Expression-based web logger for usage and navigational behavior tracking

• US 7,567,979 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2003
• Issued: 07/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Prasad, Rajeev, Kornelson, Kevin Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong; Don
• Assistant Examiner(s): DANG, THANH HA T
• Application Number:
  US10/748,716
• Publication Number:
  US 20050044101A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,037 Days
• Field of Search: 707/102, 707/10, 707/104.1, 707/1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

Configurably storing data in a plurality of files based on expressions and conditions associated with the data. Logging software enables tracking of the navigation pattern of users for selected network properties under specified conditions. The logging software is configurable such that most current and future logging specifications may be fulfilled without any code changes to the logging software.

Claims

1. A method of organizing web log data prior to storing the web log data, said method comprising:

accessing configuration information associated with the web log data, said configuration information including at least one expression for defining a plurality of log files;

creating and opening at least one web log file based on the configuration information, wherein the web log file is one of the defined plurality of log files;

creating and opening an error log file based on the configuration information, wherein the error log file is one of the defined plurality of log files, said error log being different than the web log file;

receiving the web log data from a web server, said received web log data being in a format defined by the web server;

evaluating the expression from the accessed configuration information, said evaluation of the received web log data occurring prior to the storing of the web log data;

storing a first portion of the received web log data in the opened web log file in accordance with the evaluated expression without modifying the format of the received web log data defined by the web server, wherein the evaluated expression yields a condition associated with the stored first portion of the received web log data; and

storing a second portion of the received web log data in the opened error log file without modifying the format of the received web log data defined by the web server, wherein the evaluated expression does not yield a condition associated with the stored second portion of the received web log data.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising formatting the web log data in accordance with the accessed configuration information prior to storing the web log data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the web log data comprises receiving clickstream web log data and the condition associated with the stored first portion of the received web log data from the web server, and further comprising dividing the received clickstream web log data into a plurality of portions based on the expression evaluated based on the received condition.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the configuration information from a user.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing the configuration information comprises reading configuration information from a central hierarchical database.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining a history of evaluated expressions to track a sequence of the evaluated expressions.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the web log data is received from a computing device, and wherein maintaining the history comprises storing a cookie associated with the computing device, said cookie including the sequence of the evaluated expressions.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating the expression comprises recursively evaluating portions of the expression using the condition.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the web log data is received from a computing device and further comprising:

authenticating the computing device; and

opening a plurality of files to store the received web log data.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein storing the received web log data comprises:

preparing column web log data responsive to the received web log data and the evaluated expression; and

storing the prepared column web log data in a file.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating the expression comprises:

forwarding the received web log data to a filter component to evaluate the expression using the condition associated with the stored first portion of the received web log data; and

receiving the evaluated expression from the filter component.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising sampling the received web log data prior to storing the received web log data.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving the web log data and said evaluating the expression occur in real-time.

14. One or more computer storage media having computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 1.

15. One or more computer storage media having computer-executable components for filtering web log data prior to storing the web log data, said components comprising:

a configuration component to access configuration information associated with the web log data, said configuration information including at least one expression;

an interface component to receive web log data from a web server, said web log data including at least one condition, said condition being associated with the web log data and affecting storage thereof, said received web log data being in a format defined by a web server;

an expression component to evaluate the expression accessed by the configuration component based on the condition received by the interface component, wherein the expression specifies one or more operations for organizing the received web log;

a storage component to store the at least a portion of the received web log data received by the interface component in accordance with the expression evaluated by the expression component without modifying the format of the received web log data defined by the web server; and

a logging component to store a cookie associated with a computing device, said cookie including a sequence of evaluated expressions for maintaining a history of the evaluated expressions to track the sequence of the evaluated expressions, wherein the evaluated expression are based on the web log data received from the computing device.

16. The one or more computer storage media of claim 15, wherein the configuration component, when executed, creates structured web log data with enumerated values associated therewith based on the received configuration information.

17. The one or more computer storage media of claim 15, further comprising a helper component to parse the web log data received by the interface component for use by the expression component.

18. The one or more computer storage media of claim 15, further comprising an authentication component to obtain user information associated with the web log data received by the interface component.

19. The one or more computer storage media of claim 15, further comprising a scheduling component to create a file for use by the storage component to store the received web log data.

20. A system for organizing web log data prior to storing the web log data, said system comprising:

a memory area to store configuration information associated with web log data received from a web server, said configuration information including at least one expression and defining a log cut interval wherein the expression specifies one or more operations for organizing the received web log data and the log cut interval specifies a maximum size for a web log file;

a computing device to process the web log data, said web log data including at least one condition associated therewith, said condition associated with the web log data affecting storage of the web log data, said received web log data being in a format defined by a web server, wherein the computing device creates and opens the web log file; and

a computer storage medium storing computer-executable instructions executed on the computing device to evaluate the expression from the configuration information stored in the memory area, said computing device evaluating the expression based on the condition associated with the web log data prior to the storing of the web log data and storing at least a portion of the received web log data in accordance with the evaluated expression without modifying the format of the received web log data defined by the web server, said computing device closing the opened web log file and creating and opening a new web log file based on the log cut interval, wherein additional portions of the web log data subsequently received from the web server are stored in the new web log file.

21. The system of claim 20, further comprising a web server to generate the web log data.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising another computing device to receive the web log data from the web server.

23. The system of claim 20, further comprising another memory area to store the web log data in a plurality of files in accordance with the configuration information.

24. The system of claim 20, wherein the computer storage medium stores computer-executable instructions executed on the computing device in real-time to receive the web log data and to filter the received web log data prior to storage of the web log data by evaluating the expression using the received web log data.