Methods for dynamic document generation

• US 9,830,399 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2014
• Issued: 11/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bernstein, Keith, Kieffer, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Ries, Laurie
• Application Number:
  US14/586,615
• Publication Number:
  US 20150113366A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,064 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching
• 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 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/986 Document structures and storage, e.g. HTML extensions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/10 Text processing natural language analysis G06F40/20; semantic analysis G06F40/30; processing or translation of natural language G06F40/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/427 Parsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

Dynamic web page generation is optimized by reducing the processing overhead required to parse the web page HTML code for tokens and insert dynamic content. Using the invention, an HTML file for a dynamic web page need be read and parsed only once throughout the life of the server. A software object parses the HTML, decomposes the page into constituent pieces and saves them to data structures as byte streams, which are cached, along with the software object, rendering multiple disk accesses unnecessary when the page is reconstituted. For subsequent requests, the dynamic page is created from the cached version, which is shareable across users and across requests. The optimization reduces server resource usage for dynamic page generation to near zero. The invention is also applicable to other documents combining static and dynamic content that require composition tools for editing.

Claims

1. A process for optimizing generation of a computer readable document incorporating static and dynamic content, comprising:

creating and caching an instance of a first software object, said first software object including;

a template for said document, said template including placeholders for dynamically-discovered content;

a plurality of data structures; and

computer-readable instructions for processing said template;

decomposing said template into separate page components according to said instructions;

saving said page components and said dynamically-discovered content to said data structures according to said instructions;

receiving a request for said document; and

composing said document by said first software object;

wherein a separate instance of said software object is created and cached for each document.

2. A process according to claim 1, wherein creating and caching an instance of said first software object comprises:

retrieving said template by a second software object, said template comprising an HTML file;

creating an instance of said first software object for said file, if one does not already exist, said instance including said HTML file as a string; and

storing said instance to a global hashmap, said global hashmap held in said cache, wherein said first software object comprises a content composer.

3. A process as in claim 2, wherein decomposing said template comprises:

parsing said template string by said content composer; and

locating placeholders in said template for said dynamic content.

4. The process of claim 2, wherein said placeholders comprise tokens, and wherein said components comprise:

blocks of immutable content, having no tokens therein;

token replacement objects, said token replacement objects comprising blocks of static text preceding and following a token; and

raw token names.

5. The process of claim 4, wherein said components further comprise replacement values and replacement lines for said tokens, wherein said replacement values and replacement lines comprise said dynamic content.

6. The process of claim 5, wherein saving said components and said dynamically discovered content comprises:

converting said components into byte streams; and

saving said byte streams to said data structures.

7. The process of claim 6, wherein said data structures comprise:

a first array of immutable content containing any of;

said blocks of immutable content and integer objects pointing to indices of one or more objects in a second array;

said second array, containing said token replacement objects and said raw token names, wherein blocks of immutable content having tokens therein are built from said token replacement objects and said raw token names, and wherein raw token names further include pointers to corresponding keys in a third data structure; and

a hash map, said hash map comprising said third data structure, wherein keys of said hash map comprise said raw token names and wherein values comprise replacement values and replacement lines for said tokens.

8. The process of claim 7, wherein composing said document comprises:

walking said data structures and writing said data to a stream as it walks through the data structures, so that a document is created wherein said tokens are replaced with either of said replacement values or said replacement lines.

9. The process of claim 2, wherein said cache and said template are located on a server and said request is received from a client in communication with said server.

10. The process of claim 9, wherein said dynamically discovered content comprises content received from said client.

11. A computer program product for optimizing generation of a computer readable document incorporating static and dynamic content, said computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium having computer readable computer code embodied in the medium, the computer code comprising computer readable program code for:

creating and caching an instance of a first software object, said first software object including;

a template for said document, said template including placeholders for dynamically-discovered content;

a plurality of data structures; and

computer-readable instructions for processing said template;

decomposing said template into separate page components according to said instructions;

saving said page components and said dynamically-discovered content to said data structures according to said instructions;

receiving a request for said document; and

composing said document by said first software object;

wherein a separate instance of said software object is created and cached for each document.

12. A computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the computer readable code for creating and caching an instance of said first software object comprises computer readable code for:

retrieving said template by a second software object, said template comprising an HTML file;

creating an instance of said first software object for said file, if one does not already exist, said instance including said HTML file as a string; and

storing said instance to a global hashmap, said global hashmap held in said cache, wherein said first software object comprises a content composer.

13. A computer program product as in claim 12, wherein said computer readable code for decomposing said template comprises the computer readable code for:

parsing said template string by said content composer; and

locating placeholders in said template for said dynamic content.

14. A computer program product as in claim 12, wherein said placeholders comprise tokens, and wherein said components comprise:

blocks of immutable content, having no tokens therein;

token replacement objects, said token replacement objects comprising blocks of static text preceding and following a token; and

raw token names.

15. A computer program product as in claim 14, wherein said components further comprise replacement values and replacement lines for said tokens, wherein said replacement values and replacement lines comprise said dynamic content.

16. A computer program product as in claim 15, wherein said computer readable code for saving said components and said dynamically discovered content comprises the computer readable code for:

converting said components into byte streams; and

saving said byte streams to said data structures.

17. A computer program product as in claim 16, wherein said data structures comprise:

a first array of immutable content containing any of;

said blocks of immutable content and integer objects pointing to indices of one or more objects in a second array;

said second array, containing said token replacement objects and said raw token names, wherein blocks of immutable content having tokens therein are built from said token replacement objects and said raw token names, and wherein raw token names further include pointers to corresponding keys in a third data structure; and

a hash map, said hash map comprising said third data structure, wherein keys of said hash map comprise said raw token names and wherein values comprise replacement values and replacement lines for said tokens.

18. A computer program product as in claim 17, wherein said computer readable code for composing said document comprises computer readable code for:

walking said data structures and writing said data to a stream as it walks through the data structures, so that a document is created wherein said tokens are replaced with either of said replacement values or said replacement lines.

19. A computer program product as in claim 12, wherein said cache and said template are located on a server and said request is received from a client in communication with said server.

20. A computer program product as in claim 19, wherein said dynamically discovered content comprises content received from said client.