Method and system for recognizing and acting upon dynamic data on the internet

• US 6,272,531 B1
• Filed: 03/31/1998
• Issued: 08/07/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Shrader, Theodore Jack London
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Zarni
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cardone, Jason D.
• Application Number:
  US09/052,334
• Time in Patent Office: 1,225 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/207, 709/229, 709/217, 709/218, 709/245, 340/825.06, 340/825.07, 340/825.26, 340/825.27, 379/92.01, 379/92.02, 379/93.23, 379/93.24, 707/501, 707/513, 707/10, 707/530
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A method for recognizing and acting upon dynamic data in a computer network such as the Internet. The method begins by having the user (at a machine connected to the computer network) define at least one data source that he or she is interested in monitoring. The data source includes information identifying a location (i.e. a URL) of the data object to be monitored, together with recognition criteria which determines whether the data source is valid. For each data source, the user may then define a set of one or more action criteria, wherein each action criteria has a given polling interval and includes information identifying a sensitivity criteria and an action to be taken if the sensitivity criteria for the data source is met. The inventive process retrieves one or more data sources from the Internet, examines the data sources according to the sensitivity criteria, and triggers actions if any of the sensitivity criteria are met.

Claims

1. A method, operative in a computer, for recognizing and acting upon dynamic data in a computer network having a plurality of Web servers, comprising the steps of:

having a user define at least one data source to include information identifying a location of a data object adapted to be displayed on a Web client using a browser, and a recognition criteria;

for the data source, having a user define a set of one or more action criteria, wherein each action criteria has a given polling interval and includes information identifying a sensitivity criteria, and an action to be taken if the sensitivity criteria for the data source is met;

at the polling interval for a given action criteria, using the recognition criteria to validate the data source by comparing the recognition criteria to contents of the data object; and

if the data source is valid, taking the action if the sensitivity criteria for the data source is met.

2. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the action is selected from a group of actions consisting essentially of logging a message, sending an e-mail, transmitting a page, running a program and updating a database.

3. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the data source further includes a data source identifier and a type identifier.

4. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the data source further includes a percentage recognition criteria value for determining whether the recognition criteria is met.

5. The method as described in claim 1 wherein each action criteria includes a data source identifier that uniquely defines the data source with which the action criteria is associated.

6. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the action criteria further includes a percentage sensitivity value that determines whether the sensitivity criteria is met.

7. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the data source and the associated action criteria are defined by a user of a client machine.

8. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the location of the object is defined by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

9. The method as described in claim 1 further including the step of storing contents of the data source for multiple action criteria that have the same polling interval.

10. A method, operative in a computer, for recognizing and acting upon dynamic data in a computer network having a plurality of servers, comprising the steps of:

(a) having a user define a set of one or more data sources, each data source including information identifying a location of a data object, and a recognition criteria;

(b) for each data source, having a user define a set of one or more action criteria, wherein each action criteria has a given polling interval and includes information identifying a sensitivity criteria, and an action to be taken if the sensitivity criteria for the data source is met;

(c) at the polling interval for a given action criteria, using the recognition criteria to validate the data source associated with the given action criteria by comparing the recognition criteria to contents of the data object;

(d) if the data source is valid, taking its corresponding action if the sensitivity criteria for the data source is met; and

(e) repeating steps (c)-(d) for each of the set of data sources.

11. The method as described in claim 10 wherein the action is selected from a group of actions consisting essentially of logging a message, sending an e-mail, transmitting a page, running a program and updating a database.

12. The method as described in claim 10 wherein each data source further includes a data source identifier and a type identifier.

13. The method as described in claim 10 wherein at least one data source further includes a percentage recognition criteria value for determining whether the recognition criteria is met.

14. The method as described in claim 10 wherein at each action criteria includes a data source identifier that uniquely defines the data source with which the action criteria is associated.

15. The method as described in claim 10 wherein at least one action criteria further includes a percentage sensitivity value that determines whether the sensitivity criteria is met.

16. The method as described in claim 10 wherein each data source and its associated set of action criteria are defined by a user of a client machine.

17. The method as described in claim 10 wherein the location of the object is defined by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

18. A computer program product in a computer-readable medium for use in recognizing and acting upon dynamic data in a computer network having a plurality of servers, wherein at least user-defined data source has a set of one or more user-defined action criteria associated therewith, each data source including information identifying a location of a data object, and a recognition criteria, and each action criteria having a given polling interval and including information identifying a sensitivity criteria, and an action to be taken if the sensitivity criteria for the data source is met, the computer program product comprising:

means, operative during the polling interval for a given action criteria, for using the recognition criteria to validate the data source by comparing the recognition criteria to contents of the data object; and

means, responsive to a determination that the data source is valid, for taking the action if the sensitivity criteria for the data source is met.

19. The computer program product as described in claim 18 wherein the action is selected from a group of actions consisting essentially of logging a message, sending an e-mail, transmitting a page, running a program and updating a database.

20. A computer, comprising:

a processor;

an operating system;

a data storage storing at least one user-defined data source definition and at least one user-defined action criteria definition, the data source definition including information identifying a location of a data object, and a recognition criteria, and the action criteria definition having a given polling interval and including information identifying a sensitivity criteria, and an action to be taken if the sensitivity criteria for the data source is met; and

a monitoring application for use in recognizing and acting upon dynamic data in a computer network having a plurality of servers, comprising;

means, operative during the polling interval for a given action criteria, for using the recognition criteria to validate the data source by comparing the recognition criteria to contents of the data object; and

means, responsive to a determination that the data source is valid, for taking the action if the sensitivity criteria for the data source is met.

21. A method for managing a monetary value in an account using the Internet, the account located at a Web server having a URL, comprising the steps of:

having a user define a data source to include information identifying the URL, and a recognition criteria;

having a user define a set of one or more action criteria, wherein each action criteria has a given polling interval and includes information identifying a sensitivity criteria, and an action to be taken if the sensitivity criteria for the data source is met;

at the polling interval for a given action criteria, using the recognition criteria to validate the data source by comparing the recognition criteria to contents of the data object; and

if the data source is valid, taking the action if the sensitivity criteria for the data source is met.