Abstract:
Overcoming the cluttered effect of Web Portal pages by an implementation for a Web Portal page interface on a computer controlled Web display station or terminal that comprises a plurality of portlet sections in said each Portal page, each portlet including text and at least one active hyperlink to another Web page, means enabling a user to enter one of the displayed portlet sections, means in the Web Portal page, enabled by the entry of the user into the one portlet section, for enlarging the area of the entered one portlet section and means in the Web Portal page, responsive to the enlarging of the area of this one portlet, for reducing the areas of a plurality of the other portlet sections so that at least one hyperlink in each of the other portlet sections of reduced area remains active.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0001]    The present invention relates to computer managed communication networks, such as the World Wide Web (Web) and, particularly, to interactive computer controlled display interfaces for displaying Web portal pages with maximum user accessibility to the Web sites provided through the Web Portal site. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]    The past generation has been marked by a technological revolution driven by the convergence of the data processing industry with the consumer electronics industry. The effect has, in turn, driven technologies that have been known and available but relatively quiescent over the years. A major one of these technologies is the Internet related distribution of documents, media and programs. The convergence of the electronic entertainment and consumer industries with data processing exponentially accelerated the demand for wide ranging communications distribution channels and the Web or Internet, which had quietly existed for over a generation as a loose academic and government data distribution facility, reached “critical mass” and commenced a period of phenomenal expansion. With this expansion, businesses and consumers have direct access to all matter of documents, media and computer programs. 
         [0003]    In addition, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), which had been the documentation language of the Internet or Web for years, offered direct links between pages and other documentation on the Web and a variety of related data sources that were, at first, text and then evolved into media, i.e. “hypermedia”. This even further exploded the use of the Internet or Web. It was now possible for the Web browser or wanderer to spend literally hours going through document after document and accompanying media events in often less than productive excursions through the Web. These excursions strained the user&#39;s time and resources. A significant source of this drain is in the Web page, the basic document page of the Web. Although many Web pages are professionally designed and, thus, relatively efficient to use, there are still a great many Web pages that are very cumbersome to access and to use. 
         [0004]    Among the attempts by Internet or Web (used interchangeably) industries to solve these problems have been the development of Web portals. These are Web sites that provide specialized capabilities to their users. During the recent era when Netscape Web browsers were prominent on the Web, the Web portals were often starting or launching points for the browser onto the Web. Also, Yahoo! provided some of the early Web portals. Governments and governmental agencies used Web portals. Web portals for industries and marketplaces have become very widely used. A generalized description of Web portals may be found in the text,  Internet: The Complete Reference, Millennium Edition , Young et al. published 1999, Osbourne/McGraw-Hill, Berkeley, Calif., at pp. 394-395. It is not uncommon for Internet Service Providers to provide the user with their entry page as a Web Portal page. By their nature, Portal Web pages are likely to give the interactive user a cluttered or chaotic effect, particularly since they often rely on advertising for a portion of their revenue. Thus, it has been a Web industry goal to preserve the wide variety of links to other Web pages provided by Web Portal pages while making the portlets on such pages easier to access and more user friendly. The present invention offers an implementation toward this end. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]    The present invention overcomes the cluttered effect of Web Portal pages by providing an implementation for a Web Portal page interface on a computer controlled Web display station or terminal that comprises a plurality of portlet sections in said each portal page, each portlet including text and at least one active hyperlink to another Web page, means enabling a user to enter one of the displayed portlet sections, means in said Web Portal page, enabled by the entry of the user into the one portlet section, for enlarging the area of the entered one portlet section; and means in said Web Portal page, responsive to the enlarging of the area of this one portlet, for reducing the areas of a plurality of the other portlet sections wherein at least one hyperlink in each of the other portlet sections of reduced area remains active. 
         [0006]    For best results, the means enabling the user to enter into the one portlet section is a user controlled display pointer, and the means for enlarging the area of the one portlet section automatically enlarge the area upon the entry of said pointer into the portlet section. Also, the portlet of enlarged area may have a plurality of hyperlinks increased in number from the original hyperlink content of the portlet. Also, another portlet section of reduced area originally having a plurality of hyperlinks prior may have this number reduced. In this direction, one or more of the reduced portlets may be reduced so that the whole portlet is just a hyperlink to another Web page. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0007]    The present invention will be better understood and its numerous objects and advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to the following drawings, in conjunction with the accompanying specification, in which: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  is a very generalized view of a network, e.g. Web, portion showing how a Web service provider may provide Web Portal pages to users at network display stations; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a data processing system including a central processing unit and network connections via a communications adapter that is capable of functioning as users&#39; computer controlled display stations on which the Web Portal page interface of the present invention may be interactively accessed; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a diagrammatic view of a display screen on a computer station illustrating an initial generalized Web Portal page; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is the display screen view of  FIG. 3  but after the user has entered one of the portlets in the Web Portal page; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is another variation of the display screen view of  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is an illustrative flowchart describing the setting up of the process of the present invention for maximizing the accessibility of the currently entered portlet; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart of an illustrative run of the process setup in  FIG. 6 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0015]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a very generalized diagram of a Web portion on which the present invention may be implemented. In the examples that follow, we will use the Web as the computer controlled object oriented programming network system. Actually, the present invention may be implemented on any appropriate network for handling requests from a receiving network display station for information documents from other network sites requiring logon. Receiving client or user computer stations  57 , having a user interactive display interface  56 , controlled by a conventional Web browser program  59 , such as the Microsoft(®) Internet Explorer(®) is typically connected to the Web  50  via standard Web wired connections through Web access server  53  that may be provided by a commercial service provider. Reference may be made to the text,  Mastering the Internet,  G. H. Cady et al., published by Sybex Inc., Alameda, Calif., 1996, particularly pp. 136-147, for typical connections between receiving display stations to the Web  50  via access server  53 . In the present invention, the Internet Service Provider (ISP) controlling server system  53  may develop Web Portal pages with portlets representative of Web pages and other data available from several Web sites on the Web. In the illustration of the present invention as described in the displayed Web Portal pages of  FIGS. 3 through 5 , the baseball information comes from the illustrative Web site  65  for accessing “Red Sox” data from database  49 , Web site  62  for accessing “Yankee” data from database  48 , Web site  68  for accessing “White Sox” data from database  60 , and Web site  69  for accessing “Dodger” data from database  48 . These are coordinated in the Web Portal page in which the individual portlets represent each of the Web sites that may be accessed through these portlets. As will be described hereinafter in greater detail, the Web Portal pages of the present invention have the capability of enlarging the area of a portlet entered (used) by the user while reducing other portlet&#39;s areas in compensation. This may be implemented through JavaScript code embedded in the Web Portal pages of this invention. The Web browser  59  associated with the receiving display terminal  57  then reads the JavaScript code to construct the initial Web Portal pages, as well as the subsequent Web Portal pages with the enlarged and reduced area portlets. 
         [0016]    Before going further into the details of specific embodiments, it will be helpful to understand from a more general perspective the various elements and methods that may be related to the present invention. Since an aspect of the present invention is directed to Web documents, such as Web pages transmitted over networks, an understanding of networks and their operating principles would be helpful. We will not go into great detail in describing the networks to which the present invention is applicable. The Internet or Web is a global network of a heterogeneous mix of computer technologies and operating systems. Objects are linked to other objects in the hierarchy through a variety of network server computers. These network servers are the key to network distribution, such as the distribution of Web pages and related documentation. In this connection, the term “documents” is used to describe data transmitted over the Web or other networks and is intended to include Web pages with displayable text, graphics and other images. 
         [0017]    Web documents, i.e. pages, are conventionally implemented in HTML language, which is described in detail in the text entitled  Just Java,  2nd Edition, Peter van der Linden, Sun Microsystems, 1997, particularly at Chapter 7, pp. 249-268, dealing with the handling of Web pages; and also in the text  Mastering the Internet,  G. H. Cady et al., published by Sybex Inc., Alameda, Calif., 1996, particularly at pp. 637-642, on HTML in the formation of Web pages. The Web Portal pages of this invention are a particular form of Web page. A generalized description of Web Portals may be found in the above-mentioned text,  Internet: The Complete Reference, Millennium Edition,  particularly at pp. 394-395. It is not uncommon for ISPs to provide the user with their entry or Web Portal page. 
         [0018]    In addition, aspects of this invention will involve Web browsers. A general and comprehensive description of browsers may be found in the above-mentioned  Mastering the Internet  text at pp. 291-313. More detailed browser descriptions may be found in the  Internet: The Complete Reference, Millennium Edition  text mentioned above: Chapter 19, pp. 419-454, on the Netscape Navigator; Chapter 20, pp. 455-494, on the Microsoft Internet Explorer; and Chapter 21, pp. 495-512, covering Lynx, Opera and other browsers. 
         [0019]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , a typical data processing unit is shown that may function as the receiving display station  57  for receiving the Web documents, such as Web Portal pages, from Web sites via Web service providers for displaying such Web Portal pages. A central processing unit (CPU)  10 , such as one of the PC microprocessors or workstations, e.g. eServer pSeries available from International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) or Dell PC microprocessors, is provided and interconnected to various other components by system bus  12 . An operating system  41  runs on CPU  10 , provides control and is used to coordinate the function of the various components of the computer of  FIG. 2 . Operating system  41  may be one of the commercially available operating systems, such as IBM&#39;s AIX or Microsoft&#39;s WindowsMe™ or Windows 2000™, as well as UNIX and other IBM AIX operating systems. Application programs  40 , controlled by the system, are moved into and out of the main memory Random Access Memory (RAM)  14 . These programs include Web browser programs of the present invention that are responsive to the JavaScript code instructions embedded in the HTML forming the Web Portal pages of the present invention that expand portlet areas during user functions within such portlets and perform complementary reductions in the areas of portlets not performing user functions. These functions will be described hereinafter in combination with conventional Web browsers (browsers  49 ,  FIG. 1 ) that have the capability of interpreting and executing the JavaScript code at the receiving display terminals, such as Microsoft&#39;s Internet Explorer™. A Read Only Memory (ROM)  16  is connected to CPU  10  via bus  12  and includes the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) that controls the basic computer functions. RAM  14 , I/O adapter  18  and communications adapter  34  are also interconnected to system bus  12 . I/O adapter  18  may be a Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) adapter that communicates with the disk storage device  20 . Communications adapter  34  interconnects bus  12  with an outside network. In the case of server  45 , this could be the Web. I/O devices are also connected to system bus  12  via user interface adapter  22  and display adapter  36 . Keyboard  24  and mouse  26  are all interconnected to bus  12  through user interface adapter  22 . It is through such input devices that the user at the receiving terminal computers may interactively relate to the Web Portal pages with embedded code for implementing the Web page portlet resizing in accordance with the present invention. 
         [0020]    Display adapter  36  includes a frame buffer  39 , which is a storage device that holds a representation of each pixel on the display screen  38 . Images may be stored in frame buffer  39  for display on monitor  38  through various components, such as a digital to analog converter (not shown) and the like. By using the aforementioned I/O devices, a user is capable of inputting information to the system through the keyboard  24  or mouse  26  and receiving output information from the system via display  38 . 
         [0021]    With reference to  FIGS. 3 through 5 , the general operation of the present invention will be described with respect to Web Portal page interface on display screen  70 ,  FIG. 3 . The Web Portal page shown (“Web Baseball Box Office”) is an illustrative Web Portal page offering to users schedules, ticket purchasing and other information related to nine Major League baseball teams. The individual portlets  71  are of the same size and uniformly spacially arranged. They have a box office window format with each having a hyperlink for schedule  73 , news  72  and ticket purchase  71 . In the illustration, the user is interested in the “Cubs” window and has moved  75  his cursor or pointer  76  into the “Cubs” window or portlet. At this point, in response to the movement of the pointer into the window, as shown in  FIG. 4 , the entered portlet has automatically expanded in size to portlet  77  with a different format and with several additional hyperlinks: “Pick Seats”  79 , “Stadium Map”  78 , “Field View”  80 , “Chicago Events”  81  and a news item  82 . Some of the other portlets  83  have been reduced in size to compensate for the increased area of portlet  77 , but they still retain at least one hyperlink  74  to tickets. In another variation illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the portlet  87  to “Cubs” information is of an even greater size, and has even more hyperlinks  85 ,  86 ,  88  and  90 ,  91  and  92  to other Web pages. In  FIG. 5 , all of the other portlets  93  have each been reduced to a single hyperlink that the user is prompted  94  if the user needs tickets for any of the respective other eight teams. 
         [0022]    JavaScript is a conventional simple interpreted scripting language that enables Web page developers to embed simple Java-like programming instructions within the HTML text of Web pages. For further information with respect to the use of JavaScript within HTML text in Web pages, reference is made to the description in the text,  Dynamic HTML in Action,  Michele Petrovsky, published by Osborne, McGraw-Hill, Berkeley, Calif., 1998, particularly at pp. 150-158 and 184-185. It is understood that many functions may be added to HTML coding supporting Web pages. The JavaScript code embedded in the HTML structure of the Web Portal page shown in  FIG. 3  is set up so that the entry of the cursor  76  into a portlet as shown in  FIG. 3  automatically triggers the code to generate either a Web Portal page as shown in  FIG. 4  or a Web Portal page as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0023]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart showing the development of a process according to the present invention for providing users at computer controlled displays with Web Portal pages, the portlets of which are directly expandable in response to the entry of a user and the remaining portlets temporarily reduced in size to meet display space limitations. There is provided an implementation for the generation of Web pages at Web Portal sites that have JavaScript code embedded in the HTML code describing the Web Portal page, step  100 . In the current illustration, the Web service provider organizes and transmits the Web Portal page to the requesting user display terminal. The Web Portal page has a plurality of portlets in which each portlet has text, images and one or more hyperlinks to other Web pages, step  101 . Provision is made for JavaScript code in the Web Portal page providing for the detection of a “mouse over” or pointer entry into a portlet, step  102 . Provision is made for the regeneration of the Web Portal page responsive to a mouse over in which the pointed to portlet is enlarged, and at least some of the other portlets accordingly reduced in area to make up the remaining reduced area on the Web Portal page, step  103 . Provision is made, step  104 , for inclusion of JavaScript code in the HTML content of the Web Portal page to implement the regeneration of step  103 . Provision is made to ensure that during the regeneration of step  103 , there still remains at least one active hyperlink in each of the Web page portlets, step  105 . There is further provision for the addition of active hyperlinks in any enlarged portlet, step  106 . Provision is made to enable the reduction of the number of hyperlinks in any of the reduced area portlets, step  107 . Provision is made for the optional regeneration of the Web Portal page to reduce the areas of all of the portlets other than the enlarged area portlet so that all that remains of the reduced area of each is a single active hyperlink, step  108 . 
         [0024]    The running of the process set up in  FIG. 6  will now be described with respect to the flowchart of  FIG. 7 . The user opens a Web session via the Web browser. An initial determination is made as to whether the user requests a Web Portal page, step  110 . If Yes, the Web browser gets the Web Portal page from the ISP, step  111 . Now that the Web Portal page is displayed and interactively addressed by a user, a determination is made, step  112 , as to whether the mouse pointer has entered any portlet on the Web Portal page. If Yes, then the entered portlet is detected, step  113 . The entered portlet is then enlarged, step  114 , and several of the other portlets are reduced, step  115 . Then a determination is made as to whether the embedded JavaScript, step  116 , calls for the increase in the number of hyperlinks in the enlarged portlet. If Yes, then, step  117 , the number of hyperlinks is accordingly increased. Then, or if No, a further determination is made as to whether the code calls for a reduction in the number of hyperlinks in portlets having reduced area, step  118 . If Yes, then the number of hyperlinks is reduced accordingly but at least one hyperlink in each portlet is maintained, step  119 . At this point, step  120 , the resulting Web Portal page is regenerated and displayed to the user. Now, a determination may conveniently be made as to whether the session is over, step  121 . If Yes, the session is exited. If No, the session is branched back to step  112 . 
         [0025]    One of the implementations of the present invention is in application program  40 , i.e. a browser program made up of programming steps or instructions resident in RAM  14 ,  FIG. 2 , of a client display station and/or server during various operations. Until required by the computer system, the program instructions may be stored in another readable medium, e.g. in disk drive  20  or in a removable memory, such as an optical disk for use in a CD ROM computer input or in a floppy disk for use in a floppy disk drive computer input. Further, the program instructions may be stored in the memory of another computer prior to use in the system of the present invention and transmitted over a network, such as the Web itself, when required by the user of the present invention. 
         [0026]    One skilled in the art should appreciate that the processes controlling the present invention are capable of being distributed in the form of computer readable media of a variety of forms. 
         [0027]    Although certain preferred embodiments have been shown and described, it will be understood that many changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope and intent of the appended claims.