DOM Snapshot Capture for Webpage State Replay
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current technologies lack an efficient method to capture and replay the state of webpages on video displays for future reference, specifically in capturing the Document Object Model (DOM) snapshots that accurately represent the webpage's components and user interactions.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that captures a DOM snapshot on a client computer in response to user-defined events, populates an HTML request with the snapshot, and transmits it to an HTML server for storage and later retrieval, enabling the client computer to regenerate the webpage or image using the received snapshot.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If DOM snapshots are captured and transmitted to the server for later replay, then the ability to replay and analyze webpage states is improved, but the network bandwidth consumption and server storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential DOM snapshot data needed for replay purposes, separating it from the complete webpage content. By capturing and transmitting only the DOM tree structure and state information rather than entire webpage copies, the system achieves accurate replay capability while minimizing data transmission volume and server storage requirements.
2Reliability
If complete webpage content is captured for replay, then replay accuracy is improved, but the complexity of data processing and storage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates simplified copies of webpage state information through DOM snapshots, which capture the essential structure and content of the DOM tree without replicating the entire webpage including styles, scripts, and media. This copying approach maintains replay fidelity for the structural and content elements while significantly reducing the complexity of data processing, storage, and transmission compared to capturing complete webpage content.
3Measurement precision
If DOM snapshots are captured for every user interaction, then the detail level for analysis is improved, but the processing time and system resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic DOM snapshot capture triggered by specific user interactions or time intervals rather than continuous capturing. This periodic action allows the system to maintain detailed tracking of user interactions at meaningful points while avoiding the excessive processing time and resource consumption that would result from capturing every single DOM change or mouse movement, thus balancing measurement precision with time efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
In response to detecting a user-defined event on a client computer, a DOM snapshot of a DOM is captured. The DOM snapshot is of a DOM being used to generate an image on a display of the client computer. A hypertext markup language (HTML) request is populated with the DOM snapshot. The HTML request is a virtual request that directs a recipient to save the HTML request without returning a webpage upon receipt. The HTML request with the DOM snapshot is transmitted to an HTML server. Subsequently, a request for the DOM snapshot is transmitted from the client computer to the HTML server. The client computer receives an HTML response from the HTML server. The HTML response HTML response includes the DOM snapshot. An image is generated on a display of the client computer using the DOM snapshot from the HTML response.