Determining when a file contains a feed

• US 7,900,131 B2
• Filed: 03/07/2006
• Issued: 03/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Alfke, Jens, Kahn, Jessica, Wilkin, Sarah Anne
• Primary Examiner(s): BETIT, JACOB F
• Application Number:
  US11/371,311
• Publication Number:
  US 20060200740A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,820 Days
• Field of Search: 707/755, 715/205
• US Class Current: 715/205
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/943 News

Abstract

Techniques for detecting, managing, and presenting syndication XML (feeds) are disclosed. In one embodiment, a web browser automatically determines that a web site is publishing feeds and notifies the user, who can then access the feed easily. In another embodiment, a browser determines that a web page or feed is advertising relationship XML, and displays information about the people identified in the relationship XML. In yet another embodiment, a browser determines that a file contains a feed and enables the user to view it in a user-friendly way. In yet another embodiment, feed state information is stored in a repository that is accessible by applications that are used to view the feed. In yet another embodiment, if a feed'"'"'s state changes, an application notifies the repository, and the state is updated. In yet another embodiment, a feed is parsed and stored in a structured way.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

using a web browser to determine when a plurality of files contain feeds, wherein determining includes analyzing the contents of each file and analyzing one or more file attributes;

analyzing, using one or more processors, the contents of each file by identifying text following the first “

<

”

character in the file, wherein analyzing further includes;

determining at least one file contains a feed when “

feed”

, “

rss”

, or “

atom”

follow the first “

<

”

character,

determining at least one file contains a feed when “

rdf”

follows the first “

<

”

character, the contents of the at least one file are further searched for “

<

channel>

”

, and “

<

channel>

”

exists in the at least one file,

identifying in at least one file the text following the next “

<

”

when “

?”

or “

!”

follow the first “

<

”

character, and

determining that at least one file does not include a feed when any other text follows the first “

<

”

character or the next “

<

”

character;

analyzing, using one or more processors, one or more file attributes by identifying a file name extension, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) scheme, or a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME) type; and

modifying, using one or more processors, one or more file attributes in a plurality of files determined to contain a feed, wherein modifying further includes;

changing the file name extension of at least one file to “

feed”

, “

rss”

, or “

atom”

when a file name extension of the at least one file is “

rdf”

, “

xml”

, or “

txt”

,

rerouting file loading of at least one file by the web browser when a first URL of the at least one file has a URL scheme beginning with “

http”

, wherein rerouting includes opening a second similar URL having a URL scheme beginning with “

feed”

, and

changing the MIME type of at least one file to “

text/rss+xml”

, “

application/rss+xml”

, “

text/atom+xml”

, or “

application/atom+xml”

when a file MIME type of the at least one file is “

text/rdf+xml”

, “

application/rdf+xml”

, “

text/xml”

, “

application/xml”

or “

text/plain”

.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using the web browser to determine a feed viewer based upon the one or more file attributes, wherein the determined feed viewer is launched and passed the second similar URL.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using a feed browser to display the feed, wherein the feed browser includes code used to determine graphical interface elements used to display a feed, and wherein the feed browser receives the feed and generates a visual representation of the feed.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using a feed browser to display the feed, wherein the feed browser includes code used to convert a feed to Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) by assembling an HTML file, and wherein the feed browser displays the assembled HTML file.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the HTML file is checked for validity, and wherein the HTML file is corrected if found to be invalid.

6. A system, comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more computer-readable storage mediums containing instructions configured to cause the one or more processors to perform operations including;

using a web browser to determine when a plurality of files contain feeds, wherein determining includes analyzing the contents of each file and analyzing one or more file attributes;

analyzing the contents of each file by identifying text following the first “

<

”

character in the file, wherein analyzing further includes;

determining at least one file contains a feed when “

feed”

, “

rss”

, or “

atom”

follow the first “

<

”

character,

determining at least one file contains a feed when “

rdf”

follows the first “

<

”

character, the contents of the at least one file are further searched for “

<

channel>

”

, and “

<

channel>

”

exists in the at least one file,

identifying in at least one file the text following the next “

<

”

when “

?”

or “

!”

follow the first “

<

”

character, and

determining that at least one file does not include a feed when any other text follows the first “

<

”

character or the next “

<

”

character;

analyzing one or more file attributes by identifying a file name extension, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) scheme, or a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME) type; and

modifying one or more file attributes in a plurality of files determined to contain a feed, wherein modifying further includes;

changing the file name extension of at least one file to “

feed”

, “

rss”

, or “

atom”

when a file name extension of the at least one file is “

rdf”

, “

xml”

, or “

txt”

,

rerouting file loading of at least one file by the web browser when a first URL of the at least one file has a URL scheme beginning with “

http”

, wherein rerouting includes opening a second similar URL having a URL scheme beginning with “

feed”

, and

changing the MIME type of at least one file to “

text/rss+xml”

, “

application/rss+xml”

, “

text/atom+xml”

, or “

application/atom+xml”

when a file MIME type of the at least one file is “

text/rdf+xml”

, “

application/rdf+xml”

, “

text/xml”

, “

application/xml”

or “

text/plain”

.

7. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

using the web browser to determine a feed viewer based upon the one or more file attributes, wherein the determined feed viewer is launched and passed the second similar URL.

8. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

using a feed browser to display the feed, wherein the feed browser includes code used to determine graphical interface elements used to display a feed, and wherein the feed browser receives the feed and generates a visual representation of the feed.

9. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

using a feed browser to display the feed, wherein the feed browser includes code used to convert a feed to Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) by assembling an HTML file, and wherein the feed browser displays the assembled HTML file.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the HTML file is checked for validity, and wherein the HTML file is corrected if found to be invalid.

11. A computer-program product, tangibly embodied in a machine-readable storage medium, including instructions operable to cause a data processing apparatus to:

use a web browser to determine when a plurality of files contain feeds, wherein determining includes analyzing the contents of each file and analyzing one or more file attributes;

analyze the contents of each file by identifying text following the first “

<

”

character in the file, wherein analyzing further includes;

determining at least one file contains a feed when “

feed”

, “

rss”

, or “

atom”

follow the first “

<

”

character,

determining at least one file contains a feed when “

rdf”

follows the first “

<

”

character, the contents of the at least one file are further searched for “

<

channel>

”

, and “

<

channel>

”

exists in the at least one file,

identifying in at least one file the text following the next “

<

”

when “

?”

or “

!”

follow the first “

<

”

character, and

determining that at least one file does not include a feed when any other text follows the first “

<

”

character or the next “

<

”

character;

analyze one or more file attributes by identifying a file name extension, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) scheme, or a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME) type; and

modify one or more file attributes in a plurality of files determined to contain a feed, wherein modifying further includes;

changing the file name extension of at least one file to “

feed”

, “

rss”

, or “

atom”

when a file name extension of the at least one file is “

rdf”

, “

xml”

, or “

txt”

,

rerouting file loading of at least one file by the web browser when a first URL of the at least one file has a URL scheme beginning with “

http”

, wherein rerouting includes opening a second similar URL having a URL scheme beginning with “

feed”

, and

changing the MIME type of at least one file to “

text/rss+xml”

, “

application/rss+xml”

, “

text/atom+xml”

, or “

application/atom+xml”

when a file MIME type of the at least one file is “

text/rdf+xml”

, “

application/rdf+xml”

, “

text/xml”

, “

application/xml”

or “

text/plain”

.

12. The computer-program product of claim 11, further comprising instructions operable to cause a data processing apparatus to:

use the web browser to determine a feed viewer based upon the one or more file attributes, wherein the determined feed viewer is launched and passed the second similar URL.

13. The computer-program product of claim 11, further comprising instructions operable to cause a data processing apparatus to:

use a feed browser to display the feed, wherein the feed browser includes code used to determine graphical interface elements used to display a feed, and wherein the feed browser receives the feed and generates a visual representation of the feed.

14. The computer-program product of claim 11, further comprising instructions operable to cause a data processing apparatus to:

use a feed browser to display the feed, wherein the feed browser includes code used to convert a feed to Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) by assembling an HTML file, and wherein the feed browser displays the assembled HTML file.

15. The computer-program product of claim 14, wherein the HTML file is checked for validity, and wherein the HTML file is corrected if found to be invalid.