Method and system for providing image rich web pages from a computer system over a network
First Claim
1. A method for providing a web page that includes at least one embedded image from a computer system over a network, comprising:
- receiving a request over the network to access the web page;
in response to receiving the request, determining whether a descriptor for the requested web page is stored in a session memory, wherein the descriptor includes information required to determine whether a requester is authorized to access the web page and the at least one embedded image;
if the descriptor is not stored in session memory, retrieving the descriptor corresponding to the web page from a database and storing the descriptor in session memory; and
utilizing the descriptor to determine whether to return the web page to the requestor, wherein additional database accesses are avoided for subsequent tasks requiring the descriptor.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is related to a computer system that provides a web page to a requester over a network. Aspects of the present invention include receiving by the computer system a request to access a web page and in response, determining whether a descriptor for the requested web page is in a session memory. If the descriptor is not in the session memory, it is retrieved from a database and the stored in the session memory. From there, the descriptor is used to determine whether the web page should be retrieved and returned to the requestor. By storing the descriptor in session memory, additional accesses to the database can be avoided when the descriptor is used for subsequent tasks.
23 Citations
49 Claims
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1. A method for providing a web page that includes at least one embedded image from a computer system over a network, comprising:
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receiving a request over the network to access the web page;
in response to receiving the request, determining whether a descriptor for the requested web page is stored in a session memory, wherein the descriptor includes information required to determine whether a requester is authorized to access the web page and the at least one embedded image;
if the descriptor is not stored in session memory, retrieving the descriptor corresponding to the web page from a database and storing the descriptor in session memory; and
utilizing the descriptor to determine whether to return the web page to the requestor, wherein additional database accesses are avoided for subsequent tasks requiring the descriptor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
if the requested image is in the web page, utilizing the descriptor to determine whether to return the image.
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9. The method of claim 8, wherein utilizing the descriptor to determine whether to return the image further includes:
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determining the sharing type associated with the requested web page;
if the sharing type associated with the web page is a private type, returning a message denying access;
if the sharing type is a public type, retrieving and returning the image;
if the sharing type is a restricted type, authorizing the requestor by determining whether the requester is on a list of users who are permitted to access the web page, wherein the list is stored in the descriptor, and retrieving and returning the image if the requestor is on the list; and
if the sharing type is a password protected type, authorizing the requestor by requiring the requestor to provide a valid password, wherein the password is stored in the descriptor, and retrieving and returning the image if the requestor provides or has provided the valid password, wherein if the requestor is permitted to access the web page, the requestor is permitted to access the images therein.
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10. The method of claim 9 further including providing a second computer system coupled to the computer system, wherein the second computer system includes a cache for storing images, receives requests to access web pages and images from the requestor and routes the requests to the computer system.
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11. The method of claim 10 further including:
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prior to routing to the computer system a request for an image in a web page, determining whether the requested image is stored in the second computer system'"'"'s cache; and
if the requested image is in cache, appending a timestamp associated with the cached image to the request.
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12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:
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prior to retrieving the image in the computer system, determining whether the timestamp of the cached image is older than a timestamp associated with the image in the computer system;
if the timestamp of the cached image is older, retrieving and returning the image in the computer system; and
if the timestamp of the cached image is not older, returning a message to the second computer system indicating that the image has not changed.
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13. The method of claim 12 further including:
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receiving by the second computer system the message indicating that the image has not changed; and
retrieving and returning the cached image to the requestor.
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14. The method of claim 12 further including:
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receiving by the second computer system the image from the computer system;
storing the image in cache; and
returning the image to the requester.
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15. The method of claim 10, wherein the second computer system includes a second session memory and a database for storing user authentication data, the method further including:
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prior to authorizing the requestor if the web page'"'"'s sharing type is restricted, redirecting the request to the second computer system to authenticate the requester;
determining by the second computer system whether authentication data for the requestor is stored in the second session memory;
if the requestor'"'"'s authentication data is not stored in the second session memory, transmitting a login page to the requestor, wherein the login page includes a request for authentication data;
receiving from the requester the requestor'"'"'s authentication data;
accessing the database and utilizing the stored user authentication data to authenticate the requester;
storing the requestor'"'"'s authentication data in the second session memory;
appending the requestor'"'"'s authentication data to the request; and
redirecting the request back to the computer system.
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16. The method of claim 15, further including:
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if the requestor'"'"'s authentication data is stored in session memory, appending the requestor'"'"'s authentication data to the request; and
redirecting the request to the computer system.
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17. The method of claim 16, wherein authorizing the requestor includes:
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extracting the requestor'"'"'s authentication data from the request returned from the second computer system; and
utilizing the requestor'"'"'s authentication data to determine if the requestor is on the list of authorized users that have access to the web page.
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18. The method of claim 10, wherein the network is a peer-to-peer network, the computer system is one of a plurality of a peer servers and the second computer system is a proxy server coupled to each of the plurality of peer servers.
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19. A computer readable medium containing program instructions for providing a web page that includes at least one embedded image from a computer system over a network, comprising:
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in response to receiving a request over the network to access the web page, determining whether a descriptor for the requested web page is stored in a session memory, wherein the descriptor includes information required to determine whether a requestor is authorized to access the web page and the at least one embedded image;
if the descriptor is not stored in session memory, retrieving the descriptor corresponding to the web page from a database and storing the descriptor in session memory; and
utilizing the descriptor to determine whether to return the web page, wherein additional database accesses are avoided for subsequent tasks requiring the descriptor. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A computer system coupled to a network comprising:
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a plurality of web pages each of which include at least one embedded image that corresponds to an image stored in the computer system;
a database for storing a descriptor corresponding to each of the plurality of web pages, wherein the descriptor includes information required to determine whether a requestor is authorized to access the web page and the at least one embedded image;
a session memory for temporarily storing data during a session;
means for receiving a request over the network to access a web page; and
a first application servlet for determining whether a descriptor for the requested web page is stored in a session memory, wherein if the descriptor is not stored in session memory, the first application servlet retrieves the descriptor corresponding to the requested web page from the database and stores the descriptor in session memory, and utilizes the descriptor to determine whether to return the web page. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A peer-to peer network comprising:
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a proxy server;
a plurality of a peer servers coupled to the proxy server, wherein at least one of the plurality of peer servers includes;
a plurality of web pages each of which include at least one embedded image that corresponds to an image stored in the computer system;
a database for storing a descriptor corresponding to each of the plurality of web pages, wherein the descriptor includes information required to determine whether a requestor is authorized to access the web page and the at least one embedded image;
a session memory for temporarily storing data during a session; and
a first application servlet for managing a request to access a web page, wherein the proxy server receives the request to access a web page and routes the request to the appropriate peer server, and the first application servlet determines whether a descriptor for the requested web page is stored in the session memory, wherein if the descriptor is not stored in session memory, the first application servlet retrieves the descriptor corresponding to the requested web page from the database and stores the descriptor in session memory, and utilizes the descriptor to determine whether to return the web page. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A method for providing a web page that includes at least one embedded image from a computer system over a network, wherein the computer system includes a session memory and a database, the method comprising:
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in response to receiving a first request in a session to access the web page, retrieving from the database and storing in the session memory authorization information associated with the web page;
reading the authorization information from session memory to determine whether a requestor has permission to access the web page; and
retrieving the authorization information from session memory during a subsequent request in the session to access the web page, thereby improving performance by reducing the need to access the database.
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Specification