Method and software for reducing server requests by a browser

• US 8,195,767 B2
• Filed: 12/22/2008
• Issued: 06/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Albrecht, Frank H., Sommer, David, Rundholz, Jochen
• Primary Examiner(s): Jean, Frantz
• Application Number:
  US12/341,547
• Publication Number:
  US 20100161717A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,261 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/217, 709/219, 707/1, 707/10, 707/705, 707/821
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5682 Policies or rules for updating, deleting or replacing the stored data

Abstract

This disclosure provides various embodiments of systems, software, and computerized methods for reducing the number of server requests sent to a web server. In one aspect, the software generates a file reference uniquely identifying a version of a file capable of being cached by a requester. The file reference can comprise a network-addressable location of the version of the cacheable file and a parameter uniquely identifying the version of the cacheable file, where the parameter is separated from the network-addressable location of the version of the cacheable file. The software can further embed the file reference into a web page file, and send the web page file in response to a request for the web page. The parameter may include a plurality of data elements, such as a second instance of the file name, a timestamp, or a version number of the cacheable file.

Claims

1. A computer program product for reducing the number of server requests sent to a web server, the computer program product comprising computer readable instructions embodied on non-transitory media and operable when executed to:

generate a first file reference uniform resource locator (URL) uniquely identifying a first version of a file capable of being cached by a requester, the first file reference URL comprising a network-addressable location of the first version of the cacheable file and a first parameter uniquely identifying the first version of the cacheable file, the first parameter separated from the network-addressable location of the first version of the cacheable file;

embed the file reference URL into a web page file;

send the web page file in response to a request for the web page;

identify a modified second version of the cacheable file;

generate a second file reference URL uniquely identifying the second version of the cacheable file in response to identifying the modified second version of the cacheable file, the second file reference URL comprising a network-addressable location of the second version of the cacheable file and a second parameter uniquely identifying the second version of the cacheable file, the second parameter separated from the second network-addressable location of the second version of the cacheable file, where the network-addressable locations of the first and second versions of the cacheable file are the same;

replace the embedded first file reference URL with the generated second file reference URL in the web page file; and

send the web page file in response to a second request for the web page.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the location of the first version of the cacheable file includes a name of the file.

3. The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the first parameter uniquely identifying the first version of the cacheable file includes a plurality of data elements.

4. The computer program product of claim 3, wherein the plurality of data elements comprises at least one of the following:

a second instance of the file name, a timestamp, or a version number.

5. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the first parameter uniquely identifying the first version of the cacheable file is automatically generated by a web server when the cacheable file is modified.

6. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the first parameter is separated from the network-addressable location of the first version of the cacheable file by a pre-defined character string.

7. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the web page file substantially comprises a hypertext markup language (HTML) file.

8. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the cacheable file comprises an image file associated with the web page file.

9. The computer program product of claim 1 further operable when executed to:

store the first version of the cacheable file at the network-addressable location defined by the file reference; and

send the first version of the cacheable file in response to a request for the cacheable file.

10. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the network-addressable location of the second version of the cacheable file is identical to the network-addressable location of the first version of the cacheable file.

11. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the second version of the cacheable file comprises an updated version of the first version of the cacheable file.

12. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the second parameter is different from the first parameter.

13. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the web page file is dynamically generated in response to the request for the web page.

14. A computer implemented method for reducing the number of server requests sent to a web server comprising:

generating a first file reference uniform resource locator (URL) uniquely identifying a first version of a file capable of being cached by a requester, the first file reference URL comprising a network-addressable location of the first version of the cacheable file and a parameter uniquely identifying the first version of the cacheable file, the parameter separated from the network-addressable location of the first version of the cacheable file;

embedding the file reference URL into a web page file;

sending the web page file in response to a first request for the web page;

identify a modified second version of the cacheable file;

generating a second file reference URL uniquely identifying the second version of the cacheable file in response to identifying the modified second version of the cacheable file, the second file reference URL comprising a network-addressable location of the second version of the cacheable file and a second parameter uniquely identifying the second version of the cacheable file, the second parameter separated from the second network-addressable location of the second version of the cacheable file, where the network-addressable locations of the first and second versions of the cacheable file are the same;

replacing the embedded first file reference URL with the generated second file reference URL in the web page file; and

sending the web page file in response to a second request for the web page, the second request occurring after replacing the embedded first file reference URL with the generated second file reference URL in the web page file.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the parameter uniquely identifying the first version of the cacheable file includes a plurality of data elements.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of data elements comprises at least one of the following:

a second instance of the file name, a timestamp, or a version number.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the first parameter uniquely identifying the first version of the cacheable file is automatically generated by a web server when the cacheable file is modified.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the web page file comprises a hypertext markup language (HTML) file.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the cacheable file comprises an image file associated with the web page file.

20. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

storing the first version of the cacheable file at the network-addressable location defined by the file reference URL; and

sending the version of the cacheable file in response to a request for the first version of the cacheable file.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein the second modified version of the file comprises an updated version of the first version of the file.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein the second parameter is different from the first parameter.

23. A computer program product for reducing the number of server requests sent to a web server, the computer program product comprising computer readable instructions embodied on non-transitory media and operable when executed to:

set a cache timeout value associated with the computer program product to a substantively high value;

receive a web page file in response to a request for a network address, the received web page file including an embedded file reference uniform resource locator (URL), the file reference URL uniquely identifying a current version of a file capable of being cached associated with the received web page and comprising a network-addressable location of the version of the cacheable file and a parameter uniquely identifying the current version of the cacheable file, the parameter separated from the network-addressable location of the current version of the cacheable file;

comparing the embedded file reference to a plurality of cached file reference URLs to determine whether the current version of the cacheable file uniquely identified by the embedded file reference URL matches one of the plurality of cached file reference URLs; and

if the embedded file reference URL matches one of the plurality of cached file reference URLs;

retrieving a cached file associated with the matching one of the plurality of cached file reference URLs; and

presenting a visual representation of the received web page file to a user via a graphical user interface (GUI), wherein the visual representation of the received web page includes the retrieved cached file.

24. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein setting the cache timeout value associated with the software to a high value comprises setting the cache timeout value to one year.

25. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein if the embedded file reference URL does not match one of the plurality of cached file reference URLs, the computer program product further operable when executed to:

send a request to the network-addressable location of the current version of the cacheable file for the uniquely identified version of the file;

receive a copy of the uniquely identified current version of the file in response to the request; and

store the copy of the uniquely identified current version of the file in a cache, wherein the stored copy of the uniquely identified current version of the file is associated with the file reference URL.

26. The computer program product of claim 25, the computer program product further operable when executed to:

present a visual representation of the received web page file via a graphical user interface (GUI), wherein the visual representation of the received web page includes the received uniquely identified current version of the file.

27. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing computer readable instructions executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

generating a first file reference uniform resource locator (URL) uniquely identifying a first version of a file capable of being cached by a requester, the first file reference URL comprising a network-addressable location of the first version of the cacheable file and a first parameter uniquely identifying the first version of the cacheable file, the first parameter separated from the network-addressable location of the first version of the cacheable file;

embedding the file reference URL into a web page file;

sending the web page file in response to a request for the web page;

identifying a modified second version of the cacheable file;

generating a second file reference URL uniquely identifying the second version of the cacheable file in response to identifying the modified second version of the cacheable file, the second file reference URL comprising a network-addressable location of the second version of the cacheable file and a second parameter uniquely identifying the second version of the cacheable file, the second parameter separated from the second network-addressable location of the second version of the cacheable file, where the network-addressable locations of the first and second versions of the cacheable file are the same;

replacing the embedded first file reference URL with the generated second file reference URL in the web page file; and

sending the web page file in response to a second request for the web page.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the first parameter is separated from the network-addressable location of the first version of the cacheable file by a pre-defined character string.