System and method for saving user-specified views of internet web page displays

• US 7,149,982 B1
• Filed: 12/30/1999
• Issued: 12/12/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Duperrouzel, Brian Gerard, Chassels, IV, Angus McNab
• Primary Examiner(s): Lo, Weilun
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRAN, MYLINH T
• Application Number:
  US09/475,319
• Time in Patent Office: 2,539 Days
• Field of Search: 345/661, 345/759, 345/760, 345/781, 345/784, 345/785, 345/786, 345/788, 345/789, 345/793, 345/798, 345/799, 345/800, 345/973, 345801-807, 707/513, 707/517, 707/520, 707/500, 715/778, 715/788, 715/781, 715/784, 715/786, 715/802
• US Class Current: 715/788
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance

Abstract

A display system having a display screen to display web pages accessible via a network is provided. The display system comprises a computer system structured to send requests for web pages via the network to a web site, and the computer system receives the web pages via the network. A display area displays the web pages received by the computer system. The display system includes display area controls that allow a user to select a characteristic of the web pages to display in the display area. User-specified settings associated with the displayed characteristic of the web pages are stored in a storage area for subsequent recall and automatic execution whenever a subsequent request for the web pages is sent to the network. The display area displays the user-selected characteristic of the web pages in response to these subsequent requests.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of displaying a plurality of web pages, the method comprising:

while displaying a plurality of user-selected web pages, the web pages being displayed according to user-selected display configuration settings and the display configuration settings including at least in part indications of portions of the web pages to be displayed, receiving a single user-initiated snapshot indication from a user to store a snapshot of the plurality of web pages;

after receiving the single user-initiated snapshot indication, storing the snapshot of the plurality of web pages, wherein the snapshot comprises network addresses of the plurality of web pages along with stored display configuration settings for the network addresses, the stored display configuration settings representing settings at the time the snapshot indication was received and at least in part including scroll positions for the plurality of web pages, the scroll positions giving indications of portions of the plurality of web pages which were displayed when the indication was received;

retrieving the snapshot, wherein the snapshot comprises the stored network addresses of web pages and the stored display configuration settings for the plurality of stored network addresses of the web pages;

requesting the web pages indicated by the stored network addresses;

receiving data for the web pages indicated by the stored network addresses; and

simultaneously displaying the web pages indicated by the stored network addresses according to the stored display configuration settings, wherein the displaying navigates to the portions of the web pages which were displayed at the time the snapshot indication was received, the portions corresponding to the scroll positions indicated by the stored configuration settings.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the displaying comprises displaying the web pages in a plurality of panes, wherein the panes are contained in a single window.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the display configuration settings comprise settings indicating toolbars to be displayed in respective of the plurality of the panes; and

displaying the web pages in the plurality of panes comprises displaying toolbars for the panes as indicated by the display configuration settings.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the display configuration settings further comprise settings indicating a pane position of one or more of the panes; and

displaying the web pages in the plurality of panes comprises positioning the panes in positions as indicated by the display configuration settings.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein

the display configuration settings comprise an indication of a screen resolution;

and

the displaying re-scales display panes to respective relative areas indicated by the display configuration settings.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the display configuration settings further comprise settings indicating a size of one or more of the panes; and

the displaying comprises displaying at least one of the web pages in a pane having the size as indicated by the display configuration settings.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the settings indicating the size comprise at least one dimension of a pane in pixels.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the retrieving retrieves the display configuration settings from within HTML comment statements.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein

the display configuration settings comprise an indication of a position of one or more scroll bars;

and

the displaying navigates to the position of the one or more scroll bars.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein

the display configuration settings comprise an indication of a screen resolution;

and

the displaying re-scales based on a current screen resolution and the screen resolution of the configuration settings.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a user indication of a name for the snapshot;

wherein the retrieving retrieves the snapshot based on the name.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the user indication of the name is received by selection from a list.

13. One or more computer-readable media comprising computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising:

while displaying a plurality of user-selected web pages, the web pages being displayed according to user-selected display configuration settings and the display configuration settings including at least in part indications of portions of the web pages to be displayed, receiving a single user-initiated snapshot indication from a user to store a snapshot of the plurality of web pages;

after receiving the single user-initiated snapshot indication, storing the snapshot of the plurality of web pages, wherein the snapshot comprises network addresses of the plurality of web pages along with stored display configuration settings for the network addresses, the stored display configuration settings representing settings at the time the snapshot indication was received and at least in part including scroll positions for the plurality of web pages, the scroll positions giving indications of portions of the plurality of web pages which were displayed when the indication was received;

retrieving the snapshot, wherein the snapshot comprises the stored network addresses of web pages and the stored display configuration settings for the plurality of stored network addresses of the web pages;

requesting the web pages indicated by the stored network addresses;

receiving data for the web pages indicated by the stored network addresses; and

simultaneously displaying the web pages indicated by the stored network addresses according to the stored display configuration settings, wherein the displaying navigates to the portions of the web pages which were displayed at the time the snapshot was received, the portions corresponding to the scroll positions indicated by the stored configuration settings.

14. A method of configuring display of a plurality of simultaneously displayed web pages, the method comprising:

simultaneously displaying the plurality of web pages, wherein the web pages are identified by respective network addresses, a user can indicate which portion of at least one of the web pages is to be displayed, the portion being a user-selected portion of the at least one of the web pages, and the web pages are displayed according to user-selected display configuration settings, the display configuration settings including at least in part indications of the user-selected portion to be displayed;

receiving a single user-initiated snapshot indication from a user to store a snapshot of the plurality of web pages and a user indication of a title for the snapshot;

after receiving the single user-initiated snapshot indication and indication of a title, storing the snapshot of the plurality of web pages, wherein the snapshot comprises the title, the respective network addresses and the display configuration settings including indications of the user-selected portion of the at least one of the web pages, the stored display configuration settings representing settings at the time the snapshot indication was received;

receiving a user-initiated indication that the snapshot for the title is to be re-displayed;

retrieving the snapshot, wherein the snapshot comprises the title, the stored respective network addresses, and the stored display configuration settings;

requesting the plurality of web pages identified by the respective network addresses;

receiving data associated with the network addresses, wherein the data represents subsequently requested versions of the plurality of web pages; and

simultaneously re-displaying the plurality of web pages according to the stored display configuration settings, wherein the re-displaying displays a portion of at least one of the subsequently requested versions of the plurality of web pages corresponding to the user-selected portion of the at least one of the web pages as indicated by the stored display configuration settings.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein re-displaying the plurality of web pages comprises displaying the web pages in respective panes, the panes contained in a single window.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the display configuration settings include indications of the user-selected portion of the at least one of the web pages by indicating a position of one or more scroll bars for at least one of the panes; and

the re-displaying displays the at least one of the panes having the position of the one or more scroll bars as indicated by the display configuration settings.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the display configuration settings comprise an indication of a position of one or more of the panes; and

the re-displaying displays the one or more of the panes in the position as indicated by the display configuration settings.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the display configuration settings comprise an indication of a size of one or more panes; and

the re-displaying displays the one or more of the panes with the size as indicated by the display configuration settings.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein indication of the size indicates at least one dimension of at least one of the panes in pixels.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the display configuration settings indicate whether a toolbar is to be displayed in at least one of the panes; and

the re-displaying displays the toolbar as indicated by the display configuration settings.

21. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

presenting a web browser window comprising a plurality of panes, wherein each of the plurality of panes in the browser is configured to allow a user to modify a display configuration of the panes, wherein the user can browse web pages at different network addresses independently of web pages in other panes.

22. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions for performing a method of configuring display of a plurality of simultaneously displayed web pages, the method comprising:

simultaneously displaying the plurality of web pages, wherein the web pages are identified by respective network addresses, a user can indicate which portion of at least one of the web pages is to be displayed, the portion being a user-selected portion of the at least one of the web pages, and the web pages are displayed according to user-selected display configuration settings, the display configuration settings including at least in part indications of the user-selected portion to be displayed;

receiving a single user-initiated snapshot indication from a user to store a snapshot of the plurality of web pages and a user indication of a title for the snapshot;

after receiving the single user-initiated snapshot indication and indication of a title, storing the snapshot of the plurality of web pages, wherein the snapshot comprises the title, the respective network addresses and the display configuration settings including indications of the user-selected portion of the at least one of the web pages, the stored display configuration settings representing settings at the time the snapshot indication was received;

receiving a user-initiated indication that the snapshot for the title is to be re-displayed;

retrieving the snapshot, wherein the snapshot comprises the title, the stored respective network addresses, and the stored display configuration settings;

requesting the plurality of web pages identified by the respective network addresses;

receiving data associated with the network addresses, wherein the data represents subsequently requested versions of the plurality of web pages; and

simultaneously re-displaying the plurality of web pages according to the stored display configuration settings, wherein the re-displaying displays a portion of at least one of the subsequently requested versions of the plurality of web pages corresponding to the user-selected portion of the at least one of the web pages as indicated by the stored display configuration settings.

23. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions for performing a method of configuring display of a plurality of simultaneously displayed web pages, the method comprising:

simultaneously displaying the plurality of web pages in a plurality of panes in a single window, wherein the web pages are identified by respective network addresses, a user can indicate which portion of at least one of the web pages is to be displayed, the portion being a user-selected portion of the at least one of the web pages, and the web pages are displayed according to user-selected display configuration settings, the display configuration settings including at least in part indications of the user-selected portion to be displayed;

receiving a single user-initiated snapshot indication from a user to store a snapshot of the plurality of web pages and a user indication of a title for the snapshot;

after receiving the single user-initiated snapshot indication and indication of a title, storing the snapshot of the plurality of web pages, wherein the snapshot comprises the title, the respective network addresses and the display configuration settings including indications of the user-selected portion of the at least one of the web pages, the stored display configuration settings representing settings at the time the snapshot indication was received and further indicating a number of panes, a position and size of the panes, whether toolbars are to be displayed for the panes, and a position of scroll bars within the panes;

receiving a user-initiated indication that the snapshot for the title is to be re-displayed;

retrieving the snapshot, wherein the snapshot comprises the title, the stored respective network addresses, and the stored display configuration settings;

requesting the plurality of web pages identified by the respective stored network addresses;

receiving data associated with the network addresses, wherein the data represented subsequently requested versions of the plurality of web pages; and

simultaneously re-displaying the plurality of web pages identified by the network addresses according to the stored display configuration settings;

wherein the re-displaying displays a portion of at least one of the subsequently requested versions of the plurality of web pages corresponding to the user-selected portion of the at least one of the web pages as indicated by the stored display configuration settings;

wherein the re-displaying further displays the number of panes as indicated by the stored display configuration settings;

wherein the re-displaying further displays the panes having the position and size as indicated by the stored display configuration settings;

wherein the re-displaying further displays toolbars for the panes as indicated by the stored display configuration settings; and

wherein the re-displaying displays the panes having the position of scroll bars indicated by the stored display configuration settings.