Automatically initiating an internet-based search from within a displayed document

• US 6,785,670 B1
• Filed: 03/16/2000
• Issued: 08/31/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chiang, Alice, Hurd, John C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pardo, Thuy N.
• Application Number:
  US09/527,300
• Time in Patent Office: 1,629 Days
• Field of Search: 707/4, 707/3, 707/5, 707/10, 707/103, 707/513, 707/530, 707/104, 707/1, 707/100, 707/2, 345/333, 345/349, 395/200.47
• US Class Current: 707/706
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/332 Query formulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/915 Image
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access

Abstract

A system for automatically initiating an Internet-based search from within a document displayed by a document viewer includes a search term designation module configured to receive a user designation of at least one word of the document; a search engine access module configured to automatically access a search engine; a search engine interfacing module configured to automatically provide the search engine with the at least one designated word; and a search initiation module configured to automatically direct the search engine to perform the Internet-based search using the at least one designated word as a search term.

Claims

1. A system for automatically initiating a network-based search from within a document displayed by a document viewer, the document comprising one or more objects, the system comprising:

a search term designation module configured to receive a user designation of at least one object of the document;

a search engine access module configured to automatically provide a search engine address and a query command to a browser in response to the user designation of the at least one object;

a search engine interfacing module configured to automatically provide the browser with the at least one designated object;

wherein the browser automotically submits the query command and the at least one designated object to a search engine corresponding to the search engine address; and

wherein the document comprises an image, the search term designation module comprising;

an image partitioning module configured to receive a user selection of a portion of the image; and

an optical character recognition (OCR) module configured to perform optical character recognition on the selected portion of the image to recognize therein the at least one designated object.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the document viewer is selected from the group consisting of a browser, a word processor, and a portable document format (PDF) reader.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the document is selected from the group consisting of a Web document, a word processing document, and a portable document format (PDF) document.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the search term designation module comprises:

a block detection module configured to permit a user to select the at least one word within the document by blocking the at least one designated word.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the search term designation module comprises:

a click detection module configured to permit a user to select the at least one word within the document by clicking on the at least one designated word.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the search engine access module comprises:

a browser directing module configured to automatically direct a browser to a search engine.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the search engine comprises a uniform resource locator (URL), the browser directing module comprising:

a search engine directory module configured to provide the browser with the URL of the search engine.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the browser directing module is further configured to automatically create a new instance of a browser to perform the Internet-based search.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the browser directing module comprises:

a search engine selection module configured to prompt a user for a selection of at least one search engine to perform the Internet-based search and to receive from the user a selection of a search engine.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the browser directing module comprises:

a search engine selection module configured to display to a user a context-sensitive menu including at least one choice of a search engine to perform the Internet-base search and to receive a user selection of a search engine from the context-sensitive menu.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the search engine is configured to generate a set of search results, the browser configured to display the set of search results to a user.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the document viewer is configured to display the document in a first window and the browser is configured to display the search results in a second window on a common display device.

13. A system for automatically initiating a network-based search from within a document displayed by a document viewer, the document comprising one or more objects, the system comprising:

a search term designation module configured to receive a user designation of at least one object of the document;

a search engine access module configured to automatically provide a search engine address and a query command to a browser in response to the user designation of the at least one object;

a search engine interfacing module configured to automatically provide the browser with the at least one designated object;

wherein the browser automatically submits the query command and the at least one designated object to a search engine corresponding to the search engine address;

wherein the search engine access module comprises a browser directing module configured to automatically direct a browser to the search engine;

wherein the browser directing module comprises a search engine selection module configured to display to a user a context-sensitive menu including at least one choice of a search engine to perform the network-based search and to receive a user selection of a search engine from the context-sensitive menu; and

wherein the search engine selection module comprises a search option filter module configured to automatically make a selection of the at least one choice of a search engine to be included in the context-sensitive menu based on the at least one user-designated object.

14. A method for automatically initiating a network-based search from within a document displayed by a document viewer, the document comprising one or more objects, the method comprising:

receiving a user designation of at least one object of the document;

automatically providing a search engine address and a query command to a browser in response to the user designation of the at least one object;

automatically providing the browser with the at least one designated object;

wherein the browser automatically submits the query command and the at least one designated object to a search engine corresponding to the search engine address; and

wherein the document comprises on image, and wherein receiving a user designation of at least one object of the document comprises;

receiving a user selection of a portion of the image; and

performing optical character recognition on the selected portion of the image to recognize therein the at least one designated object.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the document viewer is selected from the group consisting of a browser, a word processor, and a portable document format (PDF) reader.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the document is selected from the group consisting of a Web document, a word processing document, and a portable document format (PDF) document.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein receiving a user designation of at least one word of the document comprises:

permitting a user to select the at least one word within the document by blocking the at least one designated word.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein receiving a user designation of at least one word of the document comprises:

permitting a user to select the at least one word within the document by clicking on the at least one designated word.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein accessing a search engine comprises:

automatically directing a browser to a search engine.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the search engine comprises a uniform resource locator (URL), and wherein directing a browser to a search engine comprises:

providing the browser with the URL of the search engine.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein directing a browser to a search engine comprises:

automatically creating a new instance of a browser to perform the Internet-based search.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein directing a browser to a search engine comprises:

prompting a user for a selection of at least one search engine to perform the Internet-based search; and

receiving from the user a selection of a search engine.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein directing a browser to a search engine comprises:

displaying to a user a context-sensitive menu including a selection of at least one search engine to perform the Internet-based search; and

receiving a user selection of a search engine from the context-sensitive menu.

24. The method of claim 14, wherein the search engine is configured to generate a set of search results, the method further comprising:

displaying the set of search results to a user.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein displaying the set of search results to a user comprises:

displaying the document in a first window provided by the document viewer; and

displaying the search results in a second window provided by the browser on a common display device.

26. The article of manufacture of claim 24, wherein displaying the set of search results to a user comprises:

displaying the document in a first window provided by the document viewer; and

displaying the search results in a second window provided by the browser on a common display device.

27. A method for automatically initiating a network-based search from within a document displayed by a document viewer, the document comprising one or more objects, the method comprising:

receiving a user designation of at least one object of the document;

automatically providing a search engine address and a query command to a browser in response to the user designation of the at least one object;

automatically providing the browser with the at least one designated object;

wherein the browser automatically submits the query command and the at least one designated object to a search engine corresponding to the search engine address;

wherein accessing the search engine comprises automatically directing a browser to the search engine;

wherein directing the browser to the search engine comprises;

displaying to a user a context-sensitive menu including a selection of at least one search engine to perform the network-based search;

receiving a user selection of a search engine from the context-sensitive menu; and

wherein displaying to the user the context-sensitive menu comprises automatically making a selection of the at least one choice of a search engine to include in the context-sensitive menu based on the least one user-designated object.

28. An article of manufacture comprising a program storage medium readable by a processor and embodying one or more instructions executable by the processor to perform a computer-implemented method for automatically initiating a network-based search from within a document displayed by a document viewer, the document comprising one or more objects, the method comprising:

receiving a user designation of at least one object of the document;

automatically providing a search engine address and a query command to a browser in response to the user designation of the at least one object;

automatically providing the browser with the at least one designated object;

wherein the browser automatically submits the query command and the at least one designated object to a search engine corresponding to the search engine address; and

wherein the document comprises an image, and wherein receiving a user designation of at least one object of the document comprises;

receiving a user selection of a portion of the image; and

performing optical character recognition on the selected portion of the image to recognize therein the at least one designated object.

29. The article of manufacture of claim 28, wherein the document viewer is selected from the group consisting of a browser, a word processor, and a portable document format (PDF) reader.

30. The article of manufacture of claim 28, wherein the document is selected from the group consisting of a Web document, a word processing document, and a portable document format (PDF) document.

31. The article of manufacture of claim 28, wherein receiving a user designation of at least one word of the document comprises:

permitting a user to select the at least one word within the document by blocking the at least one designated word.

32. The article of manufacture of claim 28, wherein receiving a user designation of at least one word of the document comprises:

permitting a user to select the of least one word within the document by clicking on the at least one designated word.

33. The article of manufacture of claim 28, wherein accessing a search engine comprises:

automatically directing a browser to a search engine.

34. The article of manufacture of claim 33, wherein the search engine comprises a uniform resource locator (URL), and wherein directing a browser to a search engine comprises:

providing the browser with the URL of the search engine.

35. The article of manufacture of claim 33, wherein directing a browser to a search engine comprises:

automatically creating a new instance of a browser to perform the Internet-based search.

36. The article of manufacture of claim 33, wherein directing a browser to a search engine comprises:

prompting a user for a selection of least one search engine to perform the Internet-based search; and

receiving from the user a selection of a search engine.

37. The article of manufacture of claim 33, wherein directing a browser to a search engine comprises:

displaying to a user a context-sensitive menu including a selection of at least one search engine to perform the Internet-based search; and

receiving a user selection of a search engine from the context-sensitive menu.

38. The article of manufacture of claim 28, wherein the search engine is configured to generate a set of search results, the method further comprising:

displaying the set of search results to a user.

39. An article of manufacture comprising a program storage medium readable by a processor and embodying one or more instructions executable by the processor to perform a computer-implemented method for automatically initiating a network-based search from within a document displayed by a document viewer, the document comprising one or more objects, the method comprising:

receiving a user designation of at least one object of the document;

automatically providing a search engine address and a query command to a browser in response to the user designation of the at least one object;

automatically providing the browser with the at least one designated object;

wherein the browser automatically submits the query command and the at least one designated object to the search engine corresponding to the search engine address;

wherein accessing the search engine comprises automatically directing the browser to the search engine;

wherein directing the browser to the search engine comprises displaying to a user a context-sensitive menu including a selection of at least one search engine to perform the network-based search;

receiving a user selection of the search engine from the context-sensitive menu; and

wherein displaying to the user the context-sensitive menu comprises automatically making a selection of the at least one choice of a search engine to include in the context-sensitive menu based on the least one user-designated object.

40. A system having executable instruction codes embedded on a medium for automatically initiating a network-based search from within a document displayed by a document viewer, the document comprising one or more objects, the system comprising:

a first set of instruction codes for receiving a user designation of at least one object of the document;

a second set of instruction codes for automatically providing a search engine address and a query command to a browser in response to the user designation of the at least one object;

a third set of instruction codes for automatically providing the browser with the at least one designated object;

wherein the browser automatically submits the query command and the at least one designated object to a search engine corresponding to the search engine address;

wherein the document comprises an image; and

wherein the search term designation module comprises;

a fourth set of instruction codes for receiving a user selection of a portion of the image; and

a fifth set of instruction codes for performing optical character recognition on the selected portion of the image to recognize therein the at least one designated object.

41. A system having executable instruction codes embedded on a medium for automatically initiating a network-based search from within a document displayed by a document viewer, the document comprising one or more objects, the system comprising:

a first set of instruction codes for receiving a user designation of at least one object of the document;

a second set of instruction codes for automatically providing a search engine address and a query command to a browser in response to the user designation of the at least one object;

a third set of instruction codes for automatically providing the browser with the at least one designated object;

wherein the browser automatically submits the query command and the at least one designated object to a search engine corresponding to the search engine address;

wherein the second set of instruction codes comprises a fourth set of instruction codes for automatically directing a browser to the search engine;

wherein the fourth set of instruction codes comprises a fifth set of instruction codes for displaying to a user a context-sensitive menu including at least one choice of a search engine to perform the network-based search and to receive a user selection of a search engine from the context-sensitive menu; and

wherein the fifth set of instruction codes comprises a sixth set of instruction codes for automatically making c selection of the at least one choice of a search engine to be included in the context-sensitive menu based on the at least one user-designated object.