Dynamic integration of web sites
View Patent ↗A method for displaying information includes identifying computer-readable service code at a service site, which code, when read by a client computer via a network, causes the computer to display at least one service page containing service information. At least a portion of the service-code is selected for inclusion in a service component containing at least a portion of the service information that corresponds to the selected code. A pointer is generated, indicating a location at which the service component is accessible, for inclusion of the pointer in host code accessible to the client computer from a host site, which is separate from the service site and is accessible via the network, the host code, when read by the client computer, causing the computer to display a host page containing host information. An invocation of the pointer by the client computer is received at the location when the client computer accesses the host page. The selected service code is then conveyed to the client computer, such that responsive to the selected service code, the client computer displays the service component on the host page.
1. A method for displaying information, comprising:
identifying computer-readable service code at a service site, which code is written in a mark-up language, such that when the code is read by a browser program on a client computer via a network, the code causes the computer to display at least one service page containing service information;
selecting at least a portion of the service code for inclusion in a service component containing at least a portion of the service information that corresponds to the selected code;
generating a pointer indicating a server at which the service component is accessible, for inclusion of the pointer in host code accessible to the client computer from a host site, which is separate from the service site and is accessible via the network, the host code, when read by the client computer, causing the computer to display a host page containing host information;
receiving at the server an invocation of the pointer by the client computer when the client computer accesses the host page; and
conveying from the server to the client computer a script command for execution by the browser program on the client computer, the script command having at least a part of the selected service code as an argument, such that responsive to the script command, the client computer displays the service component on the host page.
2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the network comprises the Internet, and wherein the service site and host site comprise World Wide Web sites.
3. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the mark-up language comprises Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML).
4. A method according to claim 1 , wherein selecting at least the portion of the service code comprises adding Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) tags to the mark-up language code.
5. A method according to claim 4 , wherein adding the XML tags comprises inserting an XML tag defining an attribute of the component that can be altered when the component is displayed on the host page.
6. A method according to claim 1 , wherein selecting the service code comprises defining one or more pages of the service code for inclusion in the component by means of an indication external to the one or more pages.
7. A method according to claim 6 , wherein the indication comprises an Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) file.
8. A method according to claim 6 , wherein the indication is given in a database.
9. A method according to claim 6 , wherein defining the one or more pages comprises defining first and second pages for inclusion in the component, wherein the second page is defined by a link on the first page.
10. A method according to claim 1 , wherein conveying the script command comprises conveying a JavaScript document.write command.
11. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the selected service code comprises instructions in a scripting language for execution by the client computer.
12. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the pointer comprises a uniform resource locator (URL).
13. A method according to claim 12 , wherein the service component has a state, and wherein receiving the invocation of the pointer comprises receiving a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) request specifying the URL and the state of the component.
14. A method according to claim 13 , wherein specifying the state of the component comprises inserting information regarding the state in a query portion of the URL.
15. A method according to claim 12 , wherein the URL is inserted in textual tag that is included in the host code.
16. A method according to claim 15 , wherein the textual tag comprises a script tag.
17. A method according to claim 1 , wherein selecting the service code comprises associating with the code an indication of one or more properties of the component that can be altered when the component is displayed on the host page.
18. A method according to claim 17 , and comprising defining a skin that specifies a value to be assigned to at least one of the properties when the service component is displayed on the host page.
19. A method according to claim 18 , wherein generating the pointer comprises passing the pointer to multiple host sites for inclusion in the host code of each of the sites, and
wherein defining the skin comprises defining a respective skin for each of the host sites.
20. A method according to claim 18 , wherein conveying the selected service code comprises modifying the at least one of the properties in the code conveyed to the client computer responsive to the skin.
21. A method according to claim 17 , wherein the host page is one of a plurality of host pages at the host site, including first and second host pages, both including the pointer, and comprising specifying a first value to be assigned to at least one of the properties when the component is displayed on the first host page, and a second value to be assigned to the at least one of the properties when the component is displayed on the second host page.
22. A method according to claim 17 , wherein adding the indication of the one or more properties comprises specifying one or more visual properties that can be customized by an operator of the host site.
23. A method according to claim 17 , wherein generating the pointer comprises passing the pointer to first and second host sites for inclusion in the host code of each of the sites,
wherein a first value is applied to at least one of the properties when the component is displayed on the host page of the first host site, and a second value, different from the first value, is applied to the at least one of the properties when the component is displayed on the host page of the second host site.
24. A method according to claim 23 , wherein receiving the invocation of the pointer comprises receiving an indication of whether the client computer received the pointer from the first or the second site, and
wherein conveying the selected service code to the client computer comprises modifying the at least one of the properties in the selected service code conveyed to the client computer responsive to the indication.
25. A method according to claim 1 , wherein selecting the service code comprises adding to the code a method for extracting data from the service component for use by the host site.
26. A method according to claim 25 , wherein the extracted data relates to a service provided by the service site to a user of the client computer in return for payment.
27. A method according to claim 1 , wherein generating the pointer comprises passing the pointer to multiple host sites for inclusion in the host code of each of the sites.
28. A method according to claim 27 , wherein the multiple host sites comprise first and second host sites, and wherein receiving the invocation of the pointer comprises receiving an indication of whether the client computer received the pointer from the first or the second site, and
wherein conveying the selected service code to the client computer comprises modifying the information conveyed to the client computer responsive to the indication.
29. A method according to claim 28 , wherein the service component has a state, and the information conveyed to the client computer comprises instance data indicative of the state of the component, and
wherein modifying the information comprises modifying the instance data conveyed to the client computer dependent upon whether the client computer received the pointer from the first or the second site.
30. A method according to claim 27 , wherein the service site provides a service to a user of the client computer who interacts with the service site via the network, and
wherein conveying the selected service code of the service code to the client computer comprises enabling the user to procure the service while viewing the host page of any of the multiple host sites on the client computer.
31. A method according to claim 30 , wherein the service site provides the service in return for payment.
32. A method according to claim 1 , wherein identifying the service code comprises identifying code corresponding to multiple service pages to be included in the service component, including first and second service pages,
wherein selecting the service code comprises selecting first and second portions of the code corresponding respectively to the first and second service pages, the first selected portion comprising a link from the first page to the second page, and comprising:
receiving an invocation of the link by the client computer while the first page of the service component is displayed on one of the host pages; and
conveying the second selected portion to the client computer responsive to the link, whereby the second page of the service component is displayed on the client computer.
33. A method according to claim 32 , wherein the host page is one of a plurality of host pages at the host site, and
wherein conveying the second selected portion comprises conveying the second selected portion such that responsive thereto, the client computer displays the second service page on one of the host pages.
34. A method according to claim 33 , wherein the client computer displays each of the first and second pages of the service component in a predefined location on one of the host pages.
35. A method according to claim 33 , and comprising specifying one of the host pages to be :associated respectively with each of the service pages, such that when one of the service pages is displayed in the service component, it is displayed on the one of the host pages that is associated therewith.
36. A method according to claim 35 , wherein specifying the one of the host pages comprises associating the first and second service pages respectively with first and second ones of the host pages, and
wherein conveying the second selected portion comprises, responsive to the invocation of the link, calling for the second one of the host pages to be displayed on the client computer.
37. A method according to claim 36 , and comprising modifying the link from the first service page to the second service page so that it links directly to the second one of the host pages.
38. A method according to claim 36 , wherein calling for the second one of the host pages to be displayed comprises redirecting the client computer to access the second one of the host pages at the host site.
39. A method according to claim 35 , wherein identifying the code corresponding to the multiple service pages comprises associating the multiple service pages with respective faces, and
wherein specifying the one of the host pages to be associated respectively with each of the service pages comprises recording, for each of the faces, a corresponding host page.
40. A method according to claim 39 , wherein associating the service pages with the respective faces comprises associating at least two of the pages with the same one of the faces.
41. A method according to claim 32 , wherein the first and second service pages are associated with a process running on the service site, the process having a state, and
wherein conveying the second selected portion comprises conveying instance data indicative of the state of the process.
42. A method according to claim 41 , wherein the process is associated with a transaction between the service site and a user of the client computer who interacts with the service site via the network, and
wherein conveying the second selected portion comprises consummating the transaction.
43. A method according to claim 1 , wherein generating the pointer comprises generating a pointer to the service site.
44. A method according to claim 1 , wherein generating the pointer comprises generating a pointer to a location of the server remote from the service site.
45. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the host code is conveyed from the host site to the client computer without passing through the location at which the service component is accessible.
46. A method according to claim 1 , and comprising receiving the host code at the location at which the service component is accessible,
wherein conveying the selected service code comprises conveying both the host code and the selected service code from the location to the client computer.
47. A component server, comprising computer apparatus that is adapted to receive an identification of computer-readable service code at a service site, which code is written in a mark-up language, such that when the code is read by a browser program on a client computer via a network, the code causes the computer to display at least one service page containing service information,
wherein at least a portion of the service code is selected for inclusion in a service component containing at least a portion of the service information that corresponds to the selected code, and
wherein a pointer is generated indicating a location of the server at which the service component is accessible, for inclusion of the pointer in host code accessible to the client computer from a host site, which is separate from the service site and is accessible via the network, the host code, when read by the client computer, causing the computer to display a host page containing host information,
which apparatus is further adapted to receive via the network an invocation of the pointer by the client computer when the client computer accesses the host page, and to convey to the client computer over the network a script command for execution by the browser program on the client computer, the script command having at least a part of the selected service code as an argument, such that responsive to the script command, the client computer displays the service component on the host page.
48. A server according to claim 47 , wherein the network comprises the Internet, and wherein the server comprises a World Wide Web server.
49. A server according to claim 47 , wherein the mark-up language comprises Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML), and wherein the selected service code is tagged with Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) tags.
50. A server according to claim 47 , wherein the pointer comprises a uniform resource locator (URL).
51. A server according to claim 47 , wherein the selected service code comprises an indication of one or more properties of the component that can be altered when the component is displayed on the host page, and
wherein the apparatus is adapted to alter the data conveyed to the client computer responsive to the properties.
52. A server according to claim 51 , and comprising a memory, which is adapted to store a skin, which specifies a value to be assigned to at least one of the properties when the service component is displayed on the host page, and wherein the apparatus is adapted to alter the data in accordance with a skin stored by the server.
53. A server according to claim 47 , wherein the pointer is passed to multiple host sites, including first and second host sites, for inclusion in the host code of each of the sites, and
wherein the apparatus is adapted receive an indication of whether the client computer is accessing the first or the second host site, and to modify the data conveyed to the client computer responsive to the indication.
54. A server according to claim 53 , wherein the indication is contained in the invocation received by the apparatus from the client computer.
55. A server according to claim 47 , wherein the service code corresponds to multiple service pages to be included in the service component, including first and second selected portions corresponding to first and second service pages, the first selected portion comprising a link from the first page to the second page, and
wherein responsive to an invocation of the link by the client computer while the first page of the service component is displayed on one of the host pages, the apparatus is adapted to convey the second selected portion to the client computer.
56. A server according to claim 47 , wherein the apparatus is adapted to operate at the service site.
57. A server according to claim 47 , wherein the apparatus is adapted to operate remotely from the service site.
58. A server according to claim 47 , wherein the host code is conveyed over the network from the host site to the client computer without passing through the apparatus.
59. A server according to claim 47 , wherein the apparatus is further adapted to receive the host code and to convey both the host code and the selected service code together to the client computer.
60. A computer software product, comprising a computer-readable medium in which program instructions are stored, which instructions, when read by a computer server, cause the server to receive an identification of computer-readable service code at a service site, which code is written in a mark-up language, such that when the code is read by a browser program on a client computer via a network, the code causes the computer to display at least one service page containing service information,
wherein at least a portion of the service code is selected for inclusion in a service component containing at least a portion of the service information that corresponds to the selected code, and
wherein a pointer is generated indicating a location of the server at which the service component is accessible, for inclusion of the pointer in host code accessible to the client computer at a host site, which is separate from the service site and is accessible via the network, the host code, when read by the client computer, causing the client computer to display a host page containing host information, and
wherein the instructions further cause the server to receive an invocation of the pointer by the client computer when the client computer accesses the host page, and to convey to the client computer a script command for execution by the browser program on the client computer, the script command having at least a part of the selected service code as an argument, such that responsive to the script command, the client computer displays the service component on the host page.
61. A product according to claim 60 , wherein the network comprises the Internet, and wherein the computer server comprises a World Wide Web server.