Abstract:
An implementation for the generation of a surrogate Web browsing session at a Web receiving display station by a user who does the basic browsing or searching for a principal user, e.g. the physically limited individual or the executive/professional ordering the browsing session. A user to is enabled to interactively navigate the Web through a sequence of linked hypertext documents in a browsing session at a receiving display station in combination with recording on a real-time basis, keystroke by keystroke and mouse point and click by point and click, page by page and selected hyperlink by selected hyperlink, the interactive navigation of said user in said browsing session.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED COPENDING PATENT APPLICATIONS 
   The following patent application is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, filed concurrently herewith and covers subject matter related to the subject matter of the present invention: A SYSTEM FOR DELAYED VIEWING OF SELECTED DOCUMENTS HYPERLINKED TO HYPERTEXT DOCUMENTS RECEIVED AT A USER INTERACTIVE RECEIVING DISPLAY STATION IN A COMPUTER CONTROLLED COMMUNICATION NETWORK, Cristi N. Ullmann et al., Ser. No. 10/047,095. This application is hereby incorporated by reference. 
   1. Technical Field 
   The present invention relates to computer managed communication networks such as the World Wide Web (Web), and particularly to recording of Web browsing sessions for subsequent use, review and analysis. 
   2. Background of Related Art 
   The past decade 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 or Web 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 communication 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. 
   In addition, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), which had been the documentation language of the Internet or Web for years, offered direct hyperlinks between Web pages embedded in such Web pages. This even further exploded the use of the Internet or Web. 
   It is now possible for the Web browser or wanderer to spend literally hours going through document after document in often less than productive excursions through the Web. These excursions often strained the users&#39; time and resources. A significant source of this drain is in the Web page itself (the basic document page of the Web). In the case of Web pages, we do not always have the situation of a relatively small group of professional designers working out the human factors; rather, in the era of the Web, anyone and everyone can design a Web page or document. As a result, Web pages are frequently setup and designed in an eclectic manner. Often Web pages or documents are set up through loose business, professional, social and educational configurations with general trade or public input of Web pages. 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, particularly when the user is making in depth searches. 
   Thus, there are many situations where individuals who could greatly benefit from the vast database resources available through the Web lack the skills and/or the time required to browse the Web in order to search and develop the information that would be of the greatest value to them. 
   Two examples of such individuals are: 1) leaders and executives in technology, business and academia who chose to devote most of their time and energies to their professions and disciplines, and, thus, have less time to develop their computer and Web browsing skills; and 2) the physically handicapped or impaired. In order for physically impaired people to use the Web, they are required to make almost continual cursor or pointer control movements. One source of frustration to physically and visually impaired computer users has been movement of the screen cursor and like movable screen indicia to make the required user-interactive selections. Despite all of the great changes that have been made in the computer industry, the screen cursor or pointer controlled manually by the user still remains the primary human-computer interface. The user still commands the computer, primarily through manual pointing devices such as mice, joy sticks and trackballs that control the on-screen cursor movements. It must be noted that the principles involved in such pointing devices were developed over a generation ago when most of the people involved in interfaces to computers were computer professionals who were willing to invest great amounts of time in developing computer skills. These cursor control devices translate relatively precise orthogonal manual movements into precise cursor movements on the display screen. Users with poor hand-eye coordination due to poor eyesight, physical impairment, feebleness or other dexterity problems find the computer mouse to be quite stressful and frustrating. Consequently, Web browsing or searching is often impractical. 
   Thus, such 1) high end professionals and 2) physically impaired people have others with greater computer skills and dexterity conduct their Web browsing and searching. This delegation of the Web browsing function presents its own set of problems. In the case of the high end executives and professionals, these individuals cannot possibly convey to the searchers the knowledge and skills that these professionals have in their own disciplines. Consequently, the value of the searches are limited by the searcher&#39;s limited knowledge understanding of the ramifications of the problem to be searched. Since Web searching involves a continuous sequence of decisions as to which of several hyperlink threads to pursue. The value of the search is dependent on which of the many hyperlink threads is pursued. Thus, conventionally, when the high level professional requests a search, the results are usually a list of the Web documents or the URL&#39;s (Uniform Resource Locations) of the documents that the searcher has selected based upon the hyperlink threads that the searcher has selected. There is insufficient information as to which hyperlink threads the searcher has chosen to ignore or discard. 
   The physically impaired user is also subject to these Web search limitations, but, in addition, he still has the problems involved in navigating to his documents of choice in the search lists or in navigating to the appropriate URLs. 
   SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
   The present invention is directed to easing the above-described problems of both the professionals/executives and the physically impaired, as well as any others who have Web browsing or search sessions conducted on their behalf on the Web. (The terms Web and Internet are used interchangeably in this specification.) The invention involves the generation of a surrogate Web browsing session at a Web receiving display station by a user who does the basic browsing or searching for a principal user, e.g. the physically limited individual or the executive/professional ordering the browsing session. The implementation comprises means enabling a user to interactively navigate the Web through a sequence of linked hypertext documents in a browsing session at a receiving display station in combination with means for recording on a real-time basis said interactive navigation of said user in said browsing session. Then there are means enabling a subsequent user to follow the path of said recorded navigation on a real-time basis in a surrogate browsing session on a display device, in combination with means enabling such subsequent user following said path of said recorded navigation in said surrogate session to modulate the real-time of said navigation on said display device. In other words, the exact Web browsing recorded keystroke by keystroke and mouse point and click by point and click, page by page and selected hyperlink by selected hyperlink is subsequently played back by the principal user on a real-time basis in the surrogate browser session so that the principal user sees exactly what the browsing user or searcher saw. 
   An important aspect of the invention is that the subsequent principal user is enabled to modulate the real-time of the playback. This is important to the professional/executive type of user in that he has an opportunity to review not only the search results but the actual search process, i.e. did the searcher conduct the search in the best way possible? For example, the principal, based upon his background knowledge, may wish to skim through certain Web pages of little interest even though the search proceeded through such pages slowly and tediously on the real-time basis. On the other hand, the professional principal may recognize as significant a Web page that the searcher skipped through. The principal is enabled to proceed more slowly or quickly through the real-time recorded Web pages during the surrogate session playback. In addition, the principal may recognize that the searcher because of his limited background failed to pursue a browsing or search thread through a particular hyperlink while pursuing a less consequential thread through another hyperlink in a Web page. The ability to slow down the real-time in the surrogate session permits the principal more time to decide that certain search threads should have been taken while others should have been ignored. This may be corrected ordering supplementary Web browsing/searching or possibly by pursuing hyperlinks already saved during the basic browsing session, as will be subsequently described in greater detail. 
   With respect to the physically impaired user, the real-time recorded session dramatically reduces the number of awkward point and click or keystroke movements required of him. Actually, he only needs to do any pointing should he desire search modifications. The ability to slow down the real-time of the surrogate playback session permits more time for the manually or visually impaired to make and implement their decisions. 
   The real-time recorded user movements of course include Web page scrolling and selection of particular hyperlinks on a Web page to access other linked documents. The invention includes the provision of displayed time lines in the recorded and surrogate browsing sessions. The user is enabled to insert time marks at points in these time lines to indicate significant points in the browsing sessions which the subsequent user may jump back to as needed during the surrogate browsing session. The surrogate browsing session may be carried out off-line from the Web network. Conventional Web browser programs may be modified to carry out the present invention. The surrogate Web browsing sessions may be stored in display computer storage and memory and then played back on such computer displays. The surrogate session may be stored on CD&#39;s and played back on display computers. The surrogate Web browsing session may also be recorded on video tape or Cd&#39;s and played back on video tape players or CD players. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     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: 
       FIG. 1  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 a user interactive Web station for receiving Web documents in order to record and create the surrogate Web browsing session of this invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a generalized diagrammatic view of a Web portion showing how the Web may be accessed to and from the Web stations through browser applications for the requesting of Web pages in order to create the surrogate Web browsing sessions of the invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a diagrammatic view of a Web page displayed through a browser at a receiving display station set up to illustrate the initial page in a Web browser session that is being recorded real-time in accordance with the present invention with a running time line that is shown on the display being recorded and will be shown when the recorded Browsing session is replayed as a surrogate browser session; 
       FIG. 4  is the diagrammatic display view of  FIG. 3  illustrating a subsequent point in the Web page that results from scrolling; 
       FIG. 5  is the diagrammatic display view of  FIG. 3  illustrating a subsequent point in the Web page at which a hyperlink to a linked document is selected; 
       FIG. 6  is a diagrammatic view of the displayed linked Web page resulting from the selection of the hyperlink selected in  FIG. 5 ; 
       FIG. 7  is the diagrammatic display view of  FIG. 6  illustrating a subsequent point in the Web page that results from scrolling; 
       FIG. 8  is the diagrammatic display view of  FIG. 6  illustrating a subsequent point in the Web page at which a hyperlink to a linked document is selected; 
       FIG. 9  is a diagrammatic view of the displayed linked Web page resulting from the selection of the hyperlink selected in  FIG. 8 ; 
       FIG. 10  is the diagrammatic display view of  FIG. 9  illustrating a subsequent point in the Web page at which a hyperlink selected for a later look, delay for subsequent consideration; 
       FIG. 11  is the diagrammatic display view of  FIG. 7  illustrating a point in the Web page at which a hyperlink selected for a later look, delay for subsequent consideration; 
       FIG. 12  is the diagrammatic display view of  FIG. 3  illustrating a point in the Web page that results from scrolling, and at which the user is enabled to time mark a significant point in the browsing session; 
       FIG. 13  is a diagrammatic illustration a Look-at-Link-Later Log and a Time Mark Log that may be used in the present invention; 
       FIG. 14  is an illustrative flowchart describing the setting up of the process needed in the Web browser for enabling a user to provide a surrogate Web browsing session; 
       FIG. 15  is a flowchart of an illustrative run of a process for recording a Web browsing session on a real-time basis; and 
       FIG. 16  is a flowchart of an illustrative run of a process enabling a user to subsequently view Web browsing sessions recorded in  FIG. 15  as a surrogate Web browsing session. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring to  FIG. 1 , a typical data processing terminal is shown which may function as the computer controlled network terminals i.e. Web display stations used for receiving Web pages and for recording on a real-time basis the user Web navigation so as to generate the corresponding real-time surrogate Web browsing sessions according to the present invention. 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  FIG. 1 . Operating system  41  may be one of the commercially available operating systems such as IBM&#39;s AIX 6000™ operating system 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 the program of the present invention for recording on a real-time basis the user Web navigation so as to generate the corresponding real-time surrogate Web browsing sessions which will be described hereinafter in combination with any conventional Web browser at the receiving Web station, such as Netscape 3.0™ or 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 Internet or Web network. 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 may interactively relate to the programs for generating surrogate Web browsing sessions according to the present invention. 
   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 . 
   The real-time recording of the navigation during a Web browsing session, hereinafter be described in greater detail, may be stored on the Web station computer itself in  FIG. 1  in storage device  20 , and moved into RAM  14  in segments to be displayed on display  38  as it is played back during the surrogate browsing sessions. It may also be recorded on either CD recorder player  13  or VCR recorder player  15  which are connected to the system via an appropriate I/O adapter  18 . The recorded sessions on either VCR  15  or CD recorder  13  may subsequently be played back through the terminal system on display  38  or on the playback facilities of either CD  13  or VCR  15  through an independent off-line display device. 
   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 a major aspect of the present invention is directed to documents, such as Web pages, transmitted over networks such as the Web, an understanding of such 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. Reference has also been made to the applicability of the present invention to a global network such as the Internet or Web. For details on Internet nodes, objects and links, reference is made to the text,  Mastering the Internet , G. H. Cady et al., published by Sybex Inc., Alameda, Calif., 1996. 
   The Internet or Web is a global network of a heterogeneous mix of computer technologies and operating systems. Higher level objects are linked to the lower level 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. This displayable information may be still, in motion or animated, e.g. animated GIF images. 
   Web documents are conventionally implemented in HTML language, which is described in detail in the text entitled  Just Java , van der Linden, 1997, SunSoft Press, particularly at Chapter 7, pp. 249–268, dealing with the handling of Web pages; and also in the above-referenced  Mastering the Internet , particularly at pp. 637–642, on HTML in the formation of Web pages. The images on the Web pages are implemented in a variety of image or graphic files such MPEG, JPEG or GIF files, which are described in the text,  Internet: The Complete Reference, Millenium Edition , Young et al., 1999, Osborne/McGraw-Hill, particularly at pp. 728–730. 
   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 above-mentioned  Internet: The Complete Reference, Millennium Edition  text: 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. 
   Aspects of the present invention will hereinafter be illustrated through the use of object oriented programming embodiments, particularly the Java program. The following background should be of help. The computer and communications industries have been extensively participating in the development and continual upgrading of object oriented programming systems, such as the Java system. For details and background with respect to object oriented programming systems, such as the Java programming system, C++ and others, reference may be made to some typical texts:  Just Java , 2nd Edition, Peter van der Linden, Sun Microsystems, 1997; and  Thinking in Java , Bruce Eckel, Prentice Hall PTR, 1998. The functions to be described may be especially effectively implemented using Java™ 1.2 or  Java Swing . Java 1.2 is detailed and covered in the text  Java Swing , Robert Eckstein et al., published by O&#39;Reilly and Associates, Calif. 1998. 
   A generalized diagram of a portion of the Web, which the computer controlled display terminal  57  used for Web page receiving during searching or browsing, is connected as shown in  FIG. 2 . Computer display terminal  57  may be implemented by the computer system setup in  FIG. 1  and connection  58  ( FIG. 2 ) is the network connection shown in  FIG. 1 . For purposes of the present embodiment, computer  57  serves as a Web display station and has received displayed Web page  56 , which is one of a sequence of Web pages containing hyperlinks to other Web pages or documents. The computer  57  under the control of the Web browser program  59  supported by browser cache  49  will navigate through the Web as will hereinafter be described, and will record and track the navigation real-time to generate the surrogate Web browsing session. 
   Reference may be made to the above-mentioned  Mastering the Internet , pp. 136–147, for typical connections between local display stations to the Web via network servers, any of which may be used to implement the system on which this invention is used. The system embodiment of  FIG. 2  has a host-dial connection. Such host-dial connections have been in use for over 30 years through network access servers  53  that are linked  61  to the Web  50 . The Web servers  53 , which also may have the computer structure described with respect to  FIG. 1 , may be maintained by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to the client&#39;s display terminal  57 . The Web server  53  is accessed by the client terminal  57  through a normal dial-up telephone linkage  58  via modem  54 , telephone line  55  and modem  52 . The HTML file representative of the Web page  56  has been downloaded to display terminal  57  through Web access server  53  via the telephone line linkages from server  53 , which may have accessed them from the Web  50  via linkage  61 . The Web browser program  59  operates within the display terminals  57  to control the communication with the Web access server  53  to thereby download and display the accessed Web pages  56  on terminal  57 . The Web access server  53  uses one of the previously described search engines  51  to access via the Web  50  the desired sequence of Web pages from appropriate Web resources such as databases  60  and  62 . Web browser  59  will carry out the functions of recording the real-time navigation so that the recorded navigation will be available for the surrogate browsing sessions that are, preferably, conducted off-line with respect to the Web. 
   Now, with respect to  FIGS. 3 and 12 , we will provide an illustrative example of how the present invention may be used for the creation of surrogate Web browsing sessions by the real-time recording of all navigation steps followed by the user in navigating through the Web. As the first step in the recorded navigation, Web page  64 ,  FIG. 3 , is an illustration of the displayed Web page  56  in  FIG. 2 . This standard page may contain text, graphics and images, as well as hyperlinks  63  to other Web documents. Also in the title/menu bar, there are a pair of buttons: “M”,  60  to time mark the document along the running time line  61 . The time marking of points in the recorded Web browser session will be subsequently described in greater detail. There is also an “L” (Look-at-Link-Later) button  62  that the user may click on to put the Web page into the mode described in the above-mentioned copending Cross-Referenced application, wherein the user is enabled to select hyperlinks for later or delayed viewing of the documents linked to such selected hyperlinks. 
   At the outset of this description of the diagrams  3  through  12 , it should be noted that the continuous capturing of all of the scrolling driven through scroll bars  66 , as well as the mouse and/or keystrokes in navigating through the hyperlinks in the Web pages are implemented on a real-time basis by the  Java Virtual Machine . The basic functions of the  Java Virtual Machine  and its relations to objects therein and to the computer operating system, such as operating system  41 , is described in detail at pp. 455–461 of the text  Java Jump Start , Noel Enete, published by Prentice Hall, N.J., 1997. The developer-user through an input device such as mouse  26  through operating system  41 ,  FIG. 1  interactively interfacing with application program  40 . Display interface requirements are provided by the graphics engine of operating system  41 , e.g. the graphics/text functions of Windows 2000™, which in turn translates the screen-by-screen dynamic pixel array layouts provided by the application  52  in  Java Virtual Machine    54  for the interactive developer/user layouts. These pixel arrays are provided through display adapter  36  to frame buffer  39  which maintains the user interactive pixel array panels on display  38 . 
   In the same recording of the navigation on a real-time basis, in a continuous flow, use is made of the dynamic function of the Java program to establish a repetitive pattern in which the screen gets automatically repainted every fractional second time interval to thus create a sense of user movement, not unlike that in simple animation. The continuous movement of the time line or tracked changes in the time are similarly dynamically captured. This Java routine for dynamic continuous screen capturing is described in detail in the above referenced text,  Java Jump Start , Chapter 8 at pp. 89–103. 
   Insofar as providing a time line or, even more conveniently, a running clock label for the same purpose as illustrated commencing with  FIG. 7 ,  Java Swing  or  Java  1.2, conveniently provides a Timer Class as described in the above-mentioned text  Java Swing , Robert Eckstein et al. 
   With this background relative to the implementation of the real-time recording of navigation in a Web browsing session, the scrolling of Web page  64  from  FIG. 3  to  FIG. 4  is recorded along with time line  61 , as is the further scrolling from the Web page of  FIG. 4  to a point in  FIG. 5  where the user, via pointer  70 , clicks on hyperlink  65  causing the navigation to jump to the linked Web page shown in  FIG. 6 , “Gulf War Illnesses”. The jump is, of course, recorded real-time as indicated along time line  61 . The recorded scrolling continues in the “Gulf War Illness” Web page as shown in  FIG. 7 . The recording of time line continues but just for convenience in illustration, the line  61  is replaced by a changing time label  69  that continues to track the time. As shown in  FIG. 8 , the recorded scrolling in the linked Web page continues until a further hyperlink  68  is selected through pointer  70  which in turn brings up a subsequent linked Web page, “Al Jaber Air Base”, as illustrated in  FIG. 9 . As the recorded scrolling in the Al Jaber Air Base Web page continues,  FIG. 10 , a link  71  is selected but not for immediate viewing. Link  71  is to be stored in accordance with the process of the above Cross-Referenced application for later possible viewing of its linked document. This is done by clicking on button  60  which results in the display of “L” point  72 . By pointing and clicking on hyperlink  71 , this hyperlink is stored as item  76  in the “Look-at-Link-Later Log”  75  shown in  FIG. 13  in accordance with the process of the Cross-Referenced application. The scrolling, as recorded real-time, then backs up again in the “Gulf War Illness” Web page as shown in  FIG. 11  where hyperlink  67  is similarly selected for later viewing and thereby becomes item  77  in Log  75  of  FIG. 13 . 
   As previously mentioned, the invention also provides for time marking of time points in the recorded Web navigation during a browsing session in order to bring significant points in the subsequent surrogate browsing session to the attention of the user. With reference to  FIG. 11 , to time mark, the user simply clicks on button  62  “M” which stores the time on the time line at the time of the selection as a time mark  79  in Time Log  78  shown in  FIG. 13 . 
   Since the basic Web browsing session has been recorded on a real-time basis, the subsequent surrogate browsing will be played back substantially with the same image sequence.  FIG. 12  is an example of a typical display screen in a surrogate or real-time playback mode. If time marks have been stored, then this may be brought to the user&#39;s attention by the display of a time mark button  73  that the user may click on in order to display a Time Mark Log, e.g. Log  73  of  FIG. 13 . The user may then click on any of the marks in the log, and jump the surrogate session to that real-time point in the sequence. Optionally, the time mark  79  may also include a textual identifier to indicate the nature of the content at that time mark. Also, in the surrogate mode, the user may click on “L” button  60  to bring up the Look-at-Link-Later Log  75  of  FIG. 13 . 
   In the surrogate or playback mode shown in  FIG. 12 , the user may modulate the playing speed of the real-time surrogate browsing though interactive &lt;Slow---Fast&gt; gauge  80  to suit the browsing needs of the surrogate user. With such modulation of playback speed, the Java program for repainting screens described above may be correspondingly adjusted to vary the intervals between the repainting of the screen to accommodate such modulation. If the surrogate session is stored on a tape cassette player, like the Sony Beta-Cam, it has a built-in capability of varying the tape playback speed in response to user input. 
     FIG. 14  is a flowchart showing the development of a process according to the present invention for recording a Web browsing session on a real-time basis for subsequent real-time playback in a surrogate browsing session. There is provided at a receiving display station, a Web browser for accessing Web pages or documents and for displaying the same, step  83 . Web browsers also provide for the accessing of Web pages and other documents hyperlinked to displayed Web pages, step  84 . There is provided a browser routine for real-time recording of a Web browsing sessions during which the user interactively navigates through a sequence of linked Web pages at a receiving display station, step  85 . There is provided a playback implementation enabling the user to follow the path of the recorded navigation in real-time on a display device in a surrogate browsing session, step  86 . An implementation is provided whereby a user may modulate the real-time of the recorded navigation during the surrogate browsing session, step  87 . A browser routine is provided for maintaining a Real-Time Log of the recorded navigation path and for displaying the times of the navigation in the surrogate session, step  88 . A routine is provided enabling the user to insert time marks in the time line to mark significant points in the browsing session, step  89 . Lastly, an implementation is provided so that the subsequent user or principal who ordered the Web browsing session may follow the surrogate browsing session off-line, e.g. on a computer controlled display or videotape display, step  90 . 
   The running of the process set up in  FIG. 14  will now be described with respect to the flowchart of  FIGS. 15 and 16 . Let us assume that we are in a Web browsing session through the browser that we are to record on a real-time basis. The flowchart of  FIG. 15  represents some illustrative steps in such a recording routine. The browser, via a Web server, accesses the pages found by a search engine, step  92 ; thus, the next Web page is accessed. The real-time recording has commenced, step  93 , and the real-time is continuously displayed, either as a line or as a changing time label, step  94 . As the recorded browsing session progresses, a determination is made as to whether the user has selected a hyperlink in a displayed Web page, step  95 . If Yes, the browser gets the linked page, step  96 , and displays it; while, step  97 , the continuous real-time session is displayed. At this point, or if the decision at step  95  is No, a hyperlink has not been selected, then, step  98 , a determination may conveniently be made as to whether the session is over. If Yes, the session is exited. If No, then at step  99 , a further determination is made as to whether the user has selected a next Web page. If Yes, the next selected Web page is retrieved and displayed, step  100 . If No, the session returns to step  95  where the selection of the next hyperlink is awaited. After step  100 , a determination is made, step  101 , as to whether the user has chosen to select a hyperlink to be stored in Look-at-Link-Later Log of  FIG. 13 . If Yes, the link is stored in this log, step  102 . Then, or if the decision from step  101  is No, a determination is made as to whether the browser made a time mark on the time line at this point, step  103 . If Yes, then, step  104 , the time mark is indicated on the display and stored in the Time Mark Log of  FIG. 13 . Then, or if the decision from step  103  is No, the process proceeds via branch “A” to step  95  where the selection of the next hyperlink is awaited. 
   Now, with respect to the flowchart of  FIG. 16 , an illustration of the recorded surrogate browser session will be described. The run of the recorded Web browser session is commenced, step  110 . A determination is made as to whether the playback in the surrogate session is too fast, step  111 . If Yes, the playback speed is reduced, step  112 . Then, or if the decision in step  111  is No, a further determination is made as to whether the playback in the surrogate session is too slow, step  113 . If Yes, the playback speed is increased, step  114 . Then, or if the decision in step  113  is No, a determination is made, step  115 , as to whether the user has selected a time mark from the Time Mark Log. If Yes, the surrogate session jumps to the session point of the time mark, step  116 . Then, or if the decision in step  115  is No, a determination is made, step  117 , as to whether the user has selected a stored link from the Look-at-Link-Later Log of  FIG. 13 . If Yes, then the real-time playback of the surrogate session is stopped, step  119 , and the selected Look-at-Link-Later Web page is retrieved and reviewed, step  120 . A determination is made, step  121 , as to whether the user has completed reviewing the Web page retrieved in step  120 . If No, this completion is awaited. If Yes, then the process is branched back via branch “B” to step  110  where the run of the recorded Web browser session is recommenced. On the other hand, if the decision back at step  117  is No, a determination may conveniently be made at this point as to whether the session is at an end, step  118 . If Yes, the session is ended. If No, then the process is branched back via branch “C” to step  110  where the run of the recorded Web browser session is continued. 
   One of the preferred 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. 1 , of a Web receiving station and/or Web server during various Web 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 Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN), such as the Web itself, when required by the user of the present invention. 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. 
   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.