Web server

• US 20040049574A1
• Filed: 09/22/2003
• Published: 03/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pegasystems Software Ltd. (Pegasystems Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Pegasystems Software Ltd. (Pegasystems Incorporated)
• Inventors: Lewis, Jonathan Rhys Tyack, Watson, Mark Alexander
• Granted Patent: US 7,739,658 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A web server (1) responds to a request message from a remote user device (2) by dynamically generating web page code capable of being interpreted by the user device. A device type identifier (45) is extracted from the request message and is input to a code generating engine (25) which interprets stored instructions for generating the web page code with reference to selected device dependent information corresponding to the device type identifier. The web page information is stored as a content document comprising a set of instructions written in a script language. The web server generates web pages in an appropriate form for each user device without the need to convert web pages from one form to another.

Claims

1. Apparatus for responding to a request message from a remote user device for web page information by generating web page code capable of being interpreted by the user device for displaying one or more web pages and for outputting a response message comprising the web page code, the apparatus comprising:

extracting means for extracting from the request message information determining a device type identifier identifying the remote user device as being one of a set of possible device types having different capabilities;

a processor for operating a code generating engine to generate the web page code;

first memory means for storing the web page information as a content document comprising a set of instructions written in a script language for generating the web page code; and

second memory means for storing device dependent information for each of the set of different device types;

wherein the code generating engine comprises interpreting means for interpreting the instructions with reference to selected device dependent information corresponding to the device type identifier, the code generating engine thereby being operable to generate the web page code in a form in which the web page code is tailored to the remote user device.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the script language comprises a first mark up language.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the content document comprises content code defining information to be displayed and predefined tags for controlling the presentation of the information to be displayed;

wherein the interpreting means is operable to interpret each tag with reference to the selected device dependent information.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the device dependent information is stored as a set of tables and wherein the device dependent information is assimilated in a set of objects accessible to the tags in a run time environment of the code generating engine.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the run time environment comprises a JAVA virtual machine and the set of objects comprise JAVA beans.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 4 and 5, wherein the tables are in hierarchical form defining a hierarchical tree in which nodes correspond to respective device types in successive hierarchical layers.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein each device type node is represented by respective entries in each of the tables to define those attributes of the device type which differ from attributes of a parent node from which the device type node branches.

8. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 4 to 7, wherein the set of tables comprises a device policy table defining technical attributes of each device type.

9. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 4 to 8, wherein the set of tables comprises a protocol policy table defining the format of the web page code generated by the code generating engine.

10. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the web page code is generated in a second mark up language.

11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10, comprising means for selecting the second mark up language in accordance with the selected device dependent information in the protocol policy table from a number of mark up languages comprising at least HTML and WML.

12. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 4 to 11, wherein the set of tables comprises a style policy table defining the style of presentation of the web page information.

13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the style policy table defines attributes including at least one of:

(a) font attributes;

(b) colour; and

(c) background.

14. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 4 to 13, wherein the set of tables comprises a themes policy table defining at least one of

(a) decorative features;

and

(b) a logo.

15. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 4 to 14, wherein the set of tables comprises a layout policy table defining for each device type the layout of the web page information with respect to a display area of each device type.

16. Apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein the layout policy table defines the layout with reference to a set of panes comprising portions of the display area and containing respective portions of the web page information.

17. Apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein the layout police determines for each device type the number and configuration of panes.

18. Apparatus as claimed in claim 17 wherein, for a device type having minimal screen area, the layout policy determines the configuration of pages to be a set of decks comprising single panes for use in displaying the web page information by displaying the decks successively.

19. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 4 to 18, wherein the content code comprises at least one component name identifying a respective data component, and wherein the apparatus comprises a data structure in which at least one data component exists as a set of data objects defining multiple versions of the data component where the data objects have different data properties suited to different remote user devices.

20. Apparatus as claimed in claim 19, comprising means for selecting a data object from the set of data objects identified by a component name for inclusion in the web page code on the basis of the device type identifier.

21. Apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein the selecting means comprises a component policy table for looking up a predetermined selection of data object.

22. Apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein the selection means is operable to determine the technical attributes of the remote user device and to select the data object by comparing the technical attributes with data properties of each data object.

23. Apparatus as claimed in claim 22, wherein the selection means is operable to determine the technical attributes by referring to a device policy table.

24. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 22 and 23, wherein the data objects are stored in a data structure in which metadata is stored in association with each data object and wherein the data properties of each data object are defined by respective metadata.

25. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 16 to 18, comprising a graphical user interface for receiving user input and document authoring means responsive to the graphical user interface for creating documents of the web page generating instructions.

26. Apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein the authoring means comprises means for receiving data, and data conversion means for converting the data into a set of data objects each containing a respective version of the data suited to technical attributes of a respective device type.

27. Apparatus as claimed in claim 26, wherein the set of data objects further comprises multiple versions corresponding to a set of available user preferences.

28. Apparatus as claimed in claim 27, comprising means for determining a user preference from the request message and wherein the selecting means is further operable to select the data object according to the user preference.

29. Apparatus as claimed in claim 28, wherein the multiple versions comprise versions in each of a set of languages and wherein the user preference comprises a preferred language.

30. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising:

code measuring means for measuring the amount of code representative of a page generated by the code generating engine;

determining means for determining whether the technical attributes of the user device include sufficient data capacity to accommodate the measured amount of code, and means responsive to a negative determination for dividing the code into two or more portions of code such that each portion is representative of a respective portion of the page and comprises an amount of code within the data capacity of the user device.

31. Apparatus as claimed in claim 30 when dependent from claim 8, wherein the determining means is operable to determine the technical attributes by referring to the device policy table.

32. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 30 and 31, comprising a buffer memory for storing the portions of code for subsequent transmission to the user device.

33. Apparatus as claimed in claim 32, comprising a session memory for storing client data received in successive messages from the user device in response to successive transmissions of the respective portions of code representing portions of the pane, and means for combining as a single data object client data for a completed session in which client data is received responsive to all of the portions of the pane.

34. Apparatus as claimed in claim 33, wherein the pane defines a form and wherein the portions of the pane comprise respective data fields of the form.

35. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 4 to 18, wherein the set of tables comprises a dynamic policy table defining code generating attributes which are determined according to the values of time varying parameters.

36. Apparatus as claimed in claim 35, wherein the code generating attributes define image content of the web page code and the time varying parameter is the bandwidth available for communication with the device.

37. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising a cache memory operable to store a copy of web page code output in a response message;

and

means for outputting web page code from the stored copy in response to receiving a further request message for the same web page information.

38. Apparatus as claimed in claim 37, wherein the cache memory is operable to selectively store web page code depending upon whether a requirement for cache memory storage is defined in the content document from which the web page code is generated.

39. Apparatus as claimed in claim 38, wherein the requirement for cache memory storage is set by operation of a tag inserted in the content document.

40. Apparatus as claimed in claim 39, wherein the tag further defines a duration of validity of the copy of web page code stored in cache memory.

41. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the extracting means is operable to extract identification information from a header of the request message and to determine the device type identifier by referring to a table of device type identifiers for which device dependent information is stored in the second memory means.

42. Apparatus as claimed in claim 41, wherein the extracting means is operable to determine from the table, for the identification information obtained from the header, whether a corresponding device type identifier is available and, if not, to generate an indication that the user device is unrecognised.

43. Apparatus as claimed in claim 42, comprising probe means responsive to the indication that the user device is unrecognised to send a probe agent to the user device for extracting device information, and means for receiving a response message containing the device information from the user device.

44. Apparatus as claimed in claim 43, comprising means for comparing the received device information with stored device dependent information for known devices and means for determining a device type identifier corresponding to a best match between the device dependent information for known devices and the device information for the unrecognised device.

45. Apparatus as claimed in claim 44, wherein the code generating engine is operable to generate web page code using the device type identifier of the known device determined to be a best match to the unrecognised device.

46. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising:

receiving means for receiving the request message via a network to which the apparatus is connected in use; and

output means for outputting the response message comprising the web page code to the user device via the network to which the apparatus is connected in use.

47. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising means for selecting the web page information from the first memory means according to the content of the request message and means for inputting the web page information and the device type identifier to the code generating engine.

100. A method as claimed in claim 26, wherein the set of data objects further comprises multiple versions corresponding to a set of available user preferences;

and further comprising;

determining a user preference from the request message whereby the selecting step selects the data object according to the user preference.

101. A method as claimed in claim 100, wherein the multiple versions comprise versions in each of a set of languages and wherein the user preference comprises a preferred language.

110. A computer program comprising processor implementable instructions for controlling a processor for carrying out the method of any one of claims 48 to 101, 103, and 107 to 109.

111. A storage medium storing processor implementable instructions for controlling a processor to carry out the method of any one of claims 48 to 101, 103 and 107 to 109.

112. An electrical signal carrying processor implementable instructions for controlling a processor to carry out the method of any one of claims 48 to 101, 103 and 107 to 109.

113. A code generating engine for use in an apparatus of any of claims 1 to 47.

48. A method of responding to a request message from a remote user device for web page information by generating web page code capable of being interpreted by the user device for displaying one or more web pages and for outputting a response message comprising the web page code, the method comprising:

extracting from the request message information determining a device type identifier identifying the remote user device as being one of a set of possible device types having different capabilities;

operating a code generating engine to generate the web page code;

storing the web page information in a first memory means as a content document comprising a set of instructions written in a script language for generating the web page code; and

storing device dependent information for each of the set of different device types in a second memory means;

wherein the code generating engine interprets the instructions with reference to selected device dependent information corresponding to the device type identifier, the code generating engine thereby generating the web page code in a form in which the web page code is tailored to the remote user device.

49. A method as claimed in claim 48, wherein the script language comprises a first mark up language.

50. A method as claimed in claim 49, wherein the content document comprises content code defining information to be displayed and predefined tags for controlling the presentation of the information to be displayed;

wherein the interpreting means interprets each tag with reference to the selected device dependent information.

51. A method as claimed in claim 50, wherein the device dependent information is stored as a set of tables and wherein the device dependent information is assimilated in a set of objects accessible to the tags in a run time environment of the code generating engine.

52. A method as claimed in claim 51, wherein the run time environment comprises a JAVA virtual machine and the set of objects comprise JAVA beans.

53. A method as claimed in any of claims 51 and 52, wherein the tables are in hierarchical form defining a hierarchical tree in which nodes correspond to respective device types in successive hierarchical layers.

54. A method as claimed in claim 53, wherein each device type node is represented by respective entries in each of the tables to define those attributes of the device type which differ from attributes of a parent node from which the device type node branches.

55. A method as claimed in any of claims 51 to 54, wherein the set of tables comprises a device policy table defining technical attributes of each device type.

56. A method as claimed in any of claims 51 to 55, wherein the set of tables comprises a protocol policy table defining the format of the web page code generated by the code generating engine.

57. A method as claimed in any of claims 48 to 56 wherein the web page code is generated in a second mark up language.

58. A method as claimed in claim 57, comprising means for selecting the second mark up language in accordance with the selected device dependent information in the protocol policy table from a number of mark up languages comprising at least HTML and WML.

59. A method as claimed in any of claims 51 to 58, wherein the set of tables comprises a style policy table defining the style of presentation of the web page information.

60. A method as claimed in claim 59, wherein the style policy table defines attributes including at least one of:

(a) font attributes;

(b) colour; and

(c) background.

61. A method as claimed in any of claims 51 to 60, wherein the set of tables comprises a themes policy table defining at least one of

(a) decorative features;

and

(b) a logo.

62. A method as claimed in any of claims 51 to 61, wherein the set of tables comprises a layout policy table defining for each device type the layout of the web page information with respect to a display area of each device type.

63. A method as claimed in claim 62, wherein the layout policy table defines the layout with reference to a set of panes comprising portions of the display area and containing respective portions of the web page information.

64. A method as claimed in claim 63, wherein the layout policy determines for each device type the number and configuration of panes.

65. A method as claimed in claim 64 wherein, for a device type having minimal screen area, the layout policy determines the configuration of pages to be a set of decks comprising single panes for use in displaying the web page information by displaying the decks successively.

66. A method as claimed in any of claims 51 to 65, wherein the content code comprises at least one component name identifying a respective data component, and wherein the method comprises accessing a data structure in which at least one data component exists as a set of data objects defining multiple versions of the data component where the data objects have different data properties suited to different remote user devices.

67. A method as claimed in claim 66, comprising a step of selecting a data object from the set of data objects identified by a component name for inclusion in the web page code on the basis of the device type identifier.

68. A method as claimed in claim 67, wherein the selecting step comprises accessing a component policy table for looking up a predetermined selection of data object.

69. A method as claimed in claim 67, wherein the selection step determines the technical attributes of the remote user device and selects the data object by comparing the technical attributes with data properties of each data object.

70. A method as claimed in claim 69, wherein the selection step determines the technical attributes by referring to a device policy table.

71. A method as claimed in any of claims 69 and 70, wherein the data objects are stored in a data structure in which metadata is stored in association with each data object and wherein the data properties of each data object are defined by respective metadata.

72. A method as claimed in any of claims 63 to 65, comprising receiving user input via a graphical user interface and operating a document authoring means responsive to the graphical user interface for creating documents of the web page generating instructions.

73. A method as claimed in claim 72, comprising the steps of receiving data, and converting the data into a set of data objects each containing a respective version of the data suited to technical attributes of a respective device type.

74. A method as claimed in claim 73, wherein the set of data objects further comprises multiple versions corresponding to a set of available user preferences.

75. A method as claimed in claim 74, comprising means for determining a user preference from the request message and wherein the selecting means is further operable to select the data object according to the user preference.

76. A method as claimed in claim 75, wherein the multiple versions comprise versions in each of a set of languages and wherein the user preference comprises a preferred language.

77. A method as claimed in any of claims 48 to 76, comprising the steps of:

measuring the amount of code representative of a page generated by the code generating engine;

determining whether the technical attributes of the user device include sufficient data capacity to accommodate the measured amount of code, and, in response to a negative determination, dividing the code into two or more portions of code such that each portion is representative of a respective portion of the page and comprises an amount of code within the data capacity of the user device.

78. A method as claimed in claim 77 when dependent from claim 55, wherein the determining step determines the technical attributes by referring to the device policy table.

79. A method as claimed in any of claims 77 and 78, comprising storing the portions of code in a buffer memory for subsequent transmission to the user device.

80. A method as claimed in claim 79, comprising storing in a session memory client data received in successive messages from the user device in response to successive transmissions of the respective portions of code representing portions of the page, and combining as a single data object client data for a completed session in which client data is received responsive to all of the portions of the page.

81. A method as claimed in claim 80, wherein the page defines a form and wherein the portions of the page comprise respective data fields of the form.

82. A method as claimed in any of claims 51 to 65, wherein the set of tables comprises a dynamic policy table defining code generating attributes which are determined according to the values of time varying parameters.

83. A method as claimed in claim 82, wherein the code generating attributes define image content of the web page code and the time varying parameter is the bandwidth available for communication with the device.

84. A method as claimed in any of claims 48 to 83, comprising storing in a cache memory a copy of web page code output in a response message;

and

outputting web page code from the stored copy in response to receiving a further request message for the same web page information.

85. A method as claimed in claim 84, wherein the cache memory selectively stores web page code depending upon whether a requirement for cache memory storage is defined in the content document from which the web page code is generated.

86. A method as claimed in claim 85, wherein the requirement for cache memory storage is set by operation of a tag inserted in the content document.

87. A method as claimed in claim 86, wherein the tag further defines a duration of validity of the copy of web page code stored in cache memory.

88. A method as claimed in any of claims 48 to 87, wherein the extracting step extracts identification information from a header of the request message and determines the device type identifier by referring to a table of device type identifiers for which device dependent information is stored in the second memory means.

89. A method as claimed in claim 88, wherein the extracting step determines from the table, for the identification information obtained from the header, a corresponding device type identifier is available and, if not, generates an indication that the user device is unrecognised.

90. A method as claimed in claim 89, comprising actuating a probe means in response to the indication that the user device is unrecognised to send a probe agent to the user device for extracting device information, and receiving a response message containing the device information from the user device.

91. A method as claimed in claim 90, comprising comparing the received device information with stored device dependent information for known devices and determining a device type identifier corresponding to a best match between the device dependent information for known devices and the device information for the unrecognised device.

92. A method as claimed in claim 91, wherein the code generating engine generates web page code using the device type identifier of the known device determined to be a best match to the unrecognised device.

93. A method as claimed in any of claims 48 to 92, further comprising:

receiving the request message via a network; and

outputting the response message comprising the web page code to the user device via the network.

94. A method as claimed in any of claims 48 to 93, comprising selecting the web page information from the first memory means according to the content of the request message and inputting the web page information and the device type identifier to the code generating engine.

114. A storage medium storing a set of policy tables for use in a method as claimed in any one of claims 48 to 94.

115. A storage medium storing a set of tags for use in a method as claimed in any one of claims 48 to 94.

95. A method of responding to a request message from a remote user device for web page information by generating web page code capable of being interpreted by the user device for displaying one or more web pages and for outputting a response message comprising the web page code, the method comprising:

determining a device type identifier identifying the remote user device as being one of a set of possible device types having different capabilities;

operating a code generating engine to generate the web page code;

storing the web page information in a first memory means as a content document comprising a set of instructions for generating the web page code; and

storing device dependent information for each of the set of different device types in a second memory means;

wherein the content code comprises at least one component name identifying a respective data component for inclusion in the web page code, and comprising the step of accessing a data structure in which the data component exists as a set of data objects defining multiple versions of the data component where the data objects have different data properties suited to different remote user devices; and

selecting a data object from the set of data objects identified by a component name for inclusion in the web page code on the basis of the device type identifier.

96. A method as claimed in claim 95, wherein the selecting step comprises accessing a component policy table for looking up a predetermined selection of data object.

97. A method as claimed in claim 95, wherein the selection step determines the technical attributes of the remote user device on the basis of the device type identifier and selects the data object by comparing the technical attributes with data properties of each data object.

98. A method as claimed in claim 97, wherein the selection step determines the technical attributes by referring to a device policy table.

99. A method as claimed in any of claims 97 and 98, wherein the data objects are stored in a hierarchical data structure in which metadata is stored in association with each data object and wherein the data properties of each data object are defined by respective metadata.

102. A data structure in which data objects are accessible in a hierarchy on which different hierarchical levels contain different versions of a data component corresponding to respective levels of technical capabilities of user devices to which the data objects are to be provided.

103. A method of processing data for storage in readiness for being output to one of a number of possible user devices having different technical capabilities, the method comprising:

receiving a data element;

generating a set of data objects from the data element such that each data object comprises a respective version of data contained in the data element, and storing the set of data objects in a hierarchical data structure in which different levels correspond to respective technical capabilities of user devices.

104. Apparatus for responding to a request message from a remote user device for web page information by generating web page code capable of being interpreted by the user device for displaying one or more web pages and for outputting a response message comprising the web page code, the apparatus comprising:

extracting means for extracting from the request message information determining a device type identifier identifying the remote user device as being one of a set of possible device types having different capabilities;

a processor for operating a code generating engine to generate the web page code;

the code generating engine being operable in response to the device type identifier using device dependent information to generate the web page code in a form in which the web page code is tailored to the remote user device;

wherein the extracting means is operable to extract identification information from a header of the request message and to determine the device type identifier by referring to a table of device type identifiers;

the apparatus further comprising probe means responsive to the indication that the user device is unrecognised to send a probe agent to the user device for extracting device information, and means for receiving a response message containing the device information from the user device.

105. Apparatus as claimed in claim 104, comprising means for comparing the received device information with stored device dependent information for known devices and means for determining a device type identifier corresponding to a best match between the device dependent information for known devices and the device information for the unrecognised device.

106. Apparatus as claimed in claim 105, wherein the code generating engine is operable to generate web page code using the device type identifier of the known device determined to be a best match to the unrecognised device.

107. A method of responding to a request message from a remote user device for web page information by generating web page code capable of being interpreted by the user device for displaying one or more web pages and for outputting a response message comprising the web page code, the method comprising:

extracting from the request message information determining a device type identifier identifying the remote user device as being one of a set of possible device types having different capabilities;

operating a code generating engine to generate the web page code;

the code generating engine being operated in response to the device type identifier using device dependent information to generate the web page code in a form in which the web page code is tailored to the remote user device;

wherein the extracting step extracts identification information from a header of the request message and determines the device type identifier by referring to a table of device type identifiers;

the method further comprising actuating a probe means responsive to the indication that the user device is unrecognised to send a probe agent to the user device for extracting device information, and receiving a response message containing the device information from the user device.

108. A method as claimed in claim 107, comprising comparing the received device information with stored device dependent information for known devices and determining a device type identifier corresponding to a best match between the device dependent information for known devices and the device information for the unrecognised device.

109. A method as claimed in claim 108, wherein the code generating engine is generates web page code using the device type identifier of the known device determined to be a best match to the unrecognised device.