System and method for dynamically updating a site map and table of contents for site content changes

• US 6,957,383 B1
• Filed: 12/27/1999
• Issued: 10/18/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Smith, Mark D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild, Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, CHAU T
• Application Number:
  US09/472,677
• Time in Patent Office: 2,122 Days
• Field of Search: 715/501.1, 715/513, 715/514, 715/518, 345/760, 345/853, 345/854, 345/855, 707/100, 707/102, 707/104.1, 707/200
• US Class Current: 715/207
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A web site is broken up into main topical content areas. Each area shows a list of content items that the user can link to, displayed using views. A site map and table of contents read these views to determine what the user should see. The site map is a high level category oriented view, and the table of contents is a more detailed view, getting lower level to content items. Each time the users requests the site map or table of contents, an agent is executed to “lookup” into the content views, giving the user the very latest content.

Claims

1. A method for displaying from a web site a site view selectively including a site map and a table of contents, comprising the steps of:

organizing a site as a collection of topical content areas in a content database, each said area containing a list of content items that a user can link to for display using views;

providing a site navigation view as an index on said content database, said index being dynamically updated whenever additions and deletions of area category or content items are made to said content database;

providing a site view layout structure including an HTML table structure and an HTML list structure for populating fields respectively in said site map and said table of contents;

providing a site view as a category oriented view;

responsive to a user request for display of said site view, executing an agent to access said site navigation view to obtain and display to said user current area category and content items from said content database by

responsive to said user request being for a site map, setting up an initial table structure;

examining said site navigation view to identify navigational content for said site sorted by category;

processing each document in order of appearance in said site navigation view and building an HTML page containing bulleted lists of links separated by category names identified in said content by

reading a first document,

setting a first category name as that category identified in said first document,

for a user request for a site map, initializing said table structure with said first document, and

starting a bulleted list with an HTML link created selectively pointing to said first document or to another location on said site if such other location is defined by link information in said first document;

checking a subcategory structure and, for a user request for a site map, starting a sub-bulleted list with an HTML link to a subcategory page, and, for a user request for a table of contents, a name of said subcategory;

reading a next document,

responsive to said next document having a next category name different from prior documents, closing said bulleted list and adding said next category name to said HTML page and starting a new bulleted list;

responsive to said next category name being within a prior category name, checking said subcategory structure;

 

responsive to a subcategory name of this next document being different from a prior subcategory name of a prior document, closing said sub-bulleted list and starting a new sub-bulleted list with an HTML link to a subcategory page for a site map or just a name of this subcategory for a table of contents;

creating an HTML link selectively pointing to said next document or to another location on said site if such other location is defined in said next document, and

repeating said reading a next document step for all documents in said view; and

then

closing said bulleted list and saving said HTML page for presentation to said user;

providing in a site map form a tabular layout structure for said site map including a first title, header and footer fields pulled in from said web site, a form type identifier, and a first data field for receiving site map data from said agent responsive to a user request; and

providing in a table of contents form a column layout structure for said table of contents including a second title, header and footer fields pulled in from said web site, a form type identifier, and a second data field for receiving table of contents data from said create map agent responsive to a user request;

said site map form and said table of contents form providing respective data fields for receiving data from said agent dynamically responsive to a request from a user for display of said site map or said table of contents.

2. System for displaying from a web site a site view selectively including a site map and a table of contents, comprising:

means for organizing a site as a collection of topical content areas, each said area containing a list of content items that a user can link to for display using views;

means for providing a site navigation view as an index on said content database, said index being updated whenever additions and deletions of area category or content items are made to said content database;

means for providing a site view layout structure including an HTML table structure and an HTML list structure for populating fields respectively in said site map and said table of contents;

means for providing a site view as a category oriented view; and

means responsive to a user request for display of said site view, for executing an agent to access said site navigation view to obtain and display to said user current area category and content items from said content database;

by

responsive to said user request being for a site map, setting up an initial table structure;

examining said site navigation view to identify navigational content for said site sorted by category;

processing each document in order of appearance in said site navigation view and building an HTML page containing bulleted lists of links separated by category names identified in said content by

reading a first document,

setting a first category name as that category identified in said first document,

for a user request for a site map, initializing said table structure with said first document, and

starting a bulleted list with an HTML link created selectively pointing to said first document or to another location on said site if such other location is defined by link information in said first document;

checking a subcategory structure and, for a user request for a site map, starting a sub-bulleted list with an HTML link to a subcategory page, and, for a user request for a table of contents, a name of said subcategory;

reading a next document,

responsive to said next document having a next category name different from prior documents, closing said bulleted list and adding said next category name to said HTML page and starting a new bulleted list;

responsive to said next category name being within a prior category name, checking said subcategory structure;

 

responsive to a subcategory name of this next document being different from a prior subcategory name of a prior document, closing said sub-bulleted list and starting a new sub-bulleted list with an HTML link to a subcategory page for a site map or just a name of this subcategory for a table of contents;

creating an HTML link selectively pointing to said next document or to another location on said site if such other location is defined in said next document, and

repeating said reading a next document step for all documents in said view; and

then

closing said bulleted list and saving said HTML page for presentation to said user;

means for providing in a site map form a tabular layout structure for said site map including a first title, header and footer fields pulled in from said web site, a form type identifier, and a first data field for receiving site map data from said agent responsive to a user request; and

means for providing in a table of contents form a column layout structure for said table of contents including a second title, header and footer fields pulled in from said web site, a form type identifier, and a second data field for receiving table of contents data from said create map agent responsive to a user request;

said site map form and said table of contents form providing respective data fields for receiving data from said agent dynamically responsive to a request from a user for display of said site map or said table of contents.

3. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform method steps for displaying from a web site a site view selectively including a site map and a table of contents, said method steps comprising:

organizing a site as a collection of topical content areas in a content database, each said area containing a list of content items that a user can link to for display using views;

providing a site navigation view as an index on said content database, said index being updated whenever additions and deletions of area category or content items are made to said content database;

providing a site view layout structure including an HTML table structure and an HTML list structure for populating fields respectively in said site map and said table of contents;

providing a site view as a category oriented view; and

responsive to a user request for display of said site view, executing an agent to access said site navigation view to obtain and display to said user current area category and content items from said content database;

by

responsive to said user request being for a site map, setting up an initial table structure;

examining said site navigation view to identify navigational content for said site sorted by category;

processing each document in order of appearance in said site navigation view and building an HTML page containing bulleted lists of links separated by category names identified in said content by

reading a first document,

setting a first category name as that category identified in said first document,

for a user request for a site man, initializing said table structure with said first document, and

starting a bulleted list with an HTML link created selectively pointing to said first document or to another location on said site if such other location is defined by link information in said first document;

checking a subcategory structure and, for a user request for a site map, starting a sub-bulleted list with an HTML link to a subcategory page, and, for a user request for a table of contents, a name of said subcategory;

reading a next document,

responsive to said next document having a next category name different from prior documents, closing said bulleted list and adding said next category name to said HTML page and starting a new bulleted list;

responsive to said next category name being within a prior category name, checking said subcategory structure;

 

responsive to a subcategory name of this next document being different from a prior subcategory name of a prior document, closing said sub-bulleted list and starting a new sub-bulleted list with an HTML link to a subcategory page for a site map or just a name of this subcategory for a table of contents;

creating an HTML link selectively pointing to said next document or to another location on said site if such other location is defined in said next document, and

repeating said reading a next document step for all documents in said view; and

then

closing said bulleted list and saving said HTML page for presentation to said user;

providing in a site map form a tabular layout structure for said site map including a first title, header and footer fields pulled in from said web site, a form type identifier, and a first data field for receiving site map data from said agent responsive to a user request; and

providing in a table of contents form a column layout structure for said table of contents including a second title, header and footer fields pulled in from said web site, a form type identifier, and a second data field for receiving table of contents data from said create map agent responsive to a user request;

said site map form and said table of contents form providing respective data fields for receiving data from said agent dynamically responsive to a request from a user for display of said site map or said table of contents.

4. A system for displaying from a web site a site view selectively including a site map and a table of contents, comprising:

a content database for storing a plurality of documents;

a site view layout structure including an HTML table structure and an HTML list structure for populating fields respectively in said site map and said table of contents;

a site navigation view for indexing area category and content items in said content database, said index being updated whenever additions and deletions of area category and content items are made to said content database;

a user browser;

a create map agent for accessing said site navigation view to identify documents in said content database and extract to said site view layout structure data for presentation in fields of said site view;

by

responsive to said user request being for a site map, setting up an initial table structure;

examining said site navigation view to identify navigational content for said site sorted by category;

processing each document in order of appearance in said site navigation view and building an HTML page containing bulleted lists of links separated by category names identified in said content by

reading a first document,

setting a first category name as that category identified in said first document,

for a user request for a site map, initializing said table structure with said first document, and

starting a bulleted list with an HTML link created selectively pointing to said first document or to another location on said site if such other location is defined by link information in said first document;

checking a subcategory structure and, for a user request for a site map, starting a sub-bulleted list with an HTML link to a subcategory page, and, for a user request for a table of contents, a name of said subcategory;

reading a next document,

responsive to said next document having a next category name different from prior documents, closing said bulleted list and adding said next category name to said HTML page and starting a new bulleted list;

responsive to said next category name being within a prior category name, checking said subcategory structure;

responsive to a subcategory name of this next document being different from a prior subcategory name of a prior document, closing said sub-bulleted list and starting a new sub-bulleted list with an HTML link to a subcategory page for a site map or just a name of this subcategory for a table of contents;

creating an HTML link selectively pointing to said next document or to another location on said site if such other location is defined in said next document, and

repeating said reading a next document step for all documents in said view; and

then

closing said bulleted list and saving said HTML page for presentation to said user;

a site map form for providing a tabular layout structure for said site map including a first title, header and footer fields pulled in from said web site, a form type identifier, and a first data field for receiving site map data from said create map agent responsive to a user request;

a table of contents form for providing a column layout structure for said table of contents including a second title, header and footer fields pulled in from said web site, a form type identifier, and a second data field for receiving table of contents data from said create map agent responsive to a user request;

said site map form and said table of contents form providing respective data fields for receiving data from said create map agent dynamically responsive to a request from a user for display of said site map or said table of contents.

5. Method for displaying from a web site a site view selectively including a site map and a table of contents, comprising the steps of:

providing a site navigation view as an index on a content database, said index being updated whenever additions and deletions of area category or content items are made to said content database;

executing an agent responsive to a user request for a display of said site view, for setting up a site view layout structure including an HTML table structure and an HTML list structure for populating fields respectively in said site map and said table of contents;

identifying in said navigation view one or more navigation documents;

for each navigation document identified, determining the category name and adding a list item for said category to said site view layout structure including;

responsive to said user request being for a site map, setting up an initial table structure;

examining said site navigation view to identify navigational content for said site sorted by category;

processing each document in order of appearance in said site navigation view and building an HTML page containing bulleted lists of links separated by category names identified in said content by

reading a first document,

setting a first category name as that category identified in said first document,

for a user request for a site map, initializing said table structure with said first document, and

starting a bulleted list with an HTML link created selectively pointing to said first document or to another location on said site if such other location is defined by link information in said first document;

checking a subcategory structure and, for a user request for a site map, starting a sub-bulleted list with an HTML link to a subcategory page, and, for a user request for a table of contents, a name of said subcategory;

reading a next document,

responsive to said next document having a next category name different from prior documents, closing said bulleted list and adding said next category name to said HTML page and starting a new bulleted list;

responsive to said next category name being within a prior category name, checking said subcategory structure;

 

responsive to a subcategory name of this next document being different from a prior subcategory name of a prior document, closing said sub-bulleted list and starting a new sub-bulleted list with an HTML link to a subcategory page for a site map or just a name of this subcategory for a table of contents;

creating an HTML link selectively pointing to said next document or to another location on said site if such other location is defined in said next document, and

repeating said reading a next document step for all documents in said view; and

then

closing said bulleted list and saving said HTML page for presentation to said user;

copying each said list item from said layout structure to said site view for display of said area category or content items in said navigation documents indexed by said navigation view responsive to said user request;

providing in a site map form a tabular layout structure for said site map including a first title, header and footer fields pulled in from said web site, a form type identifier, and a first data field for receiving site map data from said agent responsive to a user request;

providing in a table of contents form a column layout structure for said table of contents including a second title, header and footer fields pulled in from said web site, a form type identifier, and a second data field for receiving table of contents data from said create map agent responsive to a user request; and

said site map form and said table of contents form providing respective data fields for receiving data from said agent dynamically responsive to a request from a user for display of said site map or said table of contents.

6. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer useable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for displaying from a web site a site view selectively including a site map and a table of contents, the computer readable program means in said article of manufacture comprising;

computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect organizing a site as a collection of topical content areas in a content database, each said area containing a list of content items that a user can link to for display using views;

computer readable program code means for providing a site navigation view as an index on said content is database, said index being updated whenever additions and deletions of area category or content items are made to said topical content areas;

computer readable program code means for providing a site view layout structure including an HTML table structure and an HTML list structure for populating fields respectively in said site map and said table of contents;

computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect providing a site view as a category oriented view;

computer readable program code means for providing in a site map form a tabular layout structure for said site map including a first title, header and footer fields pulled in from said web site, a form type identifier, and a first data field for receiving site map data from an agent responsive to a user request;

said agent;

responsive to said user request being for a site map, setting up an initial table structure;

examining said site navigation view to identify navigational content for said site sorted by category;

processing each document in order of appearance in said site navigation view and building an HTML page containing bulleted lists of links separated by category names identified in said content by

reading a first document,

setting a first category name as that category identified in said first document,

for a user request for a site man, initializing said table structure with said first document, and

starting a bulleted list with an HTML link created selectively pointing to said first document or to another location on said site if such other location is defined by link information in said first document;

checking a subcategory structure and, for a user request for a site map, starting a sub-bulleted list with an HTML link to a subcategory page, and, for a user request for a table of contents;

a name of said subcategory;

reading a next document,

responsive to said next document having a next category name different from prior documents, closing said bulleted list and adding said next category name to said HTML page and starting a new bulleted list;

responsive to said next category name being within a prior category name, checking said subcategory structure;

 

responsive to a subcategory name of this next document being different from a prior subcategory name of a prior document, closing said sub-bulleted list and starting a new sub-bulleted list with an HTML link to a subcategory pare for a site map or just a name of this subcategory for a table of contents;

creating an HTML link selectively pointing to said next document or to another location on said site if such other location is defined in said next document, and

repeating said reading a next document step for all documents in said view; and

then

closing said bulleted list and saving said HTML save for presentation to said user;

computer readable program code means for providing in a table of contents form a column layout structure for said table of contents including a second title, header and footer fields pulled in from said web site, a form type identifier, and a second data field for receiving table of contents data from said create map agent responsive to a user request;

said site map form and said table of contents form providing respective data fields for receiving data from said agent dynamically responsive to a request from a user for display of said site map or said table of contents; and

computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect, responsive to a user request for display of said site view, executing an agent to access said site navigation view to obtain and display to said user current area category and content items from said content database.

7. A computer program product or computer program element for displaying from a web site a site view selectively including a site map and a table of contents according to the steps of:

organizing a site as a collection of topical content areas, each said area containing a list of content items that a user can link to for display using views;

providing a site navigation view as an index on said content database, said index being updated whenever additions and deletions of area category or content items are made to said content database;

providing a site view layout structure including an HTML table structure and an HTML list structure for populating fields respectively in said site map and said table of contents;

providing a site view as a category oriented view;

providing an agent for;

responsive to said user request being for a site, map, setting up an initial table structure;

examining said site navigation view to identify navigational content for said site sorted by category;

processing each document in order of appearance in said site navigation view and building an HTML page containing bulleted lists of links separated by category names identified in said content by

reading a first document,

setting a first category name as that category identified in said first document,

for a user request for a site map, initializing said table structure with said first document, and

starting a bulleted list with an HTML link created selectively pointing to said first document or to another location on said site if such other location is defined by link information in said first document;

checking a subcategory structure and, for a user request for a site map, starting a sub-bulleted list with an HTML link to a subcategory page, and, for a user request for a table of contents, a name of said subcategory;

reading a next document,

responsive to said next document having a next category name different from prior documents, closing said bulleted list and adding said next category name to said HTML page and starting a new bulleted list;

responsive to said next category name being within a prior category name, checking said subcategory structure;

 

responsive to a subcategory name of this next document being different from a prior subcategory name of a prior document, closing said sub-bulleted list and starting a new sub-bulleted list with an HTML link to a subcategory page for a site man or just a name of this subcategory for a table of contents;

creating an HTML link selectively pointing to said next document or to another location on said site if such other location is defined in said next document, and

repeating said reading a next document step for all documents in said view; and

then

closing said bulleted list and saving said HTML page for presentation to said user;

providing in a site map form a tabular layout structure for said site map including a first title, header and footer fields pulled in from said web site, a form type identifier, and a first data field for receiving site map data from said agent responsive to a user request;

providing in a table of contents form a column layout structure for said table of contents including a second title, header and footer fields pulled in from said web site, a form type identifier, and a second data field for receiving table of contents data from said create map agent responsive to a user request;

said site map form and said table of contents form providing respective data fields for receiving data from said agent dynamically responsive to a request from a user for display of said site map or said table of contents; and

responsive to a user request for display of said site view, executing an agent to access said index of said site navigation view to obtain and display to said user most current area category and content items.