data a number indicating the number of characters in corresponding HTML files of each of said plurality of URLs.

8. An information gathering method comprising:

storing a plurality of URLs and a browsing history data;

assigning priorities to said plurality of URLs based on said browsing history data;

generating a request to obtain an HTML file corresponding to a particular one of said URLs based on a priority assigned by said assigning;

obtaining said HTML file corresponding to said request in response to said request;

wherein said storing step includes storing as said browsing history data a time data indicating a date and time when each of said plurality of URLs is specified;

wherein said storing step includes storing as said browsing history data an update time data indicating a time that elapsed before each corresponding HTML file of each of said plurality of URLs is updated.

9. An information gathering method comprising:

storing a plurality of URLs and a browsing history data;

assigning priorities to said plurality of URLs based on said browsing history data;

generating a request to obtain an HTML file corresponding to a particular one of said URLs based on a priority assigned by said assigning;

obtaining said HTML file corresponding to said request in response to said request;

wherein said generating step includes generating said request at a defined time automatically; and

wherein if each of said plurality of URLS is browsed n (n is a positive integer) times, said assigning step includes searching for a day of a week on which each URL is browsed each of said n times and detecting a difference period indicating a difference between said searched day and a day corresponding to said defined time and determining a corresponding evaluation value for each URL based on said difference periods, and assigning the priorities based on the evaluation values.

10. An information gathering method comprising:

storing a plurality of URLs and a browsing history data;

assigning priorities to said plurality of URLs based on said browsing history data;

generating a request to obtain an HTML file corresponding to a particular one of said URLs based on a priority assigned by said assigning;

obtaining said HTML file corresponding to said request in response to said request;

wherein said storing step includes storing as said browsing history data a time data indicating a date and time when each of said plurality of URLs is specified;

wherein if each of said plurality of specific URL data is browsed m (m is a positive integer) times, said assigning step includes detecting a difference time indicating a difference between a present time and a time corresponding to said time data each of said m times and determining a corresponding evaluation value for each URL based on said difference times, and assigning the priorities based on the evaluation values.