The present invention relates generally to the field of web browsers, and more particularly to search functions within a web browser.
A web browser displays a web page on a computer monitor or mobile device. Although the web page is what is displayed by the web browser, the term “web page” also refers to a computer file, usually written in HyperText Markup Language (HTML) or a comparable markup language. On a network, a web browser can retrieve a web page from a remote web server. The web server may restrict access to only a private network such as a corporate intranet or it may provide access to the World Wide Web. Web browsers typically uses the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to request web pages.
HTML is a markup language for the creation of web pages and other information viewable in a web browser. The markup tells the web browser how to display a web page's words and images for a user. Each individual markup code is referred to as an element (but many people also refer to an individual markup code as a tag). Some elements come in pairs that indicate when some display effect is to begin and when the display effect is to end. JavaScript is used along with HTML, to add dynamic features to the web page.
Metadata (metacontent) is defined as data providing information about one or more aspects of other data. For example, a photograph (or “photo”) may contain metadata that indicates the size of the photo, the model of camera used to take the photo, the date the photo was taken, and any other information that describes the photo. One form of metadata used on a web page is Extensible Markup Language (XML). XML is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format which is both human-readable and machine-readable. HTML dictates how data is structured on a web page, whereas XML describes the data that is located on that page. Metadata can be stored internally in the file or structure as the data, commonly referred to as embedded metadata, or it can be stored externally in a separate file.
A twistie located on a web page or in a document is an icon that collapses or expands categorized lists or hides and reveals any other information or element. For example, a twistie for a particular category, e.g. American states, will usually have a list of items belonging to that category. In this example, a list of American states would be shown when the “American states” twistie is expanded. Likewise, the categories can have subcategories (e.g. cities). In this example, New York, an item listed under the “American states” category, has subcategories, one of which is “cities.” When the “cities” twistie is expanded, a list of cities in New York (e.g. Albany) is displayed. When a twistie is collapsed, the list of items associated with it are hidden. When a twistie is expanded, the list of items is displayed.