Mechanisms to Compose, Execute, Save, and Retrieve Hyperlink Pipelines in Web Browsers

Abstract

A method of forming a hyperlink pipeline using a web browser. The method includes displaying a source hyperlink via the web browser, wherein the source hyperlink represents a first resource, displaying a destination hyperlink via the web browser, wherein the source hyperlink represents a second resource different from the first resource, receiving a user action that causes the source hyperlink to overlap the destination hyperlink, merging the source hyperlink with the destination hyperlink to generate a hyperlink pipeline, and displaying the hyperlink pipeline representing the source hyperlink and the destination hyperlink merged via the web browser.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of forming a hyperlink pipeline using a web browser, comprising:
 displaying a source hyperlink via the web browser, wherein the source hyperlink represents a first resource;   displaying a destination hyperlink via the web browser, wherein the source hyperlink represents a second resource different from the first resource;   receiving a user action that causes the source hyperlink to overlap the destination hyperlink;   merging the source hyperlink with the destination hyperlink to generate a hyperlink pipeline in response to the user action; and   displaying the hyperlink pipeline representing the source hyperlink and the destination hyperlink merged via the web browser.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user action comprises dragging the source hyperlink into the destination hyperlink and then dropping the source hyperlink. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving a second user action that causes the hyperlink pipeline to be executed. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein execution of the hyperlink pipeline causes the destination hyperlink and the source hyperlink to be sequentially executed. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein execution of the hyperlink pipeline causes the destination hyperlink to be executed prior to execution of the source hyperlink. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the source hyperlink displayed by the web browser and the destination hyperlink displayed by the web browser are displayed simultaneously on a same web page. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the source hyperlink is displayed by the web browser on a first web page and the destination hyperlink is displayed by the web browser on a second web page different from the first web page. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the user action moves the source hyperlink from the first web page to the second web page displaying the destination hyperlink. 
     
     
         9 . An apparatus for forming a hyperlink pipeline that organizes a plurality of resources within a web browser, comprising:
 a memory;   a processor operably coupled to the memory and configured to:
 acquire a source hyperlink comprising a source Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) that identifies a first resource; 
 acquire a destination hyperlink comprising a destination URI that identifies a second resource and a variable within a URI template; 
 receive a user action that causes the source hyperlink to overlap the destination hyperlink; and 
 merge the source hyperlink with the destination hyperlink by substituting the source URI for the variable within the URI template to form the hyperlink pipeline in response to the user action; and 
 a display operably coupled to the processor and configured to display the hyperlink pipeline for a user via the web browser. 
   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the URI is represented as a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), a URI reference, or a Uniform Resource Name (URN). 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to store the destination URI and the source URI into the memory when the hyperlink pipeline is formed. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to verify the destination URI and the source URI when retrieving the hyperlink pipeline. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the source hyperlink is merged with the destination hyperlink to form the hyperlink pipeline when the user action causes text of the source hyperlink to overlap text of the destination hyperlink is received. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein a browser extension is not used to form the hyperlink pipeline. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the source hyperlink and the destination hyperlink originate from different web pages, and wherein the first resource and the second resource are on different services. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the hyperlink pipeline in a sequential manner that invokes the second resource before the first resource. 
     
     
         17 . An apparatus for forming a hyperlink pipeline that organizes a plurality of hyperlinks within a web browser, comprising:
 a processor configured to:
 create a factory module comprising:
 a template attribute that indicates a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) template, wherein the URI template comprises a variable; 
 a name attribute that indicates a name of the variable; 
 a type attribute that indicates a list of accepted media types for the variable; 
 
 and a pipeline attribute that indicates the URI of the hyperlink pipeline; and 
 form a hyperlink pipeline by substituting a source URI that corresponds to a source hyperlink into the variable upon receipt of a user action that causes the source hyperlink to overlap a destination hyperlink; and 
   a display operably coupled to the processor and configured to display the hyperlink pipeline.   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the hyperlink pipeline and at least one of the source hyperlink and the destination hyperlink are simultaneously displayed on the display. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the factory module further comprises a delimiter attribute that indicates a delimiter used to separate multiple substitutions of the variable, wherein the variable comprises a plurality of URIs, wherein the source URI is added to the plurality of URIs when forming the hyperlink pipeline, and wherein the plurality of URIs and the source URI are separated by the delimiter. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the URI template further comprises a class attribute that indicates a list of accepted classes for the variable, wherein the source hyperlink comprises a source class attribute that indicates a class for the source hyperlink, and wherein the processor is further configured to form the hyperlink pipeline when the source class attribute matches an accepted class in the class attribute.