Tiling mechanism to combine web services

• US 8,307,278 B1
• Filed: 09/26/2011
• Issued: 11/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Spear, Matthew John
• Primary Examiner(s): Ries, Laurie
• Assistant Examiner(s): Smith, Tionna
• Application Number:
  US13/245,849
• Time in Patent Office: 407 Days
• Field of Search: 715/240
• US Class Current: 715/240
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents

Abstract

In many websites, there are multiple pages that a user may wish to view simultaneously. A system and method are provided that allow a user to divide a web browser screen to manage multiple documents, views of documents, and web services which are provided for and managed using inline frames.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for managing web information access, comprising:

dividing a web browser window into a plurality of inline frames, the plurality of inline frames being defined by markup language instructions provided in a master frame web page, the markup language instructions in the master frame web page partitioning the screen space available in the web browser window into the plurality of inline frames;

accessing a first content web page from a web server;

displaying a view of the first content web page in a first inline frame of the master frame web page;

displaying at least one of a different view of the first content web page, a second content web page, and a web service frame in a second inline frame of the master frame web page;

displaying, in a frame list inline frame of the master frame web page, a list of the web documents of which views are provided by inline frames in the master frame web page other than the frame list inline frame, wherein the frame list inline frame allows the user access to the web documents; and

updating the inline frames based on the markup language instructions so as to keep current at least one of the content web pages, the views of the content web pages, or the web service frame as a user interacts with the inline frames of the master frame web page.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the markup language is HTML 4.01 or HTML 5.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein displaying web content in the inline frames comprises:

displaying the inline frames as initially minimized; and

resizing the inline frames to allocate screen space to each inline frame.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein displaying web content in a selected one of the inline frames comprises:

displaying the selected one of the inline frames as maximized; and

minimizing all other inline frames to accommodate the maximized inline frame.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an instruction to split an inline frame by dividing it into two smaller frames, whose size is set manually, on a horizontal or vertical basis.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising splitting an inline frame automatically, such that the frame splits available screen space on a horizontal or vertical basis.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising automatically splitting inline frames, such that there is a primary frame of a set size and the other frames divide any additional screen space.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising navigating the contents of inline frames and loading new inline frames using a command-line interface.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the web service is a calendar, an e-mail account, or a newsfeed.

10. A system for managing web information access, comprising:

a web page display module implemented on a computing device and configured to divide a web browser window into a plurality of inline frames, the plurality of inline frames being defined by markup language instructions provided in a master frame web page, the markup language instructions in the master frame web page partitioning the screen space available in the web browser window into the plurality of inline frames;

a web page access module implemented on the computing device and configured to access a first content web page from a web server;

an i-frame manager implemented on the computing device and configured to display a view of the first content web page in a first inline frame of the master frame web page and further configured to display at least one of a different view of the first content web page, a second content web page, and a web service frame in a second inline frame of the master frame web page and further configured to display, in a frame list inline frame of the master frame web page, a list of the web documents of which views are provided by inline frames in the master frame web page other than the frame list inline frame, wherein the list allows the user access to the web documents; and

an i-frame updater implemented on the computing device and configured to update the inline frames based on the markup language instructions so as to keep current at least one of the content web documents, the views of the content web pages, or the web service frame as a user interacts with the content in the inline frames.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the markup language is HTML 4.01 or HTML 5.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the i-frame manager is configured to display the inline frames as initially minimized and is configured to resize the inline frames to allocate screen space to each inline frame.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the i-frame manager is configured to display a selected one of the inline frames as maximized and is configured to minimize the other inline frames to accommodate the maximized inline frame.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the i-frame manager is configured to receive an instruction to split an inline frame by dividing it into two smaller frames, whose size is set manually, on a horizontal or vertical basis.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the i-frame manager is configured to split inline frames automatically, such that frames split available screen space on a horizontal or vertical basis.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the i-frame manager is configured to split inline frames automatically, such that there is a primary frame of a set size and the other frames divide any additional screen space.

17. The system of claim 10, further comprising a command-line interface that is configured to allow navigating the contents of inline frames and loading new inline frames.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the web service is a calendar, an e-mail account, or a newsfeed.

19. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein that, when executed by one or more processing devices, cause the processing devices to execute a method for managing web information access, the method comprising:

dividing a web browser window into a plurality of inline frames, the plurality of inline frames being defined by markup language instructions provided in a master frame web page, the markup language instructions in the master frame web page partitioning the screen space available in the web browser window into the plurality of inline frames;

accessing a first content web page from a web server;

displaying a view of the first content web page in a first inline frame of the master frame web page;

displaying at least one of a different view of the first content web page, a second content web page, and a web service frame in a second inline frame of the master frame web page;

displaying, in a frame list inline frame of the master frame web page, a list of the web documents of which views are provided by inline frames in the master frame web page other than the frame list inline frame, wherein the frame list inline frame allows the user access to the web documents; and

updating the inline frames based on the markup language instructions so as to keep current at least one of the content web pages, the views of the content web pages, or the web service frame as a user interacts with the inline frames of the master frame web page.