Client version advertisement service for overriding default client version properties

• US 6,938,077 B2
• Filed: 11/07/2001
• Issued: 08/30/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Sanders, Scott D.
• Primary Examiner(s): VU, VIET DUY
• Application Number:
  US10/045,769
• Publication Number:
  US 20030088716A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,392 Days
• Field of Search: 709/219, 709/228, 709/217, 709/225, 709/227, 709/229, 719328-329
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management

Abstract

Override client version properties are used to selectively replace default client version properties of a web browser to obtain versions of web resources that are operational on the web browser. A client operating the web browser issues a request for content through a proxy server. Using an index, the proxy server determines whether the content is to be requested using an override client version property set. If so, the override client version property set is used to request the content form the web server and causes the web server to respond with content that has been designed or optimized for a web server other than the one operating on the client. Accordingly, the client can obtain fully functional and operational versions of the web resources using client version properties that are selected based on the capabilities of the web browser and the functionality available in different versions of individual web resources.

Claims

1. In a computer system that provides access to web resources to be processed by a web browser, a method of selectively overriding a default client version property set of the web browser, comprising the acts of:

receiving input that includes an address associated with a requested web resource;

determining whether the address associated with the requested web resource corresponds with an identifier included in the data structure that correlates identifiers of selected web resources with override client version properties;

if the address associated with the requested web resource corresponds with an identifier included in the data structure, obtaining the requested web resource using an override client version property set correlated by the data structure with the requested web resource; and

if the address associated with the requested web resource does not correspond with an identifier included in the data structure, obtaining the requested web resource using the default client version property set of the web browser.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the identifiers are uniform resource identifiers.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of obtaining the requested web resource using the override version property set comprises the act of obtaining a version of the requested web resource that has been selected by a server from which the requested web resource was obtained.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of obtaining the requested web resource using the override version property set comprises the acts of:

obtaining the requested web resource and a client-side script from a server; and

executing the client-side script so as to modify the requested web resource according to the override client version property set.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the data structure is stored at a proxy server and the act of determining whether the address associated with the requested web resource corresponds with an identifier included in the data structure is conducted by the proxy server.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the data structure is stored at a client device on which the web browser operates and the act of determining whether the address associated with the requested web resource corresponds with an identifier included in the data structure is conducted by the client device.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the data structure is stored at a check-url server included in the computer system and the act of determining whether the address associated with the requested web resource corresponds with an identifier included in the data structure is conducted by the check-url server.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the web resource is obtained from a web server, the method further comprising the act of requesting a subsequent web resource from the web server using the default client version property set.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of obtaining the requested web resource using the override version property set is conducted such that content of the obtained web resource is different from content of the requested web resource that would have been obtained if the default client version property set would have been used.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of obtaining the requested web resource using the override version property set is conducted and, if the default client version property set were instead to have been used, a version of the web resources having content that is not operational with the web browser would have been obtained.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of obtaining the requested web resource using the override version property set is conducted and, if the default client version property set were instead to have been used, a web server from which the web resources were requested would have refused to provide the requested web resource.

12. A method for generating an index for replacing default client version properties associated with web browsers with override client version properties when requests for web resources are made, the method comprising the acts of:

using a web browser operating on a client device to request a first version of a web resource from a web server using a default client version property set associated with the client device;

using the web browser to request a version of the web resource from the web server using each of one or more other client version properties; and

if;

i) the version of the web resource requested using the default client version property set is not obtained or;

ii) the version of the web resource requested using a particular other client version property set of the one or more other client version properties is more operational than the version of the web resource requested using the default property, then;

designating said particular other client version property set as an override client version property set that is to be used when the web browser again requests the web resource from the web server.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising the act of adding an identifier of the web resource and the corresponding override client version property set to the index.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising storing the index at a proxy server through which client devices operating the web browser request web resources.

15. The method of claim 12 further comprising the act of, for each request using either the default client version property set or the one or mare other client version properties, and if the requested version of the web resource is obtained, determining whether the version of the web resource is operational.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein the acts of using a web browser operating on a client device to request a first version of a web resource and using the web browser to request a version of the web resource from the web server using each of one or more other client version properties are conducted by an administrator of a proxy server in response to an indication by a user of a client device operating through the proxy server that the web resource is not fully functional using the web browser.