Persisting the state of visual control elements in uniform resource locator (URL)-generated web pages

• US 9,483,571 B2
• Filed: 03/04/2013
• Issued: 11/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2013
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bertram, Randal L., Bragiel, John S., Fink, Edward N., Wood, Brian O.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dyer, Andrew
• Application Number:
  US13/784,668
• Publication Number:
  US 20140250366A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,338 Days
• Field of Search: 715/205, 715/208, 715/234
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/205 Parsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/20 Drawing from basic elements, e.g. lines or circles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

In one embodiment, a system for creating a key for storing a state of a visual control element includes a processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor, the logic being adapted to: retrieve a uniform resource locator (URL) used to create a dynamically-generated web page on which a visual control element is output, parse the URL in order to create a list of key-value pairs for each of a plurality of parameters specified in the URL, concatenate the list of key-value pairs into a key represented by a string of characters, and store the key to a memory.

Claims

1. A system for creating a key for storing a state of a visual control element, the system comprising a processor and logic that is at least one of:

integrated with the processor and executable by the processor, the logic being con figured to;

retrieve a uniform resource locator (URL) configured to create a dynamically-generated web page on which a visual control element is output, the URL referencing at least one widget and at least one resource to render the dynamically-generated web page on demand;

parse the URL in order to create a list of key-value pairs for each of a plurality of parameters specified in the URL;

determine one or more first parameters that are specific to an individual instance of a web page and do not provide specificity to any visual control elements;

discard the one or more first parameters from the list of key-value pairs prior to concatenating the list of key-value pairs;

determine whether a data set is associated with the visual control element, and determine an identifier that specifically identifies the data set in response to a determination that the data set is associated with the visual control element;

insert additional parameters into the list of key-value pairs prior to concatenating the list of key-value pairs, wherein the additional parameters comprise at least one of;

the identifier in response to a determination that the data set is associated with the visual control element, and an empty indicator in response to a determination that the visual control element is not associated with any data sets;

concatenate the list of key-value pairs into a key represented by a string of characters; and

store the key to a memory.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the logic is further configured to alphabetize the list of key-value pairs prior to being concatenated into the key.

3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the memory is a local memory of the system which loaded the dynamically-generated web page.

4. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more first parameters comprise a timestamp, wherein parameters which provide specificity to the visual control element comprise parameters which describe a state of the visual control element as last viewed or modified, and wherein application-specific logic is applied to determine the one or more first parameters to remove from the list of key-value pairs and the additional parameters to add to the list of key-value pairs prior to concatenating the list of key-value pairs.

5. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the logic is further configured to discard one or more second parameters from the list of key-value pairs prior to being concatenated into the key, the one or more second parameters including parameters that are common to multiple instances of the visual control element.

6. The system as recited in claim 5, wherein the one or more second parameters comprise an identifier of the dynamically-generated web page, and wherein application-specific logic is applied to determine the one or more second parameters to discard from the list of key-value pairs.

7. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one resource is selected from a group consisting of:

a server, a processor, a memory, or a storage device.

8. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein multiple visual control elements are output on the web page, and wherein the logic is further configured to determine which visual control elements persist across more than one web page generation and which visual control elements do not persist across the more than one web page generation.

9. A computer program product for creating a key for storing a state of a visual control element, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, the program code readable/executable by a computer to:

retrieve, by the computer, a uniform resource locator (URL) used to create a dynamically-generated web page on which a visual control element is output the URL referencing at least one widget and at least one resource to render the dynamically-generated web page on demand;

parse, by the computer, the URL in order to create a list of key-value pairs for each of a plurality of parameters specified in the URL;

determine, by the computer, one or more first parameters that are specific to an individual instance of a web page and do not provide specificity to any visual control elements;

discard, by the computer, the one or more first parameters from the list of key-value pairs prior to concatenating the list of key-value pairs;

determine, by the computer, whether a data set is associated with the visual control element, and determine an identifier that specifically identifies the data set in response to a determination that the data set is associated with the visual control element;

insert, by the computer, additional parameters into the list of key-value pairs prior to concatenating the list of key-value pairs, wherein the additional parameters comprise at least one of;

the identifier in response to a determination that the data set is associated with the visual control element, and an empty indicator in response to a determination that the visual control element is not associated with any data sets;

concatenate the list of key-value pairs into a key represented by a string of characters; and

store the key to a memory.

10. The computer program product as recited in claim 9, wherein the program code is further configured to alphabetize the list of key-value pairs prior to being concatenated into the key.

11. The computer program product as recited in claim 9, wherein the memory is a local memory of a system which loaded the dynamically-generated web page.

12. The computer program product as recited in claim 9, wherein the one or more first parameters comprise a timestamp, wherein parameters which provide specificity to the visual control element comprise parameters which describe a state of the visual control element as last viewed or modified, and wherein application-specific logic is applied to determine the one or more first parameters to remove from the list of key-value pairs and the additional parameters to add to the list of key-value pairs prior to concatenating the list of key-value pairs.

13. The computer program product as recited in claim 9, wherein the program code is further configured to discard one or more second parameters from the list of key-value pairs prior to being concatenated into the key, the one or more second parameters including parameters that are common to multiple instances of the visual control element.

14. The computer program product as recited in claim 13, wherein the one or more second parameters comprise an identifier of the dynamically-generated web page, and wherein application-specific logic is applied to determine the one or more second parameters to discard from the list of key-value pairs.

15. The computer program product as recited in claim 9, wherein the at least one resource is selected from a group consisting of:

a server, a processor, a memory, or a storage device.

16. The computer program product as recited in claim 9, wherein multiple visual control elements are output on the web page, and wherein the program code is further configured to determine which visual control elements persist across more than one web page generation and which visual control elements do not persist across the more than one web page generation.