Web page thumbnails and user configured complementary information provided from a server

• US 6,665,838 B1
• Filed: 07/30/1999
• Issued: 12/16/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Paolini, Michael A., Brown, Michael Wayne, Lawrence, Kelvin Roderick
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen S.
• Application Number:
  US09/364,740
• Time in Patent Office: 1,600 Days
• Field of Search: 715/500.1, 715/501.1, 715/513, 715/526, 715/517, 715/530
• US Class Current: 715/205
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

A method for presenting content from the page in a distributed database. In a preferred embodiment, a server receives a request from a client for a page from the database wherein the page has a plurality of links to linked pages in the database. The server retrieves the page and generates a set of thumbnails of the linked pages in the database. The server then sends the page and the set of thumbnails to the client.

Claims

1. A method for presenting content from a page in a distributed database, comprising the steps of:

receiving, at a server, a request from a client for a page from the database, wherein the page has a plurality of links to linked pages in the database;

retrieving the page;

generating, by the server, a set of thumbnails of the linked pages in the database;

identifying a given link within the plurality of links for which a replacement thumbnail is to be displayed; and

replacing a thumbnail for the given page with the replacement thumbnail in the set of thumbnails,

wherein the replacement thumbnail is one of an icon representing a broken link, an icon representing a link to a page containing an excessive number of broken links, and an icon provided by a content provider of a page associated with the given link.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of sending the page and the set of thumbnails to the client.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the replacement thumbnail is manually fine tuned by a content provider of a page associated with the given link prior to the step of sending the set of thumbnails to the client.

4. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the page is modified by embedding the set of thumbnails into the page prior to sending the page to the client.

5. A computer program product in computer readable media for use in a proxy server for providing content from the page in a distributed database, the computer program product comprising:

first instructions for receiving, at a server, a request from a client for a page from the database wherein the page has a plurality of links to linked pages in the database;

second instructions for retrieving the page;

third instructions for generating a set of thumbnails of the linked pages in the database;

fourth instructions for identifying a given link within the plurality of links for which a replacement thumbnail is to be displayed; and

fifth instructions for replacing a thumbnail for the given page with the replacement thumbnail in the set of thumbnails,

wherein the replacement thumbnail is one of an icon representing a broken link, an icon representing a link to a page containing an excessive number of broken links, and an icon provided by a content provider of a page associated with the given link.

6. The computer program product as recited in claim 5, further comprising fourth instructions for sending the page and the set of thumbnails to the client.

7. The computer program product as recited in claim 6, wherein the replacement thumbnail is manually fine tuned by a content provider of a page associated with the given link prior to sending the set of thumbnails to the client.

8. The computer program product as recited in claim 6, wherein the page is modified by embedding the set of thumbnails into the page prior to sending the page to the client.

9. A system for providing content from the page in a distributed database, comprising:

means for receiving, at a server, a request from a client for a page from the database wherein the page has a plurality of links to linked pages in the database;

means for retrieving the page;

means for generating a set of thumbnails of the linked pages in the database;

means for dentifying a given link within the plurality of links for which a replacement thumbnail is to be displayed; and

means for replacing a thumbnail for the given page with the replacement thumbnail in the set of thumbnails,

wherein the replacement thumbnail is one of an icon representing a broken link, an icon representing a link to a page containing an excessive number of broken links, and an icon provided by a content provider of a page associated with the given link.

10. The system as recited in claim 9, further comprising means for sending the page and the set of thumbnails to the client.

11. The system as recited in claim 10, wherein the replacement thumbnail is manually fine tuned by a content provider of a page associated with the given link prior to sending the set of thumbnails to the client.

12. The system as recited in claim 10, wherein the page is modified by embedding the set of thumbnails into the page prior to sending the page to the client.