US5935210A — Mapping the structure of a collection of computer…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 75 words

A computer-implemented method of gathering information about a site of resources in a computer system, the method comprising: retrieving a first one of the resources from the site; extracting from the first resource information about embedded hyperlinks to other resources in the site; extracting from the first resource meta-data describing aspects of the first resource and the other resources; and storing in a self-contained persistent data store the information about the hyperlinks and the meta-data.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 75 words

A computer-implemented method of gathering information about a site of resources in a computer system, the method comprising: retrieving a first one of the resources from the site; extracting from the first resource information about embedded hyperlinks to other resources in the site; extracting from the first resource meta-data describing aspects of the first resource and the other resources; and storing in a self-contained persistent data store the information about the hyperlinks and the meta-data.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 13 words

The method of claim 1 wherein the first resource comprises an HTML page.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 32 words

The method of claim 1 further comprising presenting the meta-data in a graphical representation as a tree with the meta-data describing aspects of the first resource as a root of the tree.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 24 words

The method of claim 3 wherein each of the meta-data describing aspects of the other resources are presented as a branch of the tree.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 28 words

The method of claim 4 wherein presenting the branch includes indicating to the user whether the branch represents the first or subsequent encountered path to the other resource.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 24 words

The method of claim 4 wherein presenting one or more branches includes indicating to the user that a particular branch is the most used.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 49 words

The method of claim 1 further comprising: attempting to access the other resources; and when a resource is accessed, extracting from the accessed resource information about hyperlinks from the accessed resource to other resources in the site and meta-data describing aspects of the accessed resource and the other resources.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 18 words

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of extracting meta-data includes extracting text data characterizing the resources.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 20 words

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of extracting meta-data includes extracting data identifying the types of the resources.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 25 words

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of extracting information about hyperlinks includes extracting information about hyperlinks to non-hardware components of the computer system.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 38 words

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of extracting information about hyperlinks includes extracting information about hyperlinks to resources selected from the group consisting of HTML pages, video files, audio files, image files, and internet application services.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 27 words

The method of claim 11 wherein the internet application services include services selected from the group consisting of electronic mail services, FTP, gopher, news, telnet, and WAIS.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 28 words

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of extracting information about hyperlinks includes extracting from the first resource embedded URLs specifying the locations of the other resources.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 25 words

The method of claim 1 further comprising storing data indicating which of the other resources is stored on the same computer as the first resource.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 23 words

The method of claim 1 further comprising storing data indicating whether two of the hyperlinks link the first resource to a single resource.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 18 words

The method of claim 1 further comprising storing data indicating the accessibility of each of the other resources.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 35 words

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of storing the information about the hyperlinks and the meta-data in a persistent data store comprises storing the information and meta-data in a resource having a URL.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 17 words

The method of claim 1 wherein the steps of extracting include retrieving information across an inter-computer connection.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 11 words

The method of claim 18 wherein the connection comprises the Internet.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 15 words

The method of claim 1 wherein the computer system comprises a plurality of interconnected computers.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 99 words

The method of claim 1 wherein storing the information about the hyperlinks and the meta-data in a self-contained persistent data store includes storing the information and meta-data in a data structure comprising: a table that stores a URL for the first resource and the other resources; a data object corresponding to each of the resources that stores the meta-data describing aspects of the corresponding resource; and a data object corresponding to each hyperlink embedded in the first resource that links the data object corresponding to the first resource to the data object corresponding to one of the other resources.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 22 words

The method of claim 21 wherein the data object corresponding to each hyperlink also includes meta-data describing an aspect of the hyperlink.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 80 words

A computer program, residing on a computer-readable storage medium, comprising instructions for causing a computer in a computer system to: retrieve a first resource in a collection of resources in the computer system; extract from the first resource information about embedded hyperlinks to other resources in the collection; extract from the first resource meta-data describing aspects of the first resource and the other resources; and store in a self-contained persistent data store the information about the hyperlinks and the meta-data.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 80 words

A computer program, residing on a computer-readable storage medium, comprising instructions for causing a computer in a computer system to: retrieve a first resource in a collection of resources in the computer system; extract from the first resource information about embedded hyperlinks to other resources in the collection; extract from the first resource meta-data describing aspects of the first resource and the other resources; and store in a self-contained persistent data store the information about the hyperlinks and the meta-data.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 26 words

The method of claim 23 further comprising receiving from a user information identifying the first resource from which to gather information about the collection of resources.

Claim 27

Independent Claim 62 words

A method of obtaining information about the hyperlink structure of a collection of resources in a computer system, the method comprising: first searching the computer system for a resource containing information about the hyperlink structure of the resources, obtaining the information from the resource if such a resource is found, and otherwise obtaining the information directly from the resources in the collection.

Claim 28

Independent Claim 62 words

A method of obtaining information about the hyperlink structure of a collection of resources in a computer system, the method comprising: first searching the computer system for a resource containing information about the hyperlink structure of the resources, obtaining the information from the resource if such a resource is found, and otherwise obtaining the information directly from the resources in the collection.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 38 words

The method of claim 21 wherein the step of first searching for a resource containing information about the hyperlink structure comprises attempting to retrieve from the collection of resources a URL specifying the location of such a resource.

Claim 30

Independent Claim 57 words

A method of preventing a spider from directly accessing resources in a computer system to gather information about the hyperlink structure of the resources, the method comprising: detecting when the spider is attempting to access one of the resources, and instructing the spider instead to access another resource containing information about the hyperlink structure of the resources.

Claim 31

Independent Claim 57 words

A method of preventing a spider from directly accessing resources in a computer system to gather information about the hyperlink structure of the resources, the method comprising: detecting when the spider is attempting to access one of the resources, and instructing the spider instead to access another resource containing information about the hyperlink structure of the resources.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 29 words

The method of claim 23 wherein the step of instructing the spider to access another resource comprises providing the spider with a URL specifying the location of the resource.

Claim 33

Independent Claim 52 words

A method of discovering differences between two collections of resources in a computer system, the method comprising: generating for each collection a self-contained database containing information about the hyperlink structure of the resources and meta-data describing aspects of the resources, and comparing the databases to discover differences between the collections of resources.

Claim 34

Independent Claim 52 words

A method of discovering differences between two collections of resources in a computer system, the method comprising: generating for each collection a self-contained database containing information about the hyperlink structure of the resources and meta-data describing aspects of the resources, and comparing the databases to discover differences between the collections of resources.

Claim 35

Independent Claim 87 words

A method of discovering orphaned resources in a collection of resources, the method comprising: generating a self-contained database containing information about the hyperlink structure of the collection of resources and meta-data describing aspects of the resources, acquiring from a user a definition of resources intended to be in the collection, and comparing the contents of the database to the contents of the list to determine which of the resources intended to be in the collection of resources is not included in the hyperlink structure of the resources.

Claim 36

Independent Claim 87 words

A method of discovering orphaned resources in a collection of resources, the method comprising: generating a self-contained database containing information about the hyperlink structure of the collection of resources and meta-data describing aspects of the resources, acquiring from a user a definition of resources intended to be in the collection, and comparing the contents of the database to the contents of the list to determine which of the resources intended to be in the collection of resources is not included in the hyperlink structure of the resources.

Claim 37

Dependent Claim 16 words

The method of claim 30 wherein acquiring a definition of resources comprises acquiring a file structure.

Claim 38

Independent Claim 89 words

A method of presenting to a user information only about resources of a particular type in a larger collection of resources, the method comprising: gathering a database of information about the hyperlink structure of the resources in the collection and meta-data describing aspects of the resources, including information indicating the type of each resource, filtering the database to identify resources of the particular type, and presenting to the user only information about the hyperlink structure of the resources of the particular type and meta-data describing aspects of these resources.

Claim 39

Independent Claim 89 words

A method of presenting to a user information only about resources of a particular type in a larger collection of resources, the method comprising: gathering a database of information about the hyperlink structure of the resources in the collection and meta-data describing aspects of the resources, including information indicating the type of each resource, filtering the database to identify resources of the particular type, and presenting to the user only information about the hyperlink structure of the resources of the particular type and meta-data describing aspects of these resources.

Claim 40

Independent Claim 80 words

A method of enabling a user to navigate to a particular resource in a collection of resources without accessing other resources in the collection, the method comprising: building a resource map containing information about the hyperlink structure of the collection of resources and meta-data describing aspects of the resources, presenting the resource map to the user, and allowing the user to select the particular resource by selecting meta-data corresponding to the particular resource and retrieving the resource for the user.

Claim 41

Independent Claim 80 words

A method of enabling a user to navigate to a particular resource in a collection of resources without accessing other resources in the collection, the method comprising: building a resource map containing information about the hyperlink structure of the collection of resources and meta-data describing aspects of the resources, presenting the resource map to the user, and allowing the user to select the particular resource by selecting meta-data corresponding to the particular resource and retrieving the resource for the user.

Claim 42

Dependent Claim 50 words

The method of claim 33 further comprising: after the step of building a resource map has occurred, receiving from the user information indicating that the user wants to access the collection of resources, and thereafter presenting the map to the user and allowing the user to select the particular resource.

Claim 43

Dependent Claim 32 words

The method of claim 33 wherein the step of presenting the resource map to the user includes indicating to the user that the particular resource contains a broken hyperlink to another resource.

Claim 44

Dependent Claim 29 words

The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving from a user information identifying the first one of the resources from which to gather information about the site of resources.

Claim 45

Dependent Claim 64 words

The method of claim 33 further comprising: after the step of building a resource map has occurred, receiving from the user information indicating that the user wants to update information about the collection of resources, and thereafter presenting the map to the user and allowing the user to update the information about the hyperlink structure and the meta-data describing aspects of a particular resource.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2002-08-09	2003-02-08	2003-08-10	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2006-08-09	2007-02-08	2007-08-10	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2010-08-09	2011-02-08	2011-08-10	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Mapping the structure of a collection of computer resources

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