Method and Apparatus to Search Data and Notify and Update a User

Abstract

The present invention allows a user to subscribe to multiple concurrent channels of syndicated content published over the internet. The user receives notification of the content which is new since the previous time that the user accessed a channel. The user can select the frequency of checking for new content and the user can specify how far back in time to check. In addition, the user can specify a maximum number of changes to be presented.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A digital processing apparatus  1000  comprising:
 an operating system  1480 ; 
 a control logic  1410 , in communication with the operating system  1480 , comprising a content parsing logic engine  1465  in communication with a posting site via the operating system  1480 ; and 
 wherein:
 the content parsing logic engine  1465  generates a content reference  1420  based on user parameters; 
 the content parsing logic engine  1465  uses the content reference  1420  to execute a first query on the posting site to retrieve markup language content  1425 ; 
 the content parsing logic engine  1465  parses the markup language content  1425  to generate map  1440  to map item identifiers  1450  with respective item data  1460 ; 
 the content parsing logic engine  1465  uses the content reference  1420  to execute a second query on the posting site to retrieve syndicated content  1430 ; and 
 the content parsing logic engine  1465  updates item data  1460  with syndicated content  1430  resulting in a modification of map  1440 . 
 
 
     
     
         2 . The digital processing apparatus  1000  of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a query engine  1470  in communication with a data store  1475 ; and 
 the content parsing logic engine  1465  in communication with the query engine  1470 ;
 wherein the content parsing logic engine  1465  passes the modification of map  1440  to the query engine  1470 ; and 
 the query engine  1470  saves the modification of map  1440  in the data store  1475 . 
 
 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus  1000  of  claim 1  wherein a user is notified of the modification of map  1440  via the passing of the modification of map  1440  to an output channel of the operating system  1480 . 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus  1000  of  claim 1  wherein the user parameters are stored in a data store  1475  and wherein a query engine  1470  obtains the user parameters from the data store to pass the user parameters to the content parsing engine  1465 . 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus  1000  of  claim 1 , wherein the apparatus  1000  is at least one selected from the group consisting of cellular telephone, notebook computer, tablet computer, and laptop computer. 
     
     
         6 . A digital processing apparatus  1000  implemented process for coordinating data from dissimilar formats comprising:
 communicating between a content parsing logic engine  1465  and an operating system  1480 ; 
 communicating between the operating system  1480  and a posting site; 
 generating a content reference  1420 , based on user parameters, via the content parsing logic engine  1465 ; 
 using the content reference  1420  to execute a first query on the posting site to retrieve markup language content  1425  via the content parsing logic engine  1465 ; 
 parsing the markup language content  1425  to generate map  1440  to map item identifiers  1450  with respective item data  1460  via the content parsing logic engine  1465 ; 
 using the content reference  1420  to execute a second query on the posting site to retrieve syndicated content  1430  via the content parsing logic engine  1465 ; and 
 updating item data  1460  with syndicated content  1430  resulting in a modification of map  1440  via the content parsing logic engine  1465 . 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  further comprising:
 a query engine  1470  in communication with a data store  1475 ; 
 the content parsing logic engine  1465  in communication with the query engine  1470 ; 
 passing the modification of map  1440  to the query engine  1470  via the content parsing logic engine  1465 ; and 
 saving the modification of map  1440  in the data store  1475  via the query engine  1470 . 
 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6  wherein a user is notified of the modification of map  1440  via the passing of the modification of map  1440  via the content parsing logic engine to an output channel of the operating system  1480 . 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the user parameters are stored in a data store  1475  and wherein a query engine  1470  obtains the user parameters from the data store to pass the user parameters to the content parsing engine  1465 . 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus  1000  of  claim 6  wherein the apparatus  1000  is at least one selected from the group consisting of cellular telephone, notebook computer, tablet computer, and laptop computer. 
     
     
         11 . A non-transitory data processing apparatus readable storage medium storing a program for causing a data processing apparatus  1000  to execute a method according to  claim 7 . 
     
     
         12 . A non-transitory data processing apparatus readable storage medium storing a program for causing a data processing apparatus  1000  to execute a method according to  claim 8 . 
     
     
         13 . A non-transitory data processing apparatus readable storage medium storing a program for causing a data processing apparatus  1000  to execute a method according to  claim 9 . 
     
     
         14 . A non-transitory data processing apparatus readable storage medium storing a program for causing a data processing apparatus  1000  to execute a method according to  claim 10 .