Web Response URL Rewriting via HTML Parsing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing URL rewriting components in web servers primarily focus on request URLs and poorly handle link transformations in responses, leading to confusion and SEO disadvantages due to inconsistent URL schemes, and often result in errors from crude string-based rewriting methods.
Innovation Solution
A content rewriting system that applies regular expressions and wildcard patterns to responses using outbound rules, allowing administrators to define tag-based and free-matching rules for efficient and flexible URL rewriting without performance penalties, enabling the transformation of links and content in web responses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If string-based rewriting is applied to responses, then URL transformation is achieved, but errors occur and text that should not be replaced is modified
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an HTML parser as an intermediary component between the crude string-based rewriting method and the response content. This parser acts as a mediator that understands HTML structure, allowing the rewriting system to intelligently distinguish between URLs that should be rewritten and those that should not (such as quoted text or JavaScript), thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of setup and rewriting accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical string-based rewriting system with a more sophisticated parser-based system. Instead of blindly replacing text strings, the new system uses an HTML parser to understand the document structure and context, substituting the crude mechanical approach with an intelligent parsing approach that maintains accuracy while preserving ease of configuration
2Stability of the object's composition
If request URLs are rewritten but response links are not, then request URL consistency is improved, but SEO advantages are lost and administrators face confusion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal rewriting system that handles both request URLs and response links through a single configuration mechanism. The outbound rule processor provides multi-functionality by applying the same rewriting logic to both incoming requests and outgoing responses, ensuring URL scheme consistency across the entire system while maintaining SEO optimization capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the previously separate request rewriting and response rewriting functionalities into a unified system. By combining these functions and applying consistent rewriting rules to both requests and responses, the system achieves URL scheme consistency while preserving SEO advantages, eliminating the confusion administrators faced with dual URL schemes
3Device complexity
If crude string-based rewriting is used, then implementation is simple, but performance penalty occurs and flexibility is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the simple but inefficient string-based rewriting mechanism with a parser-based system that, while more complex in structure, delivers superior performance. The HTML parser enables intelligent processing that avoids unnecessary string operations, improving rewriting performance while maintaining reasonable system complexity through modular design
Data Source
AI summary
A content rewriting system is described herein that allows web site administrators to setup rewriting of web responses in an easy and efficient manner. The system provides a configuration schema and an efficient workflow that enables web administrators to easily setup rules to modify HTML or other content without having a high performance penalty or losing flexibility. The content rewriting system applies regular expressions or wildcard patterns to a response to locate and replace the content parts based on the rewriting logic expressed by outbound rewrite rules. The system parses an initial response generated by a web application, applies one or more outbound rules to rewrite the response, and provides the rewritten response to a client that submitted a request for the response.