This invention relates generally to information retrieval in a computer network. More particularly, it relates to an improved method for providing a set of bookmarks in a browser for retrieving Web pages in an Internet environment.
It is well known to couple a plurality of computer systems into a network of computer systems. In this way, the collective resources available within the network may be shared among users, thus allowing each connected user to enjoy resources which would not be economically feasible to provide to each user individually. With the growth of the Internet, sharing of computer resources has been brought to a much wider audience. The Internet has become a cultural medium in today""s society for both information and entertainment. Government agencies employ Internet sites for a variety of informational purposes. For many companies, one or more Internet sites are an integral part of their business; these sites are frequently mentioned in the companies"" television, radio and print advertising.
The World Wide Web, or simply xe2x80x9cthe Webxe2x80x9d, is the Internet""s multimedia information retrieval system. It is the most commonly used method of transferring data in the Internet environment. Other methods exist such as the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Gopher, but have not achieved the popularity of the Web. Client machines accomplish transactions to Web servers using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which is a known application protocol providing users access to files, e.g., text, graphics, images, sound, video, using a standard page description language known as the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTML provides basic document formatting and allows the developer to specify xe2x80x9clinksxe2x80x9d to other servers and files. In the Internet paradigm, a network path to a server is identified by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) having a special syntax for defining a network connection.
Retrieval of information is generally achieved by the use of an HTML-compatible xe2x80x9cbrowserxe2x80x9d, e.g., Netscape Navigator, at a client machine. When the user of the browser specifies a link via a URL, the client issues a request to a naming service to map a hostname in the URL to a particular network IP address at which the server is located. The naming service returns a list of one or more IP addresses that can respond to the request. Using one of the IP addresses, the browser establishes a connection to a server. If the server is available, it returns a document or other object formatted according to HTML. Web browsers have become the primary interface for access to many network and server services.
The entry of the URL in the entry field of a browser can be a difficult task for many users. While the URL for the main Web page of a major company can be relatively brief, e.g., www.ibm.com, subsidiary pages can have very lengthy URLs in, at least to the average user, an arcane syntax. Recognizing the difficulties involved, the developers of browsers have provided one useful means of returning to a favorite URL, by the creation of user stored xe2x80x9cbookmarksxe2x80x9d in the browser.
Once created, bookmarks offer a means of page retrieval. The user can cause the browser to display his bookmark list and select among his bookmarks to go directly to a favorite page. Thus, the user is not forced to enter a lengthy URL nor retrace the original tortuous route through the Internet by which he may have arrived at the Web site. Once a bookmark is added to a bookmark list, in general, the bookmark becomes a permanent part of the browser until removed. The permanence and accessibility of bookmarks have made them a valuable means for personalizing a user""s Internet access through the browser.
Yet despite their usefulness, the current arrangement of bookmarks is not without its flaws. The most common way of adding bookmarks to the bookmark file or a particular bookmark folder in the browser is manually intensive. Each bookmark is added one at a time. A user visits a web site, then selects that site as a bookmark entry and, if desired, categorizes it manually. Furthermore, the current technology used in browsers to update bookmarks, i.e. removing the old address and entering the new one, is very slow and inefficient.
Another problem with retrieving information on the Internet is the amount of time required to sift through the enormous amount of information available to find the relatively few web pages or files of interest. Search engines help to a degree, however, the current methods require a user to actually retrieve a suitable web page before it can be added to the browser""s list of bookmarks. A substantial amount of user time is required to refine search strategies, visit pages, compile and discard results and so forth. Thus, a good list of bookmarks on a given topic can represent a significant investment in time and effort.
These problems as well as others are addressed in various embodiments of the present invention.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to improve the management of bookmarks in the browser.
It is another object of the invention to provide a search mechanism to create bookmark sets usable in a browser.
It is another object of the invention to select entries returned from a search to a selected bookmark set without requiring browser retrieval of an associated page.
It is another object of the invention to edit a bookmark set for a given client browser.
These and other objects are accomplished by creating a bookmark set from search results. First, a search request from a client browser is sent for pages in a distributed database which satisfy a search condition. A set of pages which satisfy the search condition are returned. In the page which presents the search results, each page is associated with a user input sensitive selection means, such as a checkbox. Responsive to user input, i.e. selection of certain pages, a bookmark set comprised of a path to selected pages is created. The created bookmark set is served as a unit to the client browser.