Mapping page states to urls

Abstract

A client application displaying a dynamically generated single page from a web application may display consistent and intuitive uniform resource locators (URLs) that are mapped to various states of the single page (e.g., various states entered based on user interactions with dynamically generated content from the web application). The various states of the single page may be mapped to corresponding URLs based on the user interactions with respect to the single page. These URLs may be used to revisit the single page in its respectively corresponding states.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A device for managing a state of a document, comprising:
 hardware processing circuitry;   a hardware memory storing instructions that when executed cause the hardware processing circuitry to perform operations comprising:
 requesting from a server over a computer network, a document identified by a first uniform resource locator (URL); 
 receiving, from the server, data defining the document, the data including executable program code and non-executable data, the document defining an initial display state for the document; 
 displaying the document in the initial display state; 
 receiving input selecting a second URL, the second URL defining a transition from the initial display state to a second display state; 
 executing the program code to detect the transition; 
 obtaining data for the second display state from the executing program code; and 
 displaying the document in the second display state based on the obtained data, wherein displaying the document in the second display state comprises displaying the second URL. 
   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
 receiving a user command to navigate to the first URL; and   displaying the document in the initial display state in response to receiving the user command without re-requesting the document from the server.   
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein the user command specifies the first URL without any hash fragments. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein the user command is received via a “back” button of a browser. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein the user command is received via a “forward” button of a browser. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 2 , the operations further comprising storing an association between the first URL and data defining the initial display state, wherein the displaying of the document in the initial display state in response to receiving the user command is based on the stored association. 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 6 , the operations further comprising storing a second association between the second URL and second data defining the second display state. 
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 7 , wherein obtaining data for the second display state comprises reading the stored second association between the second URL and the second data defining the second display state, wherein the second data is the data for the second display state. 
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 8 , wherein the obtaining of data for the second display state further comprises verifying that the second URL corresponds to a valid state of the document, and wherein the displaying of the document in the second display state is in response to the verification being successful. 
     
     
         10 . A method of managing a state of a document, comprising:
 requesting from a server over a computer network, a document identified by a first uniform resource locator (URL);   receiving, from the server, data defining the document, the data including executable program code and non-executable data, the document defining an initial display state for the document;   displaying the document in the initial display state;   receiving input selecting a second URI, the second URL defining a transition from the initial display state to a second display state;   executing the program code to detect the transition;   obtaining data for the second display state from the executing program code; and   displaying the document in the second display state based on the obtained data, wherein displaying the document in the second display state comprises displaying the second URL.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 receiving a user command to navigate to the first URL; and   displaying the document in the initial display state in response to receiving the user command without re-requesting the document from the server.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the user command specifies the first URL without any hash fragments. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the user command is received via a “back” button of a browser. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the user command is received via a “forward” button of a browser. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising storing an association between the first URL and data defining the initial display state, wherein the displaying of the document in the initial display state in response to receiving the user command is based on the stored association. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising storing a second association between the second URL and second data defining the second display state. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein obtaining data fur the second display state comprises reading the stored second association between the second URL and the second data defining the second display state, wherein the second data is the data for the second display state. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the obtaining of data for the second display state further comprises verifying that the second URL corresponds to a valid state of the document, and wherein the displaying of the document in the second display state is in response to the verification being successful. 
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed cause hardware processing circuitry to perform operations for managing a state of a document, the operations comprising:
 requesting from a server over a computer network, a document identified by a first uniform resource locator (URL);   receiving, from the server, data defining the document, the data including executable program code and non-executable data, the document defining an initial display state for the document;   displaying the document in the initial display state;   receiving input selecting a second URL, the second URL defining a transition from the initial display state to a second display state;   executing the program code to detect the transition;   obtaining data for the second display state from the executing program code; and   displaying the document in the second display state based on the obtained data, wherein displaying the document in the second display state comprises displaying the second URL.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 19 , further comprising storing an association between the first URL and data defining the initial display state, wherein the displaying of the document in the initial display state in response to receiving the user command is based on the stored association.