SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RETRIEVING A BACKUP FILE HAVING A FILE NAME EXACTLY CORRESPONDING TO THE DATE AND TIME OF A CLIENT REQUEST, IF NO EXACT MATCH FOR THE DATE AND TIME CORRESPONDING TO THE CLIENT REQUEST IS FOUND, TO SEARCH FOR THE BACKUP FILE HAVING THE FILE NAME WITH A DATE AND TIME THAT ARE CLOSEST TO BUT PRIOR TO THE SPECIFIED DATE AND TIME

• US 6,880,008 B1
• Filed: 03/28/2000
• Issued: 04/12/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Yoneda, Michiaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Alam, Hosain
• Assistant Examiner(s): Duong, Oanh
• Application Number:
  US09/537,074
• Time in Patent Office: 1,841 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/217, 709/219, 709/226, 709/229, 707/3, 707/10, 707203-204, 707/102, 707/505, 714/6
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability

Abstract

A method and apparatus for supplying information, and a storage medium on which an information supplying program is stored are disclosed, in which backup files of Web pages which were laid open in the past and those which will be laid open in the future are stored in a WWW server so that any Web page can be presented to a client in response to a request issued by the client. WWW server creates a file name used as a key when being retrieved, by adding data representing updating date and time at the end of an original file name of a Web page stored in an open storage area of an HDD which is allowed to be freely accessed via the Internet. The created file name serving as a key in retrieval is assigned to a backup data created from update data, and the backup data is stored in a retrieval storage area. In response to a request issued by a client via the Internet, the WWW server retrieves backup data having a file name corresponding to specified date and time from the retrieval storage area and transfers the retrieved backup data to the client.

Claims

1. An information supplying apparatus, comprising:

a data updating component configured to replace data stored in an open storage area, which is allowed to be freely accessed via a network, with update data at a specified time;

a data backing-up apparatus component configured to produce a retrieval file name by adding data, which represents a date and time when updating is to be performed, to a file name of said update data, assigning said retrieval file name to the backup data produced from said update data to form a backup retrieval file, and saving said backup retrieval file in a retrieval storage area; and

a retrieving component configured to respond to a client request over the network specifying a date and time to search said retrieval storage area for the backup retrieval file having the retrieval file name exactly corresponding to the date and time of the client request and, if no exact match for the date and time corresponding to the client request is found, to search said retrieval storage area for the backup retrieval file having the retrieval file name with a date and time that are closest to the date and time corresponding to the client request while also being prior thereto, and to retrieve and transfer backup retrieval file data corresponding to a result of the search via said network to the requesting client.

2. The information supplying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an automatic updating component configured to, at a predetermined time of each day corresponding to the specified time, retrieve a backup retrieval file having the retrieval file name and the added data representing an updating time coincident with the predetermined time from said retrieval storage area, and to replace the data stored in the open storage area by overwriting the data stored in the open storage area with update data having the retrieval file name retrieved at the predetermined time into said open storage area.

4. The information supplying method according to claim 1, further comprising:

automatically retrieving, at a predetermined time of each day corresponding to the specified time, a backup retrieval file having the retrieval file name and the added data representing an updating time coincident with the predetermined time from said retrieval storage area; and

replacing the data stored in the open storage area by overwriting the data stored in the open storage area with update data having the retrieval file name retrieved at the predetermined time into said open storage area.

3. An information supplying method, comprising steps of:

replacing data stored in an open storage area, which is allowed to be freely accessed via a network, with update data at a specified time;

backing-up a retrieval file name by adding data, which represents a date and time when updating is to be performed, to a file name of said update data;

assigning said retrieval file name to the backup data produced from said update data to form a backup retrieval file,

saving said backup retrieval file in a retrieval storage area;

responding to a client request over the network specifying a date and time by searching said retrieval storage area for the backup retrieval file having the retrieval file name exactly corresponding to the date and time of the client request and, if no exact match for the date and time corresponding to the client request is found, by searching said retrieval storage area for the backup retrieval file having the retrieval file name with a date and time that are closest to the date and time corresponding to the client request while also being prior thereto, and

retrieving and transferring backup retrieval file data corresponding to a result of the search via said network to the requesting client.