Systems and methods for dynamic historical browsing

• US 8,719,708 B2
• Filed: 10/28/2009
• Issued: 05/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Morgan Stanley Services Group Inc. (Morgan Stanley)
• Original Assignee: Morgan Stanley
• Inventors: Talaat, Mohamed I.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Linh K
• Application Number:
  US12/607,292
• Publication Number:
  US 20110099477A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,651 Days
• Field of Search: 707/695, 715/733
• US Class Current: 715/738
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/40 Support for services or applications

Abstract

Systems and methods for dynamic historical browsing of a collection of documents, such as a collection of webpages. In some embodiments, the entry point of the browsing experience may be a timestamp-based or version-based. The entry point may be established by a navigation parameter, such as a graphical slider, for example. A historical browsing experience may be replicated based on the entry point. The system may be implemented via client-side implementation or a server-side implementation. A rich interface application (RIA) may be used.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for browsing electronic documents, comprising:

storing a plurality of electronic documents in a computer database, wherein the computer database is in electronic communication with a host server, wherein the plurality of documents comprises a first document and a second document, wherein the first document comprises a hyperlink to the second document, wherein the second document comprises a first version and a second version and the hyperlink in the first document does not specify a version of the second document;

displaying the first document on a client computing device comprising a rich internet application, wherein the client computing device is in communication with the host server, wherein the client computing device comprises a processor circuit and a memory circuit, and wherein the host server comprises a processor circuit and a memory circuit, and wherein the rich internet application comprises a browser for displaying documents, including the first document;

receiving by the rich internet application of the client computing device a client side navigation parameter while the first document is displayed on the client computing device;

receiving by the rich internet application of the client computing device a client side request to access the second document through activation of the hyperlink in the first document;

determining with the rich internet application of the client computing device a requested version of the second document based on the client side navigation parameter, wherein determining the requested version comprises;

intercepting by the rich internet application of the client computing device a navigation call from the browser for the second document;

sending by the rich internet application a query message to the host server for a version of the second document; and

based on a response from the host server, determining a calculated path for the requested version of the second document;

determining with the rich internet application of the client computing device a dynamic path for the requested version of the second document, wherein the requested version is one of the first version and the second version;

retrieving by the host server the requested version of the second document based on the dynamic path; and

displaying the requested version of the second document on the client computing device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the navigation parameter is a version request.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the navigation parameter is a timestamp request.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first version is created at a first timestamp and the second version is created at a second timestamp that is later in time than the first timestamp.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising

comparing with the rich internet application the timestamp request to the first timestamp and the second timestamp;

retrieving the first version when the timestamp request is only subsequent to the first timestamp; and

retrieving the second version when the timestamp request is subsequent to the first timestamp and the second timestamp.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the navigation parameter is selected using a graphical input provided by the client computing device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the graphical input is selected from a group consisting of a slider and a plurality of radio buttons.

8. A computer-implemented method for browsing electronic documents, comprising:

storing a plurality of electronic documents in a computer database, wherein the plurality of documents comprises a first document and a second document, wherein the computer database is in electronic communication with a host server, wherein the second document comprises a first version and a second version, wherein the first document comprises a hyperlink to the second document, and wherein the hyperlink in the first document does not specify a version of the second document;

displaying the first document on a client computing device that is in communication with the host server, wherein the client computing device comprises a processor circuit and a memory circuit, and wherein the host server comprises a processor circuit and a memory circuit, and wherein the client computing device comprises a browser for displaying documents, including the first document;

receiving by the host server a client side navigation parameter from the client computing device while the first document is displayed on the client computing device;

determining by the host server based on the navigation parameter a desired version of the second document, wherein the desired version is either the first or second version of the second document;

dynamically populating by the host server the hyperlink on the first document such that it points to the desired version of the second document;

receiving by the host server from the client computing device a request to access the second document using the hyperlink in the first document;

retrieving by the host server the desired version of the second document based on the dynamically populated hyperlink; and

displaying the requested version of the second document on the client computing device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the navigation parameter is a version request.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the navigation parameter is a timestamp request.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first version is created at a first timestamp and the second version is created at a second timestamp.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the timestamp request is compared to the first timestamp and the second timestamp, and the first version is retrieved when the timestamp request is only subsequent to the first timestamp and the second version is retrieved with the timestamp request is subsequent to the first timestamp and the second timestamp.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the navigation parameter is selected using a graphical input provided by the client computing device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the graphical input is selected from a group consisting of a slider and a plurality of radio buttons.

15. A system, comprising:

a computer database configured to store a plurality of documents, wherein the plurality of documents comprises a first document and a second document, wherein the first document comprises a hyperlink to the second document, wherein the second document comprises a first version and a second version;

a host server in electronic communication with the computer database;

a client computing device for displaying at least one of the plurality of documents, wherein the client computing device in communication with the host server, wherein the client computing device comprises a rich internet application, wherein the rich internet application comprises a browser and an interceptor module;

wherein the client computing device is configured to receive a navigation parameter while the first document is displayed on the client computing device,

wherein the interceptor module is for;

intercepting a navigation call from the browser to identify a request for the second document; and

dynamically determining a requested version of the second document by;

sending a query message to the host server to determine the requested version of the second document based on the navigation parameter; and

based on a response from the host server, set a calculated path for the requested version of the second document in the hyperlink, wherein the requested version is associated with one of the first version and the second version of the second document; and

wherein the host server is configured to retrieve the requested version of the second document upon activation of the hyperlink in the first document based on the calculated path, and

wherein the host server is configured to serve the requested version of the second document to the client computing device.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the navigation parameter is one of a version request and a timestamp request.

17. A system, comprising:

a computer database configured to store a plurality of documents, wherein the plurality of documents comprises a first document and a second document, wherein the first document comprises a dynamic hyperlink to the second document, wherein the second document comprises a first version and a second version, and the dynamic hyperlink in the first document does not specify a version of the second document;

a host server in electronic communication with the computer database;

a client computing device for displaying at least one of the plurality of documents, including the first document, wherein the client computing device is configured to receive a navigation parameter while the first document is displayed on the client computing device, and wherein the client computing device is in communication with the host server and is for relaying the navigation parameter to the host server;

wherein the host server is configured to determine a requested version of the second document based on the navigation parameter and populate the dynamic hyperlink on the first document based on a navigation parameter with a path to the request version of the second document such that the dynamic hyperlink points to the requested version of the second document, and

wherein, upon a user of the client computing device activating the dynamic hyperlink in the first document, the client computing device is for sending a request to the host server with the path and the host server is configured to retrieve the requested version of the second document in response to the request from the client computing device based on the path.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the navigation parameter is one of a version request and a timestamp request.