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Claims  |
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We claim:
1. A method for displaying a document in a desktop window on a client
computer, the method comprising the steps of:
connecting to a computer network from the client computer, the computer
network having a plurality of server computers associated with a plurality
of content providers;
retrieving a channel guide including a list of content providers from the
computer network for allowing a user to select and deselect two or more
content providers and stories associated with the content providers,
wherein the channel guide remains displayed after the user selects a
content provider so that the user can select multiple content providers
from the channel guide and the multiple selected content providers remain
selected at the same time;
storing the selections that the user made from the channel guide including
which stories the user selected;
reading the stored selections and obtaining an address associated with a
selected content provider;
retrieving the stored selections including the stories selected in the
channel guide; and
integrating the retrieved stories into the desktop window so that the
stories and the desktop window are displayed in the same window.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the desktop window includes a first pane
for displaying the first document, and a second pane for displaying
desktop icons unrelated to the first document.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the first and second panes of the desktop
window are not minimizable.
4. The method of claim 2 wherein the first document is a hypertext document
and the first pane of the desktop window includes a hypertext document
viewer for displaying the first document.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the desktop window provides for navigation
controls, and the method further comprises:
replacing the first document with a second document received from a content
provider in the channel guide and scanning through the first and second
documents using the navigation controls.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the navigation controls include fast
forward and reverse and wherein selecting the navigation controls allows
the user to view content associated with the stored selections from the
channel guide.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the first document includes a hyperlink
referencing a second document and the method further comprising jumping to
the second document upon selection of the hyperlink.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the desktop window is in a windowing
environment supporting a plurality of windows displayed on the client
computer according to a front-to-back order, wherein windows in the front
of the order overlap windows further back in the order, and wherein the
desktop window permanently remains the back-most window in the order.
9. The method of claim 1 further including connecting the client computer
to a first server computer on the computer network, retrieving the channel
guide from the first server computer, selecting a content provider from
the channel guide, connecting the client computer to a second server
associated with the selected content provider and retrieving a documents
preferences listing page relating to documents available for the selected
content provider from the second server computer.
10. The method of claim 1 including providing a user-preference storage on
the client computer and wherein the channel guide includes a software
control for storing information associated with the selected content
provider in the user-preference storage.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein the user-preference storage is in a
registry of configuration information on the client computer.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein the channel guide is a first channel
guide and further including selecting content to be displayed in the
desktop window from a second channel guide provided from a different
server computer than the first channel guide and integrating addresses
from the first channel guide with addresses from the second channel guide
and replacing the first document with a second document from a content
provider listed in the second channel guide.
13. The method of claim 12 further including storing information associated
with the content provider from the second channel guide in a
user-preference storage on the client computer.
14. The method of claim 12 wherein the second document includes a software
control for storing information associated with the content provider not
listed in the channel guide in a user-preference storage on the client
computer.
15. The method of claim 1 further including retrieving a second document
from the computer network and displaying the first document for a first
period of time and replacing the first document with the second document
for a second period of time.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein the first document is received from a
first server computer and the second document is received from a second
server computer.
17. The method of claim 1 including automatically displaying the first
document when the client computer remains idle for a predetermined period
of time.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein automatically displaying includes
overlaying the first document over other windows on the client computer,
including overlaying the desktop window.
19. The method of claim 1 wherein the channel guide is a first channel
guide retrieved from a first server computer and the method further
includes retrieving a second channel guide from a second server computer.
20. The method of claim 19 further including sequentially displaying
documents selected from the first and second channel guides in the desktop
window.
21. The method of claim 1 wherein the channel guide includes a hierarchical
menu interface having a first level including a list of selectable
channels, each channel displaying a different topic of information.
22. The method of claim 21 wherein the channel guide includes a second
level in the hierarchical menu interface including a list of content
providers relating to a channel displayed at the first level.
23. The method of claim 22 wherein the channel guide includes a third level
in the hierarchical menu interface including a list of document
preferences associated with a content provider displayed at the second
level.
24. The method of claim 23 including storing a Uniform Resource Locator
(URL) on the second level in the channel guide, the URL pointing to the
list of document preferences on the third level.
connecting to a first server computer;
retrieving a channel guide of content providers from the first server
computer, the channel guide for allowing a user to select one or more
content providers;
connecting to a second server computer associated with a user-selected
content provider in the channel guide; and
retrieving a document having a hyperlink embedded therein from the second
server computer.
25. A method for displaying a hyperlinkable document in a desktop window in
a windowing environment on a client computer, the method comprising the
steps of:
connecting to a first server computer;
retrieving a channel guide that includes a list of content providers from
the first server computer, the channel guide for allowing a user to select
one or more content providers from the list and wherein multiple content
providers may appear selected at the same time;
storing the selections that the user made from the list of content
providers;
reading the stored selections and obtaining an address associated with a
second server computer from the stored selections;
connecting to the second server computer associated with a user-selected
content provider in the channel guide by using the address obtained from
reading the stored selections; and
retrieving a document having a hyperlink embedded therein from the second
server computer.
26. The method of claim 25, including integrating the document into the
desktop window on the client computer so that the document and the desktop
window are displayed in the same window.
27. The method of claim 25 including:
connecting to a third server computer associated with a second content
provider in the channel guide;
retrieving a second document having a hyperlink embedded therein from the
third server computer associated with a content provider selected from the
channel guide; and
replacing the first-mentioned document with the second document on the
desktop window.
28. The method of claim 25 including:
connecting to a third server computer not associated with a content
provider in the channel guide;
retrieving a second document having a hyperlink embedded therein from a
third server computer; and
replacing the first-mentioned document with the second document to display
the second document in the desktop window.
29. A method of displaying a hyperlinkable document in a windowing
environment on a client computer when the computer is left idle for a
predetermined period of time, the method comprising the steps of:
connecting to a computer network from the client computer;
retrieving a channel guide of content providers from the computer network
for allowing a user to select one or more content providers;
storing selections made by the user from the channel guide including
storing addresses of content providers;
obtaining an address of a content provider from the stored selections;
reading a first document from a selected content provider by using the
address obtained from the stored selections, the first document having a
hyperlink embedded therein and integrating the first document into the
desktop window on the client computer;
after the client computer is left idle a predetermined period of time,
overlaying the first document over other windows in the windowing
environment.
30. The method of claim 29 wherein the first document is received from a
first server computer and the method further includes:
retrieving a second document having a hyperlink embedded therein from a
second server computer associated with a second content provider selected
from the channel guide page; and
replacing the first document with the second document.
31. The method of claim 29 including:
selecting two or more content providers from the channel guide;
retrieving hyperlinkable documents from two or more server computers
corresponding to the content providers selected from the channel guide;
after the client computer is left idle a predetermined period of time,
sequencing through the hyperlinkable documents by displaying one document
at a time and replacing a currently displayed document with a next
document in the sequence.
32. A computer system, comprising:
a client computer having a display for displaying a windowing environment
including a desktop window with a first pane for displaying content having
hyperlinks and a second pane for displaying desktop icons unrelated to the
content;
a channel guide for displaying a list of content providers on the client
computer display, the content providers providing content having
hyperlinks embedded therein from a plurality of server computers
connectable to the client computer;
a user-preference storage on the client computer for storing information
associated with content providers selected from the channel guide;
means for retrieving content having hyperlinks embedded therein from the
plurality of server computers and displaying the content in the first pane
of the desktop window on the client computer display.
33. The computer system of claim 32 wherein the means includes establishing
an Internet network connection with the server computers.
34. A method for displaying a hyperlinkable document in a windowing
environment on a client computer, the method comprising the steps of:
connecting to a computer network from the client computer, the computer
network having a plurality of server computers associated with a plurality
of content providers;
retrieving a channel guide from one of the server computers, the channel
guide including a list of content providers with check boxes associated
therewith so that a user can select multiple content providers while
continually viewing the channel guide;
storing addresses associated with at least first and second content
providers that the user selected from the channel guide;
without any user input, automatically reading the stored address for the
first content provider and retrieving a first document from the first
content provider on a first server computer;
displaying the first document on the client computer;
waiting a predetermined period of time sufficiently long so that the user
can view the first document;
without any user input, automatically reading the stored address for the
second content provider and retrieving a second document from the second
content provider on a second server computer; and
automatically displaying the second document on the client computer.
35. The method of claim 34 further comprising the steps of automatically
and sequentially displaying documents from all of the content providers in
the channel guide that were selected by the user.
36. The method of claim 35 further including providing fast forward and
rewind buttons that allow a user to fast forward or rewind through the
sequential display of documents.
37. The method of claim 34 wherein storing addresses associated with
content providers selected by the user includes storing the addresses on a
server computer.
38. The method of claim 34 wherein storing addresses associated with
content providers selected by the user includes storing the addresses on a
client computer.
39. The method of claim 34 wherein the channel guide is retrieved from a
default server or third party server.
40. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for
performing steps comprising:
connecting to a computer network from the client computer, the computer
network having a plurality of server computers associated with a plurality
of content providers;
retrieving a channel guide including a list of content providers from the
computer network and check boxes associated with each content provider for
allowing a user to select and deselect one or more content providers,
wherein the channel guide remains displayed after the user selects a
content provider so that the user can select multiple content providers
from the channel guide, the channel guide allowing multiple check boxes to
remain selected even if the user selects other check boxes; and
integrating a first document received from a server computer of at least
one user-selected content provider into the desktop window so that the
first document and the desktop window are displayed in the same window.
41. A computer system for viewing Internet documents provided from two or
more server computers, comprising:
a client computer having a display for displaying a windowing environment
including a desktop window that displays icons related to applications;
a viewer integrated into the desktop window on the display for displaying
Internet documents in the same window as the desktop window; and
a channel guide that includes a list of content providers and check boxes
adjacent each content provider, the check boxes indicating whether a user
selected one or more content providers from the list wherein multiple
check boxes can remain selected at the same time and wherein by selecting
the content providers the user customizes content displayed in the viewer
which is provided by the two or more server computers.
42. A method for displaying a document in a desktop window on a client
computer, the method comprising the steps of.
(a) connecting to a computer network from the client computer, the computer
network having a plurality of server computers associated with a plurality
of content providers;
(b) retrieving a channel guide including a list of content providers from
the computer network for allowing a user to select one or more content
providers and one or more stories associated with the content providers;
(c) storing the selections that the user made from the channel guide;
(d) reading the stored selections and obtaining an address associated with
one of the selected stories;
(e) retrieving the selected story from the content provider;
(f) integrating the retrieved story into the desktop window to display the
story to the user; and
(g) automatically repeating (d) through (f) to provide an effect of
automatically scrolling through the stories selected in the channel guide. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a windows graphical user interface, and, more
particularly, relates to integrating a document into a desktop window on a
client computer.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Windowing environments have emerged as the most popular graphical user
interface in the world. Windowing environments provide a multitasking,
graphical-based interface that runs programs for a wide-variety of
applications (spreadsheets, word processing, desktop publishing, drawing,
etc.) which have a relatively consistent appearance and command structure.
The windowing environment presents the user with specially delineated
areas called windows on a display, each of which is dedicated to a
particular application program, file or document. The windows can
typically be re-sized, moved around on the display, and stacked so as to
overlay other windows. Currently, the windowing environment allows windows
to be increased to a full-screen display or minimized, meaning the window
is reduced to and denoted by an icon.
The windows environment starts with a desktop window that displays icons
representing programs, files and resources available to the user. As such,
the desktop window acts as a launching point for running application
programs, opening documents or files, and initiating operating system
services. The desktop window cannot be minimized or closed. Instead, the
desktop window always remains as a full-screen background display upon
which other windows overlay.
One area that primarily uses a windowing environment is in Internet-based
applications. The Internet is a worldwide collection of cooperating
computer networks. A user typically accesses the Internet through a
"client" computer. The client computer communicates with a "server"
computer on a remote computer network using telephone, ISDN, or T1 lines
or similar physical connections. The server computer may display or
download content (e.g., images, text, application programs, etc.) to the
client computer for viewing or execution by the user.
The client and server computers communicate through software protocols,
such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
(SMTP), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Gopher, etc. Currently HTTP is
the most widely used protocol and is used for accessing the World Wide
Web.
The World Wide Web consists of interconnected computer networks having
computers, also referred to as "sites," which make multi-media documents
in HTML format generally available for downloading or retrieval by
individuals having a computer with Internet access. The documents are
generally created in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Each HTML document
supports embedded hyperlinks that reference other locations (folder, FTP
site, other HTML documents, etc.) allowing the system (i.e., client
computer) to jump to another location when the user selects a hyperlink by
clicking on the hyperlink or pressing an appropriate keystroke.
Uniform Resource Locators (URL) are used in conjunction with hyperlinks to
identify the location to which the system jumps. URLs typically define a
protocol to be used, the domain name of a server computer, the port
address to be used for communication, and the directory path to access a
desired document. Thus, when a user selects a hyperlink, the system uses a
URL to establish communication with a server computer designated in the
URL and displays a document or content retrieved from the server.
HTML also allows graphical images to be embedded in HTML documents. When a
graphical image is embedded in an HTML document, the dimensions or size of
the embedded graphical image may be defined with HTML statements. For
example, the size of an embedded graphical image may be defined in HTML by
<IMG SRC="file.gif" WIDTH=X HEIGHT=Y>, where IMG is an HTML tag
referencing an embedded image, SRC="file.gif" defines the location and
name of the file containing the graphical image embedded in the HTML
document, (e.g., a Graphics Information file or *.GIF) and X,Y are the
respective width and height of the graphical image measured in pixels.
Software object components also may be used with the HTML document for
displaying executable content, such as for animations or information
processing. Currently, most Internet browsers support embedded software
object components in the form of ActiveX controls, Java applets, and
Visual Basic Scripts. These software object components are inserted into
HTML documents using the <Insert> or <Object> HTML tags.
The above-described protocols and HTML documents are the underlying
structure for most Internet-based applications. One such Internet-based
application achieving wide-spread success is called Internet broadcasting.
Internet broadcasting effectively turns a computer terminal into a
high-tech television set, allowing a client computer to change "channels"
for displaying news, sports scores, stock charts, weather updates and
other kinds of information which are downloaded from the Internet. The
information displayed for the channels is dynamically updated, such as
through scheduled downloads.
One provider of an Internet broadcasting application is PointCast Inc.,
(http://www.pointcast.com). PointCast provides an Internet broadcast
application on its Internet site so that a user can download the
application to the user's computer. The Internet broadcast application
executes as a windowed application in the windowing environment on the
user's computer. In the application's window, the Pointcast application
displays a channel viewer. The channel viewer contains different panes for
filtering, organizing, and reading news. One pane lists a collection of
channels encompassing such topics as companies, industries, life styles,
news, and sports. When a user selects a channel, a second pane is
displayed showing a list of current stories relating to the selected
channel. If a user selects a story, the full text for that story is
displayed on a third pane. The software allows a user to personalize the
makeup of each channel. For example, a user can choose options to have
only NBA scores posted under a sports channel, while excluding NHL and NFL
scores. The PointCast software can also be used for displaying a screen
saver which is triggered after a predetermined period of inactivity on the
client computer.
The PointCast application has several drawbacks. For example, all of the
content displayed on the client computer is delivered from a single server
computer called the Internet broadcasting server (e.g., the PointCast
server), rather than directly from the content providers. Thus, the
information provided is only as up-to-date as the Internet broadcasting
server. Additionally, if a user is interested in displaying content not
available on the Internet broadcasting server, there is no means for
integrating that content into the Internet broadcast. The content
available from the Internet broadcasting server also lacks hyperlinks for
jumping to other documents on other server computers. Furthermore, there
is no means for scanning or navigating through content that has been
selected.
The present invention provides Internet-broadcaster functionality
integrated into a desktop window on a client computer. The desktop window
is called an "active" desktop because rich multimedia documents are
integrated therein and the documents are automatically updated and
dynamically displayed. The documents are retrieved directly from the
content providers so they are as up-to-date as possible. Additionally, the
desktop provides documents containing hyperlinks so that a user has access
to information on multiple server computers.
In one aspect of the invention, a client computer connects to a computer
network, such as the Internet, and retrieves a "main" channel guide
containing a list of content providers from which a user can select one or
more content providers. Based on the user's selections, the client
computer retrieves one or more documents associated with a content
provider selected from the channel guide. The one or more documents are
then integrated into the desktop window on the client computer.
In another aspect of the invention, the user may customize which documents
are displayed from a selected content provider. In such a case, a user
selects a content provider and a list of document preferences associated
with the selected content provider are displayed. The user may then select
the desired document preferences. Each document preference selected
results in the display of one or more documents related to that
preference.
In another aspect of the invention, the document retrieved contains
hyperlinks, thereby allowing a user to select a hyperlink and jump to
another document (e.g., folder, HTTP or FTP site, other HTML documents,
etc.) associated with the hyperlink. The document may be an HTML document
with hyperlinks embedded therein.
In yet another aspect of the invention, documents are provided from
multiple servers, and the documents are sequentially displayed in the
desktop window. Thus, a user is provided with the most up-to-date content
from selected content providers. The system accomplishes this by storing
URLs for the content providers selected from the channel guide in
user-preference storage, such as in entries of a registry on the client
computer.
In still a further aspect of the invention, content providers not listed in
the channel guide are able to provide their own channel guide and display
documents on the desktop of the client computer. Special controls (ActiveX
Controls, Java applets, VB Scripts, etc.) are used by content providers
not listed in the channel guide to display the documents. The control
allows for storage of a URL corresponding to the content providers in the
user-preference storage.
Thus, using the present invention, rich multimedia documents are integrated
directly into the desktop window on a client computer. The documents are
HTML and may include VB scripts, java applets and hyperlinkable content
allowing the user to browse a computer network, such as the Internet or
Intranet. Further, the present invention allows content providers listed
and content providers not listed in the channel guide to display documents
in the desktop window. Finally, the content displayed is the most
up-to-date content, since it is provided directly from the content
providers.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be made apparent
from the following detailed description of an illustrated embodiment which
proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer system that may be used to
implement a method and apparatus embodying the invention for displaying a
desktop window having a document integrated therein.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating objects conforming to a component
object model used in the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a known browser environment on a client computer for connecting
to and interacting with an Internet server computer.
FIG. 4 is an illustration of a known windows user interface including a
desktop window.
FIG. 5 is an illustration of a desktop window according to one aspect of
the invention with a desktop viewer for displaying a document on a first
pane of the desktop window and desktop icons being displayed on a second
pane of the desktop window.
FIG. 6 is an illustration of a browser for displaying additional
information about the document displayed in the desktop viewer of FIG. 5.
FIG. 7 is an illustration of a window in a channel guide according to the
invention for customizing which documents are displayed in the desktop
viewer of FIG. 5.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a system architecture for displaying the
desktop window of FIG. 5 on the client computer.
FIG. 9 is an illustration of using multiple channel guides from multiple
servers to display documents in the desktop viewer of FIG. 5.
FIG. 10 is an illustration of using multiple servers for allowing a user to
customize which documents from a content provider are displayed in the
desktop viewer of FIG. 5.
FIG. 11 is an illustration of the desktop viewer sequencing through
documents provided by multiple content providers.
FIG. 12 is an illustration of the desktop viewer sequencing through
documents provided by multiple content providers with special effects
inserted into one of the documents.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart for implementing the desktop window of FIG. 5.
FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing additional steps performed by the system for
implementing the desktop window of FIG. 5.
FIG. 15 is an illustration of a screen saver according to the invention
using the channel guide of FIG. 7.
FIG. 16 is an illustration of a special effects screen saver HTML page for
incorporating special effects into a screen saver document.
FIG. 17 is an illustration of a channel guide listing multiple channels.
Selecting a News channel displays the window shown in FIG. 7.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 1, an operating environment for an illustrated embodiment
of the present invention is a computer system 20 with a computer 22 that
comprises at least one high speed processing unit (CPU) 24, in conjunction
with a memory system 26, an input device 28, and an output device 30.
These elements are interconnected by at least one bus structure 32.
The illustrated CPU 24 is of familiar design and includes an ALU 34 for
performing computations, a collection of registers 36 for temporary
storage of data and instructions, and a control unit 38 for controlling
operation of the system 20. The CPU 24 may be a processor having any of a
variety of architectures including Alpha from Digital, MIPS from MIPS
Technology, NEC, IDT, Siemens, and others, x86 from Intel and others,
including Cyrix, AMD, and Nexgen, and the PowerPc from IBM and Motorola.
The memory system 26 generally includes high-speed main memory 40 in the
form of a medium such as random access memory (RAM) and read only memory
(ROM) semiconductor devices, and secondary storage 42 in the form of long
term storage mediums such as floppy disks, hard disks, tape, CD-ROM, flash
memory, etc. and other devices that store data using electrical, magnetic,
optical or other recording media. The main memory 40 also can include
video display memory for displaying images through a display device. Those
skilled in the art will recognize that the memory 26 can comprise a
variety of alternative components having a variety of storage capacities.
The input and output devices 28, 30 also are familiar. The input device 28
can comprise a keyboard, a mouse, a physical transducer (e.g., a
microphone), etc. The output device 30 can comprise a display, a printer,
a transducer (e.g., a speaker), etc. Some devices, such as a network
interface or a modem, can be used as input and/or output devices.
As is familiar to those skilled in the art, the computer system 20 further
includes an operating system and at least one application program. The
operating system is the set of software which controls the computer
system's operation and the allocation of resources. The application
program is the set of software that performs a task desired by the user,
using computer resources made available through the operating system. Both
are resident in the illustrated memory system 26.
In accordance with the practices of persons skilled in the art of computer
programming, the present invention is described below with reference to
acts and symbolic representations of operations that are performed by
computer system 20, unless indicated otherwise. Such acts and operations
are sometimes referred to as being computer-executed. It will be
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