Multi-target links for navigating between hypertext documents and the like
First Claim
1. A method of accessing data with a computer, comprising:
- (a) displaying a display representation of a multi-target link, wherein the multi-target link includes identifiers for a plurality of storage locations associated with the multi-target link, wherein the multi-target link is defined in one of a displayed document and a data structure for a bookmark, and wherein the identifiers for the plurality of storage locations are stored in the one of the displayed document and the data structure for the bookmark;
(b) receiving user input directed to the multi-target link; and
(c) in response to receiving the user input, automatically selecting at least one of the identifiers for the plurality of storage locations and accessing data stored at a selected one of the plurality of storage locations that is associated with the selected identifier.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus, program product, and method utilize a multi-target link to selectively access data located at one or more of a plurality of storage locations associated with the link. Thus, when a user activates a particular multi-target link, a request may be forwarded to different storage locations in different circumstances to optimize utilization of the link, rather than the request being forwarded to the same single storage location as occurs with conventional hypertext links and bookmarks. A multi-target link may be implemented as a hypertext link defined by a hypertext link definition embedded in a hypertext document, or as a bookmark for use in a custom bookmark list for a user. Moreover, various types of data, including hypertext documents, files, and the like, may be accessed from one or more of the storage locations for a multi-target link.
315 Citations
75 Claims
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1. A method of accessing data with a computer, comprising:
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(a) displaying a display representation of a multi-target link, wherein the multi-target link includes identifiers for a plurality of storage locations associated with the multi-target link, wherein the multi-target link is defined in one of a displayed document and a data structure for a bookmark, and wherein the identifiers for the plurality of storage locations are stored in the one of the displayed document and the data structure for the bookmark;
(b) receiving user input directed to the multi-target link; and
(c) in response to receiving the user input, automatically selecting at least one of the identifiers for the plurality of storage locations and accessing data stored at a selected one of the plurality of storage locations that is associated with the selected identifier. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 63)
indicating on the display representation of the multi-target link a percentage of the plurality of storage locations from which data has been accessed.
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45. The method of claim 44, wherein indicating the percentage of the plurality of storage locations from which data has been accessed comprises displaying a bar having visually distinct first and second regions abutting one another along a common axis, with the relative lengths of the first and second regions sized to respectively indicate the percentage of the plurality of storage locations from which data has been accessed, and the percentage of the plurality of storage locations from which data has not been accessed.
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46. The method of claim 45, further comprising displaying a list of the plurality of storage locations in response to user input directed to the bar.
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47. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying in a direct access list a display representation of at least a portion of the plurality of storage locations, and accessing data at one of the plurality of storage locations in response to user input directed to the display representation of the one of the plurality of storage locations.
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63. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the local user setting includes at least one of a language setting that indicates a predetermined language, a character set setting that indicates a predetermined character set, a capability of a browser program used to view the accessed data, a version type desired to be displayed by the browser program, and a skill level of a user.
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10. A method of accessing data with a computer, comprising:
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(a) receiving user input directed to a multi-target link, the multi-target link identifying a plurality of storage locations associated therewith;
(b) in response to receiving the user input, accessing data stored at a selected one of the plurality of storage locations; and
(c) selecting the selected storage location from the plurality of storage locations based upon a predetermined selection criteria, wherein the multi-target link is defined in a hypertext document by a multi-target hypertext link definition, and wherein the predetermined selection criteria is based at least in part on data embedded in the multi-target hypertext link definition.
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48. A method of accessing a hypertext document, comprising:
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(a) displaying a display representation of at least a portion of a first hypertext document on a computer display;
(b) displaying a display representation of a multi-target hypertext link defined in the first hypertext document on the computer display, the multi-target hypertext link including a plurality of Uniform Resource Locators (URL'"'"'s) associated therewith and defined in the first hypertext document; and
(c) in response to user input directed to the display representation of the multi-target hypertext link;
(1) automatically selecting at least one of the plurality of URL'"'"'s based upon a predetermined selection criteria; and
(2) navigating to the selected URL.
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49. A method of accessing a hypertext document, comprising:
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(a) displaying display representations of at least a portion of a plurality of bookmarks in a bookmark list, the plurality of bookmarks including a multi-target bookmark identifying a plurality of Uniform Resource Locators (URL'"'"'s) associated therewith, wherein the plurality of URL'"'"'s are stored in a data structure for the multi-target bookmark; and
(b) in response to user input directed to the display representation of the multi-target bookmark;
(1) automatically selecting at least one of the plurality of URL'"'"'s based upon a predetermined selection criteria; and
(2) navigating to the selected URL.
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50. An apparatus, comprising:
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(a) a memory;
(b) a multi-target link resident in the memory, the multi-target link including identifiers for a plurality of storage locations associated therewith, wherein the multi-target link is defined in one of a displayed document and a data structure for a bookmark that is resident in the memory, and wherein the identifiers for the plurality of storage locations are stored in the one of the displayed document and the data structure for the bookmark; and
(c) a program resident in the memory, the program configured to display a display representation of the multi-target link, and to automatically select at least one of the identifiers for the plurality of storage locations and access data stored at a selected one of the plurality of storage locations that is associated with the selected identifier in response to user input directed to the multi-target link. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71)
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72. A program product, comprising:
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(a) a program configured to display a display representation of a multi-target link that includes identifiers for a plurality of storage locations associated therewith, and in response to user input directed to the multi-target link thereto, to automatically select at least one of the identifiers for the plurality of storage locations and access data stored at a selected one of a plurality of storage locations that is associated with the selected identifier, wherein the multi-target link is defined in one of a displayed document and a data structure for a bookmark, and wherein the identifiers for the plurality of storage locations are stored in the one of the displayed document and the data structure for the bookmark; and
(b) a signal bearing media bearing the program. - View Dependent Claims (73)
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74. A method of generating a hypertext document, the method comprising:
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(a) authoring a hypertext document; and
(b) embedding within the hypertext document a multi-target hypertext link definition, the multi-target hypertext link definition including identifiers for a plurality of storage locations associated therewith, wherein the identifiers are embedded within the hypertext document.
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75. A program product, comprising:
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(a) a hypertext document, the hypertext document having embedded therein at least one multi-target hypertext link definition, the multi-target hypertext link definition including identifiers for a plurality of storage locations associated therewith, wherein the identifiers are embedded within the hypertext document; and
(b) a signal bearing media bearing the hypertext document.
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Specification