CN1173282C - Method and system for dynamically adding new functionality to web pages - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and system for dynamically adding new functionality to web pages on the World Wide Web. The method comprises the following steps: (1) intercepting the webpage file returned by the World Wide Web server to the World Wide Web client; (2) adding a new URL pointing to a predetermined processing server for completing new functions in the webpage file, thereby forming a new webpage file; 3) Return the new web page file to the WWW client; (4) If the reservation processing server receives the request sent by the WWW client based on the new URL, complete the new function. Wherein, in step (2), the URL used for linking in the original hyperlink can be replaced with a new URL, or the new URL can be directly added to a new hyperlink.

Description

Method and system for dynamically adding new functionality to web pages

technical field

The invention relates to web applications of the World Wide Web, in particular to a method and a system for dynamically adding new functions to web pages of the World Wide Web.

Background technique

The World Wide Web (WWW), or simply "the Web", is the Internet's multimedia information retrieval system. In a Web environment, clients implement transactions to Web servers using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a well-known application protocol that allows users to use a standard page description called Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) The language describes various files (such as text, graphics, images, sound, video, etc.). HTML provides the underlying document format and allows developers to specify links to other servers and documents.

The World Wide Web using Hypertext Transfer Protocol follows a client/server architecture. The client of the World Wide Web service uses client software such as a browser, which can send various requests to the World Wide Web server, and interpret, display and play the hypertext information defined by the HTML language and various multimedia data formats returned by the server.

In the context of the World Wide Web, a browser running within a client machine establishes a connection with a server and provides information to the user. The corresponding server software runs in the server, and the software provides the information to the client in the form of HTTP response. The HTTP response corresponds to a Web page composed of HTML language, or data generated by other servers, such as information expressed in XML language.

URLs are used to define links when an HTML-compatible browser is running on the client machine. The client makes a request to the server identified by the link, and receives from the server an HTML-formatted file, or other server-generated data.

The hypertext information and various multimedia data formats returned by the server are prepared in advance and stored in files on the server. Therefore, the functions provided by the webpage received by the client from the server are determined in advance and cannot be changed dynamically. That is to say, new functions cannot be added to the webpage without changing the webpage stored in the server.

Contents of the invention

A first object of the present invention is to provide a method for dynamically adding new functions to web pages on the World Wide Web.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a system for dynamically adding new functions to web pages.

For realizing above-mentioned first purpose, the present invention provides a kind of method for dynamically adding new function for World Wide Web page, it is characterized in that comprising the following steps:

(1) Intercepting the webpage files returned by the World Wide Web server to the World Wide Web client;

(2) In the webpage file, add a new URL pointing to the scheduled processing server that completes the new function, thereby forming a new webpage file;

(3) returning the new web page file to the World Wide Web client;

(4) If the reservation processing server receives the request sent by the web client based on the new URL, complete the new function.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned second purpose, the present invention provides a system for dynamically adding new functions to World Wide Web pages, which is characterized in that it includes:

A content conversion server comprising:

The webpage file intercepting device is used for intercepting the webpage file returned by the WWW server to the WWW client;

The webpage file modifying device is used to add a new URL pointing to a predetermined processing server for completing new functions in the webpage file, thereby forming a new webpage file;

a webpage file returning device, configured to return said new webpage file to said World Wide Web client;

The system also includes:

A predetermined processing server is used for completing the new function when receiving the request sent by the web client based on the new URL.

According to the method and system of the present invention, the original URL used for the linking purpose contained in the original hyperlink in the web page file can be replaced with a new URL pointing to a predetermined processing server that completes the new function. In this way, in the displayed webpage, although the prompt information of the original hyperlink is still displayed, if the user clicks on the prompt information, the new function will be completed. Another solution is to complete the functions specified by the original URL after completing the new functions. These processes are completely transparent to the user. Of course, a new hyperlink can also be added in the original web page, and the new hyperlink contains prompt information of the new function and a new URL pointing to a predetermined processing server for completing the new function. Therefore, the present invention has extremely wide applications in World Wide Web network applications, such as providing online translation, collecting customer information, online advertisement management, and service charging.

Description of drawings

The above-mentioned features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent through the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. in

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a system for dynamically adding new functions to web pages of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is the working flowchart of the content conversion server in Fig. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the processing server in FIG. 1 .

Detailed ways

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As a brief background, first a brief introduction to the concepts of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) and hyperlinks.

In Internet applications, a network path to a server is specified using a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), which has a specific syntax for defining network connections. The URL is typically of the form: http://somehost/somedirectory? parameters..., where "somehost" is the hostname location of the URL, and "somedirectory" is the directory where the Web page can be found. A common way to resolve a URL into the actual IP address of a web server is through a name server. On the Internet or an intranet, domain name servers translate host names in URLs into actual web addresses. An example of a domain name server is the Domain Name Service (DNS) currently implemented in the Internet. The process by which a web user requests a host name and address from a domain name server is sometimes called resolution. In TCP/IP, domain name servers resolve hostnames into an IP address, and these IP addresses are sent back to Web clients on HTTP requests. Each IP address specifies a server, which is used to process the content of the request sent by the browser.

Hyperlinking is a method of interactive information retrieval. Hyperlink information is contained in hypermedia and hypertext documents that allow a user to obtain a document or access a site simply by "clicking" (ie, using a mouse or other pointing device) the title of the hyperlink. In this paper, a hyperlink is defined as having two parts: prompt information and URL. Such hyperlinks are contained in web page files. When the WWW client displays the web page file, the specified text or image is displayed at the specified position of the prompt information. When a user clicks on displayed text or an image, the World Wide Web client makes a request based on the URL contained in the hyperlink.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the system for dynamically adding new functions to web pages of the present invention. Reference numerals 103 and 104 respectively denote a web client and a web server in the prior art. As described in the background technology, the WWW client 103 sends a request to the WWW server 104 through the WWW, and the WWW server 104 returns a response to the WWW client 103 through the WWW. This response is actually an HTML file, or a file format that other WWW clients can handle .

It should be noted here that although HTML is quoted in many places in this document, HTML does not constitute a limitation to the present invention. The present invention can adopt any other available page description language, such as XML.

Reference numeral 101 denotes a content conversion server. Although not shown in the figure, the content conversion server may include: a webpage file intercepting device, used to intercept the webpage file returned by the World Wide Web server to the World Wide Web client; a webpage file modification device, used to add a pointing Complete the new URL of the predetermined processing server of the new function, thereby forming a new webpage file; the webpage file return device is used to return the new webpage file to the World Wide Web client.

According to different applications, the device for modifying webpage files can perform different processing on the intercepted webpage files. For example, an original URL for linking purposes contained in an original hyperlink in a web page file can be replaced with a new URL of a predetermined processing server that performs a new function. It is also possible to add a new hyperlink in the web page file, the new hyperlink contains the prompt information of the new function and the new URL pointing to the scheduled processing server for completing the new function. Additionally, one or more parameters may be included in the new URL. These parameters are used to specify different new functions. It is also possible to pass the original URL as a parameter of the new URL.

May comprise three kinds of hyperlinks in the webpage file that content transformation server 101 outputs like this, namely

(1) The original hyperlink without any modification;

(2) its URL used for linking purposes is replaced by the original hyperlink of the new URL;

(3) New hyperlink (with or without parameters).

After the WWW client 103 receives the webpage file, it interprets, displays and plays the content of the file. For (1) and (2) hyperlinks, the original prompt information will be displayed. For the (3) kind of hyperlink, the prompt information of the new function will be displayed.

Reference numeral 102 denotes a predetermined processing server for receiving a request sent by the web client 103 and performing predetermined functions. These predetermined functions are determined in advance and include four categories:

(1) Functions that need to cooperate with the World Wide Web client 103, as shown in the label 1;

(2) functions that need to be coordinated with the content conversion server 101, as shown in label 2;

(3) functions that need to cooperate with the World Wide Web server 104, as shown in label 3; and

(4) Functions performed only by the processing server 102 itself, as indicated by reference number 4 .

Therefore, the request received by the processing server 102 may carry different parameters to indicate the objects requiring coordination. These parameters are added by the content conversion server 101 into the webpage file. As mentioned earlier, the original URL can be passed as a parameter of the new URL. In this way, the processing server 102 can obtain the original URL from the parameter table of the new URL, send a request according to the original URL, and complete the functions stipulated by the original URL. This process is completely transparent to the user.

It should be noted that although it is shown in the figure that the content conversion server 101 and the processing server 102 are two separate servers, their functions can also be realized in the same server in fact.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the operation of the content conversion server 101 in FIG. 1 . In step 201, the content conversion server starts to work. In step 202, initialization is performed. In step 203, it waits for and receives a request from a web client. In step 204, the received client request is sent to the web server specified in the request. In step 205, the webpage file returned by the web server as a response is received.

The purpose of the above several steps is to intercept the webpage file returned to the client from the World Wide Web server. In addition to this proxy method, there are multiple ways to intercept such webpage files in the prior art. Needless to say here.

Then, in step 206, a new URL pointing to a predetermined processing server that completes the new function is added in the webpage file, thereby forming a new webpage file. Step 207, returning the new web page file to the client. Step 208 judges whether to continue the above process. If continue, go back to step 203, otherwise go to step 209. At step 209, the process ends.

In implementation, steps 203 to 207 may adopt a multi-process manner.

According to different applications, different processing may be performed on the webpage file in step 206 . For example, an original URL for linking purposes contained in an original hyperlink in a web page file can be replaced with a new URL of a predetermined processing server that performs a new function. It is also possible to add a new hyperlink in the web page file, the new hyperlink contains the prompt information of the new function and the new URL pointing to the scheduled processing server for completing the new function. Additionally, one or more parameters may be included in the new URL. These parameters are used to specify different new functions. It is also possible to pass the original URL as a parameter of the new URL.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the processing server in FIG. 1 . In step 301, the processing server 102 starts working. In step 302, initialization is performed. In step 303, it waits for and receives a request from a client. Please note that, according to the above concept of the present invention, the requests that the processing server can receive are all sent by the WWW client based on the new URL added in step 206 in FIG. 2 . In step 304, parameters in the client request are extracted. These parameters correspond to the parameters added in step 206 in FIG. 2 . In practical applications, these parameters can be utilized in various ways. In step 305, necessary processing is completed. According to different application environments, the processing here can be various. For example, it can be the collection of customer information, the statistics of advertising broadcasts, and so on.

In step 306, determine whether to cooperate with the client? This judgment can be made by judging a certain parameter. If the judgment result is yes, then in step 307, a customized response is sent to the client. In step 308, determine whether to cooperate with the content conversion server? If the judgment result is yes, then in step 309, communicate with the content conversion server to complete complex tasks. In step 310, it is determined whether to cooperate with the WWW server? If the judgment result is yes, then in step 311, a request is sent to the web server to complete the process transparent to the user.

The above steps 306, 308 and 310 can be performed by judging the parameters. For example, if it is found that a URL is contained in the parameter table, it can be determined that cooperation with the World Wide Web server is required. Then, after completing some pre-functions, a request is made to the web server specified by the URL.

Then, in step 312, it is judged whether to continue processing. If it continues, the process returns to step 303; otherwise, it proceeds to step 313, and the process ends.

Only give a few simple examples below to illustrate the application of the present invention.

Web page dynamic translation

The content conversion server can change each sentence in the web page file into a form of hypertext. When the user clicks on a sentence, the browser sends the content of the sentence as a parameter to the processing server. The processing server returns the translation of the sentence.

collect customer information

The content conversion server can automatically send a request to the processing server when the original hyperlink in the web page file is clicked. The processing server analyzes, processes and collects such requests.

Online Advertising Management

The processing server counts the number of times the advertisement bar is clicked to determine the advertisement fee. The processing server may be maintained by a third party recognized by both the advertiser and the merchant.

service charge

The processing server authenticates the user or charges the necessary fee before allowing the user to download the document. The processing server of the present invention can be made as a payment server of a plurality of web servers. Therefore, the user no longer needs to open multiple accounts on multiple sites, which simplifies the user's operation. In addition, web servers accepting paid server services do not require complex and difficult to maintain billing systems, thereby saving fees and costs.

Although the best embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and changes without departing from the scope and essence of the present invention. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is limited only by the claims.

Claims (15)

1. A method for dynamically adding new functions to web pages on the World Wide Web, characterized in that it comprises the following steps: (1) Intercepting the webpage files returned by the World Wide Web server to the World Wide Web client; (2) In the webpage file, add a new URL pointing to the scheduled processing server that completes the new function, thereby forming a new webpage file; (3) returning the new web page file to the World Wide Web client; (4) If the reservation processing server receives the request sent by the web client based on the new URL, complete the new function. 2. according to the method for claim 1, it is characterized in that step (2) comprises the step: The original URL for linking purposes contained in an original hyperlink in the web page file is replaced with the new URL. 3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that said new URL in step (2) has at least one parameter for specifying a new function, and said request received in step (4) contains said at least One parameter, so that the predetermined processing server completes corresponding functions according to the at least one parameter. 4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that one of said at least one parameter in step (2) is said original URL, and said corresponding function in step (4) includes said original URL specified Function. 5. according to the method for claim 1, it is characterized in that step (2) comprises the step: In the web page file, a new hyperlink is added, and the new hyperlink is composed of the prompt information of the new function and the new URL. 6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that said new URL in step (2) has at least one parameter for specifying a new function, and said request received in step (4) contains said at least One parameter, so that the predetermined processing server completes corresponding functions according to the at least one parameter. 7. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that steps (1) to (3) are performed in a content conversion server. 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein said content conversion server and said predetermined processing server are the same server. 9. A system for dynamically adding new functions to web pages on the World Wide Web, characterized in that it comprises: A content conversion server comprising: The web page file intercepting device is used to intercept the web page sent by the World Wide Web server to the World Wide Web client. The returned webpage file; The device for modifying the webpage file is used to add a pointer to the complete Create a new URL of the scheduled processing server for the new function, thereby forming a new web page file; The webpage file returning device is used to return the new webpage file to the Wanwei net client; The system also includes: A pre-determined processing server is configured to complete the new function upon receiving the request sent by the WWW client based on the new URL. 10. The system according to claim 9, wherein said web page file modifying means replaces an original URL for linking purposes contained in an original hyperlink in said web page file with said new URL. 11. The system according to claim 10, wherein said webpage file modifying device also adds at least one parameter for specifying a new function for said new URL, and the reservation processing server receives the request containing said at least one parameter, Then, a corresponding function is completed according to the at least one parameter. 12. The system according to claim 11, characterized in that one of said at least one parameter added by said web page file modifying device is said original URL, and the corresponding function completed by said predetermined processing server includes the specified original URL Function. 13. The system according to claim 9, wherein said webpage file modifying device adds a new hyperlink in said webpage file, said new hyperlink is made up of the prompt information of said new function and said new URL of. 14. The system according to claim 13, wherein said webpage file modifying device also adds at least one parameter for specifying a new function for said new URL, and the reservation processing server receives the request containing said at least one parameter, Then, a corresponding function is completed according to the at least one parameter. 15. The system according to any one of claims 9 to 14, characterized in that said content conversion server and said predetermined processing server are the same server.

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