Document agents

• US 20040205574A1
• Filed: 04/01/2002
• Published: 10/14/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Sayers, Craig P., Bell, David I.
• Granted Patent: US 7,447,991 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/513
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]

Abstract

A document agent. The document agent comprises a structure having elements that are readable by a web-browser to display as a web page. The structure also has embedded code to function as a software agent. Therefore, the structure functions as both a web page and as a software agent.

Claims

1. A computer readable medium having stored thereon a data structure to implement a document agent, said structure comprising:

elements that are readable by a web-browser to display as a web page; and

embedded code to function as a software agent, wherein said structure functions as both a web page and as a software agent.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein said structure is substantially compliant with Extensible Markup Language (XML).

3. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein said document agent is operable to modify itself in response to received messages.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 3, wherein said document agent is operable to modify said elements, wherein said web page that is displayed is modified.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 3, wherein said document agent is operable to update said embedded code in said document agent by modifying said structure.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 3, wherein said document agent stores a state within said structure.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein said document agent is operable to communicate via an agent messaging system with other software agents.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein said other software agents are document agents.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein said other software agents are not document agents.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein said embedded code is implemented with an interpreted language.

11. A computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions, which when executed on a processor implement a method of generating dynamic web pages, said method comprising:

a) in response to receiving a message, transferring from memory storage to main memory a document agent;

b) executing code embedded in said document agent to implement a software agent function; and

c) processing said document agent to create a dynamic web page.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein b) of said method comprises altering said document agent by altering a document object model that represents said document agent.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein said method further comprises:

d) storing said document agent in memory storage after said update, wherein said document agent is made persistent.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein b) of said method comprises altering data at a data node of a document object model that represents said document agent, wherein said dynamic web page is modified.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein b) of said method comprises updating said document agent by altering embedded code within said document agent, wherein said software agent function is modified.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein b) of said method comprises said document agent sending an agent message to another software agent.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein said message is a Hyper Text Transport Protocol message, and wherein a) of said method further comprises:

converting said Hyper Text Transport Protocol message into an Agent Communication Language message; and

sending said Agent Communication Language message to said document agent.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein said method further comprises:

d) copying said document agent, wherein said document agent is cloned.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein said method further comprises:

d) transferring said document agent to another processor, wherein said document agent is migrated.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein said method further comprises:

d) querying the state of said document agent by using an Xpath/Xpointer expression.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein c) of said method comprises processing said document agent with a stylesheet.

22. A system for providing document agents, said system comprising:

a first memory having stored thereon a plurality of said document agents, said document agents comprising an Extensible Markup Language (XML) structure that is accessible as a web page and that has embedded code to function as a software agent, wherein said structure is both a web document and a software agent;

a processor coupled to said first memory and for executing said document agents as software agents; and

a second memory coupled to said processor and for making said document agents accessible as web pages.

23. The system of claim 22, further comprising:

means for converting Hyper-Text Transport Protocol messages to Agent Communication Language messages and for sending said Agent Communication Language messages to said document agents.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein said document agents are operable to process said Agent Communication Language messages and to act based on said Agent Communication Language messages.

25. The system of claim 22, further comprising:

means for transferring said document agents to a client.

26. The system of claim 22, wherein said document agent are operable to exchange agent messages with software agents.

27. The system of claim 22, further comprising:

means for applying a stylesheet to said document agents, wherein said document agents are viewable as web pages.