Dynamic page generator
View Patent ↗An custom page server is provided with user preferences organized into templates stored in compact data structures and the live data used to fill the templates stored local to the page server which is handing user requests for custom pages. One process is executed on the page server for every request. The process is provided a user template for the user making the request, where the user template is either generated from user preferences or retrieved from a cache of recently used user templates. Each user process is provided access to a large region of shared memory which contains all of the live data needed to fill any user template. Typically, the pages served are news pages, giving the user a custom selection of stock quotes, news headlines, sports scores, weather, and the like. With the live data stored in a local, shared memory, any custom page can be built within the page server, eliminating the need to make requests from other servers for portions of the live data. While the shared memory might include RAM (random access memory) and disk storage, in many computer systems, it is faster to store all the live data in RAM.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, by at least one server computing device, a user request for at least one customized portion of a page;
receiving, by the at least one server computing device, a template that is unique to the user and that is generated using a configuration of the page that is unique to the user and comprises at least one customization of the page that is supplied by the user, the user's unique configuration comprising the user's at least one customization of the page is used to generate the template that is unique to the user, the template, that is unique to the user and comprises information indicating the user's unique configuration of the page, is received from one of at least two locations and is flushable from a cache that is a location of the at least two locations due to infrequent usage by the user of the page having the at least one customized portion, the template is generated, before being cached, using the user's unique configuration of the page and a global template that is not unique to the user, the template, that is cached, is unique to the user, comprises information indicating the user's unique configuration of the page and is flushable from the cache;
generating, by the at least one server computing device, the at least one customized portion of the page comprising the user's at least one customization using the template's information indicating the user's unique configuration of the page; and
providing, by the at least one server computing device and to the user, the customized portion of the page having been generated using the template comprising information indicating the user's unique configuration of the page supplied by the user.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cached template is flushed from the location of the at least two locations due to infrequent usage by the user of the page having the at least one customized portion and the template is received from another location of the at least two locations.
3. The method of claim 2 , the other location of the at least two locations comprising a front page generator that generates the template using the user configuration that is supplied by the user and that is unique to the user.
4. The method of claim 1 , the at least one customized portion of the page comprising elements included in the customized portion of the page in accordance with the template's information indicating the user's unique configuration of the page.
5. A method comprising:
receiving, by at least one server computing device, a user request for a customized page;
receiving, by the at least one server computing device, a template that is unique to the user and that is generated using a user configuration of the page that is unique to the user and comprises at least one customization of the page that is supplied by the user, the user's unique configuration comprising the user's at least one customization of the page is used to generate the template that is unique to the user, the template, that is unique to the user and comprises information indicating the user's unique configuration of the page, is received from one of at least two locations and is flushable from a cache that is a location of the at least two locations due to infrequent usage by the user of the customized page, the template is generated, before being cached, using the user's unique configuration of the page and a global template that is not unique to the user, the template, that is cached, is unique to the user, comprises information indicating the user's unique configuration of the page and is flushable from the cache;
generating, by the at least one server computing device, the customized page comprising the user's at least one customization using the template's information indicating the user's unique configuration of the page;
determining, by the at least one server computing device, access of real-time information based on the user configuration; and
providing, by the at least one server computing device and to the user, the customized page including the real-time information based on the determined access, the customized page comprising the real-time information having been generated using the template comprising information indicating the user's configuration of the page supplied by the user.
6. The method of claim 5 further comprising determining default real-time information based on the user configuration.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the cached template is flushed from the location of the at least two locations due to infrequent usage by the user of the page having the at least one customized portion and the template is received from another location of the at least two locations.
8. The method of claim 7 , the other location of the at least two locations comprising a front page generator that generates the template using the user configuration that is supplied by the user and that is unique to the user.
9. A method comprising:
receiving, by at least one server computing device, a user request for at least one customized portion of a page;
receiving, by the at least one server computing device, a template that is unique to the user and that is generated using a user configuration of the page that is unique to the user and comprises at least one customization of the page that is supplied by the user, the user's unique configuration comprising the user's at least one customization of the page is used to generate the template that is unique to the user, the template, that is unique to the user and comprises information indicating the user's unique configuration of the page, is received from one of at least two locations and is flushable from a cache that is a location of the at least two locations due to infrequent usage by the user of the page having the at least one customized portion, the template is generated, before being cached, using the user's unique configuration of the page and a global template that is not unique to the user, the template, that is cached, is unique to the user, comprises information indicating the user's unique configuration of the page and is flushable from the cache;
generating, by the at least one server computing device, the at least one customized portion of the page comprising the user's at least one customization using the template's information indicating the user's unique configuration of the page; and
providing, by the at least one server computing device and to the user, the customized portion of the page having been generated using the template comprising information indicating the user's unique configuration of the page supplied by the user.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the cached template is flushed from the location of the at least two locations due to infrequent usage by the user of the page having the at least one customized portion and the template is available from another location of the at least two locations.
11. The method of claim 10 , the other location of the at least two locations comprising a front page generator that generates the template using the user configuration that is supplied by the user and that is unique to the user.