Transform rule generator for web-based markup languages

• US 6,822,663 B2
• Filed: 01/24/2001
• Issued: 11/23/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Marchex Sales LLC (Marchex Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Adaptview, Inc.
• Inventors: Huang, Joey Chu-Yi, Wang, Wayne W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Cao (Kevin)
• Application Number:
  US09/768,732
• Publication Number:
  US 20020035579A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,399 Days
• Field of Search: 345/733, 345/751, 345/740, 345/854, 345/847, 345/853, 709/246, 709/217, 709/220, 709/221, 709/218, 525/9, 576/2, 576/5, 528/1, 375/85.3
• US Class Current: 715/854
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/84 Mapping; Conversion
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents

Abstract

An apparatus and method for use in transforming existing web pages (or other information) for display (playback or the like) on associated web enabled Internet appliances. For display materials, a graphical editing tool is provided that allows a web designer to pull up source content pages wherein the information components are identified and assigned an identifier. The identified components are graphically arranged into a result area according to the capabilities of the receiving web enabled appliance. A set of transformation rules is generated according to the graphically arranged result. These rules are then used by a server device to transform the requested source information as it is requested by the web enabled appliance. The rules can be stored and applied by a device, including a proxy server device, that requests the source content material from a web server and then responds with the transformed information via application of the set of transformation rules.

Claims

1. An apparatus for the generation and application of a set of rules to transform source content into result content for a content receiving device, the apparatus comprising:

a source content area for retrieving the source content;

an analyzer for identifying separate elements within the source content and assigning an identifier to each element;

a result content area providing selective placement of the elements according to a desired layout;

a rule generator for generating a set of transformation rules for transforming the source content into the result content according to their selective placement; and

an application device for applying the transformation rules to the source content that is requested by the content receiving device.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the source content area and result content area are part of a graphical editing tool.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein editing tools provide for graphical placement of source content from the source content area into the result content area as result content.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the graphical editing tool is running on a design station device.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the design station device is in communication with the application device in order to provide the transformation rules.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a storage device is used to store the transformation rules for access by the application device.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the application device is a server device.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the server device is a proxy server device that receives a request for source content, retrieves the source content from a corresponding web server device, and transforms the source content to result content according to the transformation rules.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the source content and result content includes web page information, and the content receiving device is a web enabled device.

10. An apparatus for automatic generation of transform rules for use in displaying web content information on web enabled devices having different display capabilities, the apparatus comprising:

at least one web site having web content information for display on the different web enabled devices;

at least one proxy server device;

at least one design station in communication with the at least one proxy server device;

a web page editor running on the at least one design station, whereby a source web page is retrieved and the layout of a result web page is formed according to the different device capabilities; and

a rule generator associated with the web page editor for generating a set of transform rules to convert the source page to the result page, the transform rules being communicated to the at least one proxy server device,

wherein the web enabled devices request information from the at least one web site through the at least one proxy server which applies the transform rules to the requested information.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the web page editor includes a source content area and result content area as part of a graphical design tool having editing tools.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the editing tools provide for graphical placement of source content from the source content area into the result content area as result content.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein a storage device is used to store the transformation rules for access by the proxy server device.

14. A graphical design apparatus for transforming source content to result content according to the display capabilities of a result content receiving device, the apparatus comprising:

a first display area for displaying the source content;

a second display area for displaying the result content,

a set of graphical tools whereby the source content can be graphically moved with the tools from the first area to the second area to form a result layout; and

a rule generator for generating a set of transformation rules to transform the source content to the result layout, the rules being formed according to use of the graphical tools and the result layout.

15. The graphical design apparatus of claim 14, which further includes an analyzer that separates the source content into elements and assigns an identifier to each element for use by the graphical tools.

16. The graphical design apparatus of claim 14, which further includes a proxy server device for applying the set of transformation rules to the source content to form the result content when the source content is requested by the result content receiving device.

17. The graphical design apparatus of claim 16, wherein the proxy server device retrieves source content from server devices according to requests from the result content receiving device.

18. The graphical design apparatus of claim 17, wherein the rule generator is in communication with the proxy server device.

19. The graphical design apparatus of claim 18, wherein the communication includes a network link.

20. The graphical design apparatus of claim 19, wherein the network link includes the Internet.

21. The graphical design apparatus of claim 18, wherein the communication includes a wireless link.

22. A method for providing information content according to the capabilities of a receiving device, the method comprising:

retrieving source information content;

arranging result information content from the source information content according to the capabilities of the receiving device;

generating transformation rules according to the transformation between the source information content and the result information content; and

applying the appropriate transformation rules to the source information content when the content is requested by the receiving device.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the arranging step uses a graphical editor with a set of graphical editing tools for arranging the result information.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the graphical editor displays the source information content in one area and the result information content in another area, and the source information content is selectively placed in the result display area.

25. The method according to claim 22, which further includes:

analyzing the source information content for elemental components and assigning an identifier to each element.

26. The method according to claim 22, which further includes:

providing for selectable templates in the result display area to facilitate layout of the result information content.