JPH11110321A - Method and apparatus for extending function of WWW browser - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] It is possible to grasp a user's browsing status from outside without newly developing or remodeling a WWW browser, and to add a new function by using the information. Provided is a method for extending the function of a WWW browser. SOLUTION: In a method of extending a function of displaying information obtained from a WWW server 200 by a WWW browser 300, the method is realized in a relay device 100 on a communication path between the WWW server 200 and the WWW browser 300, and comprises:
In response to a request from the WWW browser 300, the WWW server 200
Interpreted by the WWW browser 300 in response information from
An instruction written in a language that can be executed and including a part generated according to the communication content is embedded. Is a function expansion method of a WWW browser for acquiring a browsing status of a user.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a WWW (World).
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for extending the function of a WWW browser, which extends means for displaying information obtained from a WWW server by a d Wide Web browser.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A WWW browser is a program for communicating with a WWW server, acquiring various data, converting the data into an appropriate format, and displaying the data. Various contents such as a document, an image, and a sound are assumed as the contents of the data, and various expressions are also assumed as the expression form of the data. The data formats used can be freely expanded, and the existing formats are also very diverse, making it very difficult to prepare in advance a method for all formats with a single WWW browser Met.

[0003] Therefore, there is a method for extending the function in most WWW browsers. Many w
In a WW browser, functions can be extended by creating a program in a format called Plug-In (plug-in).

[0004]

However, this interface is a framework for handling a data format that cannot be interpreted by a WWW browser alone, and should be extended beyond adding a display function of a new data format. Can not. For example, the existing data format HTML
(HyperText Markup Language)
e) When the original display method of the document is to be extended, the HTML document itself is in a data format that can be interpreted by a WWW browser, and cannot be extended by the above interface.

[0005] Information about the server to which the user is connected,
Even if you want to know the date and time of acquisition and update of the displayed data, it is impossible or requires extra time with the current WWW browser, but the conventional technology extends the existing WWW browser. It was impossible to do so, and it was necessary to develop a new WWW browser itself.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to be able to grasp the browsing status of a user from the outside without newly developing or remodeling a WWW browser, and to add a new function using the information. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for extending the function of a WWW browser.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 uses a WWW browser to execute W
A method for expanding means for displaying information obtained from a WWW server, the method being realized in a relay device on a communication path between the WWW server and the WWW browser, wherein a request from the WWW browser is sent in response to a request from the WWW server. In the response information, a command that is described in a language that can be interpreted and executed by the WWW browser and that includes a portion generated according to the communication content is embedded, and when the command is executed, the command is generated according to the communication content. It is characterized in that the browsing status of the user is obtained outside the WWW browser using the part.

[0010] According to a second aspect of the present invention, the portion generated according to the communication content by the command is a URI (Uniform Resource) of the page itself in which the command is embedded.
eIdentifier) information, and obtains the browsing status of the user outside the WWW browser using the information,
It is characterized in that related information of the page is displayed in synchronization with a user operation.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a WWW server and a W
A device that is used for relaying with a WWW browser and has a function of modifying communication contents, and is described in a language that can be interpreted and executed by the WWW browser in response contents from a WWW server, and is generated according to the communication contents. Means for embedding an instruction including a part to be executed, and, when the instruction is executed, WWW using a part generated in accordance with the communication content.
The present invention is characterized in that a means for acquiring the browsing status of the user from outside the browser is provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a WWW server and a WWW server
An apparatus used for relaying with a WWW browser, comprising: means for recording communication contents; and, in response to a request from the WWW browser, means for analyzing the recorded contents and sending out the recorded contents in a format displayable by the WWW browser. The command according to claim 3, wherein the URI of the page itself in which the command is embedded (Un
ifform Resource Identify
r) The information includes information, and the browsing status acquisition means acquires the browsing status of the user using the information, and displays related information of the page in synchronization with the operation of the user. A function expansion device for the WWW browser described.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the user
When trying to get a new page by operating the browser, instructions are embedded in the page. Since this command is executed whenever the page is displayed, each time the user displays a different page, the command embedded in each page is executed. This is WWW
The same applies even when browsing a page cached in the browser. Here, by including a command that causes access to the outside as this command, a change in the content displayed on the WWW browser can be grasped from the outside.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, as a parameter of an instruction to be embedded in a page, U indicating the page itself is used.
By giving the RI, it is possible to externally grasp the specific contents displayed. For example, by embedding a command to display the related information of the page being viewed in a window different from the window displaying the page that the user intends to view, every time the user displays a different page, it synchronizes with it. The related information displayed in another window is also updated.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows the whole related system (device 1).
00, and WWW server 200 and WWW
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram including the browser 300), and the inside of the dotted line is the WWW browser function expansion device 100 of the present invention. The apparatus 100 is an HTML file for analyzing the contents of an HTML file.
An analysis unit 101; a cache control unit 102 that controls data buffering; and a local WWW server unit 103 that transmits and receives data to and from the cache control unit 102 and provides a function as a WWW server locally to the WWW browser 300. Consists of Apparatus 10 of the present invention
Since 0 is a relay device on a communication path between the WWW server 200 and the WWW browser 300, it is not necessary for all users to individually have the relay device. There is an advantage that extended functions can be used.

The general processing flow of the apparatus is as follows. The request from the WWW browser 300 is sent to the cache control unit 102 () and recorded, and
It is sent to the server 200 (). Response data from the WWW server 200 is sent to the cache control unit 102 (), and is stored in a pair with the recorded request. The response data is sent to the HTML analysis unit 101 (), and after the browser operation command is embedded, the WWW browser 30
0 () (see response data before and after embedding a browser operation command, an example of which is shown in FIG. 2). WWW Browser 3
00 interprets the transmitted response data, presents it to the user, and interprets and executes the browser operation command.

Here, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the browser operation instruction (the part where the response data after embedding is inserted in the lower part of FIG. 2) is transmitted to the WWW server 20 generated according to the communication content.
0 (“Selected.ho”).
st) and a part that causes access to the information, and instructs to connect to the local WWW server 103 in the apparatus 100 and display the response data in another window. ing. Therefore, a request from another window of the WWW browser 300 is sent to the local WWW server 103 ().

The request to the local WWW server 103 includes the contents of the request sent as a parameter, and the local WWW server 103 obtains response data corresponding to the parameter from the cache control unit 102 ( ,). Next, analyze the response data,
Format the analysis results in HTML format and use browser 3
Send to 00 ().

The operation of the HTML analysis unit 101 will be described with reference to FIGS.

(1) First, the type of data sent from the WWW server 200 is checked (step S10).
0). If the data is an html document, the following steps are executed as an operation target (the determination result in step S101 is "YES"). Otherwise, the content is sent to the WWW browser 300 without any change (step S101). S
The determination result of 101 is “NO” → Step S106). h
Whether the document is a html document is determined by, for example, the HTT shown in FIG.
P (HyperText Transfer Prot)
ocol) header to determine whether the value of the “Content-Type” field is “text / html”.

(2) If the data is an html document (the determination result in step S102 is "YES"), information relating to the entire length of the document is deleted from the header part of the data (step S103). This is because the total length of the html document changes by embedding the instruction. Specifically, “Content-Lengt” of the HTTP header is used.
h ”field is deleted (FIG. 2, upper part).

(3) The html document, which is the main body of the data, is parsed (step S104), and a browser operation command is embedded in the html header that is not displayed as the content (step S105). Note that the header portion of the html document is “<HEAD>” and “<// HEA”.
D>".

(4) The corrected document is sent to the WWW browser (client) 300 (step S106).

As described above, it becomes possible to dynamically embed a browser operation command.

The insertion part of the browser operation instruction shown in the lower part of FIG. 2 simply shows the instruction for displaying the response data in another window, and actually corresponds to an arbitrary operation by the user. Therefore, it is desirable to describe an instruction for designating the name of another window or performing a process such as determination when another window already exists.
For example, the content of the browser operation instruction is, "Apart from the text,
If the window named "info" does not exist, create a new window, or use the existing window to display a page generated by the data analysis script on the local WWW server. ".

Further, it is desirable that the browser operation command is described in the JavaScript language as shown in FIG. Languages that can be interpreted and executed by a WWW browser include:
There are VBScript, Java, and ActiveX. JavaScript has an advantage that any standard WWW browser can be used regardless of the maker. Therefore, if JavaScript is used, higher versatility is achieved.

The browser operation command embedded in the page is executed each time the page is displayed in response to the operation of the user, and instructs the local WWW server 103 which page the user is currently browsing. information,
The request is sent in the form of a data analysis script execution request.
To be precise, as a parameter of the data analysis script,
The user is browsing (the browser operation instruction is embedded)
Page URI (Uniform Resource)
Identifier).

The data analysis script installed on the local WWW server 103 responds to a request from the browser 300 sent by the browser operation command.
It has a function of collecting relevant information of the page, editing the information into a format suitable for display on the browser 300, and transmitting the edited information.
Specifically, (1) HTT that cannot be displayed with a normal browser, such as the date and time of update of the page viewed by the user, the communication format and the type of WWW server used,
It has functions of displaying information in the P header and (2) collecting link destination list information from the page viewed by the user, such as expressing the page body from an angle different from the normal display format.

The page update date and time are described in the "Last-modified" field of the HTTP header. The communication format is described at the head of the HTTP header. The server information is “Server” of the HTTP header.
The link destination information is described in the source option of the anchor tag “<a>” in the text.

The cache control unit 102 holds a page cache locally, and a local WWW server 103
Sends the HTTP header and body of the page in response to a request from the server. When the cache control unit 102 is not provided, the cache control unit 102 is prepared every time the analysis is performed.
It is necessary to connect to the server 200. Therefore, (1)
This is because the responsiveness is deteriorated due to the delay due to the communication, and (2) it becomes impossible to guarantee that the analysis target page matches the one displayed on the WWW browser 300.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, the page information being browsed by the user can be accurately obtained from the outside without further developing or modifying a WWW browser, and the information can be used. Then, a new function of displaying the related information of the page in another window can be added.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram including an entire related system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and a device within the dotted line is an apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows the HTML of the apparatus 100 of the embodiment shown in FIG.
This is an example of a modification performed on an HTML document by the analysis unit 101.

FIG. 3 shows the HTML of the apparatus 100 of the embodiment shown in FIG.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart for dynamically embedding a command in an HTML document in the analysis unit 101.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 100 WWW browser function expansion device 101 HTML analysis unit 102 Cache control unit 103 Local WWW server 200 WWW server 300 WWW browser

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method for extending means for displaying information obtained from a WWW server by a WWW browser, the method being realized in a relay device on a communication path between the WWW server and the WWW browser, wherein the request from the WWW browser is provided. To the response information from the WWW server,
Embed an instruction that is described in a language that can be interpreted and executed by the W browser and includes a part generated according to the communication content, and, when the instruction is executed, using the part generated according to the communication content. A function expansion method of a WWW browser, wherein a browsing status of a user is acquired outside the WWW browser. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the part generated according to the communication content is a URI of a page itself in which the instruction is embedded.
(Uniform Resource Identif
2. The WWW according to claim 1, wherein the information includes information, and the browsing status of the user is acquired outside the WWW browser using the information, and related information of the page is displayed in synchronization with the operation of the user. How to extend browser functionality. 3. A device that is used for relaying between a WWW server and a WWW browser and has a function of modifying communication contents, and is described in a language that can be interpreted and executed by the WWW browser in response contents from the WWW server. Means for embedding a command including a part generated according to the communication content, and, when the command is executed, a browsing state of the user from outside the WWW browser using the part generated according to the communication content. W provided with means for acquiring
WW browser function expansion device. 4. An apparatus used for relaying between a WWW server and a WWW browser, comprising: means for recording communication contents; and a format capable of analyzing the recorded contents and displaying the contents on a WWW browser in response to a request from the WWW browser. 4. The command according to claim 3, wherein the command is a URI (Uniform Resource) of the page itself in which the command is embedded.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the browsing status acquisition unit acquires the browsing status of the user by using the information, and displays related information of the page in synchronization with the operation of the user. A function expansion device for the WWW browser described.