Method for validating remotely cached dynamic content web pages

• US 7,392,348 B2
• Filed: 08/06/2003
• Issued: 06/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dumont, Charles E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sparks; Donald
• Assistant Examiner(s): Farrokh; Hashem
• Application Number:
  US10/635,075
• Publication Number:
  US 20050033926A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,784 Days
• Field of Search: 711/137
• US Class Current: 711/137
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching

Abstract

Under the present invention, when a request for a web page is received from a client on a server, the web page is built and analyzed for cacheablity. If the web page is cacheable, an entity tag is generated. The entity tag generally identifies the various sources of dynamic content in the web page, and includes cacheability flags and time values associated with the dependencies. The entity tag is sent to the client with the web page where it is stored in local cache memory. If a subsequent request for the same web page is issued from the client, the request is accompanied with the entity tag (e.g., in a header). The entity tag is decoded and analyzed by the server to determine whether the cached web page is still valid.

Claims

1. A method for validating remotely cached dynamic content web pages, comprising:

analyzing a plurality of parts of a response to a client request to identify a plurality of attributes thereof, wherein the attributes identify a set of dependencies of the content on sources of dynamic content;

determining a cacheability of the response, the sources of dynamic content in the response and the set of dependencies on the sources;

generating an entity tag based on the cacheability, the sources and the set of dependencies, wherein the entity tag identifies the sources and includes cacheability flags and time values associated with the set of dependencies;

returning and caching the response and the entity tag on the client;

receiving a subsequent request from the client with the entity tag; and

analyzing the entity tag by comparing time values within the entity tag associated with the set of dependencies to corresponding time values for the sources to determine if the cached response is valid, wherein the comparison is made without evaluating or rebuilding the response.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a status code to the client if the cached response is valid; and

displaying the cached response.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising

generating a new response if the cached response is not valid;

determining a cacheability of the new response, sources of dynamic content in the new response and a set of dependencies on the sources of the dynamic content in the new response;

generating a new entity tag based on the cacheability of the new response, the sources of dynamic content in the new response and the set of dependencies on the sources of the dynamic content in the new response; and

returning and caching the new response and the new entity tag on the client.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing step comprises:

decoding the entity tag;

identifying the sources; and

determining if the cached response is valid, wherein the cached response is valid if the time values within the entity tag match the corresponding time values for the sources.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of dependencies comprises at least one of a database design, database data, and document data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the returning and caching step comprises:

encoding the entity tag; and

returning the entity tag to the client in a header accompanying the response.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining step comprises creating the cacheability flags based on the set of dependencies, and wherein the entity tag includes the cacheability flags.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the entity tag further includes a version number, a database design time value and a data time value.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the entity tag further comprises at least one of a document identifier and a user name.

10. A method for validating remotely cached dynamic content web pages, comprising:

analyzing a plurality of parts of a response to a client request to identify a plurality of attributes thereof, wherein the attributes identify a set of dependencies of the content on sources of dynamic content;

determining a cacheability of the response, the sources of dynamic content in the response and the set of dependencies on the sources;

generating an entity tag, wherein the entity tag identifies the sources and includes cacheability flags and time values associated with the set of dependencies;

returning and caching the response and the entity tag on the client;

receiving a subsequent request for the dynamic content web page from the client with the entity tag; and

comparing the time values in the entity tag with corresponding time values for the sources to determine if the cached response is valid, wherein the comparison is made without evaluating or rebuilding the response.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

sending a status code to the client if the cached response is valid; and

displaying the cached response.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising

generating a new response if the cached response is not valid;

determining a cacheability of the new response, sources of dynamic content in the new response and a set of dependencies on the sources of the dynamic content in the new response;

generating a new entity tag, wherein the new entity tag identifies the sources of the dynamic content in the new response, and includes cacheability flags and time values associated with the set of dependencies on the sources of the dynamic content in the new response; and

returning and caching the new response and the new entity tag on the client.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the analyzing step comprises:

identifying the sources based on the entity tag received with the subsequent request; and

comparing the time values within the entity tag to corresponding time values for the sources to determine if the cached response is valid, wherein the cached response is valid if the time values within the entity tag match the corresponding time values for the sources.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the time values comprise a database design time value and a data time value.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the set of dependencies comprises at least one of a database design, database data, and document data.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the entity tag further comprises at least one of a version number, a document identifier and a user name.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the returning and caching step comprises:

encoding the entity tag; and

returning the entity tag to the client in a header accompanying the response.