Structured document browser

Abstract

A structured document browser includes a constant user interface for displaying and viewing sections of a document that is organized according to a pre-defined structure. The structured document browser displays documents that have been marked with embedded codes that specify the structure of the document. The tags are mapped to correspond to a set of icons. When the icon is selected while browsing a document, the browser will display the section of the structure corresponding to the icon selected, while preserving the constant user interface.

1 . A computer-readable storage medium comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to receive a user selection of one of a plurality of product descriptions of a company's product line for display;    operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display the one of the plurality of product descriptions in a display area; and    operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display a plurality of selectors in a selector area outside of the display area regardless of the user selection of the one of the plurality of product descriptions, the plurality of selectors comprising one or more of the following selectors: overview information selector, sales information selector, product availability information selector, ordering information selector, billing information selector, troubleshooting information selector, and product support information selector.    
     
     
         2 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send, over a network, at least one of the data to display the one of the plurality of product descriptions and the data to display the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         3 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display a fly-by help message indicating a function of one of the plurality of selectors after a screen pointer is positioned over the one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         4 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to automatically display a search string entry box.    
     
     
         5 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive a user selection of one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         6 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 5  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display information associated with the one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         7 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 5  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display, at a same time as the plurality of selectors, information associated with the one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         8 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the user selection of the one of the plurality of product descriptions is received by: 
 sending data to display a second plurality of selectors, each selector of the second plurality of selectors being associated with a respective one of the plurality of product descriptions; and    receiving a user selection of one of the second plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         9 . A computer-readable storage medium comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to receive a user selection of one of a plurality of product descriptions of a company's product line for display;    operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display the one of the plurality of product descriptions in a display area; and    operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display a plurality of selectors in a selector area outside of the display area regardless of the user selection of the one of the plurality of product descriptions, the plurality of selectors comprising an ordering information selector.    
     
     
         10 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send, over a network, at least one of the data to display the one of the plurality of product descriptions and the data to display the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         11 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display a fly-by help message indicating a function of one of the plurality of selectors after a screen pointer is positioned over the one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         12 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to automatically display a search string entry box.    
     
     
         13 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive a user selection of one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         14 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 13  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display information associated with the one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         15 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 13  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display, at a same time as the plurality of selectors, information associated with the one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the user selection of the one of the plurality of product descriptions is received by: 
 sending data to display a second plurality of selectors, each selector of the second plurality of selectors being associated with a respective one of the plurality of product descriptions; and    receiving a user selection of one of the second plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         17 . A computer-readable storage medium comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to receive a user selection of one of a plurality of product descriptions of a company's product line for display;    operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display the one of the plurality of product descriptions in a display area; and    operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display a plurality of selectors in a selector area outside of the display area regardless of the user selection of the one of the plurality of product descriptions, the plurality of selectors comprising a product support information selector.    
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send, over a network, at least one of the data to display the one of the plurality of product descriptions and the data to display the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display a fly-by help message indicating a function of one of the plurality of selectors after a screen pointer is positioned over the one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to automatically display a search string entry box.    
     
     
         21 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive a user selection of one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         22 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 21  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display information associated with the one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         23 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 21  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display, at a same time as the plurality of selectors, information associated with the one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         24 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the user selection of the one of the plurality of product descriptions is received by: 
 sending data to display a second plurality of selectors, each selector of the second plurality of selectors being associated with a respective one of the plurality of product descriptions; and    receiving a user selection of one of the second plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         25 . A computer-readable storage medium comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to receive a user selection of one of a plurality of web data for display;    operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display the one of the plurality of web data in a display area; and    operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display a plurality of selectors in a selector area outside of the display area regardless of the user selection of the one of the plurality of web data, the plurality of selectors comprising one or more of the following selectors: overview information selector, sales information selector, product availability information selector, ordering information selector, billing information selector, troubleshooting information selector, and product support information selector.    
     
     
         26 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 25  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send, over a network, at least one of the data to display the one of the plurality of web data and the data to display the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         27 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 25  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display a fly-by help message indicating a function of one of the plurality of selectors after a screen pointer is positioned over the one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         28 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 25  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to automatically display a search string entry box.    
     
     
         29 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 25  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive a user selection of one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         30 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 29  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display information associated with the one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         31 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 29  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display, at a same time as the plurality of selectors, information associated with the one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         32 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 25 , wherein the user selection of the one of the plurality of web data is received by: 
 sending data to display a second plurality of selectors, each selector of the second plurality of selectors being associated with a respective one of the plurality of web data; and    receiving a user selection of one of the second plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         33 . A computer-readable storage medium comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to receive a user selection of one of a plurality of product descriptions of a company's product line for display;    operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display the one of the plurality of product descriptions in a display area; and    operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display a plurality of selectors in a selector area outside of the display area regardless of the user selection of the one of the plurality of product descriptions by sending data comprising HyperText Markup Language (HTML) codes, with angle brackets around them, configured to cause a browser in communication with the processor to retrieve graphics from a location external to the data comprising the HTML codes and external to the browser, the plurality of selectors comprising one or more of the following selectors: overview information selector, sales information selector, product availability information selector, ordering information selector, billing information selector, troubleshooting information selector, and product support information selector.    
     
     
         34 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 33  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send, over a network, at least one of the data to display the one of the plurality of product descriptions and the data to display the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         35 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 33  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display a fly-by help message indicating a function of one of the plurality of selectors after a screen pointer is positioned over the one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         36 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 33  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to automatically display a search string entry box.    
     
     
         37 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 33  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive a user selection of one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         38 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 37  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display information associated with the one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         39 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 37  further comprising: 
 operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send data to display, at a same time as the plurality of selectors, information associated with the one of the plurality of selectors.    
     
     
         40 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 33 , wherein the user selection of the one of the plurality of product descriptions is received by: 
 sending data to display a second plurality of selectors, each selector of the second plurality of selectors being associated with a respective one of the plurality of product descriptions; and    receiving a user selection of one of the second plurality of selectors.