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EP0834822A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

World wide web news retrieval system

Assignee: Canon Inc
•
Filing: 1997-09-10
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2017-09-10
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Abstract

Abstract A World Wide Web site data retrieval system includes an input device for inputting data and commands to access the World Wide Web, and a memory for storing a Web site data retrieval driver which includes a Web reader, stored Web site address information, stored Web site commands, and stored format information. The memory also stores process steps to connect to a Web site and to issue commands within the connected Web site, and a connection to the World Wide Web. The system includes a processor for launching the Web site data retrieval driver in response to a command to access the World Wide Web. The Web site retrieval driver, upon being launched, (1) launches the Web reader to connect to the World Wide Web via the connection, (2) retrieves the Web site address information and Web site commands, (3) instructs the Web reader to access the Web site based on the Web site address information and Web site commands, (4) downloads Web site data from the Web site based on the Web site commands, (5) stores the Web site data in a linear document, (6) repeats steps 1 through 5 until all addresses in the stored Web site address information have been accessed, and (7) formats the linear document into a personalized document based on the format information.

Inventors

  • 👤 Smadar Nehab
  • 👤 Manjula G. Wickramaratne
  • 👤 Paul L. Klark

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-26 08:28
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/90; G06F16/95; G06F16/953; G06F16/9535; G06F16/9538

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 54
Claim 1
Independent Claim 80 words
A method for formatting data from at least one hypermedia document, comprising the steps of: an accessing step to access the at least one hypermedia document; a retrieving step to retrieve data from the hypermedia document into an extracted data tree, wherein the data is retrieved based on a structure of the hypermedia document; a flattening step to flatten the extracted data tree into a linear document; and a formatting step to format the linear document into a formatted document.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 14 words
The method of Claim 1, further comprising the step of printing the formatted document.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 16 words
The method of Claim 1, wherein said hypermedia document is located on the World Wide Web.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 14 words
The method of Claim 1, wherein said hypermedia document is located on the Internet.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 14 words
The method of Claim 1, wherein said hypermedia document is located on an intranet.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 26 words
The method of Claim 1, wherein said accessing step, said retrieving step, said flattening step, and said formatting step are performed in accordance with a personal-news-profile.
Claim 7
Independent Claim 54 words
A method of creating a personal-news-profile for retrieving data from a hypermedia-linked computer network, comprising the steps of: accessing the hypermedia-linked computer network; entering a learning mode; traversing sites on the hypermedia-linked computer network with commands; extracting at least one rule from the commands; and compiling the at least one rule into the personal-news-profile.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 22 words
The method of Claim 7, wherein the at least one rule specifies structural characteristics of sites for traversing the hypermedia-linked computer network.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 21 words
The method of Claim 8, wherein the at least one rule also specifies content-based criteria for traversing the hypermedia-linked computer network.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 157 words
A personalization system for creating a personalization profile for a Web site retrieval data retrieval system, the personalization system comprising: an input device for inputting data and commands to access the World Wide Web; a connection to the World Wide Web; a memory for storing a Web reader, the Web reader for accessing the World Wide Web via the connection to the World Wide Web according to commands from the personalization system; and a processor for launching the personalization system in response to a user command, wherein the personalization system, upon being launched, (1) launches the Web reader, (2) accesses the World Wide Web via the Web reader, (3) enters a learning mode, (4) sends commands to the Web reader to traverse the World Wide Web according to user commands, (5) extracts at least one rule from the user commands, (6) compiles the at least one rule into a personalization profile, and (7) stores the personalization profile.
Claim 11
Independent Claim 101 words
A method for retrieving articles from a hypermedia-linked computer network and for formatting the articles into a personalized newspaper, the method comprising the steps of: retrieving a stored personal-news-profile which comprises address data for a site on the hypermedia-linked computer network, command data for accessing data from the site, and newspaper layout commands; contacting the site based on address data stored in the personal-news-profile; downloading articles from the site based on command data stored in the personal-news-profile; flattening the articles into a linear document; and formatting the linear document into the personalized newspaper according to layout commands stored in the personal-news-profile.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 14 words
The method of Claim 11, further comprising the step of printing the personalized newspaper.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 15 words
The method of Claim 11, wherein said hypermedia-linked computer network is the World Wide Web.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 14 words
The method of Claim 11, wherein said hypermedia-linked computer network is on the Internet.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 14 words
The method of Claim 11, wherein said hypermedia-linked computer network is on an intranet.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 24 words
The method of Claim 11, wherein the command data for accessing data includes data for selecting articles based on a structure of the site.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 25 words
The method of Claim 16, wherein the command data for accessing data also includes data for selecting articles based on a content of the articles.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 278 words
A World Wide Web site data retrieval system for accessing at least one Web site, for retrieving data from the Web site, and for formatting the data into a personalized document, the system comprising: an input device for inputting data and commands to access the World Wide Web; a memory for storing a Web site data retrieval driver which includes a Web reader, stored Web site address information, stored Web site commands, and stored format information, wherein the memory also includes process steps to connect to a Web site and to issue commands within the connected Web site; a connection to the World Wide Web; and a processor for launching the Web site data retrieval driver in response to a user inputting a command to access the World Wide Web, wherein the Web site retrieval driver, upon being launched, (1) launches the Web reader to connect to the World Wide Web via said connection, (2) retrieves the Web site address information and Web site commands, (3) instructs the Web reader to access the Web site based on the Web site address information and Web site commands, (4) downloads Web site data from the Web site based on the Web site commands, wherein the data is downloaded with reference to a linked list so as to avoid hypermedia-links that form loops and so as to avoid repetitious downloading of data that has already been downloaded, (5) stores the Web site data in a linear document, (6) repeats steps 1 through 5 until all addresses in the stored Web site address information have been accessed, and (7) formats the linear document into the personalized document based on the format information.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 30 words
The Web site data retrieval system of Claim 18, wherein the Web site address information, the Web site commands, and the format information stored in the memory form a personalized-news-profile.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 18 words
The Web site data retrieval system of Claim 18, further comprising a printer for printing the personalized document.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim 17 words
The Web site data retrieval system of Claim 18, wherein the personalized document represents a personalized newspaper.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim 17 words
The Web site data retrieval system of Claim 18, wherein the personalized document represents a personalized magazine.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim 17 words
The Web site data retrieval system of Claim 18, wherein the personalized document represents a personalized book.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim 177 words
Computer executable process steps stored on a computer-readable medium, said steps for accessing World Wide Web sites for retrieving data at the sites and for formatting the data into a personalized document, said steps comprising: a connecting step to connect to the World Wide Web; a retrieving step to retrieve user-defined Web site address information, user-defined Web site commands, and user-defined formatting commands; an activating step to activate a Web reader so as to access a Web site based on the user-defined Web site address information and retrieving data from within the Web site based on the user-defined Web site commands; a downloading step to download the retrieved Web site data from the accessed Web site into an extracted data tree; a flattening step to flatten the extracted data tree into a linear document; a step to repeat the downloading step and the flattening step until all addresses in the user-defined Web site address information have been accessed; and a formatting step to format the stored data into the personalized document based on the user-defined formatting commands.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim 22 words
The computer executable process steps of Claim 24, further comprising a spooling step to spool the personalized document to an output device.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim 15 words
The computer executable process steps of Claim 25, wherein the output device is a printer.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim 15 words
The computer executable process steps of Claim 25, wherein the output device is a display.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim 27 words
The computer executable process steps of Claim 24, wherein the user-defined Web site commands include commands for selecting data based on a structure of the Web site.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim 28 words
The computer executable process steps of Claim 28, wherein the user-defined Web site commands also include commands for selecting data based on a content of the Web site.
Claim 30
Independent Claim 137 words
An apparatus for retrieving news articles from on-line news services on the World Wide Web and formatting the news articles into a personalized newspaper, the apparatus comprising: first storage means for storing (1) a personal-news-profile which comprises addresses data and command data for accessing data from a Web site, and (2) newspaper format commands; retrieval means for retrieving the stored personal-news-profile and accessing data stored therein; activating means for activating a Web reader to contact a Web site based on address data stored in the personal-news-profile; downloading means for downloading news articles from the contacted Web site based on command data stored in the personal-news-profile; second storage means for storing the downloaded news articles; and formatting means for formatting the stored news articles into the personalized newspaper based on the newspaper format commands stored in the personal-news-profile.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim 17 words
The apparatus of Claim 30, further comprising spooling means for spooling the personalized newspaper to a printer.
Claim 32
Independent Claim 184 words
A method for formatting data from a hypermedia document into a personalized document, comprising the steps of: a location specifying step to specify a location of the hypermedia document; a type specifying step to specify the type of the hypermedia document; a scope specifying step to specify the scope of data to retrieve from the hypermedia document, wherein the scope is based on a structure of the hypermedia document; a format specifying step to specify a format for formatting the data retrieved from the hypermedia document into the personalized document; an accessing step to access the hypermedia document found at the location specified in the location specifying step; a retrieving step to retrieve data from the hypermedia document accessed in the accessing step, wherein the data is retrieved in accordance with the type specified in the type specifying step and in accordance with the scope specified in the scope specifying step; and a formatting step to format the data retrieved in the retrieving step into the personalized document, wherein the data is formatted in accordance with the format specified in the format specifying step.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim 15 words
The method of Claim 32, further comprising a printing step to print the personalized document.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim 17 words
The method of Claim 32, wherein the location specified in the location specifying step is a filename.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim 24 words
The method of Claim 32, wherein the location specified in the location specifying step is a uniform resource locator for the World Wide Web.
Claim 36
Independent Claim 101 words
A method of processing a hypermedia document, comprising the steps of: accessing the hypermedia document; extracting addresses from the hypermedia document; storing the addresses extracted from the hypermedia document in a container in a memory; activating a processing function to process data stored at the addresses stored in the container; downloading the data stored at the addresses in the container into the memory; extracting predetermined data from downloaded data in accordance with predetermined configuration information; formatting the predetermined data in accordance with predefined formatting settings to generate a formatted document; and processing the formatted document in accordance with the processing function.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim 21 words
A method according to Claim 36, further comprising a step of previewing the formatted document prior to processing the formatted document.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim 50 words
A method according to Claim 37, further comprising the steps of: changing the formatting settings after previewing the document and before processing the formatted document in accordance with the processing function; re-activating the processing function; and re-formatting the data in accordance with changed formatting settings to generate the formatted document.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim 45 words
A method according to Claim 36, wherein the addresses are stored in the container in the order that the addresses are input into the container; and wherein the processing function processes the predetermined data in the order that the addresses are stored in the container.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim 27 words
A method according to Claim 39, further comprising the step of rearranging the addresses stored in the container by dragging and dropping the addresses within the container.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim 23 words
A method according to Claim 36, further comprising a step of inputting the formatting settings and configuration information via a graphical user interface.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim 22 words
A method according to Claim 41, wherein the graphical user interface comprises plural processing icons, one of which activates the processing function.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim 16 words
A method according to Claim 42, wherein the graphical user interface is displayed in plural modes.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim 47 words
A method according to Claim 43, wherein the plural modes comprise (1) a fully-functional mode in which the graphical user interface displays formatting fields, processing options, menus and the processing icons, and (2) a minimizing mode in which the graphical user interface displays only the processing icons.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim 23 words
A method according to Claim 44, wherein the graphical user interface displayed in the minimizing mode is displayed during browsing the hypermedia document.
Claim 46
Independent Claim 123 words
An apparatus for processing a hypermedia document, comprising: a Web read which accesses the hypermedia document; means for extracting addresses from the hypermedia document; a memory including a container which stores the addresses extracted from the hypermedia document; a graphical user interface having processing icons which activate at least one processing function to process data stored at the addresses stored in the container; and processing means which (1) downloads the data stored at the addresses stored in the container into the memory, (2) extracts predetermined data from downloaded data in accordance with predefined configuration settings, (3) formats the predetermined data in accordance with predefined formatting settings to generate a formatted document, and (4) processes the formatted document in accordance with the processing function.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim 21 words
An apparatus according to Claim 46, further comprising previewing means for previewing the formatted document prior to processing the formatted document.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim 45 words
An apparatus according to Claim 46, wherein the addresses are stored in the container in the order that the addresses are input into the container; and wherein the processing function processes the predetermined data in the order that the addresses are stored in the container.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim 31 words
An apparatus according to Claim 48, further comprising dragging and dropping means for dragging and dropping the addresses listed in the container in order to rearrange the addresses in the container.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim 23 words
An apparatus according to Claim 46, further comprising inputting means for inputting the formatting settings and configuration information via a graphical user interface.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim 23 words
An apparatus according to Claim 50, wherein the graphical user interface comprises plural processing icons, one of which activates to the processing function.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim 19 words
An apparatus according to Claim 51, further comprising display means for displaying the graphical user interface in plural modes.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim 47 words
An apparatus according to Claim 52, wherein the plural modes comprise (1) a fully-functional mode in which the graphical user interface displays formatting fields, processing options, menus and the processing icons, and (2) a minimizing mode in which the graphical user interface displays only the processing icons.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim 23 words
An apparatus according to Claim 53, wherein the graphical user interface displayed in the minimizing mode is displayed during browsing the hypermedia document.

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