Spreadsheet user-interface for an internet-document change-detection tool
US5983268A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 25, 1997 |
| Grant date | Nov 9, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 25, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F16/958
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A change-detection tool detects significant changes in numerical fields within internet web pages on the world-wide-web. A user identifies web-page web pages by specifying the web page's URL. The user then highlights one or more numeric fields on the web-page web page. The numeric fields' values are extracted to cells on a spreadsheet displayed to the user. The user enters parameters and formulas into unused spreadsheet cells. The formulas operate on the numeric values extracted from the web page to the spreadsheet's cells. The user also enters notification limits or conditions that are based on the results of the formulas. The notification conditions indicate when a change notification is to be e-mailed to the user. After the user finishes registering the web-page web page, the change-detection tool periodically retrieves the web-page web page at the specified URL and re-calculates the formulas and determines if the notification conditions have been met. The change-detection tool automatically retrieves web pages and re-calculates the formulas and conditions specified by the user in the spreadsheet. Arbitrary formulas can be used to perform arbitrary calculations on the web data a…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.