Generating identifiers for user interface elements of a web page of a web application

• US 9,753,703 B2
• Filed: 01/27/2015
• Issued: 09/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Inventors: Jemiolo, Daniel Everett
• Primary Examiner(s): Bloomquist, Keith
• Application Number:
  US14/606,855
• Publication Number:
  US 20150220312A1
• Time in Patent Office: 952 Days
• 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 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/38 for implementing user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/0053 Computers, e.g. programming
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/00 Electrically-operated educational appliances working with questions and answers G09B7/00; simulators G09B9/00; advertising or displaying in general G09F
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 9/00 Simulators for teaching or training purposes for the use of weapons F41; computing aspects G06; protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality H04L67/131
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

Disclosed are database systems, methods, and computer program products for generating identifiers for user interface elements of a web page of a web application. In some implementations, a server of a database system analyzes a copy of source code for a first web page. The first web page may comprise user interface elements capable of being generated from the source code. The server identifies one or more of the user interface elements of the first web page as not having a unique identifier or as having a dynamically generated identifier. The server generates, for each identified user interface element, a further unique identifier to be associated with the respective identified user interface element. The server generates edited source code comprising one or more further unique identifiers for the identified one or more user interface elements. The server stores the edited source code in a database of the database system.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a database system implemented using a server system, the database system configurable to cause;

analyzing, using a walkthrough authoring tool, first source code for a first web page of a first web application, the first web page comprising a plurality of user interface elements capable of being displayed at a user interface of a display device;

identifying, using the first source code, a first one of the user interface elements of the first web page as not having a static identifier or as having a dynamically generated identifier;

generating a unique identifier associated with the first user interface element;

generating second source code for the first web page, the second source code comprising the unique identifier associated with the first user interface element;

processing, using the walkthrough authoring tool, a first selection of the first user interface element;

responsive at least in part to processing the first selection, generating a first stage of a walkthrough, the first stage configurable to cause display of a second stage of the walkthrough based on a user selection of the first user interface element;

processing a request to interact with a presentation of the walkthrough;

displaying, using the second source code, the first stage of the walkthrough at the user interface of the display device; and

displaying, responsive to a user selecting the first user interface element, the second stage of the walkthrough.

2. The system of claim 1, the database system further configurable to cause:

removing one or more dynamically generated identifiers from the first source code.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein a second one of the user interface elements has a different state from a previous state each time the first web page is loaded.

4. The system of claim 2, the database system further configurable to cause:

determining one or more user interface elements to be removed from the second source code; and

removing the determined one or more user interface elements from the second source code.

5. The system of claim 4, the determined one or more user interface elements comprising advertising content.

6. The system of claim 1, the database system further configurable to cause:

generating a first hash of the first source code; and

storing the first hash in association with the second source code in a database of the database system.

7. The system of claim 6, the database system further configurable to cause:

processing a request to display further source code for the first web page of the first web application;

generating a second hash of the further source code;

determining that the second hash of the further source code matches the first hash of the first source code; and

updating the further source code to comprise the unique identifier of the second source code.

8. The system of claim 7, the database system further configurable to cause:

removing dynamically generated identifiers from the further source code for the first web page;

determining further user interface elements of the further source code to be removed from the further source code; and

removing the determined further user interface elements from the further source code.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the first user interface element is a HyperText Markup Language (HTML) element, and the unique identifier is a class name or a class ID for the first user interface element.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the first source code comprises a Document Object Model (DOM) for the first web page, and the second source code for the first web page comprises an edited DOM for the first web page.

11. The system of claim 1, the database system further configurable to cause:

processing a request to play the walkthrough; and

providing data to play the walkthrough, the data comprising the second source code for the first web page of the first web application.

12. The system of claim 1, the database system further configurable to cause:

processing a request to display a portion of the first web page in a second web page of a second web application; and

providing for display the second web page of the second web application, the second web page comprising the second source code.

13. The system of claim 12, the database system further configurable to cause:

applying one or more styles of the second web application to the first user interface element, the first user interface element comprising the unique identifier.

14. A method comprising:

analyzing, using a walkthrough authoring tool, a first source code for a first web page of a first web application implemented using a database system, the first web page comprising a plurality of user interface elements capable of being displayed at a user interface of a display device, the first source code stored in a database of the database system;

identifying, using the first source code, a first one of the user interface elements of the first web page as not having a static identifier or as having a dynamically generated identifier;

generating a unique identifier associated with the first user interface element;

generating second source code for the first web page, the second source code comprising the unique identifier associated with the first user interface element;

processing, using the walkthrough authoring tool, a first selection of the first user interface element;

responsive at least in part to processing the first selection, generating a first stage of a walkthrough, the first stage configurable to cause display of a second stage of the walkthrough based on a user selection of the first user interface element;

processing a request to interact with a presentation of the walkthrough;

providing, using the second source code, the first stage of the walkthrough at the user interface of the display device; and

providing, responsive to a user selecting the first user interface element, the second stage of the walkthrough.

15. The method of claim 14, the method further comprising:

removing one or more dynamically generated identifiers from the first source code.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein a second one of the user interface elements has a different state from a previous state each time the first web page is loaded.

17. The method of claim 14, the method further comprising:

generating a first hash of the first source code;

storing the first hash in association with the second source code in the database of the database system

receiving a request to display further source code for the first web page of the first web application;

generating a second hash of the further source code;

determining that the second hash of the further source code matches the first hash of the first source code; and

updating the further source code to comprise the unique identifier of the second source code.

18. A computer program product comprising computer-readable program code to be executed by at least one processor when retrieved from a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the program code comprising instructions configurable to cause:

analyzing, using a walkthrough authoring tool, a first source code for a first web page of a first web application implemented using a database system, the first web page comprising a plurality of user interface elements capable of being displayed at a user interface of a display device, the first source code stored in a database of the database system;

identifying, using the first source code, a first one of the user interface elements of the first web page as not having a static identifier or as having a dynamically generated identifier;

generating a unique identifier associated with the first user interface element;

generating second source code for the first web page, the second source code comprising the unique identifier associated with the first user interface element;

processing, using the walkthrough authoring tool, a first selection of the first user interface element;

responsive at least in part to processing the first selection, generating a first stage of a walkthrough, the first stage configurable to cause display of a second stage of the walkthrough based on a user selection of the first user interface element;

processing a request to interact with a presentation of the walkthrough;

displaying, using the second source code, the first stage of the walkthrough at the user interface of the display device; and

displaying, responsive to a user selecting the first user interface element, the second stage of the walkthrough.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, the instructions further configurable to cause:

removing one or more dynamically generated identifiers from the first source code.

20. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein a second one of the user interface elements has a different state from a previous state each time the first web page is loaded.