Method and systems for creating a digital document altered in response to at least one event Number:7,386,791 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) owispatent

Title: Method and systems for creating a digital document altered in response to at least one event

Abstract: A method and system are provided for creating a digital document, the digital document including content layout, additional information, and altering machine executable instructions, the method including, in response to, or subsequent to, a request or activation event, implementing the altering machine executable instructions which may apply auxiliary layout information and may apply auxiliary content information prior to altering and rendering the digital document for the event requested or activated, wherein the altering machine executable instructions may include different instructions for altering and rendering the digital document based on which request event or activation event is initiated or the medium on which the newly rendered digital document will be displayed.

Patent Number: 7,386,791 Issued on 06/10/2008 to Jacobson

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Inventors:	Jacobson; Mark David (Denver, CO)
Assignee:	Format Dynamics, LLC (Denver, CO)
Appl. No.:	10/948,798
Filed:	September 24, 2004

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Related U.S. Patent Documents

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	Application Number	Filing Date	Patent Number	Issue Date
	60505956	Sep., 2003
	60505960	Sep., 2003

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Current U.S. Class:	715/274 ; 358/1.12; 358/449; 705/62; 715/243; 715/252; 715/253; 715/788
Field of Search:	715/517,523,512,274,243,252,253,788 705/62 358/1.12,449

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Other References

Eric Meyer, CSS Design: Going to Print, May 10, 2002, A List Apart Magazines. cited by examiner.

Primary Examiner: Hong; Stephen
Assistant Examiner: Ludwig; Matthew J
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Barnes & Thornburg LLP

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Parent Case Text

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PRIORITY INFORMATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/505,956, filed Sep. 24, 2003, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/505,960, filed Sep. 24, 2003, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

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Claims

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What is claimed is:

1. A method of creating a digital document for viewing via a browser, the digital document including content, layout, additional information and Altering Machine Executable Instructions (AMEI), the method comprising: in response to a User Initiated Print Event (UIPE), implementing the digital document specific AMEI to: alter at least part of the content, layout, and additional information using a component which communicates with the browser; apply Medium Specific Auxiliary Layout Information (MSALI) based on the amount of content in the digital document; and to calculate and apply at least one of an appropriate type or number of Medium Specific Auxiliary Content Information (MSACI) based on the amount of content in the digital document to produce an altered digital document; and forwarding the altered digital document to a device associated with or identified by the user and on which the altered digital document is to be rendered based on the UIPE activated in coordination with the implemented AMEI, wherein the digital document specific AMEI includes instructions for recognizing and temporarily pausing the UIPE, instructions for altering part or all of the digital document that include instructions for obtaining the MSACI and the MSALI and rendering the obtained MSACI as part of the digital document based on the obtained MSALI, and rendering the altered digital document subsequent to the UIPE.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the UIPE is a browser activation event.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the UIPE is an activation of a button or icon in the digital document or a button or icon located on the browser or a pull-down menu of a browser.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the MSALI includes instructions for altering and rendering the altered digital document in response to the UIPE.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the MSALI includes instructions for altering and rendering the altered digital document subsequent to the UIPE.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the MSALI includes instructions for obtaining MSACI.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the MSALI is obtained from the digital document provider with the digital document.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the MSALI is obtained from the digital document provider prior to or upon the initiation of the UIPE.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the MSALI is obtained from at least one remote source prior to or upon the initiation of the UIPE.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the MSALI is obtained from the user system prior to or upon the initiation of the UIPE.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the MSACI includes instructions for altering and rendering the digital document in response to the UIPE.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the MSACI includes instructions for altering and rendering the digital document subsequent to the UIPE.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the MSACI includes at least one advertisement to be rendered in response to the UIPE.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the MSACI includes at least one advertisement to be rendered subsequent to the UIPE.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the MSACI includes instructions for obtaining MSALI.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the MSACI is obtained from the digital document provider with the digital document.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the MSACI is obtained from the digital document prior to or upon the initiation of the UIPE.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the MSACI is obtained from at least one remote source prior to or upon the initiation of the UIPE.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the MSACI is obtained from the user system prior to or upon the initiation of the UIPE.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the applying MSALI and the appropriate type and number of MSACI comprises altering content, layout and additional information of a digital document according to the digital document specific, that method further comprising: receiving the digital document and separating primary content from secondary content; creating MSALI for the primary content given the print medium on which the digital document will be displayed and the amount of content in the digital document; and applying the appropriate type and number of advertisements or URL links to obtain the appropriate type and number of advertisements specifically designed for rendering the digital document in a print medium.

21. An article of manufacture for altering content, layout or additional information of a digital document for viewing via browser according to digital document specific Altering Machine Executable Instructions (AMEI) included in the digital document, the article of manufacture comprising a machine readable medium containing one or more programs which when executed implement the steps of: installing the digital document specific AMEI, which communicates with the browser on a user system; in response to a User Initiated Print Event (UIPE), implementing the digital document specific AMEI to: alter at least part of the content, layout and additional information using a component which communicates with the browser; apply Medium Specific Auxiliary Layout Information (MSALI) based on the amount of content in the digital document; calculate and apply at least one of the appropriate type or number of Medium Specific Auxiliary Content Information (MSACI) based on the amount of content in the digital document to produce an altered digital document; and forwarding the altered digital document to a device associated with or identified by the user and on which the altered digital document is to be rendered based on the UIPE activated in acoordination with the implemented AMEI, wherein the digital document specific AMEI includes instructions for recognizing and temporarily pausing the UIPE, instructions for altering part or all of the digital document that include instructions for obtaining the MSACI and the MSALI and rendering the obtained MSACI as part of the digital document based on the obtained MSALI, and rendering the altered digital document subsequent to the UIPE.

22. The article of claim 21, wherein the UIPE is a browser event.

23. The article of claim 21, wherein the UIPE is an activation of a button or icon in the digital document or a button or icon or a pull-down menu of a browser.

24. The article of claim 21, wherein the MSALI is obtained from the digital document provider with the digital document.

25. The article of claim 21, wherein the MSALI is obtained from the digital document provider prior to or upon the initiation of the UIPE.

26. The article of claim 21, wherein the MSALI is obtained from at least one remote source prior to or upon the initiation of the UIPE.

27. The article of claim 21, wherein the MSALI is obtained from the user system prior to or upon the initiation of the UIPE.

28. The article of claim 21, wherein the MSACI includes instructions for altering and rendering the digital document in response to the UIPE.

29. The article of claim 21, wherein the MSACI includes instructions for altering and rendering the digital document subsequent to the UIPE.

30. The article of claim 21, wherein the MSACI includes at least one advertisement to be rendered in response to the UIPE.

31. The article of claim 21, wherein the MSACI includes at least one advertisement to be rendered subsequent to the UIPE.

32. The article of claim 21, wherein the MSACI includes instructions for obtaining MSALI.

33. The article of claim 21, wherein the MSACI is obtained from the digital document provider with the digital document.

34. The article of claim 21, wherein the MSACI is obtained from the digital document prior to or upon the initiation of the UIPE.

35. The article of claim 21, wherein the MSACI is obtained from at least one remote source prior to or upon the initiation of the UIPE.

36. The article of claim 21, wherein the MSACI is obtained from the user system prior to or upon the initiation of the UIPE.

37. The article of manufacture of claim 21, wherein the applying MSALI and the appropriate type and number of medium specific auxiliary content information includes altering content, layout or additional information of a digital document according to digital document specific AMEI, that altering comprising: receiving the digital document and separating primary content from secondary content; creating MSALI for the primary content given the print medium on which the digital document will be displayed and the amount of content in the digital document; and applying the appropriate type and number of advertisements or URL links to obtain the appropriate type and number of advertisements designed for rendering the digital document on the print medium.

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Description

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to data processing systems, methods and computer program products for delivering and formatting information.

2. Description of Related Art

The Internet includes a vast number of computers and computer networks that are interconnected through communication links. The interconnected computers exchange information using various services, such as a computer network, electronic mail, Gopher, and the World Wide Web (WWW). The Internet allows a server computer to send digital documents containing information to a user system. That user system can then display, via a browser, the digital documents on a display screen included in, or attached to, the user system. To view a specific digital document, a user system and the browser specify the Universal Resource Indicator (URI) for that document in a request, which can include a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request; that request is then forwarded to the server computer that supports provisioning of that digital document. When that server computer receives the request, it sends that document to the user system. Subsequently, when the user system receives the requested digital document, it typically displays the document in cooperation with the browser.

Conventionally, digital documents are typically defined using code, which provides a standard set of instructions or tags that define how the digital document is to be displayed. This code is typically a source code or object code which can include, but is not limited to, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), EXTensible Markup Language (EXTML), Dynamic Hypertext Markup Language (DHTML), Java and JavaScript. Thus, when, as above, a user requests that the browser initiate display of a digital document, the browser sends a request to the server computer to transfer to the user system the code that defines the digital document. When the requested code for the digital document is received by the user system, the browser then displays the document in a layout defined by the code. That code contains various tags or instructions that control the layout (i.e., the arrangement of text, graphics, icons, e.g., providing activation of specific tools such as print or electronic mail, images and graphical representations of URI's of other documents available on that server computer or other server computers (e.g., navigational links) and advertisements (e.g., banners).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method and system are provided for creating a digital document, including content, layout, additional information, and Altering Machine Executable Instructions (AMEIs), that alter part or all of the content, layout and additional information upon, or subsequent to, at least one request or activation event. The digital document may include content (e.g., text, graphics, images and graphical representations of URIs, activation icons or buttons and advertisements), a layout (e.g., the arrangement of content) and additional information (e.g., instructions which may be implemented by the browser or user system to accomplish specific tasks), and altering machine executable instructions (e.g., tags identifying different types of content and different layouts and instructions for obtaining auxiliary content information and/or auxiliary layout information and altering part or all of the content, layout, additional information, auxiliary content information and auxiliary layout information upon, or subsequent to, at least one request or activation event). The method may include, in response to, or subsequent to, a request or activation event, implementing the altering machine executable instructions, altering part or all of the content, layout, and additional information for the event requested or activated based on the implemented altering machine executable instructions and rendering the digital document for display on or distribution to a user system's rendering device, wherein the altering machine executable instructions may include instructions for applying auxiliary layout information and auxiliary content information prior to altering and rendering of the digital document.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention are described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings in which corresponding reference symbols indicate corresponding parts, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of an environment in which various invention embodiments are implemented.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a conventional digital document that can be downloaded by a user system via a communication network.

FIG. 3 illustrates portions of the digital document of FIG. 2 parsed for rendering by a rendering device.

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate various parsed portions of the digital document illustrated in FIG. 2, as those portions would be rendered by a second rendering device.

FIG. 7 illustrates at least one auxiliary layout combined with part of the content of the digital document illustrated in FIG. 2, as that digital document may be rendered by a rendering device, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates the digital document illustrated in FIG. 7, as that digital document may be parsed and rendered by a rendering device, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 9, 10 illustrate the parsed portions of the digital document illustrated in FIG. 8, as those portions may be rendered by a second rendering device, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 illustrates one or more pieces of auxiliary content and at least one auxiliary layout combined with part of the content of the digital document illustrated in FIG. 2, as that digital document may be rendered by a rendering device, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates the digital document of FIG. 11 as that digital document may be parsed and rendered by a rendering device, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 13, 14 illustrate the parsed portions of the digital document illustrated in FIG. 12, as those portions may be rendered by a second rendering device, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 15 shows a schematic representation of an environment in which at least a first embodiment may be implemented.

FIG. 16 illustrates operations associated with at least a first embodiment.

FIG. 17 shows a schematic representation of an environment in which at least a second embodiment may be implemented.

FIG. 18 illustrates operations associated with at least the second embodiment.

FIG. 19 shows a schematic representation of an environment in which at least a third embodiment may be implemented.

FIG. 20 illustrates operations associated with at least the third embodiment.

FIG. 21 shows a schematic representation of an environment in which at least a fourth embodiment may be implemented.

FIG. 22 illustrates operations associated with at least the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 23 shows a schematic representation of an environment in which at least a fifth embodiment may be implemented.

FIG. 24 illustrates operations associated with at least the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 25 shows a schematic representation of an environment in which at least a sixth embodiment may be implemented.

FIG. 26 illustrates operations associated with at least the sixth embodiment.

FIG. 27 shows a schematic representation of an environment in which at least a seventh embodiment may be implemented.

FIG. 28 illustrates operations associated with at least the seventh embodiment.

FIG. 29 shows a schematic representation of an environment in which at least an eighth embodiment may be implemented.

FIG. 30 illustrates operations associated with at least the eighth embodiment.

FIG. 31 shows a schematic representation of an environment in which at least a ninth embodiment may be implemented.

FIG. 32 illustrates operations associated with at least the ninth embodiment.

FIG. 33 includes an exemplary format of a data report generated by a rendering tracker component provided in accordance with a tenth embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Many digital documents, such as web pages, are designed for viewing on a typical personal computer screen, a width, in many cases being, for example, 800 pixels. In contrast, the defaults of many printer drivers (i.e., instructions which provide a user system's print subroutine with information on how to parse and render a digital document prior to that digital document being sent to the printer) are set in many cases to a maximum width of less than 700 pixels. This means that, on average, information located on the farthest right side of a computer screen will not be displayed on the resulting printed page(s). In addition, a layout originally utilized for the screen rendering of the digital document is likely to be inappropriate for a printer rendering.

More specifically, a layout originally utilized for a screen rendering of a digital document often contains various types of content including both primary content and secondary content. Primary content, may include, for example, the main information of the digital document (which could include, for example, text of an article of a news web page, driving directions of a mapping web page, or electronic mail text of an electronic mail web page). Secondary content, may include, for example, other information of a document visible on the screen (e.g., navigational links to other documents within a provisioning server, links to other documents outside of the provisioning server, banners and graphical icons, which provide the user access to specific tools, etc). Conventionally, in the typical layout of a digital document viewed on a computer screen, the primary content is typically positioned in the center of the rendering with the secondary content positioned along the top, left, right, and bottom portions of the rendering. In general, since a printer driver, print subroutine, and as a consequence a printer, do not make any distinction between, for example, primary and secondary content, all information visible in the screen rendering is sent to the print subroutine to create the printable file(s), which will be forwarded to the printer for rendering in a print medium. However, generally, when a user requests to print a digital document displayed on a computer screen, the information the user is most interested in viewing on a resulting printed page(s) is the primary content. Nevertheless, conventionally, when the content and layout displayed on the screen is forwarded to the print subroutine, which, in conjunction with the printer driver, subsequently controls the rendering of the printed digital document, the resulting printed pages often have portions of content omitted from the printed pages as well as poor readability in general. In addition, more paper is often required to print the digital document than if only primary content was printed. Further, in many cases, to print an entire digital document, including all the content, the user must change the orientation of the printed pages.

Accordingly, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention, a method is provided for creating a digital document which dynamically alters layout, content and additional information of a digital document, (e.g., that which is included in a web page), and potentially adds auxiliary content information and auxiliary layout information, for rendering in response to a request event or activation event. The digital document may include, for example, content, layout, additional information and altering machine executable instructions and may also, in accordance with at least some embodiments, include auxiliary content information and auxiliary layout information.

In accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention, in response to, or subsequent to, at least one request or activation event, the altering machine executable instructions included in the digital document are implemented and content, layout, and other information included in the digital document are altered for the event requested or activated based on the implemented altering machine executable instructions, which could include instructions for rendering the digital document using auxiliary content information and/or auxiliary layout information for the device or medium rendering the digital document.

Throughout the further explanation of the embodiments of the invention, the term "activation event" broadly refers to one or more activation events, e.g., a print event, electronic mail event, rollover event, or another user activation event including, but not limited to, the activation or excitation of a button or icon included in the digital document, the activation or excitation of a button or icon in a browser, the activation of instructions in a pull-down menu of a browser, etc. Additionally, the term "request event" broadly refers to a request for a digital document to be delivered and displayed on an atypical device, i.e., a device other than a traditional personal computer system's screen, e.g., a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, or an unusually shaped computer screen. The term "content" broadly refers to text, graphics, images and graphical representations of URI's of other documents available on one or more server computers (e.g., navigational links), icons (e.g., providing access to specific tools), and/or AMEI icons (e.g., activation buttons to be used to trigger activation events incorporated in the altering machine executable instructions, defined below) and advertisements (e.g., banners). The term "layout" broadly refers to the instructions for placement of content to be rendered prior to a request or activation event. The term "additional information" broadly refers to information or code included in the digital document, other than content, layout, auxiliary content information and auxiliary layout information (e.g., instructions or information which may be implemented by the browser or user system to accomplish specific tasks).

The term "altering machine executable instructions," or "AMEI," broadly refers to content tags (e.g., tags identifying primary content and secondary content), layout tags (e.g., tags identifying which layout is being used to position the content in the digital document), instructions for altering part or all of the digital document (e.g., content, layout, additional information, auxiliary layout information or auxiliary content information) in response to or subsequent to at least one request or activation event and may include instructions for obtaining and rendering auxiliary content information and auxiliary layout information in response to, or subsequent to, at least one request or activation event. Additionally, the term "auxiliary layout information," as used herein, broadly refers to one or more auxiliary layouts and instructions that are designed specifically to dynamically alter the appearance of a web page on a computer screen, but to also maximize the attributes of different mediums, such as a print medium (e.g., pages printed from the screen) or for display on an atypical device (e.g., PDA or mobile phone). This not only includes dynamic elimination of the placement of content which is only useful when viewed on the computer screen (e.g., navigational links and banner ads), but also includes the alteration of the desired content so that it is easy to read (e.g., no cut-off text or graphics) as well as inclusion of auxiliary information designed specifically for the new medium.

Each type of auxiliary layout information is either included in the digital document, but not used for placement of content prior to a request or activation event, or not included in the digital document when originally sent by a digital document provider to a user system (in which case, auxiliary layout information may be subsequently obtained by the AMEI). The auxiliary layout information is then used for placement of part or all of the content and/or part or all of the auxiliary content information upon, or subsequent to, performance of a request or activation event.

The term "auxiliary content information," as used herein, broadly refers to auxiliary content and instructions that are specifically designed for placement by the auxiliary layout information on a new medium, such as the printed page or a PDA, or specifically designed to implement a user requested change to a typical medium like the computer screen. Such auxiliary content could include, for example, advertisements specifically designed for the medium on which those advertisement will be displayed (e.g., dynamic banner advertisements for a computer screen, magazine print advertisements for a printed page, and other medium specific advertising for PDAs and mobile phones). Auxiliary content may also include text from related articles and much more. The auxiliary content is either included in the digital document but not rendered by the layout prior to a request or activation event, or not included in the digital document when originally sent by the digital document provider to the user system (e.g., auxiliary content information that may be subsequently obtained by the AMEI from that digital document provider, obtained from a user's system, or one or more remote sources) which part or all is rendered by the layout or auxiliary layout information in response to, or subsequent to, a request or activation event.

Furthermore, the term "web page" or "digital document" is meant to refer to, but not be limited to, web pages or digital documents residing on servers connected to a communication network, the Internet and web pages or digital documents residing on servers connected to an Intranet and/or Extranet.

A detailed description of at least one embodiment of the invention is now provided with reference to FIG. 1, which illustrates a schematic representation of an environment 100 that includes a digital document provider 110, a user system 120 and a communication network 130, which can be, for example, implemented in whole or part by the WWW. In FIG. 1, provisioning of digital documents 140 (which may be, for example, but not limited to content included on web pages) is supported by the digital document provider 110 (e.g., the originator and/or publisher of the digital documents). It should be understood that the digital document provider 110 may be implemented using one or more servers (e.g., one or more server farms, a hierarchically configured server system where a first server acts as a proxy that receives requests from a number of users and routes the requests to appropriate server(s), etc.).

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a user may access the communication network 130 via the user system 120. The user system 120 may include any type of data processing device resident with a user, e.g., a PDA, a mobile phone, or other computer equipment resident at a user premises including, for example, a personal computer, etc. The communication network 130 may include, among other things, one or more public networks, such as the Internet, and/or one or more private networks often referred to as "Intranets" and "Extranets." A connection between the user system 120 and the communication network 130 may be provided by, for example, a company's communication network, an Internet connection via a modem included in the user system 120 and connected to traditional phone lines, an ISDN link, a T1 link, a T3 link, via cable television, via an ethernet network, etc.; that connection may be made, for example, via a third party, such as an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or wireless network. The connection may be made, for example, either by a direct connection of the client/user to the Internet or indirectly via another, intermediary, device connected to the Internet; in the latter case, the user system 120 may be connected to the intermediary device via a Local or Wide Area Network (LAN or WAN).

A user may access a digital document provided by the digital document provider 110 by establishing a connection, e.g., a TCP connection, between the user system 120 and the digital document provider 110. The user system 120 may communicate with the digital document provider 110 using, for example, HTTP protocol over such a TCP connection, to facilitate data transfer between the user system 120 and the digital document provider 110.

Communication between the digital document provider 110 and the user system 120 may be facilitated via a Requesting, Receiving and Rendering Component (RRRC) 150, which may be, for example, a browser. Thus, using the RRRC 150, the user system 120 may initiate a TCP/IP request for a digital document 140 from the digital document provider 110 and render the digital document 140 on a first rendering device, e.g., display the digital document 140 on a display or screen included in the user system 120. Accordingly, the digital document 140 may include layout, content and additional information that dictate how the RRRC 150 controls rendering of the digital document's content in the specified layout prior to a request or activation event.

A resulting rendered digital document may include the digital document's content in a format such as that illustrated in FIG. 2. That format includes a layout 200 of various content elements included within the digital document. For example, a layout 200 may include pieces of content such as a body 205 (which may include, e.g., text) and various graphical items such as, but not limited to, a company logo 210, banners 215, 220 and 225, navigational links 230, 235, 240, 245 and 250, user options 255, and a legal disclaimer 260.

The format, and as a result, the layout, of the digital document illustrated in FIG. 2 is based on specific dimensions established by the digital document provider 110, i.e., a specific number of pixels for overall width and height for a particular rendering device, for example, a personal computer screen. More particularly, the layout dictates how the RRRC 150 of the user system 120 should control the rendering of the content of the digital document. This layout is based on certain presumptions regarding the digital document rendering device (e.g., the first rendering device 160 illustrated in FIG. 1).

For example, the layout included in a conventional digital document may, legitimately, be based on the presumption that a rendering device is likely to be a personal computer screen. Thus, the layout may be based on the presumption that the width of a layout 200 should be, for example, 800 pixels, and the height of the layout will be based on the amount of content included in the digital document. However, as mentioned above, conventionally, when a user is interested in printing the content of an accessed digital document following its viewing on the user's personal computer screen, a problem occurs because use of the layout specific to the personal computer screen results in a cluttered or cut off version of that layout and content printed from the user's printer.

Because, for example, there is most likely a discrepancy between the format appropriate for a personal computer screen and the format appropriate for a printer, a layout information such as the one illustrated in FIG. 2, may be conventionally parsed into various pages, thereby providing a new layout information that is not appropriate for rendering the content information on a printer. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, conventionally, a rendering device's control software may parse the content information of the digital document layout information illustrated in FIG. 2 into three separate pages based on the format for the second rendering device. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the first page may include only the content information illustrated in section 310 (illustrated in FIG. 4), second page may include only the content information illustrated in section 320 (illustrated in FIG. 5), and the third page may include only the content information illustrated in section 330 (illustrated in FIG. 6). Any content information in the layout information of the digital document which is wider than the width set by the control software 340 would conventionally go unprinted.

To the contrary, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention (and as explained herein), the AMEI includes instructions associated with the obtaining and/or utilizing auxiliary layout information and may include auxiliary content information that is formulated to be appropriate for a new rendering on the first rendering device 160 or a second rendering device 180 such as a printer. For example, if a user activates a print event, the AMEI included in the digital document automatically obtains or implements auxiliary layout information to the web page transforming the existing web page (FIG. 2) into one which is designed for printing, e.g., FIG. 7. This new layout hides all of the secondary content and positions the important content (e.g., company logo and main body of the page) in a way that when parsed by the print subroutine, e.g., FIG. 8, and printed, the resulting printed pages maximize the attributes of the printed medium, e.g., FIGS. 9 and 10. As illustrated in the figures, there may be, for example, no non-functional navigational links taking up space, no dynamic banner ads which only show on frame on the printed page, no cut-off words or pictures and no printing of an unnecessary third page. Further, the auxiliary layout information can be used to enable advertisers to apply print advertisements to the pages printed from the Internet.

As shown in FIG. 11, dynamic banner advertisements designed for viewing on a screen (for example, banner advertisements 215, 220 and 225 illustrated in FIG. 2) may be replaced with print advertisements 1150 and 1160. As a result, when this layout is parsed by the print subroutine (as illustrated in FIG. 12) and printed (as illustrated FIGS. 13 and 14), the resulting printed pages provide a superior printing experience, elimination of non-functional navigational links and dynamic banner advertisements, elimination of cut-off words and graphics; moreover, the operations performed in association with various embodiments of the invention may eliminate the need to open a "printer friendly" version of a web page and eliminate the printing of conventionally necessary additional pages (such as illustrated in FIG. 6), while enabling advertisers to place one or more print advertisements on each page printed from a web site.

In accordance with various embodiments of the invention (and as explained herein), an AMEI is inserted into each digital document providing instructions associated with the formulation and/or access of one or more auxiliary layouts, i.e., a layout that is formulated to be appropriate for a rendering device such as a printer, PDA or mobile phone rather then the content provider's preferred layout for rendering of content in a format associated with a personal computer screen. The AMEI may trigger formulation and/or access of one or more sets of auxiliary layout information, for example, in response to a request event or activation event. The AMEI provides instructions for the RRRC to automatically and effectively alter and render the digital document so that the control software, for example, that control a second rendering device, such as a print subroutine, which parses the digital document prior to sending the information to a second rendering device (such as the second rendering device 180 illustrated in FIG. 1).

A general explanation of operations associated with processing an activation event, which is a print event, performed in accordance with various embodiments of the invention is now provided with reference to FIG. 1. When a user would like to print content originally rendered on a first rendering device 160, e.g., displayed on their computer screen, on a second rendering device 180, e.g., their printer, the user may instruct the user system 120 to print that content information. Subsequently, the RRRC 150 works in cooperation with software controlling the second rendering device 180 to render that content information. After the second rendering device's control software receives instructions from the RRRC 150 to print the digital document, the control software parses the content information and determines which content information will be displayed on various pages and in what order.

In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, upon execution of a print event, AMEI included in the digital document 140 instruct the RRRC 150 to either access or formulate, depending on the embodiment of the invention (as explained herein), one or more sets of auxiliary layout information for the digital document based on at least one characteristic of the second rendering device 180. This auxiliary layout information is designed to maximize the space provided in the new medium, while eliminating pieces of content not designed for or ineffective in the new medium. It should also be understood that at least one set of auxiliary layout information may be subsequently used to render the content information of the digital document on the first and/or the second rendering devices 160 and 180 rather then the layout information originally used to render the content information on the first rendering device 160.

Subsequent to auxiliary layout information being provided and implemented (either by accessing pre-existing auxiliary layout information or formulating such layout information), the digital document is sent to control software, e.g., a print subroutine, for the second rendering device 180 (e.g., a printer). Subsequently, the RRRC 150 concludes the print event.

The control software then determines how to parse the content and render that content on each printed page; that content information is divided, for example, into what may appear on various pages, taking into account the dimensions associated with the average rendering supplied by a driver, e.g., a printer driver, using the second rendering device, e.g., the content information rendering device's rendering range including, for example, a maximum width of rendered content information. Since the auxiliary layout information is designed for rendering using the secondary rendering device, no content information specified in the auxiliary layout information is cut off or un-rendered.

The control software for the second rendering device 180 then creates a render-able file, which is sent by control software to other control software, e.g., a print subroutine, which forwards it to the second rendering device 180 for rendering. The second rendering device then produces the rendered content information.

Therefore, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention, AMEI are included in the digital document that enable the RRRC 150 to determine how to position the content information of the digital document to be more appropriate for rendering the content information on a printer prior to sending to the control software of a second rendering device (e.g., second rendering device 180, illustrated in FIG. 1).

Accordingly, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention an altering component 170 formulates one or more sets of auxiliary layout information to be appropriate for rendering content information of the digital document on the second rendering device 180. In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, the altering component 170 may reside behind a firewall at the digital document provider 110, at a remote source 190 accessible via network 130 or at the user system 120.

For example, auxiliary layout information, including a layout such as the one illustrated in FIG. 8, may be formulated to allow for rendering of only some of the content information illustrated in the digital document shown in FIG. 2. To facilitate this formulation, the content information included in the digital document may be divided into categories and tagged within the code implementing the digital document accordingly. For example, one such category may be primary content information, which may be displayed in both primary layout information, i.e., the layout information to be used when rendering the content information on either the first or second rendering devices 160, 180. A second category may be, for example, secondary content information, for example, content information which should be rendered by the first rendering device 160, e.g., displayed on a computer screen, but not by the second rendering device 180, e.g., printed. Such auxiliary layout information may be of particular use when a user is interested in printing text of an article included in a digital document but not all of the advertisements, links and legal disclaimer included in that document and displayed when accessing a web site providing that document to display the digital document content information. It should be appreciated that the parsing and tagging of content information of the digital document into various categories may allow omission of, for example, all advertising material and/or functional graphics (e.g., links) that would, obviously, fail to function when rendered in, for example, a print medium.

As can be seen in FIG. 8, this example auxiliary layout information may include rendering of the company logo 210 in a new position 810, 820, and the body 205 in a new position and divided at 830, 840. In this example, secondary content information includes the banners 215-225, the navigational links 230-250, the user options 255 and the legal disclaimer 260.

Additionally, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention one or more sets of auxiliary layout information may incorporate not only the content information provided in the digital document 140 but also auxiliary content information provided by the digital document provider 110 or one or more remote sources 190, 195. This auxiliary content information may include, for example, auxiliary content such as text from related articles, additional details or text to supplement the content information included in the digital document, etc., and/or tertiary content information including, for example, additional or alternative advertising material, etc.

In accordance with at least the first through fifth embodiments of the invention, the method and system are designed to particularly handle one specific type of user activation event, a print event. Those embodiments provide for various methods of creating and distributing one or more digital documents (e.g., web pages) that are designed to maximize the attributes of a typical computer screen when viewed on a computer screen, but when printed, are dynamically altered and rendered to maximize the attributes of the print medium prior to sending the information to the control software of the printer and then switched back to an original screen maximizing condition in a fashion that may be so rapid, the entire process may be unnoticeable to the user. This event may be automatically activated by the user activating or exciting an icon or button on the digital document, activating a print button on their browser or activating the print function from a pull-down menu (i.e., there is no need to open a "printer friendly" version of the digital document).

The result may be the creation of a digital document that takes advantage of the attributes of the computer screen when the content may be rendered on the computer screen and takes advantage of the attributes of the printed page when the content may be rendered on the printed page. This approach also allows for utilization of appropriate advertising for each medium, e.g., dynamic banner advertisements to attract a users attention while viewing content on a computer screen and static print advertisements such as those in a magazine for viewing on a printed page.

Although at least the first five embodiments may automatically revert back to an original layout, content and additional information once a newly rendered document has been sent to a secondary rendering device control software, it should be understood that different auxiliary layout information and/or auxiliary content information may be applied to the digital document to be rendered on the first rendering device subsequent to the completion of the event. Thus, in accordance with at least a sixth embodiment, the AMEI not only instructs creation and rendering of a new version of a digital document upon an event, but also creation and rendering of a different version of the digital document upon the conclusion of that event.

At least a seventh embodiment relates particularly to one specific type of user activation event, an activation or excitation of a button on a screen which triggers altering the appearance of the original layout, content and additional information of a digital document when viewed on the computer screen in a fashion desired by the user of the digital document. At least this embodiment provides a method of creating and distributing one or more digital documents (e.g., web pages) that are designed to maximize the attributes of a typical computer screen when content may be rendered on a computer screen, and, when a certain icon or button is activated or excited by a user, the digital document may be dynamically altered to meet the needs of the user. This may provide a mechanism for the creation and distribution of a digital document that originally takes advantage of a digital document creator's or distributor's preferred layout for viewing on a computer screen, but also allows a user to alter the display (without opening a new page) to meet his particular needs. This feature may hide certain pieces of content or change the original layout to allow for space for a text box to be inserted into the page for the user to type notes or comments prior to saving the digital document, printing the digital document or transmitting the digital document via electronic mail.

In accordance with at least the eighth and ninth embodiments, methods and systems are provide that handle a specific type of request event and allow for the creation and distribution of one or more digital documents, which are designed to maximize the attributes of a computer screen, but when requested to be sent to an atypical user device (e.g., a PDA, mobile phone, etc.), the digital document is dynamically altered to best take advantage of the attributes of the atypical user device. This event may be automatically activated by a user request for the document to be sent to the atypical user device (i.e., there may be no need to obtain a PDA friendly version of a digital document). One potential utility of this particular embodiment may be the creation of a digital document that takes advantage of the attributes of the computer screen when viewed on the computer screen and takes advantage of the attributes of the atypical user device when viewed on such a device. As a result, in accordance with at least this embodiment of the invention, appropriate advertising may be included for each medium, e.g., dynamic banner advertisements for viewing on a computer screen and advertisements specially designed for the resolution and screen dimensions of atypical user devices.

In accordance with at least a tenth embodiment of the invention, a method and system are provided for tracking the usage of each of the other embodiments (one through nine).

In accordance with at least a first embodiment, a method of creating and distributing a digital document (e.g., a web page) may be provided for viewing the document on a computer screen, and, upon a certain user activation event (e.g., electing to print the digital document, regardless of the method used to activate the print event, for example, activating a print button on the digital document, activating a print button on the browser or activating the print function of a pull-down menu of the browser) the digital document may be automatically altered to take advantage of the attributes of the print medium. Subsequently, once the newly rendered document may be forwarded for printing, the digital document reverts back to its original screen appearance. This process may be so rapid that it may be virtually unnoticeable by the user.

As illustrated in FIG. 15, in accordance with at least this first embodiment, the altering component 1500 may be resident at the digital document provider 110, for example, behind a firewall and/or with protection from other security mechanisms provided by the digital document provider 110. One or more sets of auxiliary layout information may be created by the altering component 1500 and included, but hidden, in the digital document 140. One or more sets of auxiliary cont