Abstract:
A method for packing the multiple files and folders of an HTML Web page into a single MHTML file. The packing process begins by determining whether the user has write privileges to the current location. If not, the user is prompted to save the MHTML file in an alternate location (e.g., the desktop). If the user has write privileges to the current location, the process opens the main HTML Web page and searches for supporting resource files. In short, the supporting resource files are identified by searching for known, common resource file references in the main HTML source file. When the resource file references have been identified, the process packages the main HTML document and all of the supporting resource files into a single file in MHTML format. The unpacking process opens the MHTML file and identifies the main HTML document portion, as well as the portions of the MHTML file containing the supporting resource files. Once all of the components have been identified, the Web page&#39;s folder structure is determined by referring to the content location field contained in each separate portion of the MHTML file. The individual MHTML components are converted into files and the main HTML file is stored. The resource files are stored in locations relative to the main HTML file, as identified by the unpacked folder structure.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0001]     This invention relates to storing a Web page as a single file. More particularly, this invention relates to a method and system for packing a Web page in HTML format as a MHTML file and unpacking a Web page in MHMTL format to HTML format.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     With the advent of the World Wide Web (hereinafter Web) and graphics-based Web browsers, the Web has grown exponentially to provide an information exchange of unprecedented proportion. The Web is an Internet facility that links documents both locally and remotely. A Web document, or Web page, is accessed and read via a Web browser. In the last half of the 1990s, the Web became the focus of Internet activity because Web pages containing both text and graphics were easily accessible via a Web browser. Today, those Web pages can also utilize new browser features and plug-in extensions that allow for audio, video, telephony, 3-D animations, and videoconferencing.  
         [0003]     Hypertext Markup Language, or “HTML,” is the coding behind standard Web pages. Referring now to  FIG. 2A , one of the key features of HTML is the ability to render a Web page  200  composed of separate resources such as images  205 , sound files, cascading style sheets, and ActiveX objects, in-lined with the marked up text  210 . Referring now to  FIG. 2B , the separate resources that make up the Web page  200  are typically stored in a multiple related-file storage format  215 . In other words, a single Web page  200  containing text  210 , sound files, and images  205  is stored as multiple related-files comprising separate files for each sound file, image, and text. For example, the main document, or Web page HTML source  220 , may be stored as “Front_Page.htm” file  225 . The Web page HTML source  220  may contain “links” or “pointers” to each individual sound file, image, text, etc. For example, link  230  may point to the star.gif file  235  stored in folder  240  and link  245  may point to text_box.txt file  250  stored in folder  240 .  
         [0004]     Storing a Web page in HTML format is unwieldy because it requires the storage of separate files for each resource. These separate files can be hard to manage and maintain. For example, Web site administrators or individuals may want to delete, copy, or move files around but may not know the name, location, or number of files referenced by the main HTML file. Moreover, they may rename the main HTML file but be unaware of the necessity for renaming the other supporting files or vice versa. Users have grown accustomed to having a single file per document and therefore generally have trouble managing all these files.  
         [0005]     As may be understood from the description above, a typical Web page consists of a main HTML source file and a host of resource files, such as graphics files, sound files, etc. Often, resource files are maintained within a folder structure and the main HTML document includes links to the locations of the resource files within that folder structure. Because any given resource file may be in a folder that is different than the folder containing the main HTML document, the links in the HTML document will not be accurate unless the resource files are maintained in the folder structure.  
         [0006]     Modern Internet users desire to integrate the components of a Web page into a single file. Such a file is easier to manage because it can be saved in a single location, can be viewed offline, and can be sent as a single attachment via e-mail. Unfortunately, the structure of an HTML Web page and its components is not conducive to such integration.  
         [0007]     Various approaches exist for putting Web pages into a single file. One of these approaches involves storing all the different parts of a Web page inside a self-extracting executable (“.exe”) file. Initiating this executable file causes the different files of the Web page to be written to a temporary location and opened into a main page. Documents in executable file format, however, suffer from several drawbacks. First, they tend to be fairly large because they require additional code within the executable file. Second, users are often wary of opening executable files because there is a risk that the executable files may contain a hidden computer virus. In fact, some companies automatically remove any attached executable files from e-mail received over the Internet for fear of viruses. Additionally, not only are executable files incapable of being natively displayed in a Web browser, they are also not directly editable by any Web page authoring application.  
         [0008]     Another approach is Hewlett-Packard&#39;s “PRINTSMART” application which allows a user to define a list of Web pages and “bundle” them together into a single reference file for printing. However, the single reference file does not actually include the resource files of the Web pages. In other words, if this single reference file is mailed to another user, they would not be able to view the resources of the Web page unless they could link to the locations of the resource files.  
         [0009]     Previous versions of Microsoft&#39;s “INTERNET EXPLORER” Web browser included a “Save as Web Archive” feature. A user may navigate to a Web page, choose the “Save as” command and choose “Web archive” as a file format. However, this feature had several drawbacks. First, the Web page needed to be loaded into the “INTERNET EXPLORER” Web browser before it could be saved. Second, this feature did not save all of the resource files associated with the Web page such that the files could be returned to their original locations with respect to the main HTML document upon opening. For example, this feature did not capture all the slides in a slideshow presentation saved as HTML, just the first slide.  
         [0010]     Microsoft&#39;s “INTERNET EXPLORER” Web browser also includes a “Send Page” feature. A user may load a Web page and choose “File”, “Send”, and “Page as E-mail.” This feature creates a new mail message with the contents of the Web browser as the contents of the message. This suffers from the limitations described for the “Save as Web Archive” feature as well as additional limitations. Framesets and script aren&#39;t supported in the body of an e-mail message. Moreover, a MAPI compliant mail client that understands HTML mail is required to view the e-mail message.  
         [0011]     Therefore, there is a need for a process for packing a Web page into a single file, so that the Web page&#39;s resource file structure is maintained and the Web page can be displayed in its original form. There is also a need for a process that packs all of the Web page content so that the unpacked Web page may be immediately viewable without an expensive extraction process.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]     The present invention satisfies the above described needs by allowing a user to click a right mouse button and save all of the separate HTML files that make up a Web page as a single MHTML file. A user may then manage the Web page as a single file, attach the Web page to e-mail messages, store it in a document management system, etc. When a user needs to return the Web page to HTML format, the user can click a right mouse button and unpack the Web page to its original HTML format.  
         [0013]     Generally described, the present invention provides a computer-implemented method for packing a Web page as a MHTML file. In another embodiment, the invention is directed to a method and system for unpacking a Web page saved in MHTML format to HTML format.  
         [0014]     In one aspect, the packing process begins by determining whether the user has write privileges to the current location. If not, the user is prompted to save the Web page in an alternate location (e.g., the desktop). If the user has write privileges to the current location, the process opens the main HTML document, or HTML source file, and searches for supporting resource files. In short, the supporting resource files are identified by searching for known, common resource file references in the main HTML document. When the resource file references have been identified, the process packages the main HTML document and all of the supporting resource files into a single file in MHTML format.  
         [0015]     In another aspect, the unpacking process begins by opening the MHTML file and identifying the main HTML document portion, as well as the portions of the MHTML file containing the supporting resource files. Once all of the components of the Web page have been identified, the Web page&#39;s folder structure is determined by referring to the content location field contained in each separate portion of the MHTML file. The individual MHTML components are converted into files and the main HTML file is stored in the current location. The resource files are stored in locations relative to the main HTML file, as identified by the unpacked folder structure. If a resource file does not have a content location field, then it is stored in a default folder.  
         [0016]     Combining the HTML Web page files, including the resource files, into a single MHTML file is advantageous for several reasons. First, e-mail programs do not allow folders to be sent via e-mail. An entire Web page may be sent via e-mail after using the present invention to combine multiple folders in HTML format into a single MHTML file. The present invention uses parsing techniques to ensure that all the necessary HTML resource files are included in the single MHTML file. Second, document management systems either do not allow users to create folders or their storage system is not accessible to Web browsers so that Web browsers can not display the supporting files of a Web page. Because the present invention combines an HTML Web page into a single file, an entire Web page (including supporting files) may be posted to a document management system.  
         [0017]     These and other features, advantages, and aspects of the present invention may be more clearly understood and appreciated from a review of the following detailed description of the disclosed embodiments and by reference to the appended drawings and claims. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0018]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a computer that provides the exemplary operating environment for the present invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 2A  is an illustration of a Web page including text and an image.  
         [0020]      FIG. 2B  is an illustration of a Web page source file and Web page file structure.  
         [0021]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart describing a method for packing an HTML Web page as a single MHTML file in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.  
         [0022]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart describing a method for gathering a list of supporting files to pack into a single MHTML file in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0023]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart describing a method for packing supporting files into a MHTML file in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0024]      FIG. 6A  is an illustration of a shell including a Web page and supporting files for the Web page.  
         [0025]      FIG. 6B  is an illustration of a dropdown menu displayed to the user in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0026]      FIG. 7  is an illustration of a MHTML file created in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0027]      FIG. 8  is an illustration of a Web page archive file created in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0028]      FIG. 9  is a flowchart describing a method for unpacking a MHTML file into HTML format in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0029]      FIG. 10A  is an illustration of the content location configuration of an MHTML file created in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0030]      FIG. 10B  is an illustration of the HTML file structure of an unpacked MHTML Web page. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0031]     The present invention is directed to a method and system for packing a Web page as a MHTML file. In another embodiment, the invention is directed to a method and system for unpacking a Web page saved in MHTML format to HTML format.  
         [0032]     In one embodiment, the invention is incorporated into the “OFFICE” program module, marketed by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. Briefly described, the “OFFICE” program module is a suite of word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, database, and time management application programs along with program modules that integrate and enhance these application programs. While the invention will be described in the general context of the “OFFICE” program module running in conjunction with a personal computer, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention also may be implemented in combination with other program modules.  
         [0033]     An embodiment of the present invention allows a user to click a right mouse button and save all of the separate HTML files that make up a Web page as a single MHTML file. A user may then manage the Web page as a single file, attach the Web page to e-mail messages, store it in a document management system, etc. When a user needs to return the Web page to HTML format, the user can click a right mouse button and unpack the Web page to its original HTML format.  
         [0034]     Combining the HTML Web page files, including the resource files, into a single MHTML file is advantageous for several reasons. First, e-mail programs do not allow folders to be sent via e-mail. An entire Web page may be sent via e-mail after using the present invention to combine multiple folders in HTML format into a single MHTML file. The present invention uses parsing techniques to ensure that all the necessary HTML resource files are included in the single MHTML file. Second, document management systems either do not allow users to create folders or their storage system is not accessible to Web browsers so that Web browsers can not display the supporting files of a Web page. Because the present invention combines an HTML Web page into a single file, an entire Web page (including supporting files) may be posted to a document management system.  
         [0035]     Having briefly described an embodiment of the present invention, an exemplary operating environment for the present invention is described below.  
         [heading-0036]     Exemplary Operating Environment  
         [0037]     Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals represent like elements throughout the several figures, aspects of the present invention and the exemplary operating environment will be described.  
         [0038]      FIG. 1  and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment in which the invention may be implemented. While the invention will be described in the general context of an application program that runs on an operating system in conjunction with a personal computer, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention also may be implemented in combination with other program modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.  
         [0039]     With reference to  FIG. 1 , an exemplary system for implementing the invention includes a conventional personal computer  20 , including a processing unit  21 , a system memory  22 , and a system bus  23  that couples the system memory to the processing unit  21 . The system memory  22  includes read only memory (ROM)  24  and random access memory (RAM)  25 . A basic input/output system  26  (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the personal computer  20 , such as during start-up, is stored in ROM  24 . The personal computer  20  further includes a hard disk drive  27 , a magnetic disk drive  28 , e.g., to read from or write to a removable disk  29 , and an optical disk drive  30 , e.g., for reading a CD-ROM disk  31  or to read from or write to other optical media. The hard disk drive  27 , magnetic disk drive  28 , and optical disk drive  30  are connected to the system bus  23  by a hard disk drive interface  32 , a magnetic disk drive interface  33 , and an optical drive interface  34 , respectively. The drives and their associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage for the personal computer  20 . Although the description of computer-readable media above refers to a hard disk, a removable magnetic disk and a CD-ROM disk, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of media which are readable by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks, Bernoulli cartridges, and the like, may also be used in the exemplary operating environment.  
         [0040]     A number of program modules may be stored in the drives and RAM  25 , including an operating system  35 , one or more application programs  36 , an “OFFICE” program module  37 , program data  38 , and other program modules (not shown).  
         [0041]     A user may enter commands and information into the personal computer  20  through a keyboard  40  and pointing device, such as a mouse  42 . Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like. These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit  21  through a serial port interface  46  that is coupled to the system bus, but may be connected by other interfaces, such as a game port or a universal serial bus (USB). A monitor  47  or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus  23  via an interface, such as a video adapter  48 . In addition to the monitor, personal computers typically include other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers or printers.  
         [0042]     The personal computer  20  may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer  49 . The remote computer  49  may be a server, a router, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described relative to the personal computer  20 , although only a memory storage device  50  has been illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The logical connections depicted in  FIG. 1  include a local area network (LAN)  51  and a wide area network (WAN)  52 . Such networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet.  
         [0043]     When used in a LAN networking environment, the personal computer  20  is connected to the LAN  51  through a network interface  53 . When used in a WAN networking environment, the personal computer  20  typically includes a modem  54  or other means for establishing communications over the WAN  52 , such as the Internet. The modem  54 , which may be internal or external, is connected to the system bus  23  via the serial port interface  46 . In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the personal computer  20 , or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers may be used.  
         [heading-0044]     MIME Encapsulation of Aggregate HTML Documents (“MHTML”)  
         [0045]     MHTML is a known Internet standard that defines the MIME structure used to send HTML content in electronic mail message bodies. The following example illustrates an MHTML message with a relative reference to an embedded GIF:  
                                                   Mime-Version: 1.0           Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary = “boundary”           --boundary           Content-Location: c:\page1.htm           Content-Type: text/html           Content-Encoding: quoted-printable           [ text of an HTML document, which might contain a           hyperlink to the other body part, for example through a           statement such as:]           &lt;IMG SRC = 3D “page1_file\images001.gif”&gt;           --boundary           Content-Location: c:\page1_file\images001.gif           Content-Type: image/gif           Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64           AAAFFDDlhGAGgAPEAAP/////ZRaCgoAAAACH+PUNv           cHlyaWdodCAoQykgMT           NSBJRVRGLiBVbmF1dGhvcml6ZWQgZHVwbGljYXRpb           24gcHJvaGliaXR1ZC4A           etc...           --boundary--                      
 
 Packing a Web Page 
 
         [0047]     Generally described, the present invention uses MHTML as a document storage format for Web pages by providing the architecture to encapsulate referenced resources within the MHTML document. This allows the rendering of a Web page without the necessity of retrieving these resources directly over a network. Thus, the resources of the Web page, such as pictures and sound, are stored directly in the MIME hierarchy of the MHTML file. These resources can be referenced through “local” links within the MHTML file and used to complete the rendering of the Web page.  
         [0048]     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a method  300  for packing a Web page as an MHTML file will be described. It should be understood that the method  300  packs an entire Web page, including supporting files, into a single MHTML file.  
         [0049]     The method  300  begins at step  305  and proceeds to step  310  when the user navigates to the location of a Web page, such as Web page  605  ( FIG. 6A ). It should be understood that the location of the Web page may be a traditional hard drive location such as “c:\My Documents\”, a server location such as “\\fileshare\documents\”, a server location such as “m:\documents”, or a folder on a Web server such as “http://Webserver/”. The user may navigate to this location either through a shell, such as shell  600  shown in  FIG. 6A , or through a file dialog. The method then proceeds to step  315 .  
         [0050]     At step  315 , an indication is received that the user has clicked the right mouse button on a Web page, such as Web page  605  ( FIG. 6A ), and has chosen the action “Save as Web Archive”  610  ( FIG. 6B ). The method then proceeds to step  320 .  
         [0051]     At step  320 , an executable file known as webarch.exe is invoked and a progress dialog is displayed to the user to inform the user of the progress being made toward packing the Web page as a MHTML file and creating a Web archive file. The method then proceeds to decision step  325 .  
         [0052]     At decision step  325 , it is determined whether the user has write permissions to the current location that has been selected as the save location. If, at decision step  325 , it is determined that the user does not have write permissions to the current location, then the method proceeds to decision step  330 . However, if, at decision step  325 , it is determined that the user does have write permissions to the current location, then the method proceeds to decision step  335 .  
         [0053]     At decision step  330 , it is determined whether the user wants to save the Web archive file to the desktop. If not, then the method ends at step  399 . However, if the user does want to save the Web archive file to the desktop, then the method proceeds to decision step  335 .  
         [0054]     At decision step  335 , it is determined whether the name selected for the Web archive file is already in use in the save location. If not, then the method proceeds to step  340 . If the name is already in use in the save location, then the method proceeds to decision step  345 .  
         [0055]     At decision step  345 , it is determined whether the user wants to replace the existing file with the new Web archive file. If not, then the method ends at step  399 . If so, then the method proceeds to step  340 .  
         [0056]     At step  340 , the main HTML Web page, or HTML source file, is opened. In a preferred embodiment, the main HTML page is opened using a dynamic-link library (DLL) referred to as “MSHTML.dll”. This DLL is disclosed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/233,991. The method then proceeds to step  350 .  
         [0057]     At step  350  , the main HTML Web page is searched for links to supporting files and a list of supporting files is gathered. The method then proceeds to step  355 .  
         [0058]     At step  355 , the supporting files are placed into an MHTML file. The method then proceeds to step  360 .  
         [0059]     At step  360 , the progress dialog that is displayed to the user is removed. The method then ends at step  399 .  
         [0060]     Having described an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a preferred method for performing step  350  ( FIG. 3 ) will be described below in reference to  FIG. 4 .  
         [0061]     The method begins at step  405  when the main HTML Web page is searched for “src”, “lowsrc” and “dynsrc” files referenced in &lt;img&gt; tags. It should be understood that these files are images. These files are marked to be included in a list of supporting files. The method then proceeds to step  410 .  
         [0062]     At step  410 , the main HTML Web page is searched for “background” files referenced in &lt;body&gt; tags. It should be understood that these files are images. These files are marked to be included in the list of supporting files. The method then proceeds to step  415 .  
         [0063]     At step  415 , the main HTML Web page is searched for “src” files referenced in &lt;script&gt; tags. It should be understood that these files are script files. These files are marked to be included in the list of supporting files. The method then proceeds to step  420 .  
         [0064]     At step  420 , the main HTML Web page is searched for “src” files referenced in &lt;bgsound&gt; tags. It should be understood that these files are audio files. These files are marked to be included in the list of supporting files. The method then proceeds to step  425 .  
         [0065]     At step  425 , the main HTML Web page is searched for “src” files referenced in &lt;embed&gt; tags. It should be understood that these files are any arbitrary piece of content, including, but not limited to, a picture, a sound file, an executable file or a text file. These files are marked to be included in the list of supporting files. The method then proceeds to step  430 .  
         [0066]     At step  430 , the main HTML Web page is searched for “href” files referenced in &lt;link rel=”Stylesheet”&gt; tags. It should be understood that these files are stylesheets. These files are marked to be included in the list of supporting files. The method then proceeds to decision step  435 .  
         [0067]     At decision step  435 , it is determined whether any files were found at step  430 . If not, then the method proceeds to step  455 . However, if some files were found at step  430 , then the method proceeds to step  440 .  
         [0068]     At step  440 , the stylesheets found at step  430  are loaded and searched for “@import url ( . . . )” references. This search continues three levels of stylesheets deep (searching for “href” files referenced in &lt;link rel=”Stylesheet”&gt; tags and then searching for “@import url ( . . . )” references in the stylesheets found). These files are marked to be included in the list of supporting files. The method then proceeds to step  455 .  
         [0069]     At step  455 , the main HTML Web page is searched for “src” files referenced in &lt;frame&gt; tags. It should be understood that these files are HTML files. These files are marked to be included in the list of supporting files. The method then proceeds to decision step  460 .  
         [0070]     At decision step  460 , it is determined whether any HTML files were found at step  455 . If not, then the method proceeds to step  470 . However, if some files were found at step  455 , then the method proceeds to step  465 .  
         [0071]     At step  465 , the HTML file(s) found at step  455  is loaded and recursively examined according to the method described herein  FIG. 4 . It should be understood that, in a preferred embodiment, there is no bound to how many levels deep this examination is. However, any loops are avoided. After the HTML file found at step  455  is examined at step  465 , the method proceeds to step  470 .  
         [0072]     At step  470 , the main HTML Web page is searched for “href” files referenced in &lt;link rel=FileList&gt; tags. It should be understood that these files point to filelist.xml, which is a file in Microsoft&#39;s “OFFICE 2000” (and later versions). This file list keeps track of all the files that make up the Web page, not just the files referenced in the first page of the Web page. These files are marked to be included in the list of supporting files. The method then proceeds to decision step  475 .  
         [0073]     At decision step  475 , it is determined whether any files were found at step  470 . If not, then the method ends and the results are sent to step  355  ( FIG. 3 ). However, if some files were found at step  470 , then the method proceeds to step  480 .  
         [0074]     At step  480 , the filelist.xml is parsed through and all “Href” references on an &lt;o:File&gt; tag are marked to be included in the list of supporting files. The method then ends and the results (the list of supporting files) are sent to step  355  ( FIG. 3 ).  
         [0075]     Having described a preferred method for performing step  350  ( FIG. 3 ) above with regard to  FIG. 4 , a preferred method for performing step  355  ( FIG. 3 ) will be described below in reference to  FIG. 5 .  
         [0076]     The method begins at step  505  when the INETCOMM.DLL application programming interface (API) is called to put the list of supporting files gathered at step  350  and the main HTML source file into an MHTML file. The method then proceeds to step  510 .  
         [0077]     At step  510 , a file is created called “Webpage(web archive).mht”, where “Webpage” is the name of the Web page that was right clicked on at step  315  ( FIG. 3 ). The new file is created next to the main Web page if the user had write permissions or on the user&#39;s desktop if the user did not have write permissions. The main HTML Web page that the user right-clicked on becomes the main MIME part of the MHTML file. All the supporting files found at step  350  are added to the MHTML file. Each supporting file is assigned the appropriate content-type and content-location, where the content-location is set to the real world location of the file. A sample MHTML file  700  created using an embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 7 .  
         [0078]     The preferred method for performing step  355  then ends and step  360  ( FIG. 3 ) is performed. The user is then presented with the shell  800  shown in  FIG. 8 , including the newly created Web archive file  805 . The user now has a single file containing all the content in the Web page. The file  805  may be attached to an e-mail message, saved in a document management system, etc.  
         [heading-0079]     Unpacking the Web Page  
         [0080]     Referring now to  FIG. 9 , a method  900  for unpacking an MHTML file to return the original Web page will be described. The method  900  begins at start step  905  and proceeds to step  910  as the user right-clicks on an MHTML file, such as file  805  ( FIG. 8 ), and selects an “Unpack Web archive” command from the drop-down menu. The method then proceeds to step  915 .  
         [0081]     At step  915 , a progress dialog is displayed to indicate the progress made in unpacking the MHTML file. The method then proceeds to step  920 .  
         [0082]     At step  920 , the name of the main HTML Web page is determined. If the main HTML part of the MHTML file has a content-location, then a leaf name is extracted from the content-location and that leaf name is used as the name of the Web page. If a leaf name can not be found, the name of the MHTML file the user right-clicked on is used as the name (with an .htm extension). The method then proceeds to step  925 .  
         [0083]     At step  925 , the locations of supporting files are determined. If a valid file name for the main HTML page could not be determined, then each supporting file is located inside a folder called “Webpage —files”, where “Webpage” is the name of the Web archive file. If a supporting file does not have a content-location (e.g. it is referenced using a content-id) or if the content-location does not have a file name, the supporting file is located inside the “Webpage   —files” folder.    
         [0084]     The content-location of the supporting file is compared with the content-location of the main file. If the supporting file is in the same folder as the main file, or in a folder below the main file, then the folder structure is recreated and the supporting file is placed there. Otherwise, the supporting file is placed inside the “Webpage —files” folder.    
         [0085]     For example, suppose the content location configuration of MHTML file  1000  in  FIG. 10A  is used to unpack MHTML file  1000 . If the file  1000  was unpacked to the desktop, the file structure  1005  shown in  FIG. 10B  would be created. As illustrated in  FIGS. 10A-10B , content-location  1010  is unpacked to create the main HTML Web page file  1015  under Folder  1  (not shown). Content location  1020 , which is in the folder containing the main HTML Web page file  1015 , is then unpacked and Folder 2   1025  and Folder 3   1030  are then created under Folder 1 . The Imagel.gif  1035  is then placed inside Folder 3   1030 . However, content location  1040  is not in the folder containing the main HTML Web page file  1015  or in a folder below the main file. Therefore, the Image 2 .gif  1050  is placed inside the “Webpage —files” folder (Page _files folder  1045  in  FIG. 10B ).  
         [0086]     Returning now to  FIG. 9 , the method  900  then proceeds to decision step  930  where it is determined whether any of the file locations found at step  925  are already in use. If so, then the method proceeds to decision step  935 . If not, then the method  900  proceeds to step  940 .  
         [0087]     At decision step  935 , it is determined whether the user wants to replace the files that are already in use. If not, then the method  900  ends at step  999 . If so, then the method proceeds to step  940 .  
         [0088]     At step  940 , each MIME part of the MHTML file is converted into HTML and saved. In a preferred embodiment, the INETCOMM DLL is used for the conversion. The method  900  then proceeds to step  945 .  
         [0089]     At step  945 , the progress dialog is dismissed and the user will see the unpacked Web page and all its files. The method then ends at step  999 .  
         [0090]     It should be understood that in unpacking the MHTML file there may be instances where the leaf name for a supporting file cannot be determined. In these instances, a preferred embodiment of the present invention assigns the name “fileNNNN”, where “NNNN” starts at “0001” and increases upward for each supporting file. If the appropriate content-type for the supporting file can be determined, then the appropriate extension is attached to the file. If the appropriate content-type for the supporting file can not be determined, then the extension “.tmp” is attached to the file.  
         [0091]     It should be understood that in unpacking the MHTML file there may be instances where the two supporting files with the same name are saved to the “_files” directory. In these instances, a preferred embodiment of the present invention renames one of the files using the “fileNNNN” scheme described above to avoid any confusion with regard to the same-named files.  
         [0092]     It should be understood that, in a preferred embodiment, the unpacking would fix references to files that were renamed or moved in the unpacking process so that the resulting Web page does not lose any content.  
         [0093]     It should be understood that the present invention utilizes an existing open standard, MIME Encapsulation of Aggregate HTML Documents (“MHTML”) as a Web page storage format. The MHTML document format provides single-file simplicity as well as the functionality of being natively rendered in Web browsers such as Microsoft&#39;s “INTERNET EXPLORER” Web browser. In addition, MHTML documents can be edited using document authoring tools such as Microsoft&#39;s “WORD” word processor application program.  
         [0094]     It should be understood that the present invention avoids the limitations of the prior art. The present invention is a method for using an existing open standard, MIME Encapsulation of Aggregate HTML Documents (“MHTML”) as a storage format for a Web page. A single file contains all of the Web page content. The file is not an executable file and so it avoids security risks. If a user has Microsoft&#39;s “INTERNET EXPLORER” Web browser (version 4.0 or later), the file is immediately viewable without an expensive extraction process. Packing and unpacking a Web page are symmetric. Both are right-click menus and user gets the result in their current window. A user does not need to first load the Web page in a different application before packing or unpacking. A user can even package a Web page in the “Insert File” dialog. The content of any Web page may be packaged, including a Web page created with document creation tools such as Microsoft&#39;s “OFFICE” suite of applications.  
         [0095]     Although the present invention has been described above as implemented in a preferred application program module, it will be understood that alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from its spirit and scope. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description.