Preserving state information in a continuing conversation between a client and server networked via a stateless protocol
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A computerized method for preserving state information in a conversation between a client adapted to request services from one or more servers which are networked via a stateless protocol to the client, said services including one or more of data and programs which the client may request, wherein the conversation is a sequence of communications between the client and one or more servers for said services wherein each response from the server includes one or more continuations which enable another request for said services and wherein the client must invoke one of the continuations to continue the conversation, the method comprising the steps of:
- the client initiating the conversation with the server using the stateless protocol;
detecting when the request for a service requires preservation of the state information;
performing said service and identifying all continuations in an output from said service, in response to said step of detecting;
recursively embedding the state information in all identified continuations; and
communicating the output to the client, in response to said step of embedding;
wherein the state information is preserved and provided to all services for the duration of the conversation.
1 Assignment
Litigations
5 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for preserving state in computers communicating over networks, such as the World Wide Web (WWW) using stateless protocols, e.g., HTTP. State is preserved in a conversation between a client requesting services from a served by performing the service and identifying all continuations (hyperlinks) in an output from the service; recursively embedding the state information in all identified continuations in the output sent to the client. The state information may be embedded and communicated by the server to the client. Alternatively, dynamically downloadable program code may be used to embed the state information at the client. Additional features enable the filtering and/or addition of hyperlinks and data output from the services according to predetermined criteria. State information may be embedded by modifying an identified continuation which is a request for an HTML file, to invoke a CGI converter program with the identified continuation and the state information passed as arguments. State information may also be embedded by modifying an identified continuation which is an invocation to a CGI program with the identified continuation and the state information passed as arguments, and the embedding step is performed by the CGI program. Alternatively, an identified continuation which is an invocation of a CGI program may be modified to invoke a CGI converter program with the identified continuation, an argument counter which indicates a number of arguments associated with the CGI program, and the state information passed as arguments. Here, the embedding is performed by the converter program.
327 Citations
68 Claims
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1. A computerized method for preserving state information in a conversation between a client adapted to request services from one or more servers which are networked via a stateless protocol to the client, said services including one or more of data and programs which the client may request, wherein the conversation is a sequence of communications between the client and one or more servers for said services wherein each response from the server includes one or more continuations which enable another request for said services and wherein the client must invoke one of the continuations to continue the conversation, the method comprising the steps of:
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the client initiating the conversation with the server using the stateless protocol; detecting when the request for a service requires preservation of the state information; performing said service and identifying all continuations in an output from said service, in response to said step of detecting; recursively embedding the state information in all identified continuations; and communicating the output to the client, in response to said step of embedding;
wherein the state information is preserved and provided to all services for the duration of the conversation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A program storage device readable by a computer, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the computer to provide a method for preserving state information in a conversation between a client adapted to request services from one or more servers which are networked via a stateless protocol to the client, said services including one or more of data and programs which the client may request, wherein the conversation is a sequence of communications between the client and one or more servers for said services wherein each response from the server includes one or more continuations which enable another request for said services and wherein the client must invoke one of the continuations to continue the conversation, the method comprising the steps of:
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the client initiating the conversation with the server using the stateless protocol; detecting when the request for a service requires preservation of the state information; performing said service and identifying all continuations in an output from said service, in response to said step of detecting; recursively embedding the state information in all identified continuation; and communicating the output to the client, in response to said step of embedding;
wherein the state information is preserved and provided to all services for the duration of the conversation. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A computer system for preserving state information in a conversation between a client adapted to request services from one or more servers which are networked via a stateless protocol to the client, said services including one or more of data and programs which the client may request, wherein the conversation is a sequence of communications between the client and one or more servers for said services, wherein each response from the server includes one or more continuations which enable another request for said services and wherein the client must invoke one of the continuations to continue the conversation, the system comprising:
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the client being adapted for initiating a conversation with the server using the stateless protocol; state detection logic for detecting when the request for a service requires preservation of the state information; search logic for identifying all continuations in an output from said service, in response to said step of detecting; converter logic for recursively embedding the state information in all identified continuations; and communication logic for communicating the output to the client;
wherein the state information is preserved and provided to all services for the duration of the conversation. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A computer system for preserving state information in a conversation between a client adapted to request services from one or more servers which are networked via a stateless protocol to the client, said services including one or more of data and programs which the client may request, wherein the conversation is a sequence of communications between the client and one or more servers for said services wherein each response from the server includes one or more continuations which enable another request for said services and wherein the client must invoke one of the continuations to continue the conversation, the system comprising:
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the client being adapted for initiating the conversation with the server using the stateless protocol; state detection means for detecting when the request for a service requires preservation of the state information; search means for identifying all continuations in an output from said service, in response to said step of detecting; converter means for recursively embedding the state information in all identified continuations; and communication means for communicating the output to the client;
wherein the state information is preserved and provided to all services for the duration of the conversation. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A computerized method for preserving state information in a conversation via a stateless protocol between a client adapted to request services from one or more servers, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a service request including state information, via the stateless protocol; identifying all continuations in an output from said service and recursively embedding the state information in all identified continuations, in response to said request; and communicating a response including the continuations and embedded state information, wherein the continuations enable another service request and one of the continuations must be invoked to continue the conversation. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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60. A program storage device readable by a computer, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the computer to provide a method for preserving state information in a conversation via a stateless protocol between a client adapted to request services from one or more servers, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a service request including state information, via the stateless protocol; identifying all continuations in an output from said service and recursively embedding the state information in all identified continuations, in response to said request; and communicating a response including the continuations and embedded state information, wherein the continuations enable another service request and one of the continuations must be invoked to continue the conversation. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68)
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Specification