Integrated document viewer with automatic sharing of reading-related activities across external social networks

Abstract

In various embodiments of the present invention, documents (such as PDF documents) are converted into HTML 5 (and CSS 3) formats and integrated into existing HTML 5 web pages in a manner that preserves the original fonts embedded within the documents. The fonts can also be integrated or embedded (e.g., via the standard HTML “iframe” tag) into other web pages. The original appearance of the source document is maintained, the text is preserved as searchable text, and the document is integrated into a web page that can be searched, zoomed, scrolled, printed, etc., utilizing standard web browser controls. As a result, a significantly increased “ad inventory” is enabled, wherein advertisements can be integrated between the individual pages (or even within a page) of the document. In addition, the resulting document (independent of its format) can be passively shared with desired members of a user's external social networks (as well as any social network within the host website), along with other activities and behavior performed by the user on the website hosting the document.

1 . A method for converting and integrating non-HTML documents into HTML web pages on a host server while preserving the original appearance and text searchability of the documents, the method including the following steps:
 (a) parsing a document to extract text characters and associated fonts, as well as page layout attributes of the document, each glyph in a font representing the appearance of its associated text character with respect to that font;   (b) integrating the text characters into an HTML web page and generating HTML tags to preserve the document's page layout attributes;   (c) generating one or more font files, accessible from the HTML web page, that map the text characters to their associated glyphs; and   (d) storing the HTML web page and font files on the host server for delivery to and rendering within the window of a client web browser, whereby the original appearance and text searchability of the document is preserved.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the CSS 3 @font-face tag is employed to link the font files to the HTML web page. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the HTML web page contains a plurality of web page elements external to the document, and wherein the document and the plurality of web page elements can be displayed within the client's web browser window. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein a user of the client's web browser can select and search for text within the document using the client web browser's standard controls. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein a user of the client's web browser can zoom text within the document and scroll among the pages of the document using the client web browser's standard controls. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the document's page layout attributes include the size, orientation and location of an image on a page of the document. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the document's page layout attributes include the location of text on a page of the document. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plurality of web page elements include text external to the document. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plurality of web page elements include an image external to the document. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plurality of web page elements include an advertisement external to the document. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the advertisement includes both text and an image. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the advertisement is located to the side of a page of the document, whereby the ad inventory of the web page is proportional to the number of pages of the document. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the advertisement is integrated into the white space within a page of the document. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the advertisement is integrated into the white space between two consecutive pages of the document. 
     
     
         15 . A method for displaying text in a web page using the built-in functionality of a web browser, while inhibiting the use of that functionality to search for and copy the text, the method including the following steps:
 (a) generating a font file containing, for each text character, a corresponding glyph representing the appearance of that character, and a mismatched character code that does not correspond to the glyph; and   (b) generating an HTML document that contains the mismatched character codes and instructions directing the web browser to use the font file for displaying the glyphs,   (c) whereby the web browser utilizes the font file to display the text correctly, but cannot search for or copy the text due to the mismatched character codes in the HTML document.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the font files include, for each text character, a mismatched character code that does not correspond to the character's associated glyph, and wherein the HTML web page contains the mismatched character codes and instructions directing the web browser to use the font files for displaying the glyphs, whereby the web browser utilizes the font files to display the text characters correctly, but cannot search for or copy the text characters due to the mismatched character codes in the HTML web page. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the page layout attributes of at least some portion of the document are specified in the HTML web page by the organization of the text characters into words, lines and paragraphs, and wherein the page layout attributes are preserved by:
 (a) extracting from the document absolute position information relating to the text characters; 
 (b) analyzing the absolute position information to identify relative position information, including the beginning and end of individual words, lines of text and paragraphs of text; and 
 (c) generating HTML tags, from the relative position information, to delineate the beginning and end of individual lines of text and paragraphs of text. 
 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the page layout attributes of the document include diagonal text, and wherein the page layout attributes are preserved by:
 (a) detecting the presence of diagonal text while parsing the document; 
 (b) generating, via a geometric transformation, a rotated glyph corresponding to each text character of the diagonal text; and 
 (c) mapping, to each rotated glyph, vertical position information that enables the client's web browser to render the diagonal text. 
 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the presence of diagonal text is detected by extracting from the document absolute position information relating to the text characters, and identifying periodically increasing or decreasing vertical offsets of adjacent text characters. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1  wherein a plurality of font files is generated, each font file having a different format from among a set of formats including “eot,” “ttf” and “svg” formats, thereby accomodating the different formats supported by different client web browsers. 
     
     
         21 . A method for automatically sharing a user's reading-related activities performed on a website, the website referencing a plurality of documents with respect to which the activities can be performed, the method including the following steps:
 (a) enabling for sharing one or more of a plurality of reading-related activities relating to the user's reading of documents on the website;   (b) designating one or more social networks on which the user's reading-related activities will be shared; and   (c) automatically sharing the fact that the user has engaged in an enabled reading-related activity on the website with the user's designated social networks.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21  wherein the reading-related activities include a plurality of reading, downloading, annotating and rating documents. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21  wherein at least one of the social networks is external to the website. 
     
     
         24 . A system that converts and integrates non-HTML documents into HTML web pages on a host server while preserving the original appearance and text searchability of the documents, the system comprising:
 (a) a document parser that extracts text characters and associated fonts, as well as page layout attributes of the document, each glyph in a font representing the appearance of its associated text character with respect to that font;   (b) an HTML converter that integrates the text characters into an HTML web page and generates HTML tags to preserve the document's page layout attributes;   (c) a font file generator that generates one or more font files, accessible from the HTML web page, that map the text characters to their associated glyphs; and   (d) a website host on the host server that stores the HTML web page and font files for delivery to and rendering within the window of a client web browser, whereby the original appearance and text searchability of the document is preserved.   
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 24  wherein the CSS 3 @font-face tag is employed to link the font files to the HTML web page. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 24  wherein the HTML web page contains a plurality of web page elements external to the document, and wherein the document and the plurality of web page elements can be displayed within the client's web browser window. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 24  wherein a user of the client's web browser can select and search for text within the document using the client web browser's standard controls. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 24  wherein a user of the client's web browser can zoom text within the document and scroll among the pages of the document using the client web browser's standard controls. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 24  wherein the document's page layout attributes include the size, orientation and location of an image on a page of the document. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 24  wherein the document's page layout attributes include the location of text on a page of the document. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 24  wherein the plurality of web page elements include text external to the document. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 24  wherein the plurality of web page elements include an image external to the document. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 24  wherein the plurality of web page elements include an advertisement external to the document. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 33  wherein the advertisement includes both text and an image. 
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 33  wherein the advertisement is located to the side of a page of the document, whereby the ad inventory of the web page is proportional to the number of pages of the document. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 33  wherein the advertisement is integrated into the white space within a page of the document. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 33  wherein the advertisement is integrated into the white space between two consecutive pages of the document. 
     
     
         38 . A system that displays text in a web page using the built-in functionality of a web browser, while inhibiting the use of that functionality to search for and copy the text, the system comprising:
 (a) a font file generator that generates a font file containing, for each text character, a corresponding glyph representing the appearance of that character, and a mismatched character code that does not correspond to the glyph; and   (b) an HTML document generator that generates an HTML document containing the mismatched character codes and instructions directing the web browser to use the font file for displaying the glyphs,   (c) whereby the web browser can utilize the font file to display the text correctly, but cannot search for or copy the text due to the mismatched character codes in the HTML document.   
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 24  wherein the font files include, for each text character, a mismatched character code that does not correspond to the character's associated glyph, and wherein the HTML web page contains the mismatched character codes and instructions directing the web browser to use the font files for displaying the glyphs, whereby the web browser utilizes the font files to display the text characters correctly, but cannot search for or copy the text characters due to the mismatched character codes in the HTML web page. 
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 24  wherein the page layout attributes of at least some portion of the document are specified in the HTML web page by the organization of the text characters into words, lines and paragraphs, and wherein the system preserves the page layout attributes by:
 (a) extracting from the document absolute position information relating to the text characters; 
 (b) analyzing the absolute position information to identify relative position information, including the beginning and end of individual words, lines of text and paragraphs of text; and 
 (c) generating HTML tags, from the relative position information, to delineate the beginning and end of individual lines of text and paragraphs of text. 
 
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 24  wherein the page layout attributes of the document include diagonal text, and wherein the system preserves the page layout attributes by:
 (a) extracting from the document absolute position information relating to the text characters; 
 (b) analyzing the absolute position information to identify relative position information, including the detection of diagonal text based upon the relative vertical offsets of adjacent text characters; 
 (c) generating, via a geometric transformation, a diagonal glyph corresponding to each text character of the diagonal text; and 
 (d) generating HTML tags, from the relative position information, to enable the client's web browser to render the diagonal text. 
 
     
     
         42 . The system of  claim 24  wherein the font file generator generates a plurality of font files, each font file having a different format from among a set of formats including “eot,” “ttf” and “svg” formats, thereby accomodating the different formats supported by different client web browsers. 
     
     
         43 . A system that automatically shares a user's reading-related activities performed on a website, the website referencing a plurality of documents with respect to which the activities can be performed, the system comprising:
 (a) a sharing enabler that enables for sharing one or more of a plurality of reading-related activities relating to the user's reading of documents on the website;   (b) a social network selector that enables the user to designate one or more social networks on which the user's reading-related activities will be shared; and   (c) an activity sharer that automatically shares the fact that the user has engaged in an enabled reading-related activity on the website with the user's designated social networks.   
     
     
         44 . The system of  claim 43  wherein the reading-related activities include a plurality of reading, downloading, annotating and rating documents. 
     
     
         45 . The system of  claim 43  wherein at least one of the social networks is external to the website.