Ulllted States Patent [19]
`Himmel
`
`US006167441A
`[11] Patent Number:
`[45] Date 0f Patent:
`
`6 167 441
`9
`9
`Dec. 26, 2000
`
`[54] CUSTOMIZATION OF WEB PAGES BASED
`0N REQUESTER TYPE
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`0851367A1 1/1998 European Pat. Off. .
`
`[75] Inventor: Maria Azua Himmel, Austin, Tex.
`
`10433973 5/1998 Japan '
`
`[73] Assignee: International Business Machines
`Corporation, Arm0nk> N~Y~
`
`[21] Appl. No.: 08/976,405
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`Digestor: Device—Independent Access To The World Wide
`Web, Timothy W. Bickmore and Bill N. Schilit. pp. 1—8,
`1997.
`
`NOV‘ 21’ 1997
`[22] Flled:
`[51] Int. Cl.7 .................................................... .. G06F 15/16
`[52] US. Cl. ........................ .. 709/217; 709/246; 709/219;
`707/104
`[58] Field of Search ................................... .. 709/217, 203,
`709/219, 206, 246; 707/104, 205, 100,
`101, 103
`
`[56]
`
`_
`References Clted
`U'S' PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`5,442,749
`8/1995 Northcutt et al. .................... .. 709/219
`709/246
`5,727,159
`3/1998 Kikinis --------------- -
`707/103
`57947039 11/1998 Guck
`27802729?
`9/1998 Mogllll
`709/219
`5’848’41
`12/1998 Guc
`707/103
`,864,870
`1/1999 Guck
`707/104
`5,911,776
`6/1999 Guck .............. ..
`709/217
`5,918,013
`6/1999 Mighdoll et a1. ..................... .. 709/217
`
`Prim/1r Examiner—Glenton B. Bur ess
`y
`g
`Assistant Examiner—Chuong Ho
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm—J9ffr9y 5- LaBaW
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`57
`[
`1
`Customized Internet content is provided to a requesting
`client device using an intercepting agent based on the
`capabilities of the requesting client. The agent, typically at
`the Web server to Which the client request is directed
`intercepts a request made by a requesting client device for a
`?le from a Web server. The agent detects client device
`capability information about the requesting client device,
`such as display or memory capabilities. The client request is
`redirected to a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) according
`to the detected client device capability information to
`retrieve a version of the requested ?le.
`
`25 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets
`
`INTERCEPT REQUEST
`I
`PARSE HEADER FOR BROWSER INFO
`
`221
`
`2&3
`
`I
`
`205
`
`YES
`
`NO
`
`DOWNLOAD SNOOPER
`I
`SNOOP FOR BROWSER, DEVICE INFO 229
`
`2L7
`
`I
`
`211
`
`NO
`
`YES
`
`SEND DIALOG PAGE
`I
`
`RECEIVE USER INPUT INFO I
`
`SELECT WEB PAGE
`I
`REFORMAT IF NEEDED
`I
`SEND PAGE TO CLIENT
`
`If
`
`I
`
`2_1_3 l
`
`2l7
`
`2l9
`
`2_21
`
`WHATSAPP INC.'S EXHIBIT NO. 1010
`
`001
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Dec. 26,2000
`
`Sheet 1 0f5
`
`6,167,441
`
`BROwsER
`
`5
`
`CLIENT sMART
`AGENT
`5_°
`
`QUERY
`PAGE
`_
`
`SNOOP
`AGENT
`£12
`
`OS
`
`2
`
`?
`
`RAM
`
`%
`
`“F
`32°’
`
`DIGITAI.
`SIGNAL
`PRO
`OEssOR
`
`MEMORY
`MANAGEMENT
`%
`
`MICRO-
`PROCESSOR
`22
`
`ROM
`
`2
`
`I/O
`CONT.
`:19
`
`(21
`
`ODROM
`3_2
`
`vIDEO
`MOUSE
`HARD FLOPPY KEYBOARD
`DISK
`DISK
`CONTROL- CONTROL- OONTROL-
`@
`2_7
`LER gg
`LER @ I_ER 99
`A
`A
`
`AuDIO
`CONTROL
`LER 31
`
`MOUSE
`13 /
`
`KEYBOARD
`12/
`FIG I
`'
`
`14
`y
`GRAPHIO
`DISPLAY
`
`_ 0__|
`SPEAKER
`SPEAKER
`15A/
`158/
`
`WHATSAPP INC.'S EXHIBIT NO. 1010
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`002
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`

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`U.S. Patent
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`Dec. 26,2000
`
`Sheet 2 015
`
`6,167,441
`
`7_7
`
`AUTHORIZATION TRANSLATION E
`+
`NAME TRANSLATION
`@
`PATH CHECKS
`r
`RECOGNIZE MIME
`
`Q
`
`g1
`
`FIG. 2
`
`*
`SERVICE
`11
`ADD LOG
`
`5
`
`g
`
`.
`
`Cllent Browser
`
`151
`-
`
`157 “1
`/ Client-Snooper
`agent
`139/
`
`153
`
`Q HTTP Request ‘
`Download Process
`Client informatlon
`\
`>
`163
`
`cl'ent'sman
`Agent
`
`15
`
`l
`
`Page 131
`
`FIG. 4
`
`WHATSAPP INC.'S EXHIBIT NO. 1010
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`003
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`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Dec. 26,2000
`
`Sheet 3 0f5
`
`6,167,441
`
`WHATSAPP INC.'S EXHIBIT NO. 1010
`
`004
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Dec. 26,2000
`
`Sheet 4 0f5
`
`6,167,441
`
`INTERCEPT REQUEST
`I
`PAFISE HEADER FOH BROWSER INFO
`
`2_01
`
`2:3
`
`I
`
`205
`
`YES
`
`NO
`
`DOWNLOAD SNOOPER
`I
`SNOOP FOR BROWSER, DEVICE INFO 229
`
`227
`
`T
`
`211
`
`YES
`
`SUCCESS
`
`SEND DIALOG PAGE
`I
`RECEIVE USER INPUT INFO
`I
`SELECT WEB PAGE
`I
`REFORMAT IF NEEDED
`
`I
`SEND PAGE TO CLIENT
`
`2l3
`
`2L5
`
`2L7
`
`‘
`
`2L9
`
`231
`
`:II
`
`V
`
`FIG. 5
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`WHATSAPP INC.'S EXHIBIT NO. 1010
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`005
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`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`Dec. 26,2000
`
`Sheet 5 0f5
`
`6,167,441
`
`Please select your computer
`
`Aptiva S38
`
`V \/ 251
`
`If not listed please enter computer name
`
`\/ 253
`
`Describe type of computer
`
`Palm Top-Color
`
`V \f 255
`
`Choose the picture that looks best
`
`
`
`is; Q ~23 K \ X
`
`
`
`
`
`X
`
`257
`
`259
`
`261
`
`FIG. 6
`
`WHATSAPP INC.'S EXHIBIT NO. 1010
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`

`
`1
`CUSTOMIZATION OF WEB PAGES BASED
`ON REQUESTER TYPE
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`This invention relates generally to communication in a
`distributed network computing environment. More
`particularly, this invention relates to customizing the selec
`tion of Web pages in an Internet environment based on the
`requesting client device.
`The World Wide Web, or simply “the Web”, is the
`Internet’s multimedia information retrieval system. It is the
`most commonly used method of transferring data in the
`Internet environment. In the Web environment, clients
`request Web pages from Web servers using the Hypertext
`Transfer Protocol (HTTP). HTTP is a protocol Which pro
`vides users access to ?les Which include text, graphics,
`images, sound, using a standard page description language
`knoWn as the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTML
`provides document formatting alloWing the developer to
`specify links to other servers in the netWork. The path to a
`particular Web server is de?ned by a Uniform Resource
`Locator (URL). Web pages are typically accessed using an
`HTML compatible broWser such as Netscape Navigator
`Which speci?es the link to the Web Server and particular
`Web page using the URL.
`With the popularity of World Wide Web, many companies
`are devoting a majority of their development effort to
`produce softWare applications running on the Internet using
`the Internet protocols such as HTTP and HTML. Other
`methods exist such as the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and
`Gopher, but have not achieved the popularity of the Web.
`Retrieval of information is generally achieved by the use
`of an HTML-compatible “broWser”, e.g., Netscape
`Navigator, at a client machine. When the user of the broWser
`speci?es a link via a URL, the client issues a request to a
`naming service to map a hostname in the URL to a particular
`netWork IP address at Which the server is located. The
`naming service returns a list of one or more IP addresses that
`can respond to the request. Using one of the IP addresses, the
`broWser establishes a connection to a server. If the server is
`available, it returns a document or other object formatted
`according to HTML.
`As Web broWsers become the primary interface for access
`to many netWork and server services, Web applications in
`the future Will need to interact With many different types of
`client machines including the typical personal computer to
`“thin” clients. Thin clients can range betWeen 60 inch TV
`screens to handheld mobile devices. This large range of
`devices creates a need to customiZe the Web GUI to the type
`of device to Which the server is communicating. Using prior
`art technology one Would most likely need to Write different
`HTML pages or different Web programs, e.g., java, cgi, etc.,
`to handle the GUI and navigation requirements of each
`client environment.
`The client devices differ in their display capabilities, e.g.,
`monochrome, color, different color palettes, resolution, siZe.
`They also vary in the input devices Which may be attached,
`e.g., mouse and keyboard, touch sensor, remote control for
`a TV set-top box. Furthermore, the broWsers themselves can
`vary in the languages supported, e.g., HTML, dynamic
`HTML, XML, Java, JavaScript. Because of these
`differences, the Web broWsing experience of broWsing the
`same Web page may differ Wildly depending on the client
`device.
`This incapability to adjust to the client’s capabilities and
`environment causes a number of problems. The site may
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`6,167,441
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`2
`simply be incapable of servicing a set of clients, or make the
`Web broWsing experience confusing or unsatisfactory in
`some Way. Even if the Web developers have made an effort
`to accommodate a range of client devices, the code for each
`application may need to be duplicated for each environment.
`Duplicated code consequently increases the maintenance
`cost for the Web site. Frequently, different URLs are
`required to be knoWn for different classes of clients for
`different HTML pages, CGI programs and so forth.
`This invention presents a novel solution for the problem.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`Therefore, it is an object of the invention to support a
`multitude of different client devices for an Internet applica
`tion.
`It is another object of the invention to minimiZe additional
`product development effort in creating the support for a
`variety of client devices.
`It is another object of the invention to determine the type
`of client device Which is requesting services from a Web
`server.
`It is another object of the invention to customiZe an
`Internet application for a variety of client devices.
`These and other objects are accomplished by providing
`customiZed Internet content to a requesting client device
`using an intercepting agent. The agent, typically at the Web
`server to Which the client request is directed intercepts a
`request made by a requesting client device for a ?le from a
`Web server. The agent detects client device capability infor
`mation about the requesting client device, such as display or
`memory capabilities. The client request is redirected to a
`Uniform Resource Locator (URL) according to the detected
`client device capability information to retrieve a version of
`the requested ?le.
`The agent at a Web server can parse the header informa
`tion of the request for the client device capability informa
`tion. The header information sent in a typical request, e.g.,
`an HTTP request, includes a broWser identi?cation and
`broWser level from Which device capabilities can be
`inferred. If the header information can not be parsed, or does
`not contain the needed information, a snooping operation
`performed at the requesting client device can retrieve the
`needed client device information. The snooping operation
`can be performed remotely or can be performed by a
`snooping agent doWnloaded from a Web server. If snooping
`is unsuccessful, the client device information can be
`retrieved from user input to a doWnloaded page at the
`requesting client device. The doWnloaded page may include
`a set of images and the retrieved user input is a preferred
`image appearance on the requesting client device.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`These objects, features and advantages Will be more
`readily understood With reference to the attached ?gures and
`folloWing description.
`FIG. 1 depicts a computer system con?gured according to
`the teachings of the present invention.
`FIG. 2 is a How diagram of a Web request for a page in the
`Internet.
`FIG. 3 is a simpli?ed architectural diagram of an Internet
`including a plurality of client types and a Web server serving
`several sets of Web pages using the current invention.
`FIG. 4 is an architectural diagram shoWing the compo
`nents of needed to practice a preferred embodiment of the
`invention.
`
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`6,167,441
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`3
`FIG. 5 is a How diagram of the process for using the
`present invention.
`FIG. 6 is a partial Web page for making a choice of Web
`pages to be presented by an HTML compatible broWser at a
`client device.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`4
`addition, some devices, notably handheld devices, may lack
`some of the elements discussed above such as a keyboard
`and mouse, substituting them With a touch screen and stylus.
`These devices generally communicate With the netWork
`using a Wireless transmission means in the RF or IR spec
`trums. Set top boxes such as WebTV may lack the keyboard
`and mouse, substituting a handheld remote of limited capa
`bility. The use of a conventional television instead of a
`computer monitor also means that the display Will lack the
`resolution and addressable screen siZe assumed by the
`developers of user interfaces for computer interfaces. The
`present invention alloWs a customiZed user interface for
`these and other client devices.
`One of the preferred implementations of the invention is
`as sets of instructions 48—52 resident in the random access
`memory 24 of one or more computer systems con?gured
`generally as described above. Until required by the com
`puter system, the set of instructions may be stored in another
`computer readable memory, for example, in the hard disk
`drive 26, or in a removable memory such as an optical disk
`for eventual use in the CD-ROM 32 or in a ?oppy disk for
`eventual use in the ?oppy disk drive 27. Further, the set of
`instructions can be stored in the memory of another com
`puter and transmitted in a computer readable medium over
`a local area netWork or a Wide area netWork such as the
`Internet When desired by the user. One skilled in the art
`Would appreciate that the physical storage of the sets of
`instructions physically changes the medium upon Which it is
`stored electrically, magnetically, or chemically so that the
`medium carries computer readable information. While it is
`convenient to describe the invention in terms of instructions,
`symbols, characters, or the like, the reader should remember
`that all of these and similar terms should be associated With
`the appropriate physical elements.
`Further, the invention is often described in terms that
`could be associated With a human operator. While the
`operations performed may be in response to user input, no
`action by a human operator is desirable in any of the
`operations described herein Which form part of the present
`invention; the operations are machine operations processing
`electrical signals to generate other electrical signals.
`The invention enables a plurality of Web client types to be
`supported by an Internet application by creating a set of Web
`pages each of Which is formatted for readability for a
`particular supported device. In the preferred embodiment,
`there is one URL per supported application, although once
`at the Web server the request may be redirected to another
`URL Which contains the pages for the particular device. The
`returned HTML page contains the response from the server
`for the requested service customiZed according to the client
`device. Through the invention, the response data on the
`response HTML page is chosen for the best format and
`content to be optimally read, interpreted and displayed by
`the client device.
`In the Internet, the Web server accepts a client request and
`returns a response back to the client. A series of server
`computer may be involved in the retrieval of a speci?c Web
`page. The operation of the server program is governed by a
`number of server application functions (SAFs), each of
`Which is con?gured to execute in a certain stop of a
`sequence. This sequence, illustrated in FIG. 2, begins With
`the authoriZation translation step 75 during Which the Web
`server translates any authoriZation information sent by the
`Web client into a user and a group. If necessary, the step 75
`may decode a message to get the actual client request. At the
`name translation step 77, the URL associated With the
`request may or may not be translated into a system
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`The invention may be run on a variety of computers or
`collection of computers under a number of different oper
`ating systems. The computer could be, for example, a hand
`held computer, a personal computer, a mini computer, main
`frame computer or a computer running in a distributed
`netWork of other computers. In fact the invention assumes
`that a variety of client devices running a variety of broWsers
`is in use in the Internet or intranet. Although the speci?c
`choice of computer is limited only by processor speed and
`disk storage requirements, computers in the IBM PC series
`of computers could be used in the present invention. One
`operating system Which an IBM personal computer may run
`is IBM’s OS/2 Warp 4.0. In the alternative, the computer
`system might be in the IBM RISC System/6000 (TM) line
`of computers Which run on the AIX (TM) operating system.
`In FIG. 1, a computer 10, comprising a system unit 11, a
`keyboard 12, a mouse 13 and a display 14 are depicted in
`block diagram form. The system unit 11 includes a system
`bus or plurality of system buses 21 to Which various com
`ponents are coupled and by Which communication betWeen
`the various components is accomplished. The microproces
`sor 22 is connected to the system bus 21 and is supported by
`read only memory (ROM) 23 and random access memory
`(RAM) 24 also connected to system bus 21. A micropro
`cessor in the IBM PC series of computers is one of the Intel
`family of microprocessors including the 386, 486 or Pen
`tium microprocessors. HoWever, other microprocessors
`including, but not limited to, Motorola’s family of micro
`processors such as the 68000, 68020 or the 68030 micro
`processors and various Reduced Instruction Set Computer
`(RISC) microprocessors such as the PoWerPC chip manu
`factured by IBM. Other RISC chips made by HeWlett
`Packard, Sun, Motorola and others may be used in the
`speci?c computer.
`The ROM 23 contains among other code the Basic
`Input-Output system (BIOS) Which controls basic hardWare
`operations such as the interaction of the processor and the
`disk drives and the keyboard. The RAM 24 is the main
`memory into Which the operating system and application
`programs are loaded. The memory management chip 25 is
`connected to the system bus 21 and controls direct memory
`access operations including, passing data betWeen the RAM
`50
`24 and hard disk drive 26 and ?oppy disk drive 27. The CD
`ROM 32 also coupled to the system bus 21 is used to store
`a large amount of data, e.g., a multimedia program or
`presentation.
`Also connected to this system bus 21 are various I/O
`controllers: The keyboard controller 28, the mouse control
`ler 29, the video controller 30, and the audio controller 31.
`As might be expected, the keyboard controller 28 provides
`the hardWare interface for the keyboard 12, the mouse
`controller 29 provides the hardWare interface for mouse 13,
`the video controller 30 is the hardWare interface for the
`display 14, and the audio controller 31 is the hardWare
`interface for the speakers 15. An I/O controller 40 such as a
`Token Ring Adapter enables communication over a netWork
`46 to other similarly con?gured data processing systems.
`Depending on the client device, there Will be differences
`in the capabilities of the display, memory and processor. In
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`5
`dependent ?le name, a redirection URL or a mirror site. In
`the path checks step 79, the server performs various tests on
`the resulting path to ensure that the given client may retrieve
`the document.
`In step 81, Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME)
`type information, e.g., text/html, image/gif, for the given
`document is recogniZed. In the service step 83, the Web
`server routine selects an internal server function to send the
`retrieved information back to the requesting Web client. This
`function can run the normal server service routine to return
`a ?le or some other server function, such as a program to
`return to return a custom document or a CGI program. At the
`Add Log step 85, information about the transaction is
`recorded.
`AURL or “Uniform Resource Locator” is de?ned in RFC
`1945, Which is incorporated herein by reference. As is Well
`knoWn, the URL is typically of the format: http://somehost/.
`. .” Where “somehost” is the hostname position of the URL.
`The usual manner in Which a URL is resolved into an actual
`IP address for a Web server is through the use of a
`nameserver. In an Internet or intranet netWork, a nameserver
`42 maps hostnames in URLs to actual netWork addresses. An
`example of a nameserver is the Domain Name Service
`(DNS) currently implemented in the Internet. The process of
`having a Web client request a hostname and address from a
`nameserver is sometimes called resolution. In TCP/IP, the
`nameserver resolves the hostname into a list of one or more
`IP addresses Which are returned to the Web client on an
`HTTP request. Each IP address identi?es a server Which
`hosts the requested content made by the broWser.
`This invention includes a server application that
`intercepts, or otherWise handles, the HTML requests from
`requesting clients to a particular HTTP server or application
`thereon. This application, the “client-smart agent”, attaches
`itself to the HTTP server and redirects the server to the
`correct page depending on the client device. “Attaching” the
`server application to the HTTP server basically assures that
`the client-smart agent can communicate With the HTTP
`Server. The “attaching” can be done using interfaces (APIs)
`betWeen the HTTP server and the ClientiSmart agent.
`Alternatively, the ClientiSmart agent can be implemented
`as an application Which intercepts the HTTP requests before
`the HTTP server receives them. The application developer
`can use a commercial HTML server to Write the Web pages
`and then use additional utilities to con?gure the Internet
`application to the client-smart agent.
`The user can alWays use the same URL, but different
`pages Would be served depending on the client’s machine.
`The client-smart agent is con?gured for each of a plurality
`of supported client types.
`The client-smart agent Works in conjunction With the
`HTTP server to process the correct HTML con?guration for
`the speci?ed client. The client-smart agent reads from the
`HTTP header information the client broWser type and oper
`ating system in use. For example, the client-smart agent can
`easily discover that a client request originates at Netscape
`Navigator broWser for WindoWs 95 at a particular version
`level from the header information in the HTTP packet.
`Similar information is found in the header packets of other
`Internet protocols so that the invention is not limited to
`HTTP.
`If based on the HTTP header information, the client
`device can not be identi?ed, the client-smart agent Will send
`an applet, the client-snooper agent, over the netWork to the
`client machine to identify the client type. This client-snooper
`can be Written as a client side J avaScript HTML page, java
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`program, or java applet to identify the client device. Once
`the client device has been identi?ed, the “client-smart agent”
`sends the correct HTTP request to the HTTP server. If the
`“client-snooper” is not able to identify the client’s device
`type, the “client-smart agent” can be con?gured to do any of
`the folloWing. The user receives an error, hoWever, this is not
`preferred. Alternatively, the user receives a Web page asking
`to identify his/her device from a list provided. The Web page
`may contain an entry ?eld for entry of an unlisted client
`device. The Web page may also include a several Web page
`samples, asking the user to select the Web page Which looks
`best. Further Web pages Would be selected from among the
`available Web pages at the server on the basis of this choice.
`Finally, the client-smart agent can use a default con?gura
`tion or make an educated guess on the client’s device to
`redirect a request to the appropriate page on the HTTP
`server.
`The client-smart agent is capable of analyZing the HTML
`code and Web applications and select the correct interface
`for a con?gured client type. Each supported client device
`type is con?gured in the smart-client agent by the developer
`of the Internet application. This con?guration process
`includes the description of the screen siZe, input devices,
`e.g., pen, touch-screen, mouse, TV remote control, softWare
`compatible With the broWser, i.e. the Java and HTML level
`supported on the client, amount of memory and other client
`device parameters.
`FIG. 3 shoWs a simpli?ed depiction of an Internet envi
`ronment in Which the invention may be implemented. A
`variety of client device types 101, 103, 105, 107 are coupled
`to the Internet 109 by Wired or Wireless means. The clients
`101—107 can make HTTP requests to a Web server 111 for
`one or more applications. The client-smart agent 113 redi
`rects the client request to the appropriate Web page depend
`ing on the detected client type. In the ?gure, four Web page
`functions are provided by a respective set of Web pages 115,
`117, 119, 121. Each set of Web pages has a respective Web
`page appropriate for a particular Web client device. Those
`skilled in the art Would recogniZe that a plurality of each
`type of client devices Would typically be connected to the
`Internet. Further, there may be a number of intermediary
`servers, gateWays and routers betWeen the clients and the
`Web server Which are not depicted.
`FIG. 4 is an architectural diagram of the components
`needed in the preferred embodiment of the invention. A
`client broWser 151 resident at one of the client devices issues
`an HTTP request 153 for an HTML page at a particular URL
`or for a Web application using Perl CGI, Java, JavaScript or
`other language. The request is directed to the client-smart
`agent 155 Which ?rst attempts to identify the client using the
`HTTP header information. If this is unsuccessful, the client
`smart agent doWnloads 157 a client-snooper agent 159 to the
`client to get the information necessary about the client
`device to choose an appropriate Web page. A variety of
`snooping techniques are available to the client snooper.
`Many client operating systems keep information on their
`attached devices. In WindoWs 95, for example, there is a
`registry in Which the hardWare devices are listed notably
`processor, processor speed, monitor, including siZe as Well
`as other information less directly applicable to the present
`invention. Detecting the type of operating system alone may
`be enough to choose the appropriate Web page. Examination
`of the system BIOS can provide useful information. Search
`routines for speci?c signatures for speci?c supported client
`devices are be incorporated in the client snooper agent 159.
`If the snooper agent is not successful, the snooper agent 159
`can present a page 161 Which queries the user for informa
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`tion Which could be useful in selecting an appropriate Web
`page. Alternatively, the snooper agent 159 could report its
`failure to the client-srnart agent 155 and the client-srnart
`could issue a Web page for the user query. This interface is
`discussed beloW in greater detail With reference to FIG. 6.
`The client-snooper agent 159 returns the necessary infor
`rnation about the client device to the client-srnart agent 155.
`Using this information, the client-srnart agent selects the
`appropriate HTML page or Web application format for the
`client to Which to redirect the client request.
`A How diagram for this process is shoWn in FIG. 5. The
`process begins in step 201, Where the client-srnart agent
`intercepts an HTTP request directed to a supported server
`application. In step 203, the client-srnart agent parses the
`HTTP for the broWser information which can be used to
`infer the client device characteristics. Step 205 determines
`whether the parsing Was successful.
`If the parsing is unsuccessful due to an unknoWn broWser
`or broWser version level, in step 207, the client snooper is
`doWnloaded to the client machine. Alternatively, rnany oper
`ating systems have APIs Which may be queried remotely
`using an API. Of course, a remote snoop might involve
`several iterations until the operating Was identi?ed. In step
`209, the client device is snooped for device, operating
`system and/or broWser inforrnation. Step 211 determines
`whether the snooping Was successful.
`If the snooping Was not successful, a dialog page can be
`sent to the user, preferably in a language Which can be
`presented by the broWser. The page can originate With the
`snooper agent already at the client or from the client-srnart
`agent back at the server. In step 215, user input to the page
`is received and sent back to the client-srnart agent. Based on
`the information from the parsing, snooping or receiving
`steps, the client-srnart agent determines the appropriate page
`to send the HTTP request, step 217. The selected Web page
`is dynamically reforrnatted, if necessary, according to the
`detected client type. Finally, in step 221, the selected Web
`page is sent to the client machine.
`The invention provides that some of the customization of
`the page interface is static With prebuilt Web pages for a
`supported client device or set of client devices. Other aspects
`of the customization may be dynamic rnodi?cation of the
`Web page content performed on the ?y. Requests from
`clients having vastly different display siZes are likely to be
`directed to different Web pages on different URLs. Requests
`from clients with similar screen siZes, but different display
`characteristics such as color palettes may be directed to the
`same URL, hoWever, the embedded URLs Which point to
`image data Within the overall page may be dynarnically
`selected to provide the image Which Will look the best for the
`detected client device. Yet others such as font or font siZe
`can be dynarnically adjusted in the HTML on the ?y.
`In addition to the device type consideration, the invention
`can be used to deal With broWser considerations as Well. The
`invention preferably supports any broWser, even back level
`broWsers Which may not support a particular language or
`version of the language Which may have become prevalent
`since the broWser Was Written. Rather than forcing the user
`to upgrade to a neW broWser, the invention Will alloW the
`client-srnart agent to select a Web page Which is Within the
`parsing and presentation capabilities of the detected
`broWser.
`Typically, the client-srnart agent Would redirect the HTTP
`requests to the HTTP server using the HTTP Server APIs
`used by the particular server. KnoWn HTTP servers pro
`duced by the Netscape and Microsoft Corporations have this
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`type of interfaces. Alternatively, the client-srnart agent could
`intercept the HTTP request and change the request to a neW
`URL before routing it back to the URL. On the server, the
`softWare that does the routing has a ONE to MANY rela
`tionship betWeen the URL given to the user (client) and the
`actual server addresses. For example, “http://GM/
`neWproducts” can be translated to “//GM/
`neWproducts.FloorApp” to display the car information on
`the PalrnTop cornputers available to the sale force on car
`dealers. The same URL can be translated to “//GM/
`neWproducts.WebTV” for WebTV applications. Further, the
`URL can be translated to “//GM/neWproducts.PC” for a
`broWser running on a personal computer.
`A default Web page can be developed When a device can
`not be identi?ed, hoWever, given the three techniques
`described herein, it is doubtful that a default Web page Would
`see much use unless one of the Web pages for a class of client
`devices was simply designated the default.
`As mentioned above, if the client snooper Was not able to
`identify the client, a Web page sent from the snooper or the
`client srnart agent can be sent asking the user to identify the
`machine type. Alternatively, but possibly in addition to, the
`user can be afforded an opportunity to select the “page
`forrnatting” from a list. A sample page is shoWn in FIG. 6.
`Those skilled in the art Would under stand that alternative
`formats are possible With different sets of controls. A dialog
`of several alternative pages could be presented Where the
`client broWser and server application try out different Web
`pages to see Which is best for the client device.
`ApulldoWn list boX 251 in Which various supported client
`devices are listed can be presented to the user. The user can
`select the client computer Which he is using. Both speci?c
`computers and computer models can be listed as Well as
`names of manufacturers or generic descriptions such as “486
`personal computer” might be listed in another pulldoWn list
`boX 255. There could be an additional ?eld for the broWser
`resident on the client system. If not found, the user can enter
`the computer name in entry ?eld 253. Alternatively, the user
`can be presented a set of images 257, 259, 261, 263 and be
`asked to select the image that looks best.
`The combination of entry ?eld 253 and image selection
`could be used in a regis