WO2008034842A1

WO2008034842A1 - Use of a static web server to assist the display of dynamic contents

Info

Publication number: WO2008034842A1
Application number: PCT/EP2007/059886
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ali Naraghi; Jürgen Jank
Original assignee: SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT öSTERREICH
Priority date: 2006-09-21
Filing date: 2007-09-19
Publication date: 2008-03-27
Also published as: DE102006044568A1

Abstract

A method for producing dynamic web pages (WD1, ..., WDi) with a finite number of content elements (C1, ..., Cn) which generates web pages on the basis of user interactions and/or other varying criteria and makes them available to requesting users. To achieve efficient production and transmission of the dynamic web pages (WD1, ..., WDi), provision is made for a request for a dynamic web page (WD1, ..., WDi) by a user using a client program (C1) to be followed by a first server (S1) being contacted which evaluates the criteria for producing the dynamic web page, and for at least one further server (S2) associated with the storage medium (M) to be provided which statically stores all the web pages (WD1, ..., WDi) which can be produced dynamically from a combination of the content elements (C1, ..., Cn), each of these web pages (WD1, ..., WDi) having an associated identity identifier (IK1, ..., IKi), and for the first server (S1), as the result of its evaluation, to generate an association identifier (ZK) which corresponds to one of the identity identifiers (IK1, ..., IKi).

Description

Use a static web server to support the display of dynamic content

The present invention relates to a method for generating dynamic web pages with a finite number of content elements, which web pages are generated in response to user interactions and / or other varying criteria and made available to requesting users, according to the preamble of claim 1 ,

The exchange of data or information within commercially or privately used communication networks such as the Internet or various mobile radio systems has gained rapidly in importance in recent years. The increasing demand for digitally available content and the variety of possible applications has opened many providers a new field of activity in the management and provision of such content, in particular, but not only in the form of media-specific data.

These data stored centrally or decentrally on a suitable storage medium or a database are made available for download by the respective provider to a general or selected group of users, so they can be requested and transferred free of charge to an end user unit.

The data provided by the provider are managed and sent by means of a server, ie a program-controlled process installed on a computer / host. The server has the task of coordinating requests and orders for digital content on the part of the user or their devices and handle.

The possibility of web pages provided by a provider, that is generally information consisting of pictures and text, by means of a For this purpose, a "client program" (eg web browser, news reader, IRC client) with which the server is to communicate must be installed on the terminal device can.

The transmission of the requested websites is done in a known manner by means of wireless or wired communication, which will not be discussed in detail here.

In contrast to so-called "static" web pages, whose data are stored on the server and are copied in a simple manner unchanged to the requestor's terminal, in the case of so-called "dynamic" web pages a flexible generation of the actual content of the requested web page takes place Stipulation of current

(Display) criteria. This content of the dynamic website consists of several fractions, so-called content elements, which consist of various storage media or

Databases are currently compiled and combined on the server side. In the context of such dynamically generated on the server web pages are also called "Servlets" or "Server Pages".

The mentioned criteria underlying the creation of the actual content of the requested dynamic web page may, for example, be user actions such as e.g. entering a search term in a search engine or a number of selectively entered query parameters. The creation of a dynamic website is also useful if the requested very current information such as weather reports, traffic information or stock prices are to be included.

Technically, the compilation of the dynamic website is usually realized in such a way that the web server for the same purpose executes a developed program which reads out the data / content elements required for the generation of the dynamic web page, for example from databases or various storage media, and generates an HTML document which is subsequently transmitted from the server to a client program of the user and output at a suitable output unit of the terminal.

Alternatively, a server used especially for the generation of dynamic web pages (servlet engine) can be used.

Since the size of the individual content elements can sometimes be considerable and can amount to a few MB each, the resources of the server are often heavily loaded. In particular, in the case of a frequent access frequency, the response and communication behavior of the server used is significantly slowed down, resulting in a delayed download of the desired websites and thus longer waiting times on the part of the terminals result.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for generating dynamic web pages, which is distinguished by improved performance and enables optimized server-side provision of the user-requested dynamic web pages.

According to the invention, these objects are achieved by a method having the characterizing features of claim 1.

In a generic method, dynamic web pages with a finite number of content elements which are generated as a function of user interactions and / or by other varying criteria and made available to requesting users. According to the invention an optimization of this process is achieved in such a way that after inquiring a dynamic website by a user via a client program, a first server is contacted, which evaluates the criteria for the generation of the dynamic website and at least one other server is provided on which all of a combination of content elements dynamically produced web pages are stored statically. In this case, each of these web pages is assigned an identity code, with the first server, as the result of its evaluation, generating an assignment identifier which corresponds to one of the identity identifiers. The servers used can be associated in the usual way with any number of networked storage media or databases.

By the commissioned with a user request server is no longer burdened with the sometimes very complex compilation of individual content elements, but already targeted access to a stored on another server, criterium adequately prepared website and this can provide the requesting user, a clear Increased performance of server-terminal interaction enabled.

According to the characterizing features of claim 2, the attribution identifier generated as a result of the evaluation of the criteria is transmitted to the client program.

The manner in which the terminal or the client program subsequently reaches the requested (statically stored) dynamic web page and can present it to the user depends on the system architecture of the respective communication network and the capabilities of the client program.

According to the characterizing features of claim 3, for example, the association identifier is extended by the address of the further server prior to its transmission to the client program and thus allows immediate access to this statically stored, dynamic websites delivering servers. However, the contacting of the further server by the client program after the transmission of the assignment identifier and the transmission of the data for those statically stored, dynamic web pages to the client program according to claim 4 can also be carried out with a suitable configuration of the client program without the assignment identifier has been extended on the server side by the address of the further server. This may be the case, for example, if the client program already knows the address of the further server transmitting the statically stored, dynamic web pages, wherein the current address of the further server for the client program can be updatable.

The requested content content or the statically stored, dynamically generated web page can be made directly accessible to the user by identifying the identity identifier in accordance with the characterizing features of claim 5 with URLs, ie virtual addresses whose knowledge a direct access to their content.

In order to fully exploit the capabilities of the method proposed according to the invention with regard to the achievable speed, it is provided according to the characterizing features of claim 6 that the first server is a server which is especially suitable for the generation of dynamic web pages, while in the other Server according to the characterizing features of claim 7, a specially suitable for efficient transmission of static websites server, preferably a web server is used.

In order to provide a network optimized in terms of local and temporal frequency of use and to further accelerate the invention, it can sometimes be advantageous for the number of all statically stored, dy- Namischer web pages according to the characterizing features of claim 8 is divided into several more servers.

The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to exemplary embodiments.

Showing:

Fig.l is a schematic representation of the method according to the invention

A schematic representation of a plurality

Content elements containing dynamic website

A schematic representation of a multiple content elements containing dynamic website

A schematic representation of a single

Content element-containing dynamic website

The present invention will be described in terms of an application in a classical Internet architecture which utilizes a user equipped with a suitable terminal to retrieve desired information from servers managing such information.

In Fig.l the inventive interaction between a client program Cl of a terminal, not shown, a first server Si and another server S ₂ , which is linked to a storage medium M or a database, shown schematically.

If the user requests a specific web page using the client program Cl (web browser), then this request is sent, for example, via the HTTP protocol to the server Si, which analyzes the requested web page. On the basis of the file extension, the server Si recognizes whether the respective requested web page is a static web page which requires no further effort for the generation and which can be transmitted indirectly to the requesting terminal, or whether the requested website is a dynamic website and the provision of a website consisting of a defined number of content elements Ci, ..., C _n is required. The number and arrangement of the content elements Ci, ..., C _n on the dynamic web page depends on various criteria such as user input (eg parametric search query) or the automated provision of current content presented on the requested web page, eg a weather report.

According to the state of the art, it can be seen, for example, from the file extension * .php or * .phtml, that this is a dynamic web page. The generation of the dynamic web page can now be done either by means of a dedicated dedicated server, such as a Tomcat server), which loads the required to display the dynamic website content elements Ci, ..., C _n of different memory locations or on one Web server, which is not actually optimized for the production of dynamic web pages, runs a program for the production of dynamic web pages. Both variants are resource-consuming.

In order not to have to search in the usual way the storage medium M or the database for corresponding content elements Ci, ..., C _n by means of a scripting language program, to combine them and then have to embed in a given HTML grid , it is inventively provided that in addition to the first server Si another, associated with a storage medium M and a database server S2 is provided on which all of a combination of the content elements Ci, ..., C _n dynamically producible websites WDi, ..., WD ₁ are stored statically. In this case, each of these web pages WDi,..., WD _{1 is assigned} an identity code IKi,..., IK ₁ which consists, for example, of a combination of letters and / or numbers. So a pool of all possible combinations of the content elements Ci, ..., C _{n is} created. In this case, 2 ⁿ web pages are generated from a web page with a fictitious possible number of n content elements, each one for the specific arrangement of the content elements contained

Ci, ..., C _n unique identity identifier IKi, ..., IK have ₁ . For a web page WDi shown in FIG. 2 with a number of 7 possible content elements Ci,..., C ₇ , this means that there are 2 ^{7 possible} combinations of the content elements Ci,..., C ₇ , which exist All are stored on the storage medium M or a database.

As a result of its criteria evaluation, the first server Si generates an assignment identifier ZK which corresponds to one of the identity identifiers IKi,..., IK ₁ and thus directs the user notified by the assignment identifier ZK or his client program Cl Path to the desired website offers. For this purpose, the assignment identifier ZK is extended by the address of the other server before it is transmitted to the client program.

In a preferred embodiment variant, the identity identifiers IKi,..., IK ₁ and the assignment identifiers ZK are URLs.

In FIGS. 2 to 4, web pages WDi, WD2 and WD3 are schematically illustrated in an exemplary manner, each of which contains a defined combination of content elements Ci,..., C ₇ .

While the web page WDi shown in FIG. 2 contains all content elements C 1, C ₂ , C ₃ , C ₄ , C ₅ , Ce and C ₇ available for its layout, the web page WD ₂ shown in FIG. ₃ only includes those in the center position of the arranged content elements Ci Ci ..., C ₇ and the web WD shown in Fig.4 ₃ even only a single, centrally located content item C. ₅ The content element C2 may be, for example, an embedded as animated pixel graphics in the respective website meteorological satellite recordings of Central Europe, as arranged underneath content element C5 may be about a current panoramic photo of a manually entered by the user at the beginning of his search place, eg be provided a ski slope and as the bottom arranged content element C7 about a current screenshot of a web camera, which is installed on a leading to the ski element shown below the content element C ₅ Highway.

In the case of Figure 2 in accordance with the left and right arranged content elements Ci, C3, C ₄ and Ce may be to explanatory text for the above-described graphical content elements C2, C ₅ and C _7, such as an interpretation of meteorological satellite image.

Whether the web pages WDi,..., WD ₁ stored on pages from the further server S _{2 have to} be administered or updated on an ongoing basis or are valid for a longer period of time depends on the type of content elements Ci, ... , C _n depend.

The content elements Ci, ..., C _n can basically be data records of any kind, ie in addition to the graphic and text files described, also audio files, video files, vector files, multimedia formats, etc.

By using specific server types for the described tasks, the system performance can be further increased. For example, as the first server Si, a server suitable for the generation of dynamic web pages, for example a Tomcat server, may be used, while in the case of the further server S2, a server specifically for the efficient transmission of static web pages suitable web server, for example an Apache server.

The statically stored, dynamic web pages WDi,..., WD ₁ can also be divided into groups and stored as such on several further servers S2. In this way, statically stored, dynamic web pages WDi,..., WD ₁ with such content-element combination, which statistically have a very low usage frequency, can be swapped out of user requests of heavily frequented areas of the network Accelerate the user-server interaction.

It should be noted that the use of the present invention relates not only to the described Internet communication between a PC and a server, but also a wide variety of applications within wireless or wired communication networks of all kinds, such as mobile applications. In particular, communication standards or protocols such as GSM, UMTS or Bluetooth can also be used. As a communicating terminals, for example, a variety of handheld devices such as PDAs or "smartphones" serve.

Claims

claims

1. A method for generating dynamic web pages (WDi, ..., WD ₁ ) with a finite number of content elements (Ci, ..., C _n ), which web pages depending on user interactions and / or other varying criteria generated and requesting users are provided, characterized in that after inquiring a dynamic website (WDi, ..., WD ₁ ) by a user via a client program (Cl) a first server (Si) is contacted, which evaluates the criteria for generating the dynamic website and at least one further, with a storage medium (M) associated server (S ₂ ) is provided on which all of a combination of the content elements (Ci, ..., C _n ) dynamic manufacturable websites

(WDi, ..., WD ₁ ) are stored statically, wherein each of these web pages (WDi, ■ -, WD ₁ ) is associated with an identity identifier (IKi, ..., IK ₁ ), and the first server (Si) as Result of its evaluation generates an assignment identifier (ZK), which corresponds to one of the identity identifiers (IKi, ..., IK ₁ ).

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the assignment identifier (ZK) is transmitted to the client program (Cl).

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the assignment identifier (ZK) before its transmission to the client program (Cl) to the address of the at least one further server (S2) is extended.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the client program (Cl) after transmission of the assignment identifier (ZK) the at least one further

Server (S2) contacted and the data for that statically stored web page (WDi, ■ -, WD ₁ ) are transmitted to the client program (Cl) whose identity identifier (IKi, ..., IK ₁ ) of the assignment identifier ( ZK).

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it is in the identity identifier

(IK ₁ , ..., IK ₁ ) are URLs.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it is at the first server (Si) is a suitable for the generation of dynamic web pages server.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it is the other server (S2) is a suitable for the transmission of static websites server, preferably a web server.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the number of all dynamic web pages (WDi, ..., WD ₁ ) on several more servers (S2) is divided.