CN1173274C - Method for realizing printing operation, information processing system and network system - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and implementing computer system is provided in which a network user may invoke a print selection mode to quickly identify and queue-up web pages for printing in one continuous batch process. The print selection methodology displays a plurality of selections from which a user may select for the requested print operation. In one example, a user is able to select from a listing of only the hyperlinks available on a target page for subsequent print selection.

Description

Method for realizing printing operation, information processing system and network system

This application is related to co-pending application US S/N08/937,452, filed September 25, 1997, entitled "Skeleton Web Page Retrieval Method for Web Navigation," to the assignee of this application, and this application is the reference of this article.

technical field

The present invention relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to a method and implementation for more efficient document management techniques for selecting and printing documents available on a network.

Background technique

With the proliferation of computer systems and networked computer systems, information access time has become more critical. Due to various reasons, the access time to the information database tends to increase even though the equipment is continuously upgraded and the technology is continuously developed. This trend is evident for almost all database access involving telecommunication links, and especially for the increasing number of users of Internet and World Wide Web applications, especially those in which extensive graphics are provided.

On the Internet or "World Wide Web" network, a user specifies a web address or destination page that he wants to "go to". Then the user enters the selected network site, and the target web page or network site home page will be displayed on the user's display screen. Typically, a target page set with a large amount of graphic content or even a very large text-only page set takes a relatively long period of time to be downloaded to the user's terminal. During the period when the target page has not been displayed, many network channels may be "frozen" in the retrieval and delivery of the requested web page and information to the user terminal. Not only is this process slow for the user, and in a way tethers the network, it also slows down the same process for other users of the network.

In addition, in the case where a user wishes to print multiple Web pages from multiple sites, the user must display each Web page he wishes to print, and the user typically must click "File" in a submenu from the page screen, for example. " option and then click the "Print" option, and then make a selection for the printer assignment. After finishing printing, the user then typically enters another site or Web page that he wishes to visit and possibly print, or the user may click on a hyperlink displayed on the current page in order to track a common topic, to turn to a website related to the current page. In the "next layer" of referenced outlets in common direction. When following "hyperlink" tracking, the user typically must also move from page to page and must wait for the page to be downloaded from the Web server before turning through another printing protocol.

When a certain visited webpage does not present the expected or sought information, the user must specify another target address to visit. Moreover, as mentioned above, when the retrieved webpage contains, for example, a large number of colorful and complex graphics or a large number of audio files, the retrieval process takes a relatively long time. This is the case because much more data and parameters are required for specifying a color graphics display or an audio output than for a mere text display. When several different web pages from several different sites are to be printed, a lot of time is lost visiting different sites and downloading from one site before visiting the next site and calling the print protocol again. Furthermore, not only is this process a slow process for users to go through, but it also slows down the entire network by unnecessarily tying up network channels that may be used by other network users. The disadvantages of this search or access protocol and Web page printing are more pronounced when millions of users are using the network simultaneously.

Furthermore, printing HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) documents is often troublesome because such documents contain links to other documents. In most applications today, the landing page contains "links" to other web pages that are related in some way to the landing page or to the subject of the landing page. These "links" are typically specified with a group of words that usually describe the "linked" web page to be accessed. These links are sometimes referred to as "hyperlinks" and the content they present as "hypertext". Hyperlinks are usually displayed in bold and underlined, and may be displayed in a different color so that users can easily locate links on a page that would otherwise have text filled in them. By simply moving a pointing device such as a mouse to an active screen area against which a "hyperlink" is displayed within a "hypertext" and "clicking" the select input button on the mouse, the user can go directly to the displayed One of several linked pages for .

Although the above method somewhat speeds up the search for a new location by face-to-face typing each time the user wishes to move to a new page, this process is still relatively slow, especially when printing Web pages is required. Once selected and "clicked" on a hyperlink, the entire web page will be retrieved, including all graphics and text within it, as well as the desired graphic-related parameter details. In many cases, the user can determine from the title or hyperlink descriptor whether he wants to print the referenced web page. In the example where the Web home page is a table of contents listing the chapter titles of a book, the user generally does not need to print all the chapters of the book, but he can determine which chapters need to be printed by viewing the table of contents. With the existing technology, the user must click on the specified chapter and download one chapter at a time in order, and fulfill the printing agreement for each downloaded chapter, sometimes even page by page, and after accessing the next chapter to be printed Return to this table of contents earlier.

In addition, under the existing technology, the creator of the Web page must create a comprehensive document for the entire book, so as to provide convenience for users who print the book. Some recent software products allow users to collect several documents in one print basket and print them together. However, the user still must fetch each document from the Web and then issue a modified print order. Additionally, the process is still synchronous and wastes the user's time and the user's bandwidth.

Accordingly, there is a need for an improved technique and implemented network system to enable more efficient search and print techniques for printing network documents and in practice reduce required network usage time and bandwidth.

Contents of the invention

Provided is a method of effectuating a printing operation for printing a plurality of referenced items specified by an indicia displayed on a user's screen, said indicia being selectable by the user during a user web session, said method comprising: displaying an item containing A selection screen showing a plurality of said tabs, each of said tabs being configured for a user to select a print; saving the selection made by the user; displaying a print execution option to the user; and activating in response to the user's selection of the print execution option A print operation, whereby all of the referenced items selected by the user are printed according to the specified print operation.

There is provided an information handling system comprising: a processing unit configured to execute a program from said memory to allow printing of selected referenced items of a plurality of referenced items specified by a visual indicia presented on a screen of a user, said the visual indicia are selectable by the user during the user network session; a display means for displaying thereon a selection screen comprising a plurality of said visual indicia, each of said visual indicia being configured to for the user to make selections for printing, and for presenting the user with print execution options after the selections made by the user are saved; a storage component for saving the selections made by the user; a printing component for responding to the user's execution of said printing Selection of an option initiates a print operation whereby all of the cited items selected by the user are printed; and a bus for connecting the processing unit, the display unit, the printing unit and the storage unit.

A network system is provided, comprising: a network server part; a user terminal part; and a connecting device arranged to connect the user terminal part and the network server part, wherein the network server part responds to a signal from the user terminal part downloading encoded indicia from said network server means to said user terminal means, said user terminal means being configured to read said encoded indicia and to provide a program signal representative of the indicia, said program signal being effective to effectuate a continuous printing operation to print a plurality of referenced items specified by visual indicia presented on a user screen selectable by a user during a user web session in connection with said user terminal means and said web server means, The network system also includes: a display part, which is used to display a selection screen on the user terminal part, the selection screen includes a plurality of the visible marks, and each of the visible marks is set to for the user to make selections for printing and for presenting the user with print execution options after the user's selections are saved; a storage component for saving the user's selections; and a printing component for responding to the user's selection of said printing The selection of the execution option starts a printing operation, so that all the referenced items selected by the user are printed under the specified printing operation.

Description of drawings

A better understanding of the invention can be gained when the following detailed description of the best mode is studied when taken in conjunction with the following accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a kind of computer system realizing the present invention;

Figure 2 is a simplified schematic diagram showing selected components and subsystems of the computer system shown in Figure 1;

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary display screen of a typical Web page for reference in explaining the present invention;

Figure 4 shows an exemplary selection screen employed in one embodiment of the invention;

Figure 5 is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating the hyperlink tree structure in the Internet system;

Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating several optional options in the disclosed network method; and

Fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary sequence of operations in one application of the present invention.

Detailed ways

Referring to FIG. 1, various methods discussed herein can be implemented in a typical computer system 101 including a workstation or a personal computer. In general, a computer system may be implemented comprising multiple processors under a multi-bus system in a network of similar systems. However, since the workstation or computer system 101 implementing the present invention in the exemplary embodiment is well known in the art and is composed of electronic components and circuits well known to those skilled in the art, the Additional circuit details are not identified in detail to the extent necessary for the study in order to understand and appreciate the underlying concepts of the invention and not to confuse or confuse the principles of the invention.

In FIG. 1, the computer system includes a processor component 103, which is typically configured to house a processor circuit as well as other components and subsystems of the computer system 101. Computer system 101 also includes a monitor unit 105, a keyboard 107, and a mouse or pointing device 109, all interconnected with the computer system as shown. Also shown is a connector 111 configured to connect a modem in the computer system to a communication line (such as a telephone line in this example). The invention can also be implemented in cellular systems, in which case the connector 111 is not required.

Several main components of system 101 are shown in FIG. 2 . The processor circuit 201 is connected to a system bus 203, which may be any host system bus. Note that the processing methods disclosed herein can be applied to many different bus and/or network configurations. Also connected to the bus 203 is a cache memory 205 as well as system storage components. Modem 209 is arranged to connect 210 via connector 111 (FIG. 1) to a communication line such as a telephone line. In this example, modem 209 selectively allows computer system 101 to establish a communications link and initiate communications with other computer systems, networks or database servers.

The system bus is also connected to a keyboard 213 and a mouse or pointing device 215 through an input interface circuit 211 . The bus 203 is also connected to the network interface subsystem 217 and the floppy disk drive 219 . Video subsystem 220, which may include a graphics subsystem, is coupled to display component 221. A memory component 218 , which may include hardware, is also coupled to bus 203 . The floppy disk drive provides a means by which various floppy disk programs can be loaded onto the hard disk drive or accessed directly for selective execution by the computer system 101 . It is known to machine-read program floppy disks containing application software represented by magnetic marks on the floppy disks, and to selectively operate a computer system to read these magnetic marks and create program signals. These program signals are selectively asserted to cause the computer system to present a display on the screen of the display unit and to respond to user input according to the functional flow of the application program on the floppy disk.

When an Internet access program or browser program is running on computer system 101, the access program is typically stored in storage component 218 and is partially or fully accessed when the system is initially powered on or later when required by the user. Optionally or automatically loaded into system memory. The browser is selectively operative to access and execute a site selection program either directly from a floppy disk in floppy drive 219 or directly from the site selection program stored on hard drive 218 as described herein. When a program is running, a part of the program or the entire program can be loaded into the system memory 207 and/or the system cache memory 205 . Depending on the specific programming, the system may store any information obtained from storage unit 218, cache 205, databases in system memory 207, or directly from a floppy disk in floppy disk drive 219. Assuming that the user starts the system, and actively runs, for example, a browser program, a series of screens are displayed to the user on the display unit 221 . Typically, each screen has one or more options for the user to navigate through the program. Typically, the user utilizes a keyboard 213 or a mouse or pointing device 213 to make selections on the display screen. In the Internet operating system, the user's choice is determined as the user's "where to go", that is, which "site" or "Web page", and in some cases, the communication link or path to the selected site is also determined. .

Figure 3 shows a typical program screen display 301 under an Internet operation dialog. The browser screen typically includes a mode bar 303 which displays several different modes from which the user can choose, such as a "file" selection 308 and a "bookmark" selection 304 . Another bar 305 may be displayed to help the user quickly move between documents, sites or pages under the web application. An address or "location" option 307 allows the user to type in and display the name of an Internet site to visit or is visiting. Other quick access buttons may be implemented on the screen for quick access to other selected web services and/or web subroutines, such as "what's new" or "web search." Generally, any of the illustrated items can be selected by a "click" method associated with the mouse 215, a cursor or pointer indicia visible on the display screen. For example, downloading data from a remote site can be terminated immediately during transmission by pointing to a "stop" button and hitting the designated mouse button. Similarly, the "Back" and "Forward" buttons can be used to return to the previous screen display or to go to the next screen display, respectively.

In the example of FIG. 3, the "Location" or Uniform Resource Locator (URL) designation is shown as "Multichapterbook.com". The exemplary Web page displays a book title with a "Table of Contents" listing the book's chapters in hyperlink format. "Hyperlinks" are typically shown in boldface, underlined, and usually in a prominent color for easy identification. A hyperlink typically includes a set of descriptive words that, when the user points to and clicks on the selection, will visit the web page or website specified by the link. A hyperlink motivates an access program to a selected website, which is different from plain text on a page that merely expresses text without any function. By utilizing hyperlinks, a user can relatively quickly identify a possible site of interest and click on a hyperlink, thereby immediately accessing that site from the current page. Typically, if a user wants to print a chapter, the user should click on the selected hyperlink, and the screen will display the text of the chapter of the book and will also include other hypertext and graphics, and may even include optional video and/or or the audio section. The user can then select the "File" mode and then select the "Print" option to print the selected chapters. If the user wishes to print another chapter, the user should return to the "Table of Contents" page, for example by clicking "Back", then select the chapter to be printed, wait for the selected web page to be retrieved with associated graphics and hyperlinks, and then again Via the "File/Print" protocol.

However, in the example shown, a "print selection" function button 311 is added. With this additional functionality, the user can point to the "Print Selection" button with a cursor or pointer 313 and click to invoke the batch selection and printing process described herein. Please note that although this example shows access to the "Print Selection" subroutine from the subroutine bar in the Web page, this entry could be designed to be located in any other convenient screen or at any screen location. For example, the above-mentioned co-pending patent application "Skeleton Web Page Retrieval Method for Web Navigation" discloses a method to build and display a "skeleton page" of hyperlinks referenced from a specified web page and drill down to the available In the selected reference layer. The "Print Selection" button can also be designed to be displayed as part of the referenced "skeleton page" for selection of the hyperlinked page for printing. In addition, when the "Print Selection" button is selected, the program will disable the normal execution of the specified hyperlink, so that the user can select a hyperlink to be printed and not call and unlink during the "Print Selection" dialog. Displays the page referenced by the hyperlink.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary print selection screen 403 displayed to the user in response to actuation of the "Print Selection" function button 311. As shown in FIG. At the top of the menu in this example is a function selection area 405 for the user to make a first-level selection of his printing requirements. As shown, the user can specify the level 409 at which the program will assemble hyperlinks and/or Web pages for printing. The user can also choose to print only the current page by clicking the "print current page" option 411 . The user can also select "Print specified pages (specified by user)" or click the "Print 'other than' option" button 415 . When the user clicks on the selection 415 of 'other than this', the program will print all hyperlinks on the page except those selected. This is a useful feature when a user wishes to print all but a portion of the entities on a hyperlinked page.

When the "print current page" selection is made, the program will directly turn to the page print subroutine and return to the previous page 301 as shown in FIG. 3 . Will go to the selection 409 of "print to that layer", but will still keep the "print selection" display on the screen. When the user selects one of the "Print Specified Selection" button 413 or the "Print 'Besides' Selection" button 415, the program will display a pop-up menu 417 to allow the user to make more "global selections", i.e. A selection that applies to all documents selected for printing. An "Omit Graphics" selection can be made so that all documents selected for printing do not include graphics that may be relevant to the page to be printed. The global options menu 417 may also include an option to designate all chapters on the page to be printed. Such functionality can be activated, for example, by clicking on the "Go" selection prior to making any individual selections for the listed chapters.

Another selection can be made, "Save Print Selection", which automatically saves the print order and document to a file for later reference. When the user selects the "Save Print Selections" option from menu 417, another pop-up entry field appears to allow the user to specify a name for the intended print job file. The user then turns to another site and saves the print file to add more options from other web pages. When the user is ready to determine the hyperlink to be printed, the user clicks "make selection" on the hypertext from the menu 417 . After this action, the user can click on the chapters in the list that he wishes to print, or if the button 415 has been selected previously, on the chapters to be printed in addition to these. An exemplary means of selection is to allow specifying an area on the screen, such as a rectangle, a square, a circle, or a polygon, etc., and indicate all hyperlinks in the boundary (for example, 431) and the layers specified downward in each link The numbers are to be printed. The area can be specified by dragging the mouse or by other means. For example, the user can point to an item or a selected point such as point 427 with pointer 419, and "pull" the mouse pointer to point 429 to select successive items (such as items within box 431) or a group of items or chapters for printing. Another option is to pop up an "item-by-item" menu 421 that allows the user to determine the layer for each assembly each time an item is selected, another possibility is that it can be accessed from the menu 421 on a "file-by-file" basis Change the global graphic selection on menu 417. Other selections included in submenu 421 also allow individual changes to global selections. When the user completes the selection process and wishes to start printing, the user will click the "Execute Print Selection" button on the global menu 417, and the program will integrate various selections and instructions to start continuous and asynchronous printing operations to press the selection. format to print out all the selected documents at once.

The example of Figure 5 helps explain the deep "layers" of the document that are used to assemble hyperlinks that appear on web pages in hyperlink format. The referenced technology shows a tree structure through which a skeleton page or hyperlink list subroutine navigates an assembly of skeleton pages or hyperlink lists. Starting from the target page that can contain two hyperlinks 503 and 505, if only one level of retrieval is specified, the program will assemble hyperlinks 509 and 511 from page 507 and hyperlinks 515 and 517 from page 513. If the user specifies the number "2" as the hyperlink layer flag, the program will return the hyperlinks listed in the next layer of pages, namely pages 519, 521, 523 and 525. Hyperlinks are clearly defined and easily accessible from server sites for assembling and displaying hyperlink lists. For example, in HTML, since a hyperlink is marked with a tag "href", a hyperlink can be determined from a source code listing of a source code used to create a Web page. This flag can be viewed from the list of source codes available at the server site by clicking "VIEW" on the web page menu followed by "SOURCE" on the submenu. The "href" code segment that creates a hyperlink on a web page can also be used to create a list of hyperlinks from which a user can select a page to print.

Fig. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating several optional options in the network method of the present disclosure. When the "Print Selection" button 311 is activated (601), the "Print Selection Menu" 403 is displayed (603). If the "print current page" selection is made (605), the program turns to the immediate print subroutine (607). On the contrary, if one of the "Print specified selections" (609) or "Print 'other than' selections" (611) is selected, the program will save each selection (613) and turn to the " Pop-up menu 417 of "Global Selection" (615).

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing an exemplary sequence of operations for selected portions of the program. When one of the print options 413 or 415 is selected from the main menu 403, the "global options" section of the program is launched (701) and the global options menu is displayed (703). From this point, the user can click on any of four options, namely, "Save Print Selection" 727 , "Make Selection" 709 , "Execute Print Selection" 733 , or "Globally Omit Graphics" 705 . When "Save Print Selection" 727 is activated, the selection made is saved (729) and the program returns to the main menu (731). When the "global omit graphics" selection is made (705), the program saves the selection (707) and returns to the global selection menu 417. When clicking on the "Make Selection" hypertext at 709, once the selection is made by pointing and clicking on a listed item or chapter, in this example the selection will be highlighted (712) and the "By "Chapter to" pop-up menu (713) to allow the user to make selections item by item. Alternatively, it may be possible for the user to make a selection beforehand (not shown) with or without the "item by item" popup function.

In the "chapter by chapter" pop-up menu 421, if the user does not want to specify more specific characteristics of the selected chapter (such as "printing level" or whether the user wishes to change the global selection of "graphics"), the user is making a Once selected, another selection can be proceeded immediately (714). If other selections (714) are made before selecting the specific parameters of the relevant chapters, the program will save (715) the predetermined default parameters and close the "chapter-by-chapter" menu (at least make the menu rely on the previous selection) chapter), and return to enhancing the brightness of the next selection made (712). If selections are made (716) to the "chapter by chapter" submenu, such as specifying assembly layers or omitting graphics from items to be printed, then these selections are saved (717), the chapter submenu is closed (718) and it is determined whether Made "Execute print selection" (719) from the global selection menu. If ever clicked on "execute print selection", the program will go to "get the current and saved selected document" (735) and proceed to asynchronous printing (737) according to the selected parameters and instructions, and then the program ends (739) . If " carry out " has not been clicked, program returns to " display " global selection menu ( 703 ) and waits for each instruction of next step.

One of many possible pseudo-code listings in which the invention may be implemented is shown below.

           
print_to_level(level){

   print_menu(level, print_to_level);
}
designate_selections_and_print(){

    print_menu(level, make_selections);
}
print_by_geometry(){

    print_menu(level, clip_geometry);
}
//level＝0 if only current page is to be printed
print_menu(url, level, flag) {

            //flag=true implies print all but mode

            skeleton = get_skeleton(url, level, flag);
  if(flag=print_to_level){

    for each url in skeleton do print_url(url);

          }

          else if(flag=make_selections){

    for each url in skeleton do{

          put check_box();

                  }

                  wait for print execute command from user;

                  for each url in skeleton do print_url(url);

          }
  }
  skeleton
  get_skeleton(url, level, mode)
        <!-- SIPO <DP n="10"> -->
        <dp n="d10"/>
{
retrieve page specified by url;
locate_hyperlinks_in_page(url);
if (mode=all_but_mode) invert links;

         if(mode=clip_geometry) remove links outside specified
geometry;

         for each hyperlink in page do{
   add link to hierarchical skeleton listing;
   if(level_to_fetch＞1)process_page(hyperlink, level-1, skeleton);
  }
  return skeleton listing page;
}
locate_hyperlinks_in_page(url)
{
  while there is more text in url page
  search for html link;
  add html link;
  end while
  return links;
}
print_url(url){

       if(omit_graphics) strip_away(url, graphics);

       if(omit_file_extension) strip_away(url, file_extension);

       print page;
}
strip_away(url, type){

              parse html for page;

              if (type=graphics) delete images such as gifs, pngs,
bmps, jpgs;

              else delete by file extensions;

              return page;
 }

        

According to the above example, when the user wants to print a document from the Web, provide a new screen and Web page, which contains the link in the original Web page, and allow the user to specify whether the linked content needs to be printed. Users can give instructions by clicking on the dialog boxes on each page. Fast lanes may be included to allow the user to choose to print all links on the page, or only a selected portion of them, or print all "except selected" links by a sort of inverse operation. The system automatically determines links containing printable material and is programmed not to provide dialog boxes for listed files containing non-printable material, such as audio files, which can be identified using various filenames and filename extensions . Users can also select the depth of web pages to be printed. For example, a user may wish to print links to a "Table of Contents" page and the links directly referenced by each page. Such a list should have a layer depth of "1". Level "2" printing means that the user wishes to follow the next level of links, namely the "first level" links that are directly referenced by a given page and those "second level" links that are referenced on those "first level" pages. layer" link.

To allow the user to interactively select which pages to print on each layer, a "Print Selection" Web page is created containing the names of all links corresponding to the user's selected layer. Thus, the user can, for example, mark the pages that he wishes to print, and make other selections, such as whether to include or omit graphics files associated with the selected pages. Other similar selections can also be made on a global basis and on a per-page basis.

Alternatively, documents that do not contain printable material may be displayed in a different manner, such as a different color from other items on the base page. Another option may allow the user to specify a "retry" function (not shown) whereby the program will periodically retry access to selected items if they cannot be accessed on the first attempt and print. Using the menus and selections shown, the user can quickly indicate which pages need to be printed, and these pages can be saved and printed asynchronously. Once, for example, a user issues a new print order, the system can combine all previous requests and selections from its sites and issue the appropriate bundled document fetch request. By combining multiple requests, a persistent network connection is maintained, avoiding startup overhead delays and avoiding per-page bandwidth hogs.

As disclosed herein, the method and apparatus of the present invention and associated best modes have been described. The disclosed methods can be implemented in a variety of different sequences, menus, and screen arrangements to achieve the desired results shown herein. While one embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described in detail herein and includes certain modifications, skilled artisans can readily construct other various embodiments embodying the principles of the invention, and even including or integrating into processing Computer, CPU or other larger system integrated circuits or chips. The disclosed methods can also be implemented solely with program code stored on a hard or floppy disk (fixed or portable) or other storage means, from which the program is executable to achieve the beneficial results described herein. Accordingly, the invention is not limited to the exact forms described herein, but on the contrary covers various alternatives, modifications and equivalents which may reasonably be included within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (19)

1. A method of effectuating a print operation for printing a plurality of referenced items specified by a marker displayed on a user's screen, said marker being selectable by the user during a user network session, said method comprising: displaying a selection screen comprising a plurality of said indicia, each said indicia configured for user selection for printing; save the selections made by the user; display print execution options to the user; and A printing operation is started in response to the user's selection of the printing execution option, so as to print all the reference items selected by the user according to the specified printing operation. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicia includes a hyperlink to a specified web page on the network. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the web page is located at a plurality of network points on the network. 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: The user is presented with selection means by which the user can select a layer designation representing the number of reference layers on which the plurality of markings can be fitted. 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: The user is presented with selection means by which the user can select not to print a selected one of said referenced items. 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: The user is presented with selection means by which the user may select to remove predetermined data types from said referenced items. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the predetermined data type includes audio data related to the referenced item. 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the predetermined data type includes video data related to the referenced item. 9. The method of claim 6, wherein the predetermined data type includes graphical data related to the referenced item. 10. An information processing system comprising: a processing unit configured to execute a program from said memory to allow printing of selected referenced items of a plurality of referenced items specified by a visual indicia presented on the user's screen, said visible indicia being accessible by the user on the user's network select during a conversation; a display part for displaying a selection screen thereon, said selection screen comprising a plurality of said visible indicia, each of said visible indicia being arranged for the user to select printing, and for the user to The selection is saved and the user is presented with the print execution option; A storage component for saving the selections made by the user; a printing component that initiates a print operation in response to user selection of said print execution option, thereby printing all of said referenced items selected by the user; and A bus for connecting the processing unit, the display unit, the printing unit, and the storage unit. 11. The information handling system of claim 10, wherein the visible indicia includes a hyperlink to a specified web page on the network. 12. The information processing system of claim 11, wherein the webpage is located at a plurality of sites on the network. 13. The information processing system of claim 10, further comprising: A selection means, presentable to a user, for selecting a level designation representing a number of reference levels on which said plurality of visual indicia may be fitted. 14. The information processing system of claim 10, further comprising: A selection means, presentable to the user, for selection by the user not to print selected ones of said referenced items. 15. The information processing system of claim 10, further comprising: A selection means may be presented to the user for selection to remove predetermined data types from said referenced items. 16. The information processing system of claim 15, wherein the predetermined data type includes audio data related to the reference item. 17. The information processing system of claim 15, wherein the predetermined data type includes video data related to the reference item. 18. The information processing system of claim 15, wherein the predetermined type includes graphic data related to the referenced item. 19. A network system comprising: Web server components; user terminal components; and connection means arranged to connect said user terminal part and said web server part, wherein said web server part downloads an encoded token from said web server part to said user terminal part in response to a signal from said user terminal part, The user terminal unit is configured to read the encoded indicia and provide a program signal representative of the indicia, the program signal being effective to effect a continuous printing operation to print a plurality of references specified by the visual indicia presented on the user's screen item, the visual mark can be selected by the user during the user network dialogue under the connection between the user terminal component and the network server component, and the network system also includes: A display part, used to display a selection screen on the user terminal part, the selection screen includes a plurality of the visible marks, each of the visible marks is set to allow the user to select the print, and use Presenting the user with print execution options after the selections made by the user have been saved; a storage component for storing selections made by the user; and A printing component, which starts a printing operation in response to the user's selection of the printing execution option, so as to print all the referenced items selected by the user under the specified printing operation.

Images