Compiled structure for efficient operation of distributed hypertext

• US 6,886,130 B1
• Filed: 11/26/1997
• Issued: 04/26/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Leone, Paul, Unger, Jay, Hyatt, Don, Rauch, Thyra
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Paula, Cesar B
• Application Number:
  US08/980,024
• Time in Patent Office: 2,708 Days
• Field of Search: 715/501.1, 715/513, 715/532, 707/101, 707/501, 707/513
• US Class Current: 715/207
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation

Abstract

A method compiles a hypertext file or collection of files into a single compiled file. The compiled file is generally much smaller in size than the original collection of files. The compiled file includes compressed text and objects corresponding to the text and objects within the original files input to the compiler, pre-parsed tag tree corresponding to the hypertext structure of the included files which facilitates rendering the compiled file by the browser, and a search index. The method of compiling a hypertext source includes parsing the tagged data at the server, to recognize and separate the tags in the file from the corresponding data. The data is compressed and stored into a compiled file, database or textbase. A pointer is assigned to each of the parsed tags, the pointer indicating a location in the compiled material of the compressed data relating to each of the parsed tags. The parsed tags and pointers are also stored in the compiled representation as a structured tree format.

Claims

1. A method of creating a compiled file from a collection of hypertext objects including at least one hypertext tag and at least one hypertext word, comprising the steps of:

creating a tag tree that includes a node for each said at least one hypertext tag, the node comprising a unique node identifier, a description, and a pointer to related data;

selecting a vocabulary, wherein each entry in the vocabulary includes a unique vocabulary token and a vocabulary word, said at least one hypertext word and the vocabulary having at least one common word; and

storing the tag tree, the vocabulary, and a modified collection in the compiled file,

wherein the modified collection is a copy of the collection of hypertext objects, and

wherein the modified collection replaces each said at least one hypertext tag in the collection of hypertext objects with the unique node identifier, and each said at least one common word in the collection of hypertext objects with the unique vocabulary token.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the creating of the tag tree further comprises the steps of:

parsing the collection to locate each said at least one hypertext tag; and

storing each said at least one hypertext tag in the tag tree.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the pointer to related data points to a location in the compiled file.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the tag tree is a B-tree.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the vocabulary is a canonical vocabulary.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

selecting a supplemental vocabulary, wherein each entry in the supplemental vocabulary includes a unique supplemental vocabulary token and a supplemental vocabulary word, wherein the unique supplemental vocabulary token is distinct from the unique vocabulary token, said at least one hypertext word and the supplemental vocabulary having at least one common supplemental word;

replacing each said at least one common supplemental word with the unique supplemental vocabulary token; and

storing the supplemental vocabulary in the compiled file.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the supplemental vocabulary includes words not included in the vocabulary.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of:

applying a data compression technique to the supplemental vocabulary.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

creating a lexicon for the collection;

creating a search index that associates an entry in the lexicon with a location in the collection; and

storing the search index in the compiled file.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of:

applying a data compression technique to the search index.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

converting at least one hypertext image to a format that requires less data storage space,

wherein the collection further includes said at least one hypertext image.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

converting at least one hypertext multimedia object to a format that requires less data storage space,

wherein the collection further including said least one hypertext multimedia object.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

applying a data compression technique to the tag tree, the vocabulary, the modified collection, or the compiled file.

14. A method of creating a compiled file from a collection of hypertext objects including at least one hypertext tag and at least one hypertext word, comprising the steps of:

storing a tag tree in a compiled file, the tag tree including a node for each said at least one hypertext tag, the node comprising a unique node identifier, a description, and a pointer to related data;

storing a vocabulary in the compiled file, each entry in the vocabulary including a unique vocabulary token and a vocabulary word, said at least one hypertext word and the vocabulary having at least one common word; and

storing a modified collection in the compiled file, wherein the modified collection is a copy of the collection of hypertext objects, and wherein the modified collection replaces each said at least one hypertext tag in the collection of hypertext objects with the unique node identifier, and each said at least one common word in the collection of hypertext objects with the unique vocabulary token.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the storing of the tag tree further comprises the steps of:

parsing the collection to locate each said at least one hypertext tag; and

storing each said at least one hypertext tag in the tag tree.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the pointer to related data points to a location in the compiled file.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the tag tree is a B-tree.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the vocabulary is a canonical vocabulary.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of:

storing a supplemental vocabulary in the compiled file, each entry in the supplemental vocabulary including a unique supplemental vocabulary token and a supplemental vocabulary word vocabulary, said at least one hypertext word and the supplemental vocabulary having at least one common supplemental word,

wherein the unique supplemental vocabulary token is distinct from the unique vocabulary token, and

wherein the storing of the collection in the compiled file further includes the unique supplemental vocabulary token replacing each common supplemental word.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the supplemental vocabulary includes words not included in the vocabulary.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of:

applying a data compression technique to the search index.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising the step of:

applying a data compression technique to the supplemental vocabulary.

23. The method of claim 14, further comprising the steps of:

storing a search index in the compiled file, each entry in the search index including a character string and at least one pointer to related string data.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the character string is in said at least one hypertext tag or said at least one hypertext word.

25. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of:

converting at least one hypertext image to a format that requires less data storage space,

wherein the collection her includes said at least one hypertext image.

26. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of:

converting at least one hypertext multimedia object to a format that requires less data storage space,

wherein the collection further includes said at least one hypertext multimedia object.

27. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of:

applying a data compression technique to the tag tree, the vocabulary, the modified collection, or the compiled file.