Expression-based web logger for usage and navigational behavior tracking

• US 8,051,066 B2
• Filed: 07/07/2009
• Issued: 11/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Kornelson, Kevin Paul, Prasad, Rajeev
• Primary Examiner(s): DANG, THANH HA T
• Application Number:
  US12/498,556
• Publication Number:
  US 20090276523A1
• Time in Patent Office: 847 Days
• Field of Search: 707/769, 707/770, 707/776, 707/708, 707/709, 707/716, 707/721, 707/771, 707/784, 707/812, 709/200, 709/203, 709/220, 709/224, 709/227
• US Class Current: 707/708
• 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 for tracking user navigational behavior, said method comprising:

accessing configuration information including at least one expression defining a specific user navigation path;

receiving, from a web server, clickstream data, said clickstream data being in a format defined by the web server, said clickstream data including a plurality of conditions, said plurality of conditions being associated with said clickstream data and affecting storage thereof;

analyzing the received clickstream data, said analyzing comprising evaluating the expression from the accessed configuration information by using the condition to determine a relationship between the specific user navigation path and the received clickstream data; and

storing the received clickstream data, said storing comprising;

storing a first portion of the received clickstream data in a first file in accordance with the determined relationship without modifying the format of the received clickstream data defined by the web server, wherein the determined relationship yields at least one condition of the plurality of conditions as associated with the stored first portion of the received clickstream data; and

storing a second portion of the received clickstream data in a second file different from the first file and in accordance with the determined relationship without modifying the format of the received clickstream data defined by the web server, wherein the determined relationship yields at least one of the plurality of conditions as excluding the received clickstream data from being associated with the second portion of the received clickstream data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein storing the received clickstream data comprises storing a cookie associated with a computing device in accordance with the evaluated expression.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising formatting the received clickstream data in accordance with the accessed configuration information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein formatting the received clickstream data comprises separating the received clickstream data into columns.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein storing the received clickstream data comprises maintaining a sequence of evaluated expressions to track user navigational behavior.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the received clickstream data comprises:

forwarding the received clickstream data to a filter component to evaluate the expression using the condition; and

receiving the evaluated expression from the filter component.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising sampling the received clickstream data prior to storing the received clickstream data.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving the clickstream data and said analyzing the received clickstream data occur in real-time.

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

10. A system for tracking user navigational behavior, said system comprising:

a memory area to store configuration information, said configuration information including at least one expression defining a specific user navigation path, said configuration information further defining a log cut interval specifying a maximum size for a clickstream file;

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

a computer storage medium storing computer-executable instructions to be executed on the computing device to analyze the received clickstream data by evaluating the expression from the accessed configuration information prior to storage of the received clickstream data, said expression being evaluated by using the condition to determine a relationship between the specific user navigation path and the received clickstream data; and

another memory area to store at least a portion of the received clickstream data in accordance with the determined relationship without modifying the format of the received clickstream data defined by the web server,

wherein the computing device closes the opened clickstream file and the computing device creates and opens a new clickstream file based on the log cut interval, and wherein additional portions of the clickstream data received from the web server are stored in the new clickstream file.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the computer-executable instructions to analyze the received clickstream data comprise computer-executable instructions to store a cookie associated with the computing device in accordance with the evaluated expression.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the received clickstream data is formatted in accordance with the accessed configuration information.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the received clickstream data comprises a sequence of evaluated expressions to track user navigational behavior.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the computer-executable instructions to analyze the received clickstream data comprise computer-executable instructions to forward the received clickstream data to a filter component to evaluate the expression using the condition and to receive the evaluated expression from the filter component.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the computer-executable instructions to analyze the received clickstream data comprise computer-executable instructions to sample the received clickstream data prior to storing the clickstream data.