SE524391C2 - Method and system for content conversion of electronic documents for wireless clients. - Google Patents

Abstract

Electronic documents such as web pages requested from the Internet by a wireless device 12 are converted at a gateway 14 from a first markup language such as hypertext markup language (HTML) into a second markup language such as wireless markup language (WML) from a wireless application protocol (WAP). The electronic document is converted into a format suitable for display on the wireless device based on device type and preference information supplied by the wireless device. The electronic document is divided into textual elements and non-textual elements (e.g. images) before conversion. A converted document is created from the converted elements. Three separate methods of dividing and converting the original document are described. The invention is also applicable to wireline devices.

Description

l5 20 25 30 35 524 391 2 from Microsoft Corporation in Redmond Washington, Netscape Navigator from Netscape Communications in Mountain View, California m fl. A browser typically analyzes a hypertext document competitor and converts hypertext, including markup tags, to a visual representation of text, graphics, live images, audio, video, etc. for display on a device such as a personal computer screen.

Additional content is retrieved to a hypertext document from other sources using "hyperlink" references in the hypertext documents. For example, in the hypertext markup language, the hyperlink tag "gives a hyperlink to an" lm fi l "logo.mov." When a user selects the link (for example, by clicking a mouse) in a hypertext document, the movie "logo.mov." Is located using a unified ("URL") from "www.spyglass.com." a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) cell used as a transfer protocol. Transfer protocols such as the hypertext transfer protocol ("HTTP"),, file transfer ( Transfer Protocol (FTP), Gopher and others provide means for transferring hypertext documents or additional content from other cells in the World-Wide-Web. The Hypertext Transfer Protocol ("HTTP") is a primary protocol used to transfer information on the World-Wide-Web The Hypertext Transfer Protocol is a protocol that enables users to connect to a server, make a hypertext request, get a response, and then copy pl away from the server.

The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a protocol that provides access to files in remote systems. Using the fi delivery protocol, a user logs into a system, searches for a directory structure, and downloads or uploads a fi l. Gopher is a protocol similar to the leaf feeding protocol. Gopher provides a series of menus that are linked to files that contain the current hypertext.

Cordless devices such as cordless phones now have data capabilities in addition to voice capabilities. The data capabilities enable a wireless device to receive an electronic document from the World-Wide-Web. To optimize performance and to produce an electronic document in a format that is useful in wireless devices, a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is typically used.

The protocol for wireless application includes fl your protocols and standards that are designed to give wireless devices access to an electronic document and have been developed as an alternative to other markup languages and protocols developed for the World-Wide-Web. Further information on the Wireless Application Protocol can be found on the World-Wide-Web at (URL) "http://www.wapforum.org" within the Unified Resource Locator A component of the Wireless Application Protocol is a Wireless Markup Language. WML "), which includes markup tags and provides control over the formatting and layout of an electronic document. The wireless markup language is o fl a - | | ø »- 10 15 20 25 30 35 524 391 3 more suitable for use with cordless devices such as cordless telephones than other markup languages such as the hypertext markup language.

Data in the wireless markup language is structured as a set of "cards". A single set of cards is referred to as a "bundle". Each map includes structured content and navigation specifications. Logically, a user of a wireless device navigates through a series of cards, looks at the contents of each card, registers the requested information, selects alternatives, and navigates to and from other cards in the stack.

A user with a wireless device can request an electronic document within the World-Wide-Web. However, several problems are associated with the display of the contents of an electronic document from the World-Wide-Web on a smaller monitor on a wireless device.

First, the most electronic documents developed for the World-Wide-Web are based on the premise that the visualization takes place with standard resolution "SuperVGA" (eg a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels with 256 or more colors). A user with a cordless device such as a cordless telephone may wish to visualize electronic documents from the World-Wide-Web. However, most wireless devices have a monitor with a resolution smaller than SuperVGA (for example, a resolution of 100 x 200 monochrome pixels) which typically cannot be used for color. In addition, a SuperVGA device is typically capable of displaying 24 lines or meds of 80 characters or more of text. A monitor on a wireless device can typically display about two to five lines of 20 text characters. As a result, the contents of electronic documents will not be displayed correctly and may be difficult to visualize based on the original hypertext content. However, an electronic document must transmit the same contents to devices with a SuperVGA display as to the wireless devices with a smaller display that has a smaller resolution than SuperVGA.

One solution is to store your versions of the electronic document on a Web site with a content provider. One version of the electronic document is stored, for example, in hypertext markup language and another in wireless markup language. However, this solution requires a large amount of storage space and creates a very difficult maintenance problem to keep the different versions of the electronic document in sync when changes occur.

Another problem is that monitors on wireless devices are not able to display, or do not have enough memory to download and display an entire text page, graphic images, live images, video and other content contained in an electronic document. Trying to visualize an electronic document with too much text, graphic images, live images or video can overload or in any way adversely affect the wireless device, leading to frustration for the user.

Yet another problem is that many wireless device users do not use their "general" browsing devices within the World-Wide-Web. Instead, a user of a wireless device typically searches for specific information such as = | . a a. 10 15 20 25 30 35: av: en o a nu wo H:. "'"', s u. nu o n n; o o v '' _ H - "" '' "'I in ...... nu .u n a a o. av' '... s s a 1.» u_.c use HI 'I... u u o u u 4 telephone numbers, addresses, share prices, sports results, current news, etc. Such users may thus wish that certain types of electronic text from a hypertext document are not displayed at all (eg graphic images).

Thus, it is desirable to provide a method and system for converting an original electronic document into a converted electronic document which can be used in a cordless device such as a cordless telephone. The procedure and system should in principle enable any electronic document within the World-Wide-Web to be converted and displayed in a format suitable for a wireless device.

Summary of the Invention In accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention, some of the problems associated with displaying electronic documents on a wireless device have been overcome. A method and a system for converting the content of electronic documents have been proposed. One aspect of the present invention includes a method for converting the contents of electronic documents. The method includes receiving a request for an original electronic document in a second network device on a first network from a first wireless device on the first network. The request includes an indication of the type of wireless device. An original electronic document for a first markup language is divided into a number of document elements including text elements and non-text elements for conversion into a second wireless markup language. One or fl your original text elements from the original electronic document in the first markup language are converted to converted text elements for a second wireless markup language. One or more of your original non-text elements are converted from an original non-text format for the first markup language to a converted non-text format for the second wireless markup language. A converted electronic document is created from the converted text element and the converted non-text elements based on the device type of the first wireless device from the request. The converted electronic document is transmitted from the second network device to the first wireless device in response to the request for the original electronic document. The present invention is not limited to wireless devices and other network devices could also be used in place of the first wireless device.

Another aspect of the invention includes a content conversion system.

The system includes a wireless gateway for accepting requests for original electronic documents from network devices such as wireless devices. In a content conversion application, an original electronic document in a first markup language is converted to a second converted document in a second wireless markup language suitable for display on a wireless device. A database stores conversion settings for your wireless devices. The conversion settings are used to further convert an original electronic document in a first markup language to a second converted element in a second wireless markup language suitable for display on a specific type of wireless device. However, more or fewer system components may be used and the present invention is not limited to the described system components. In addition, the system is not limited to wireless devices and other network devices may also be used in place of the first wireless device.

In an embodiment given as an example of the present invention, the method and system are used to enable a wireless device to request an original electronic document (e.g., a document in the hypertext markup language HTML) and receive a converted electronic document (e.g., a documents in the wireless markup language WML) suitable for display on the wireless device. The converted electronic document suitable for display on a wireless device can provide greater satisfaction to a user of a wireless device.

For example, an original electronic document with the current weather can be requested from a wireless device. The original electronic document includes fl your graphic images of current weather maps and text for the current weather. The method and system can provide a converted electronic document comprising only the text of the current weather in a format suitable for display on the wireless device. However, the present invention is not limited to wireless devices and other network devices could also be used.

The foregoing features and other features and advantages of preferred embodiments of the present invention will now become more apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures.

Brief Description of the Drawing Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying figures, in which: Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a content conversion system; Fig. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a content conversion method; Fig. 3 is a fate diagram illustrating a method for logical division of electronic document elements; Fig. 4 is a block diagram visually illustrating the method of logical division of electronic document elements in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a fate diagram illustrating a method for categorizing division of electronic document elements; Fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating part of an example of a document object model ("DOM") for the hypertext markup language (HTML); Fig. 7 is a block diagram visually illustrating the method of categorized division of electronic document elements in Fig. 5; n 1 | Fig. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method for markup-oriented conversions of electronic document elements; Fig. 9 is a block diagram visually illustrating the method for markup-oriented conversions of electronic document elements in Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a screen view illustrating an example of an electronic document from the World-Wide-Web; and Fig. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example of converted output from the screen display in Fig. 10 of an exemplary wireless device.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments Example of a Content Conversion System Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a content conversion system 10 for a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The content conversion system 10 includes a number of components. A first wireless device 12 requests original electronic documents. The first wireless device 12 includes a monitor that typically has a resolution that is less than the SuperVGA resolution (for example, a resolution less than 800 x 600 pixels or less than 256 colors).

According to what is known in this field and described above, an electronic document includes text, hypertext, Greek data or references to Greek data images, audio, video and other content. A hypertext document includes markup codes called "tags". The structure of hypertext documents is defined by document markup languages such as the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), Compact HTML (cHTML), Extensible Markup Language (eXtensible Markup Language "XML"). ), Virtual Reality Markup Language (VRML), and voice extensible Markup Language (VoxML) and others.

The markup languages also allow references to additional content in addition to text including graphics, live images, audio, video and other electronic data.

As described above, electronic documents are displayed to a user with a software interface called a "browser" or "browser". A browser on a handheld or wireless device may be a subset of a larger browser and may not be able to display the entire contents of a requested electronic document stored in an electronic document server. Typically, a browser reads an electronic document and converts the electronic document content into a presentation of text, graphics, live images, audio, video, etc. for display on a device such as a personal computer. Most electronic documents developed for the World-Wide-Web assume that users will view the contents of an electronic document with a browser on a monitor of a desktop computer with a standard "SuperVGA" resolution (eg 800 x 600 pixel resolution with 256 or tillgängliga available colors). l: i | u- 10 15 20 25 30 35 524 391 n n | 7 To return to Fig. 1, a wireless gateway 14 for services requests electronic documents from the first wireless device 12 and sends converted electronic back to the first wireless content conversion application 16 converts the contents of an electronic document into a document device 12. A format that can be used in the first wireless device 12 (eg a device with smaller image scans). A database 18 stores conversion settings for wireless devices. Fig. 1 illustrates a single database 18. However, several database components can also be used. A computer network 20 is at the service of one or fl your electronic document servers with the provision of electronic documents.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the computer network is the World Wide Web on the Internet. According to what is known in this field, the Internet is a worldwide network of interconnected computers. The World Wide Web is an information system on the Internet which is designed for the exchange of electronic documents. However, other computer networks with electronic document servers can also be used (eg an intranet or other Local Area Network (LAN)).

Fig. 1 illustrates the content conversion application 16 as a separate component. However, the content converter 16 may be built into the wireless mains bridge 14 (not shown in Fig. 1). A preferred embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the network components shown in the content conversion system 10, and more or fewer network components may be used. In addition, the content conversion system 10 illustrates a first wireless device 12. In another embodiment of the present invention, the first wireless device 12 may be replaced by a wireless network device (e.g., a network device connected to a network with a temporary or permanent connection using a wire or cable). The wired network devices would be capable of using one or more of your wireless markup languages (for example, the Wireless Markup Language WML).

In a preferred embodiment serving as an example of the present invention, the wireless gateway 14 and the content conversion application 16 are software components of a proxy server. However, the functions of the components in Fig. 1 can also be obtained by a combination of hardware and software components, or as hardware components.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the functions of Fig. 1 using object-oriented and the programming language C ++ are obtained. However, other object-oriented programming languages besides C ++ can also be used. In addition, in the case of a component in a software programming technician preferred embodiment of the present invention, the functions of the components in Fig. 1 can also be obtained with non-object-oriented programming languages (eg the programming language C).

As is known in this field, object-oriented programming is used for 10 15 20 25 30 35 524 391 ø | u o nu 8 to denote computer software comprising object-oriented objects that can be easily created, which are inexpensive to modify and which can be reused. Object-oriented objects include "object data" and "object services". Object services are obtained through "object procedures" (also called "object operations" or "object functions"). The object procedures typically operate with private data such as "instance data" or "object state data" belonging to an object. A collection of objects is called an "object class" which is sometimes called an "object type". An object class acts as a template that describes the behavior of object sets. The realization of an object is typically encapsulated and hidden from public view. Access to instance data of objects can only be obtained through object procedures in an object class. Access to general instance data for objects can be obtained through a general "object interface".

An operating environment for components of a content conversion system 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a data processing system having at least one high speed central processing unit ("CPU") and a memory system. In accordance with the experience of computer programming specialists, the present invention is described below with reference to actions and symbolic representations of operations and instructions performed by the processing system, unless otherwise indicated. Such actions and operations are referred to as "computer-executed" or "CPU-executed". Although the description mentions a single central unit, a number of central units may be used for a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The memory system may include a main memory and secondary storage. The main memory is a high-speed direct memory ("RAM"). The main memory may comprise any additional or alternative high speed memory device or memory circuit. Secondary storage takes the form of a permanent long-term storage such as Read Only Memory "ROM", optically or with magnetic disks, organic memory or other volatile or non-volatile mass storage systems. The specialists realize that the memory system may include a variety and / or combination of alternative components.

Actions and symbolically represented operations or instructions involve manipulation of electrical or biological signals through the central processing unit CPU. The electrical or biological signals cause conversion of data pieces. The maintenance of data bits on memory locations in a memory system thereby reconfigures or otherwise changes the process in the central unit. Data locations where data bits are maintained are physical locations that have special electrical, magnetic, optical or organic properties corresponding to the data bits.

The data bits can also be stored on a computer readable medium including magnetic diskettes, optical diskettes, organic diskettes or other unstable or durable mass storage systems that can be read by the central unit. The medium that can be read by a computer comprises a cooperating or interconnected medium that can be read by the computer, which is found only in the treatment system or can be distributed among a number of interconnected treatment systems which may be local or remote in relation to the treatment system. 10 15 20 25 30 35 524 391 fo - u nu 9 Wireless networking devices and other network devices for preferred embodiments of the present invention include wireless networking devices that can interact with the content conversion system 10 based on standards proposed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers ("IEEE"), International Telecommunications Standard-Telecommunication. ("ITU"), Internet Engineering Task Force ("IETF"), Wireless Application Protocol Forum ("WAP") Forum m fl. The IEEE standards can be found on the World Wide Web at the Universal Resource Locator (URL) "www.ieee.org." The ITU standards (formerly known as CCITT standards) can be found at the URL "www.itu.ch." IETF standards can be retrieved at the URL "wvvwiet org". WAP Forum standards can be found at URL "wwW.wapforum.org." Content Conversion for Wireless Devices Fig. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a content conversion method 24.

The method 24 includes receiving a request for an original electronic document in a second network device 14 within a first network from a first wireless device 12 within the first network at step 26. The request specifies a device type for the first wireless device 12. At step 28 the first electronic document for a first markup language is divided into dokument your document elements including text elements or non-text elements for conversion into a second wireless markup language. In step 30, one or more of the original text elements from the original electronic document in the first markup language are converted to converted text elements for the second wireless markup language. At step 32, one or more of the original non-text elements is converted from the original non-text form for the first markup language to a converted non-text form for the second wireless markup language. At step 34, a converted electronic document is created from the converted text elements and the converted non-text elements. At step 36, the converted electronic document is transmitted from the second network device to the first wireless device in response to the request for the original electronic document.

However, the invention is not limited to wireless devices and other wireless network devices capable of using wireless application protocols (WAP) could also be used instead of the first wireless device.

In an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the conversion application 16 through the wireless gateway 14 receives a request for the original electronic document. In such an embodiment of the present invention, the content conversion application 16 requests the original electronic document from the data network 20 (eg World-Wide-Web). In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the content conversion application 16 retrieves a copy of the original electronic document from storage (e.g., a persistent or non-persistent one) such as a cache associated with the wireless gateway 14.

In such an embodiment, a copy of the original electronic document is stored in a 1024 20 25 30 35 524 391 -. Memory associated with the wireless gateway 14 upon a first request by the first wireless device 12.

In an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the request received at step 26 is a hypertext transfer protocol ("HTTP") request.

This request includes a device type (for example, in an HTTP request header) for the first wireless device 12. However, other requests may also be used (for example, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), etc.).

As is known in the art, HTTP is a transmission protocol used to transmit data from an electronic document server within the World-Wide-Web. For more information on HTTP, see the Intemet Engineering Task Force ("IETF") Request For Comments ("RFC") 2068, which is included here as a reference.

At step 28, the original electronic document is divided into dokument your document elements including text elements and non-text elements for a first markup language for conversion into a second wireless markup language. In an example of a preferred embodiment of the present first hypertext markup language ("HTML"). However, other markup languages can also be used (eg XML, cHTML, SGML, VRML, VoxML, etc). For further information on HTM, see RFC-1866, which is included here as a reference. invention is the markup language In an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the second wireless markup language is the wireless markup language ("WML") from the wireless application protocol ("WAP"). However, other wireless markup languages can also be used.

WAP includes WML as well as protocols for converting non-text elements (eg images). For further information on WML, see the "Wireless Application Protocol Specification" from the Wireless Application Protocol Forum, April 1998, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Wireless Application Protocol Specification can be found at URL "Wvvw.wapforum.org." However, other markup languages could also be used for the other wireless markup language.

In preferred embodiments of the present invention, three different methods are used to divide or divide and convert the original electronic document into your text elements or non-text elements in the first markup language for conversion to text elements or non-text elements in a second wireless markup language at step 28. More however, or fewer procedures can also be used to divide the original electronic document into text your text elements and non-text elements. The three division methods include logical division of electronic document elements, categorized division of electronic document elements, and markup-oriented conversion of electronic document elements. The three separate sharing methods used in step 28 will be explained below.

Table 1 illustrates an example of a pseudocode for preprocessing an original electronic document received at step 26, before it is divided at step 24 for 524 391 11. n - o now certain preferred embodiments which constitute examples of the present invention.

However, the present invention is not limited to the pre-processing pseudo-code illustrated in Table 1, and other methods may be used to preprocess an original electronic document. This example of a pseudocode provides a symbol list that can be used to divide and / or divide and convert the original electronic document into a converted electronic document at step 28. Examples of data structures used together with examples of pseudocodes to manage the symbol list in table at step 28 is illustrated below. © 1998 Spyglass, Inc. Initiate a conversion as follows: create a new tags action lexicon and hash table for markup tags for each entry in the tag transfer data table insert the entry from the tag translation data table in the tags action lexicon for each entry in the attribute whitelist table if the previous tag name is the same as the tag name for this entry insert attr in a new attr hash set else if the previous tag name is not empty insert the new attr hash set in the tag action lexicon else create a new attr hash-set insert attr in the new attr hash-set set the previous tag-narm on the tag-name of this entry insert the latest new attr-hash-set in the tag-action lexicon Pre-process the original electronic document as follows: analyze the incoming document and create a linked list of symbols representing the data in the document and original markup language elements change the symbol list so that t it reproduces syntactically correct and well-formed original markup language elements starting at the beginning of the list while there are additional document elements in the list 10 15 20 25 30 35 524 391. . . n v. 12 if the character is open StartTag copy the symbol name to currentTag if currentTag is one of special content tags set the corresponding special content flag on true look for currentTag in the tag action lexicon if it is not found again if currentTag is not found in the hash table for markup tags set current symbol on previous symbol delete all symbols from next symbol to next closeStartTag symbol else delete all symbols (tag attributes) from next symbol to next closeStartTag symbol else if the action for tag is removeWithoutContent set current symbol on previous symbol delete all symbols from next symbol to next closeStartTag symbol else if the action for tag is removeWithContent set current symbol on previous symbol delete all symbols from next symbol to matching end-tag else if the action for tag is replaced if only replacement of end -tag set current symbol to previous symbol delete all symbols from next symbol to the next closeStartTag symbol if only start-tag replacement replace the name of the current symbol with the replacement name delete all symbols from the next symbol to the next closeStartTag symbol else if the action for tag is to delete all attrs except white-list set current symbol on the next symbol 10 15 20 25 30 35 524 391 =; . - .- 13 while the symbol is not a closeStartTag copy symbol name to attribute locate the attribute in the currentTag hash set if it does not reset set current symbol on previous symbol delete next symbol set current symbol on next symbol else if symbol is endTag copy symbol name to current tag locate currentTag in the tag action lexicon if it does not reset set current symbol on previous symbol delete next symbol if it resumes if tag for action is removeWithoutContent set current symbol on previous symbol delete next symbol if tag for action is replaced if replacement of only start-tag set current symbol on previous symbol delete next symbol if replacement of only end-tag replace the type of current symbol with openStartTag create a new symbol for closeStartTag and insert it in the list after current symbol replace current symbol against replacement name the name of the set current symbol on the next symbol Table 1 At step 30, one or more of the original text elements from the original electronic document in the first markup language are converted to converted text elements for a second wireless markup language (for example, using the symbol list created with the pseudocode given as an example in table 1). In an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the text elements include text and hypertext, including hypertext markup codes. However, other text elements could also be used and the present invention is not limited to text and hypertext elements. 524 391 n - ø na uu 14 Table 2 illustrates an example of conversions used to convert text elements for the first markup language to converted text elements for the second wireless markup language at step 30. However, more or fewer conversions could be used and the present invention is not limited to the conversions listed in Table 2. Not all conversions in Table 2 can be used for an original electronic document in a selected original markup language. It may be that only a subset of the conversion operations can be supported for a selected original markup language.

Text conversion Description Text editing The size of an original electronic document may be unsuitable, even in converted form, for delivery to a wireless device due to memory and bandwidth limitations. To reduce the amount of text, the content conversion application 16 will output a specified number of initial characters or sections, with links to the cut text.

The links to the cut text are executed with a virtual URL schema. This conversion can, under certain conditions, be used for large blocks of text that have been denoted as larger than a specified number of paragraph elements (eg HTML).

Removal of unsupported Elements in the first markup language (eg HTML) as text elements not supported in the second wireless markup language (eg WML) is removed (eg HTML APPLET, BGSOUND, STRIKE, etc). Insignificant elements in the first markup language (eg HTML COMMENTS and META elements, etc.) are removed to reduce the size of the converted document to be created, as such elements are typically not essential to the structure or layout of the original content. This can be done during the pre-processing described in Table 1.

Removing unsupported Elements in the first markup language that has no text element tags any equivalent in the second wireless markup language is removed (eg HTML, BODY, ACRONYM, BANNER, etc). All content between deleted start and end element tags is left. This can be done during the pre-processing described in Table 1.

Replacement of equivalent text markup language elements Elements and attributes in the first markup language that have equivalent elements and attributes in the second wireless markup language are replaced with appropriate elements and attributes. (For example, HR in HTML is replaced with BR in WML). Some elements and attributes in the first markup language can be mapped in element your elements in the second wireless markup language and vice versa. Some elements and attributes in the first and second wireless markup languages may also be identical (eg B, I, U, for bold, italic and underlined text, respectively).

This can be done during the pretreatment described in Table 1.

Adding text markup elements Text markup elements needed for the second wireless markup language but not in the first markup language are added. (For example, for a conversion from HTML to WML: p If a DOCTYPE element does not exist, a suitable one is added for WML. If such a fi nns is translated, it will be added. WML documents can be linked to the converted document. 0 Markup elements that divide a document on WML card are added.) Removal of unsupported attributes Attributes in the first markup language that have no counterparts in the second wireless markup language, or that are associated with elements that are replaced with elements for the other wireless markup language that have no corresponding attributes are removed (eg HTML IMG, ALIGN, BORDER, attributes). This can be done during the preprocessing described in Table 1.

Conversion of form elements Selection of only form elements from the first markup language that have equivalent form elements in the second wireless markup language. The equivalent form elements are converted. The remaining 524 391 4-1 and 16 form elements are removed (eg HTML SELECT elements, and text and password INPUT elements are converted to WML, other HTML form elements are removed). If the input fields in the form can not be converted, the entire shape can be deleted as most server-based programs that process shapes require input from all original input fields to fill the form element correctly.

Conversion of table elements Table-related elements in the first markup language may not have any equivalents in table elements in the second wireless markup language.

However, the relationship between rows and columns in the tables is maintained. Simple and complex tables are converted in different ways. Simple tables include only text markup (eg HTML B, I, U, EM, STRONG, BIG, SMALL, etc elements) with table headings ("TH") and table data ("TD") elements.

For example, for a conversion from HTML to WML, the following image is used for simple tables: HTML content to: WML content HTML content to: WML content HTML content to: WML content ALIGN = "LEFT" /> HTML content to: WML content HTML content to: WML content HTML content to: WML content Complex tables include nested tables and are converted using table rollout procedures. The table unrolling methods indicate table cells in an output format, i.e. they put table cells within clear lines (eg "[" and "]") and start 524 391 ß-so see 17 new rows on new lines.

Converting frame elements Frame elements in the first markup language are converted to markup in the second wireless markup language that maintains the general frame structure (for example, from an HTML FRAME ELEMENT, a WML card linked to the HTML frames, and a card containing HTML NOFRAMES element content if any.

The value of the HTML SRC attribute of the FRAME element is mapped to a WML GO element. If present, the value of the HTML NAME attribute of the FRAME element is used to identify a link. Otherwise a link is called "FrarneN", where N is a serial number. The following HTML markup, for example, is mapped to the WML markup, name Link elements in the first markup language are converted to link elements in the second wireless markup language.

When converting from eg HTML to WML, the following image is used for links: HTML link text to: WML link text URL = "url" /> Conversion of link elements Table 2 In step 32, one or more of the original non-text elements are converted from an original non text-formatted for the first markup language to a converted non-text-formatted for the second wireless markup language. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, non-textual forms such as graphics and images are converted from their original format to a format that can be used with the second wireless markup language.

For example, BitMaPed ("BMP") and Joint Pictures Expert Group ("JPEG") images are converted to the Wireless Bit-MaPped ("WBMP") image format defined by the wireless application protocol and included here as a reference . BMP and JPEG image formats are known to those skilled in the art.

Table 3 illustrates an example of conversions used to convert non-text elements for the first markup language to non-text elements for the second wireless markup language at step 32. More or fewer non-text conversions could also uuu cuu oo oc uu: uunn ou un uu nu vu ru u nu nu: u ou vou: u: uu: nu uv; nu uvu ruvar uo uu u uu nuuuuun nu u 18 is used and the present invention is not limited to the non-text conversions listed in Table 3. 10 15 524 391: nu e: 19 Non-text conversion Description Image conversion Images in format used by the first markup language is converted to a format that can be used by the other wireless markup language (for example, JPEG images are converted to a WBMP format required by WAP). Images can also be replaced by links to the original image to improve performance and maintain screen space.

Converting images on Customer images on the first customer page the markup language is converted to markup for the second wireless markup language to allow users to access links mapped to an original image (eg for HTML IMG elements or OBJECT elements with USEMAP attributes referring to MAP elements within an HTML document, a WML CARD element containing links to HTML AREA elements within HTML MAP containing an HTML HREF attribute and the image or object itself is created).

Table 3 Table 3 illustrates image conversion for non-text elements only. However, the present invention is not limited to image conversions and conversion for other non-text elements (eg audio, video, moving images, etc.) may be used.

In an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the pseudocode list in Table 4 includes as an example C / C ++ data structures and interfaces for conversion elements for text elements used in step 30 and non-text elements at step 32 according to method 24. In an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, for example, C / C ++ data structures and interfaces from Table 4 are used with, for example, the pseudocode from Table 1 to split an original document at step 28 and convert the original document elements at steps 30 and 32.

However, the present invention is not limited to C / C ++ data structures or interfaces from Table 4 that use data structures and interfaces from Table 4 with the pre-processing pseudocode from Table 1. More or fewer elements and element attributes and ellers or fewer conversion functions may also be used for preferred embodiments of present invention. In addition, the present invention is not limited to object-oriented programming techniques (eg C / C ++), and non-object-oriented programming languages (eg programming language C) can also be used for conversion functions. 15 20 25 30 35 524 391 20 un 1 .: © 1998 Spyglass, Inc // Conversion of elements and element attributes // Attribute list table (ie keep these attributes in the conversion table and delete the rest) // table field: // HTML tagName, attributeName static tagAttrPair attrWhitelist [] = {{"A", "HREF"}, {"A", "NAME"}, {"A", "TITLE"}, {"AREA", "ALT"}, {"AREA", HREF "}, {" BASE "," HREF "}, {" FIELDSET "," TITLE "}, {" FORM "," ACTION "}, {" FORM "," METHOD "}, {" FRAME ", NAME "}, {" FRAME "," SRC "}, {" IMG "," ALT "}, {" IMG "," SRC "}, {" IMG "," USEMAP "}, {" INPUT "," MAXLENGTH "}, {" INPUT "," NAME "}, {" INPUT "," SIZE "}, {" INPUT "," TITLE "}, {" INPUT "," TYPE "}, {" INPUT "," VALUE "}, {" LINK "," HREF "}, {" MAP "," NAME "}, {" OPTGROUP "," TITLE "}, {" OPTION "," TITLE "}, {" SELECT "," NAME "}, {" SELECT "," TITLE "}, {" SELECT "," MULTIPLE "}, {" TEXTAREA "," COLS "}, {" TEXTAREA "," NAME "}, 15 20 25 30 524 391 nu = ~ 21 // HTML table for tag translation data / '/' tabeilfáit: // tag, tagAction, replacementTag, rep1StartOn1y Flag, replEndOnlyF lag static tagTrans tagTransData [] = {{"APP", removeWithContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"APPLET", removeWithContcnt, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"COMMENT", removeWithContent, " , F ALSKT, FALSE}, {"SHARE", removeWithContent, "", FALSE, F ALSKT}, {"PLAINTEXT", removeWithContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"S", removeWithContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"SCRIPT", removeWithContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"STRIKE", removeWithContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"STYLE", removeWithContent, "", FALSE, {FALSE} ABBR ", removeWithoutContent," ", FALSE, FALSE}, {" ABREV ", removeWithoutCøntent," ", FALSE, FALSE}, {" ACRONYM ", removeWithoutContent," ", FALSE, FALSE,}, {" AUC "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"BANNER", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"BASEFONT", removeWithoutContent, "", F ALSKT, FALSE}, {"BDO", removeWithoutContent, "" , FALSE}, {"BGSOUND", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"COL", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"COLGROUP", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"DIR", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"DIV", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, {FALSE "DL", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"FIG", removeWithoutCøntent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"FN", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"FONT", removeWithoutC , "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"INS", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"ISINDEX", removeWithoutContent, "", F ALSKT, FALSE}, {"LABEL", removeWithoutContent, "" FALSE, FALSE}, {"LONG", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"LH", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"META", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE}, FALSE} {"MENU", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"NEXTID", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, F ALSKT}, {"NOTE", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, 20 25 30 524 391 22 {"OL", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"OVERLAY", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"PARAM", re moveWithoutCøntent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"PERSON", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"Q", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"SOUND", removeWithoutCont FALSE, FALSE}, {"SPAN", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"TBODY", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"TFOOT", removeWithoutContent, "", FALS {"THEAD", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"UL", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"WBR", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"NOSCRIPT removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"XMP", removeWithoutContent, "", FALSE, FALSE}, {"ADDRESS", replace, "I", FALSE, FALSE}, {"BL1NK", replace, "STRONG ", FALSE, FALSE}, {" KBD ", replace," B ", FALSE, FALSE}, {" MARQUEE ", replace," STRONG ", FALSE, FALSE}, {" SAMP ", replace," I " , FALSE, FALSE}, {"SUB", replace, "SMALL", FALSE, FALSE}, {"SUP", replace, "SMALL", FALSE, FALSE}, {"TAB", replace, "TAB / ", FALSE, FALSE}, {" WHERE ", replace," I ", FALSE, FALSE}, {"BLOCKQUOTE", replace, "BR", FALSE, TRUE}, {"BQ", replace, "BR", FALSE, TRUE}, {"CAPTION", replace, "BR", FALSE, TRUE} , {"CENTER", replace, "BR", FALSE, TRUE}, {"CITE", replace, "I", FALSE, FALSE}, {"CODE", replace, "I", FALSE, FALSE}, {"CREDIT", replace, "BR", FALSE, TRUE}, {"DD", replace, "BR", FALSE, TRUE}, {"DFN", replace, "I", FALSE, FALSE}, {" DT ", replace," BR ", FALSE, TRUE}, {" HR ", replace," BR ", FALSE, TRUE}, {" H1 ", replace," BR ", FALSE, TRUE}, {" H2 " , replace, "BR", FALSE, TRUE}, {"H3", replace, "BR", FALSE, TRUE}, {"H4", replace, "BR", FALSE, TRUE}, ln: == 10 15 20 25 30 35 524 391 fn: == 23 {"H5", replace, "BR", FALSE, TRUE}, {"H6", replace, "BR", FALSE, TRUE}, {"LEGEND", replace, "BR", FALSE, TRUE}, {"Ll", replace, "BR", FALSE, TRUE}, {"LISTING", replace, "BR", FALSE, TRUE}, {"NOBR", replace, "BR ", FALSE, TRUE}, {" PRE ", replace," BR ", FALSE, TRUE}, {" TR ", replace," BR ", FALSE, TRUE}, {" TT ", replace," BR ", FALSE, TRUE}, Table 4 According to what is illustrated in Fig. 4, the first data structure includes a list of element attributes that are retained during the preprocessing in Table 1. Other attributes are removed. The second data structure determines how element tags are to be converted. As illustrated in the second data structure, a tag action routine "delete without content" deletes an element tag and retains its contents (eg corresponding text etc). A "delete with content" tag routine deletes an element tag and does not retain its content. A "replace" tag routine replaces an element tag in a first markup language with an element in a second markup language (for example, an HTML element is replaced by a WML element). Two exchange indicators for exchange "replStartOnlyF lag" and replEndonlyOnlyFlag "indicate how to replace an element tag.

However, the present invention is not limited to the element-tag list or data structures for element-tag conversion and associated conversion routines, and other lists, data structures and conversion elements may also be used. In addition, eller or fewer elements can also be used for the conversion.

In an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the C / C ++ pseudocode list in Table 5 includes examples of non-text element conversion function routines used in step 32 of method 24. Table 5 illustrates conversions specifically for converting a JPEG image format to a WBMP -imaged image. In Table 5, the variable "data" includes the original image data changed by the routine and the variable "metaData" includes HTTP header data. Other similar functions would be used for converting other non-text elements (eg other image formats, audio, video, live images, etc.). However, the present invention is not limited to the procedures set forth in Table 5 for converting JPEG images to WBMP images, and more or fewer conversion functions for other image formats may also be used.

In another example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, JPEG images are converted directly to WBMP images without intermediate steps by converting the JPEG image to an internal format, converting the internal format to BMP image and 524 391 24 converting the BMP image to a WBMP image. In such an embodiment, a single conversion function is used (eg .ïPEGTo WBMP (* data)). © 1998 Spyglass, Inc // Convert J PEG images to WML WBMP // Convert JPEG format images to WBMP images // Convert JPEG to an internal format Convert IPEG_TolnernalFormat (char * data, char * metaData); // Convert from an internal format to BMP format // In this routine, data from the internal format is translated to BMP format // metaData is changed as follows: // Content-Length "is updated // Content-Type" is changed to "image / bmp "Convert internally formatted to BMP (char * data, char * metaData); // Convert from BMP format to a WBMP format // metaData changes as follows: // Content-Length "updated // Content-Type" changes to "image / x-wap.wbmp" ConvertBMP_ToWBMP (char * data, char * metaData); Table 5 In step 34, a converted electronic document is created from the converted text elements and the converted non-text elements. In an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the converted electronic document is an electronic element converted with WAP including WML and the protocols from WAP (eg WBMP for images) from an original HMTL document. However, the original electronic document may include other markup languages besides HMTL (eg cHMTL, XML, SGML, VRML, VoxML, etc), and the converted electronic document may include other wireless markup languages.

In addition, in an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, step 34 includes interrogating the database 18 for the settings of the wireless device before the converted electronic document is created. In such an embodiment, the converted text and non-text elements can be further modified to meet specific device settings. For example, a first wireless device 12 may be of a first device type having a 5-line, 30-character text display. Another wireless device may be of a different type of device having a 2-line, 20-character display for text display. The converted text and non-text elements can be further modified at step 34 to take into account the type of wireless device before creating a final version of a converted electronic document.

At step 36, the converted electronic document is transmitted from the second network device 14 to the first wireless device 12 in response to the request for the original electronic document. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a WAP document comprising WML and other WAP protocols (e.g., WBMP for images) is transmitted from the second network device 14 to the first wireless device 12 in response to the request for an original HMTL document. Other original electronic documents and converted document types can also be used and the present invention is not limited to conversions from HMTL to WAP.

In an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, step 36 includes determining whether the first wireless device has sufficient memory to store the entire converted document (e.g., based on the device type in the request heading). If not, the converted document is divided into several subdocuments that are sent one by one or a few at a time. For example, a WML bundle with N number of cards can be divided into two WML bundles, a first bundle comprising N-x number of cards and a second bundle comprising the remaining WML cards. The method 26 enables a wireless device to actually request any original electronic document from the World-Wide-Web and receive a converted document suitable for display on the wireless device.

Dividing an original electronic document As discussed above, there are three separate methods used to divide or divide and convert an original electronic document into text elements and non-text elements from the first markup language to be converted to text elements and non-text elements on the second wireless the markup language at step 28 according to method 24 (Fig. 2).

These three methods include logical division of electronic document elements, categorized division of electronic document elements, and markup-oriented conversion of electronic document elements. However, more or fewer sharing methods may be used and the present invention is not limited to the three described methods.

Logical division of electronic document elements The division procedure maintains as much as possible of the structure of the original electronic document when it is converted into a converted electronic document. The converted document is displayed in the same logical sequence as the original electronic document.

Fig. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method 40 for logically dividing 524 391 a:; = 26 electronic document elements. In step 42, a first set of document elements in a first markup language is selected for dividing an original electronic document into your logical subdocuments in a second wireless markup language (eg see Table 6). The first set of document elements includes text elements and non-text elements from the first markup language.

At step 44, the original electronic document is analyzed for document elements from the first set of elements (eg, see Table 1). In step 46, the original electronic document is divided into fl your subdocuments for a second wireless first element set. The sub-documents for the second wireless markup language retain a markup language that uses analyzed document elements from the logical sequence associated with the analyzed document elements from the original electronic document.

In an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first markup language is HTML and the second wireless markup language is WML. However, other markup languages can be used and the present format is not limited to HTML and WML, as other markup languages can also be used (eg cHTML, SGML, XML, VRML, VoxML etc). In such an embodiment, at step 42, a first set of elements in HTML is selected to divide an original electronic document into logical cards in the WML language. The first set of elements includes text elements and non-text elements from the HTML language.

Table 6 illustrates an example of document elements selected for HTML and used for an example of a first set of elements. The present invention is not limited to the example of document elements illustrated in Table 6 and more or fewer document elements can be used. In addition, the present invention is not limited to HTML elements and also document elements from other markup languages (eg cHTML, SGML, XML, VRML, VoxML etc) can be used.

WML card breaks are inserted before the following HTML elements: TABLE elements IMG elements that can contain a USEMAP attribute F IELDSET elements IFRAME elements NOSCRIPT elements TBODY elements NOFRAMES elements FRAME elements Table 6 10 15 20 25 30 35 524 391 en: s: 27 In step 44, the original electronic document is analyzed with respect to document elements from the first set of elements such as those illustrated in Table 6.

In step 46, the original electronic document is divided into your WML cards that use the analyzed document elements. The WML cards maintain a logical sequence associated with the analyzed document elements from the original electronic document element.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram 48 visually illustrating the method 40 for logically dividing electronic document elements. An original electronic HTML document 50 is divided into your WML cards 52, 54, 56 which form a WML bundle 58. The individual WML cards 52, 54, 56 are linked together with WML links 60, 60 '. The logical sequencing associated with the HTML document 50 is maintained in the WML bundle 58.

Using the HTML elements illustrated in Table 6, for example, an HTML TABLE element is the first element analyzed from the HTML document 50.

A first WML card 52 is created to include table data associated with the HTML TABLE element. The second HTML element being analyzed is an HTML PICTURE (IMG) element with the USE PICTURE (USEMAP) attribute. The second WML card 54 includes an image associated with the HTML IMAGE element along with the USE IMAGE attribute. The third HTML element is analyzed in an HTML RAM (FRAME) element. The third WML card 56 includes frame data associated with the HTML RAM element. Thus, by applying the method of creating the WML bundle 60, the document elements are retained from the original HTML document 52. The method 40 (Fig. 3) can be used in step 28 of method 24 (Fig. 2) to share an original electronic data. logical sequencing associated with documents in your document elements.

Categorized division of electronic document elements This procedure divides an original electronic document into general categories of document elements used to create an original electronic document (eg text, links, images, tables, etc.). The categories are displayed in a list that allows navigation to individual categories.

Fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method 62 for categorized division of electronic document elements. In step 64, a first set of categories for a first markup language is selected to divide an original electronic document into subdocuments in a second wireless markup language. An individual category in the first set of categories is associated with one or fl your document elements from the first markup language. At step 66, a structured model is created for the original electronic document (eg from the list of symbols created in Table 1). In step 68, a loop is introduced to analyze the structured model with respect to one or more of your document elements from the original electronic document, which are included in the first category set. At step 70, an individual category is added to a first list associated with a first subdocument for a second wireless markup language. At step 72, one or more of your analyzed document elements is added to a new list associated with the individual category in a new subdocument for the second wireless markup language. At step 74, an association is created between the first subdocument and the next subdocument. This association includes state information. Steps 68, 70, 72 and 74 are repeated until the end of the structured model of the original electronic document to divide the original electronic document into a number of sub-documents for the second wireless markup language. In addition, step 72 may be repeated to create additional subdocuments associated with the next subdocument.

In an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first markup language is HTML and the second wireless markup language is WML. However, other markup languages can be used and the present format is not limited to HTML and WML, as other markup languages can also be used (eg cHTML, SGML, XML, VRML, VoxML etc). In such an embodiment, at step 64, a first category set is selected for dividing an original electronic HTML document into WML cards into a WML card stack. HTML (eg the HTML IMAGE element is associated with an image category, the HTML TABLE element is associated with a table category, etc.). An individual category in the first category set is associated with one or fl your document elements from the original electronic HTML document.

Table 7 illustrates examples of categories selected for HTML elements that are used in an example of a first category set. The present invention is not limited to the example of categories illustrated in Table 7 and eller or fewer categories may also be used. In addition, the present invention is not limited to HTML categories and also categories from other markup languages (eg cHTML, SGML, XML, VRML, VoxML etc) can be used.

WML cards are created from HTML elements associated with the following categories: Links Text Tables Input field Page selection Links from images Images Navigation Table 7 20 25 30 524 391 en:; = 29 Step 66 creates a structured model for the original electronic document. In an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a Document Object Model "DOM" is created for the original electronic document at step 68. DOM defines a logical structure with electronic hypertext documents and illustrates how to access electronic hypertext documents and how these can be handled. However, other structured models can also be used and the present invention is not limited to DOM. Table 8 illustrates an example of routines for creating a DOM model at step 66. However, even fl or fewer routines can be used.

Conversion operation write DOM_CREATE Creates a document object model ("DOM") from an electronic document DOM_EVAL Evaluates one or uttryck your expressions that select one or fl your hypertext documents from a DOM.

Table 8 Fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating part of an example of a document object model ("DOM") 76 for HTML. For more information on DOM for HTML, see the World-Wide-Web Consortium ("W3C") document object model, which is included here for reference.

The W3C DOM can be found on the World Wide Web at the URL "http://wvvw.w3.org.". Dynamic HTML from Microso fl was also one of the immediate forerunners of the W3C document object node. More information about Dynamic HTML ("DHTML") can be found at URL "http://www.microsoft.com." However, the present invention is not limited to a DOM for HTML, or DHTML, and a DOM can also be created for other markup languages (eg cHTML, SGML, XML, VRML, VoxML, etc.).

To return to Fig. 6, the example DOM 76 for HTML contains a document type for HTML 78, an HTML element HEAD 80, a sub-element TITLE 82 for HTML HEAD, and a text sub-element 84 for the sub-element TITLE 82. The HTML element BODY 86 comprises a HEADING sub-element 88 and a text 90.

The PARAGRAPH 92 element of BODY 86 includes a text 94.

The TABLE 96 sub-element of BODY 86 includes sub-elements RADER (ROWS) 98, 100. The sub-element RAD 98 comprises sub-element CELL 102. The sub-element cell 102 comprises a text 104. Additional HTML sub-elements from BODY 86 are included in DOM 76 starting at 106 Other HTML elements, sub-element attributes, and text are also added to DOM 76 for HTML, but are not illustrated in Fig. 6.

To now return to F ig. At step 68, a loop is inserted to analyze DOM 76 with respect to your document elements (e.g., the HTML element TABLE 96 (Fig. 6)) from the original electronic HTML document included. in the categories from the first set of categories illustrated in Table 7.

At step 70, an individual category (such as a table) is added to a first list associated with a first WML card. At step 72, the analyzed or multiple analyzed document elements (eg HTML TABLE text) are added to a following list associated with the individual category (eg table) on a subsequent WML card. In step 74, a WML link is created between the first WML card and the next WML card. The WML link includes permission information that enables access to other WML cards. Steps 68, 70, 72 and 74 are repeated until the end of the DOM for the original electronic document. A bundle of WML cards is created.

In addition, step 72 may be repeated to create additional subdocuments associated with the next subdocument. The first WML card may, for example, contain a first list including a category for links. The next WML card may contain a second list including a list of links from the HTML document. WML Cards next-sub + 1 to next-sub + N may include content associated with links from the second list of links.

Fig. 7 is a block diagram 110 which visually illustrates the method 62 for categorized division of electronic documents in Figs. A first WML card 112 includes a first list of categories (eg text, links and tables). The next WML card 114 contains text. A next +1 WML card 116 includes a second link list. A next + 2 WML card 118 includes a table data. WML links (ie associations), 120, 120 ', 120 "are created between the first WML card 112 and the following WML cards 114, 116 and 118. The WML cards 112, 114, 116 and 118 form a WML card stack 122. Method 62 (Fig. 5) may also be used in step 28 of Method 24 (Fig. 2) to divide an original electronic document into your electronic documents.

In an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a first WML card in a WML bundle created by the method 62 includes a first list of general category choices (e.g., those illustrated in Table 7). This first list is a scrollable list. The first seven list items (such as links, text, tables, input fields, page selections, links from images and images) are WML links to information from the original electronic HTML document. The WML links contain state information for a category. The eighth item enables further navigation among the first seven items.

The content conversion application 16 fills as many WML cards as possible. For a wireless device with enough memory to display a bundle of WML cards, the first WML card is linked to the second WML card in the bundle. If the wireless device does not have enough to use the WML card, the content conversion application 16 uses the state information and creates a single bundle and memory display a single bundle links the bundles to the current HTML information. For example, if the original electronic HTML document is at the URL "http://wvvw.abc.com," the link represented by a list entry in the first list of a first WML card for the link category is a virtual URL. 10 15 20 524 391 aa ø avvn 31 "http: //wvvw.abc.com_spyg__ (SPYGA-HTML2WML-STATE = Ll)" where (_spyg_ (SPYGA-HTML2WML-STATE = L1) is the state information. A wireless device that selects it virtual URL "http: //wwW.abc.com_spyg_ (SPYGA- HTML2WML-STATE = L1)" requests that the content conversion application 16 display a first WML bundle of cards. The next WML bundle of cards would include state information, (_spyg_ (SPYGA-) HTML2WML-STATE = L2), where L2 indicates a second state after the first state L1. The content conversion link 16 decodes the virtual URLS.

The wireless device may also have wireless device settings retrieved from the database 18 (Fig. 1) to limit the number of lines displayed on a monitor of a wireless device. The state information is then used in a similar manner based on the settings of the wireless device.

Table 9 illustrates examples of WML documents for the category selections illustrated in Table 6. However, other documents may also be offered for the category selection in and the present invention is not limited to the documents listed in Table 9.

HTML Category WML Document Links Provides a list of links from an original HTML document.

Text Provides text from an original HTML document without the HTML markup tag.

Tables Provides table data from an original HTML table.

Input field Provides an input element that is used to represent HTML input fields in HTML forms.

Page Selection Provides a selection list for links to frames.

Links from images Provides a selection list of links as defined by an image on the customer page.

Pictures Provides a selection of links to pictures for wireless devices with gray possibilities.

Navigation Provides a WML input card which takes as input a state index. With the input card and condition index, provides navigation to other WML cards.

Table 9 The actual amount of information displayed on a wireless device depends on the resolution of the wireless monitor (eg 5 lines with 18 characters). The amount of information (such as a WML card) sent to a wireless device depends on the amount of memory in the wireless device. Permit information is used to connect your bundles of WML cards. 10 15 20 25 30 524 391 - »~ u u: 32 lvíål-oriented conversion of electronic document elements This procedure enables the creation of expressions document elements to be extracted from an original electronic document. Expressions that specify which make it possible for specific document elements at specific locations to be extracted from an original electronic document (eg a specific share price from a list of stock quotes or a specific target from a list of sports targets).

Fig. 8 is a fate diagram illustrating a method for targeted conversions of electronic document elements. At step 126, a set of extraction terms is created to extract one or more document elements from an original electronic document. The document elements include text elements and non-text elements. In step 128, the set of extraction terms is applied to the original electronic document to extract one or dokument of your document elements. At step 130, the original electronic document is divided into a number of sub-documents for a second wireless markup language that uses the extracted document elements.

In an exemplary preferred embodiment of the present invention, the content conversion application 16 converts the recovered HTML elements to WML elements either by dynamically generating the WML elements based on characteristics from the recovered HTML elements, or by writing the recovered HTML elements in and WML template. The WML template is a predefined set of WML cards in one or more of your WML bundles. In an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the extraction terms are applied at step 128 to a DOM 76 (Fig. 6) created from the original electronic document. In another example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the extraction terms are used to set up a list of document elements created from the original electronic document.

For example, let's assume that a user is a baseball fan and only wants to see the score for his / her favorite team from day to day. In preferred embodiments of the present invention, a user may select a desired scoring combination from a sports page in an electronic document server on the World-Wide-Web (eg from a sports page in a newspaper) for daily viewing on a wireless device. An example of a baseball scoring form from an example of a sports page is illustrated in Table 10. 10 15 20 25 30 35 524 391 1 | nuu 33 End: Friday, April 17, 1998 123456789RHE 000000020 250 010000000 131 Chicago-C New York-M Table 10 In an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the user is given the option to not only select one or more of your hypertext elements for use on a wireless device, but also the ability to change the content to a format that suits the user. We assume that the user only wants to determine if his / her favorite team has won or lost a match and only has enough screen space on a wireless device to view the summary of a match. Table 10 illustrates a desired scoring format suitable for a wireless device. Table 11 illustrates an abbreviated summary of the original baseball scoring animation arrangement suitable for display on a wireless device. In one embodiment of the present invention, the abbreviated summary of the original baseball score compiled for display on a wireless device would be sent to the wireless device in WML after retrieving the appropriate information from HTML.

End: Friday, April 17, 1998 Run Hits Error Chicago-C 2 5 0 New York-M 1 3 1 Table 1 1 In an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the extraction expressions of the operations come from a conversion language for data extraction. However, other recovery terms may also be used and the present invention is not limited to recovery terms from a data mining language. The data mining conversion language is a set of object-oriented methods that can be used to identify one or more of your hypertext elements in an electronic hypertext element. They can also be used to obtain text and change attribute values for the hypertext elements. However, non-object oriented methods can also be used.

Table 12 illustrates an example of object-oriented data extraction methods for an example of a data extraction conversion language. However, more or fewer object-oriented methods would soon be used in the example of conversion language for data recovery. The object-oriented methods provide component names that are used to create expressions for data extraction. Desired hypertext element Procedure Electronic hypertext element Documents All hypertext elements in an electronic All hypertext documents record (n- 1) (Since zero-based indexes are used, n-l returns to record no. N).

Hypertext element no n in a list Hypertext element with a specified tag tags ("tag") Hypertext element that contains an attributeMatch (name = value [, name = value]) attribute name / value pair Search for elements with specified text grip ("text") Table 12 I Table 13 illustrates an example of object-oriented methods used for sub-elements for an example of conversion language for data extraction. However, more or fewer object-oriented methods can be used.

Element Sub-element Procedure table One or all rows in a table rows (m) or rows table row One or all cells in a table row cells (m) or cells image One or områden your areas as areas (m) or areas are defined on an image form One or all elements in a form element (m) or element forrnval One or all options in a selection list option (m) or option other (eg list and One or all subelements of a child (m) or child frames elements Table 13 The conversion language for data extraction also includes, for example, methods for retrieving the text in a hypertext element, finding a value of an attribute for an element, and searching for a text in an element.An example of object-oriented methods for retrieving the text in an element is illustrated by the example of data extraction expressions in table 14. 10 524 591 «|» I .- 35 Assignment Sample for data mining expression Retrieve the text from a document.all.tags. ("BL"). record (n) .children (m) .text ball list record Download te xten from a document file. ("TABLE"). record (n). lines (line no. table cell) cell (column no.). Text Retrieve the text from all cells documents.all.tags. ("TABLE"). record (n). rows (row no. in a row. This text is) cell (column no.) chained together in a single string.

Retrieve the text from all cells document.all.tags. ("TABLE"). Record (n). Lines (line number in a column. The text is) cell (cell number) .text linked to a string.

Retrieve options from a SELECT AR element. The text is linked into a string. document.all.tags. ("FORM"). entry (n) .element.tags ("SELECT"). entry (n). Optional text Table 14 As an example, to find the text in a table list entry -n with for example the data extraction expression "document.all.tags. (" TABLE "). Entry (n) .children (m) .text.", Is combined the object-oriented procedure "document" (Table 12) with the procedures "all" (Table 12), "tags" (Table 12), for HTML table list tags "table", "record" (table 12), "children" ( Table 13) and "text" (Table 14). The expression from the data extraction language (eg table l4) receives text from all HTML bullet list tags, including nested tags in an HTML document. Other data extraction expressions in Table 14 are similarly created to obtain text from HTML tables and the form Object-Oriented Procedures for Recovering a Value for an Attribute to a Hypertext Element Using Data Extraction Expressions are illustrated by examples of data extraction expressions in Table 15. Examples of data extraction expressions combine object-oriented procedures from Table 12 and Table 13.

Assignment Example of data extraction expression Retrieve visited hyperlinks Document.all.tags ("BODY"). GetAtt1ibute ("link") color Retrieve URL for an anchor Document.all.tags ("A"). Record (n) .getAttribute ("href ") Get URL Associated Document.all.tags (" IMAGE "). Areas (area with an area within a domain number) .getAttribute (" href ") image Get URL for a form Document.all.tags (" FORM " ) .post (n) .getAttribute ("action") 10 15 20 25 30 524 391 -; - o .p 36 Table 15 An object-oriented procedure for searching for text in a hypertext element that uses data extraction expressions is illustrated by an example of data extraction expressions in Table 16.

The text search procedure searches for a specified string and returns all elements that contain it. As a result, duplicate text information can be returned if the text search procedure is not used at the bottom of the element hierarchy in DOM 76 (Fig. 6).

Assignment Example of data extraction expression Searching in a frame for a Document.all.tags ("RAM"). Grip ("CONTENT") element contains the text "Contents".

SOITl Table 16 The example of data extraction terms can be used to extract information for display on a wireless device. Examples of recovery terms can be stored in a database 18.

(Fig. 1). Fig. 9 is a block diagram 132 that visually illustrates the method 124 for targeted conversion of electronic document elements in Fig. 8. An original electronic HTML document 134 includes a table 136 which includes a Sports Result (e.g., Table 10). A recovery expression 138 is applied to Table 136 to create a WML card 140 in a WML bundle 142 that includes a subset of data from the original Table 136 (e.g., Table II). Method 128 (Fig. 8) can also be used in step 28 of method 24 (Fig. 2) to divide an original electronic document into your document elements.

Illustrative Use of Preferred Embodiments of the Present Invention Figures 10 and 11 illustrate the use of preferred embodiments of the present invention. However, Figures 10 and 11 are examples only and the present invention is not limited to the illustrated views. Fig. 10 is a screen view 142 illustrating the visual output from an example of an electronic HTML document from the World-Wide-Web. The example of an electronic document includes a markup text 144 in a "Latest News" section of the screen display 142. Table 17 illustrates part of the example of HTML used for the screen display 142 in Fig. 10. In the example of HTML illustrated in Table 17, the text is 144 from the "Latest News" section stored in an HTML table. However, the markup text 144 would also be stored with other HTML elements and Table 17 is just one example. © 1998 Spyglass, Inc. 10 15 20 25 30 35 524 391 37. - | ~ n <ï-Copyright 1998 Spyglass ->

Claims (34)

10 15 20 25 30 35 524 391 42 Patent claims A method for content conversion in network devices, comprising the steps of: a network with a receipt of a request for an original electronic document in a second network device in a first network, from a first wireless device in the first network, the request comprising a device type for the first wireless device, the request for the original document being received from the first wireless device, without a user input specifying the device type for the first wireless device; dividing the original electronic document into a number of document elements, including text elements and non-text elements for a first markup language used to create the original electronic document, for converting the first markup language into a second wireless markup language; converting one or more original text elements from the original electronic document in the first markup language to converted text elements for the second wireless markup language; converting one or more non-text elements from an original non-text format for the first markup language to a converted non-text format for the second wireless markup language; creating a converted electronic document from the converted text elements and the converted non-text elements based on the equipment type of the first wireless device from the request; and transmitting the converted electronic document from the second network device to the first wireless device in response to the request for the original electronic document. A computer readable medium, the medium storing instructions for causing a central unit to execute the method of claim 1. The method of claim 1, wherein the first wireless device is a cordless telephone and the second network device is a wireless application protocol (WAP) gateway. The method of claim 1, the hypertext external language (HTML) and the second wireless markup language is the wireless markup language (WML) for the wireless application. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of dividing the original wherein the first markup language is the electronic document in a plurality of document elements comprises dividing the original electronic document into a plurality of subdocument elements for a second wireless markup language, said subdocument element for the second wireless markup language. maintains a logical sequence associated with said number of document elements from the original electronic document. u oval f 10 15 20 25 30 35 524 391 43. . ~. -n nu n. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of dividing the original electronic document into a plurality of document documents comprises dividing the original electronic document into a plurality of document elements using a Document Object Model (DOM). The method of claim 1, wherein the step of dividing the original electronic document into a plurality of document elements comprises dividing the original electronic document into a plurality of subdocuments for a second wireless markup language using a set of document element categories for the first markup language. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of dividing the original electronic document into a plurality of document elements comprises dividing the original electronic document into a plurality of subdocuments for a second wireless markup language using extraction expressions from a data extraction language. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of converting one or more non-text elements from an original non-text format for the first markup language to a converted non-text format for the second wireless markup language comprises converting original image formats in the original electronic document to an image format for Protocol for Wireless Application (WAP) for Wireless Markup Language (WML). The method of claim 1, wherein the step of creating a converted electronic document from the converted text elements and the converted non-text elements comprises creating an electronic document in Wireless Markup Language (WML) with a number of cards comprising a card stack in Wireless Markup Language for display on the first wireless device. 11. ll. The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending the request for the original electronic document from the second network device to a third network device in a second network to retrieve the original electronic document; and receiving the original electronic document in the second network device in the first network from the third network device in the second network. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of creating a converted electronic document from the converted text elements and the converted non-text elements comprises: consulting a database associated with the second network device to determine device settings for the first wireless network device; and modifying the converted text elements and the converted non-text elements, based on the device settings of the first wireless network device. The method of claim 1, wherein the request is a request for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. a n v nu: 10 15 20 25 30 35 524 391 44 e. e. e. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of converting one or more of the interleaved text elements comprises converting at least one, less than all of the original text elements. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of converting one or more of the original non-text elements comprises converting at least one, but less than all of the original non-text elements. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting the converted document comprises determining whether the first wireless device has sufficient memory to store the entire converted document and, if not, dividing the converted electronic document into a number of subdocuments. ; and sending this number of subdocuments instead of the entire converted document. A method of dividing an electronic document into a network with a number of network devices, comprising the steps of: selecting a first set of document elements in a first markup language to divide an original electronic document into logical subdocuments in a second wireless markup language, the first set document elements include text elements and non-text elements fi of the first markup language, wherein a request for the original document includes a device type for a first wireless device determined without user input; analysis of the original electronic document for document elements from the first set of elements; dividing the original electronic document into a number of sub-documents for a second wireless markup language using analyzed document elements from the first set of elements, this number of subdocuments for the second wireless markup language maintaining a logical sequencing associated with the analyzed document elements from the original set. electronic document. A computer readable medium, the medium storing instructions for causing a central unit to execute the method of claim 17. The method of claim 17, wherein the first markup language comprises Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and the second wireless markup language comprises Wireless Markup Language (WML). The method of claim 17, wherein said fl number of sub-documents for the second wireless markup language comprises a number of cards in the Wireless Markup Language (WML). The method of claim 17, wherein a first set of elements in a first markup language is either a BHeD (IMG) and an OBJECT ELEMENT with an attribute USEMAP, NoFRAME elements, RAM elements (RAM), FIELDSET element, IRAM (IFRAME) element, NOSCRIPT element, TBODY element, or a TABLE element, from Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). 10 15 20 25 30 35 i? E n. 5 4 91 n 'u' f 'v nu: -n- f:. "O. U. O. E,.'" '°' '".2' 2: _ avn: 1 eaff gasa: 9: 9:: '.' ','. nu enn ecco nu 45 A method of dividing an electronic document into a network with a number of network devices, comprising the steps of: (a) selecting a first set of categories for a first markup language for dividing an original electronic document into a number of subdocuments into a second wireless markup language; , wherein the original electronic document is requested by a first wireless device in the first network, wherein an individual category in the first category set is associated with one or fl your documents from the first markup language, and whereby the request for the original document is received from the first wireless device, without that a user device has specified the device type for the first wireless device; (b) creating a structured model for the original electronic document; (c) analyzing the structured model for one or more of your document elements from the original electronic document included in the first set of categories; (d) adding an individual category to a first list associated with a first subdocument for a second wireless markup language; (e) adding one or fl your analyzed document elements to the next list associated with the individual category in a subsequent subdocument for the second wireless markup language; (f) creating an association between the first subdocument and the next subdocument, the association comprising state information; (g) repeating steps (c) to m (f) to the end of the structured model of the original electronic document to divide the original electronic document into a number of sub-documents for a second wireless markup language; and (h) returning the fl number of subdocuments in the second wireless markup device to the first wireless device in response to the request of the original document. A computer readable medium, the medium storing instructions for causing a central unit to execute the method of claim 22. The method of claim 22, wherein a first category set for a first markup language comprises a category for links, text, table entry field, page selection, links from images, images or navigation. The method of claim 22, wherein the first markup language is Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and the second wireless markup language is Wireless Markup Language (WML). The method of claim 22, wherein the step (b) of creating a structured model for the original electronic document comprises creating a document object model for the original electronic document. The method of claim 22, wherein step (d) for adding an individual 1024 20 25 30 35 524 391 eeun: v I o - ~ 46 category to a first list associated with a first subdocument for a second wireless markup language includes the addition of an individual category to a first list associated with said first Wireless Markup Language (WML) card. The method of claim 22, wherein the step (e) of adding one or fl your analyzed document elements to the next list associated with the individual category in a subsequent subdocument for the second wireless markup language comprises adding one or fl of your analyzed document elements to a following list associated with the first category on a next card for Wireless Markup Language (WML). The method of claim 22, wherein the step (f) of creating an association between the first subdocument and the following subdocument comprises creating a Wireless Markup Language (WML) link between a first card and a subsequent card in a Wireless Markup Language card stack. A method of sharing an electronic document in a network with a plurality of network devices, comprising the steps of: creating a set of extraction terms for extracting one or more of your document elements from an original electronic document requested by a first wireless device in a first network; wherein the request for the original document is received from the first wireless device, without a user input specifying the device type for the first wireless device; applying the set of extraction terms to the original electronic document to extract one or fl your document elements, one or dokument your document elements comprising text elements and non-text elements; and dividing the original electronic document into a number of subdocuments for a second wireless markup language using the extracted document elements. A computer readable medium, the medium storing instructions for causing a central unit to execute the method of claim 30. The method of claim 30, wherein the step of applying the set of extraction terms to the original electronic document comprises applying the set of recovery terms to a document object model constructed for the original electronic document. The method of claim 31, wherein the set of recovery expressions is an expression from a data recovery language. Content conversion system, comprising in combination: a wireless gateway for accepting requests for original electronic documents from a wireless device, each request including the type of wireless device, the type of wireless device being specified in the request of the type of wireless device without user input; a content conversion application for converting an original electronic document in a first markup language into a second converted document in a 524 391: fwf fi 47 second wireless markup language suitable for display on a wireless device; and a database for storing device settings for a variety of wireless device types, the device settings being used to further convert an original electronic document in a first markup language to a second converted document in a second wireless markup language suitable for display on a specific type of wireless device.