Extracting a portion of a document, such as a web page

Abstract

A facility for extracting visual contents of a page is described. The facility renders a page including visual contents, the rendered page including an extraction control. In response to user input activating the extraction control, the facility (1) selects a proper subset of the visual contents of the page that are specified by a publisher on the page for extraction using the extraction control, and (2) transmits a representation of the selected subset of visual contents for storage independent of the page.

1 - 21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . A computer-readable medium storing program code capable of being executed by one or more processors, the program code comprising instructions configurable to cause:
 rendering a page including visual contents, the rendered page including an extraction control;   selecting, in response to user input activating the extraction control, a first subset of the visual contents of the page that are specified by a publisher of the page for extraction using the extraction control; and   transmitting a representation of the selected subset of visual contents for storage independent of the page.   
     
     
         23 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 22 , wherein the page has a hierarchical system of nodes, and the first subset of the visual contents of the page that are specified by a publisher of the page for extraction using the extraction control correspond to a plurality of nodes that are within a first subtree of the hierarchical system of nodes, the subtree being defined by a node specified by the publisher. 
     
     
         24 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 23 , the instructions further configurable to cause:
 establishing the transmitted representation; and   constructing a second subtree of nodes that is modeled after a first subtree, explicit formatting attribute values being specified for nodes of the constructed second subtree only where a value calculated for the formatting attribute in a node of the second subtree differs from a value calculated for the formatting attribute in the corresponding node of the first subtree at a time when the node of the second subtree descends from a reset node specifying standardized formatting attribute values.   
     
     
         25 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 22 , the instructions further configurable to cause:
 selecting, in response to user input hovering over the extraction control, a second subset of the visual contents of the page that are specified for extraction using the extraction control by a publisher of the page; and   altering the manner in which the selected second subset of visual contents are displayed to visually distinguish them from the visual contents of the page that are not among the selected second subset.   
     
     
         26 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 25 , wherein the altering causes the selected second subset of visual contents to appear to glow. 
     
     
         27 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 22 , the instructions further configurable to cause:
 presenting, before the transmitting, a preview of the representation; and   presenting a solicitation for user input confirming transmission of the representation, and wherein the transmitting is performed in response to user input response to the presented solicitation.   
     
     
         28 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 27 , the instructions further configurable to cause:
 presenting an animation effect visually portraying removal of the selected subset of visual contents from the page.   
     
     
         29 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 22 , the instructions further configurable to cause:
 processing user input identifying a recipient for the representation; and   designating in connection with the transmission that the representation is to be directed to the identified recipient.   
     
     
         30 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 29 , wherein the designation is adapted to cause the representation to be included in a page associated with the identified recipient. 
     
     
         31 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 29 , wherein the designation is adapted to cause the representation to be included in a blog authored by a user who is providing the user input. 
     
     
         32 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 22 , wherein the transmitting is adapted to cause the representation to be included in a page associated with a user who is providing the user input. 
     
     
         33 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 22 , the instructions further configurable to cause:
 processing user input specifying commentary on the selected subset of visual contents; and   transmitting the specified commentary for storage in connection with the transmitted representation.   
     
     
         34 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 22 , the instructions further configurable to cause:
 processing user input specifying a category for the selected subset of visual contents; and   transmitting the specified category for storage in connection with the transmitted representation.   
     
     
         35 . A computing system comprising:
 a memory device; and   a hardware processor configurable to cause:
 rendering a page including visual contents, the rendered page including an extraction control, 
 selecting, in response to user input activating the extraction control, a first subset of the visual contents of the page that are specified by a publisher of the page for extraction using the extraction control, and 
 transmitting a representation of the selected subset of visual contents for storage independent of the page. 
   
     
     
         36 . The computing system of  claim 35 , wherein the page has a hierarchical system of nodes, and the first subset of the visual contents of the page that are specified by a publisher of the page for extraction using the extraction control correspond to a plurality of nodes that are within a first subtree of the hierarchical system of nodes, the subtree being defined by a node specified by the publisher. 
     
     
         37 . The computing system of  claim 36 , the processor further configurable to cause:
 establishing the transmitted representation, and   constructing a second subtree of nodes that is modeled after a first subtree, explicit formatting attribute values being specified for nodes of the constructed second subtree only where a value calculated for the formatting attribute in a node of the second subtree differs from a value calculated for the formatting attribute in the corresponding node of the first subtree at a time when the node of the second subtree descends from a reset node specifying standardized formatting attribute values.   
     
     
         38 . The computing system of  claim 35 , the processor further configurable to cause:
 selecting, in response to user input hovering over the extraction control, a second subset of the visual contents of the page that are specified for extraction using the extraction control by a publisher of the page, and   altering the manner in which the selected second subset of visual contents are displayed to visually distinguish them from the visual contents of the page that are not among the selected second subset.   
     
     
         39 . A method comprising:
 causing rendering a page including visual contents, the rendered page including an extraction control;   causing selection, in response to user input activating the extraction control, of a first subset of the visual contents of the page that are specified by a publisher of the page for extraction using the extraction control; and   causing transmission of a representation of the selected subset of visual contents for storage independent of the page.   
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39 , further comprising:
 causing presentation, before the transmission, of a preview of the representation; and   causing presentation of a solicitation for user input confirming transmission of the representation, and wherein the transmission is performed in response to user input response to the presented solicitation.   
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40 , further comprising:
 causing presentation of an animation effect visually portraying removal of the selected subset of visual contents from the page.