Controlling the order in which content is displayed in a browser

Abstract

A main document and referenced frame documents to be rendered by a browser for a display page are parsed by the browser to identify where text and graphics objected are to be located. The location of a cursor that is used by the user to interact with the browser is tracked, and the object nearest to the cursor is determined. This object is then rendered prior to the rendering of other objects in the display page that would normally be rendered prior to the nearest object under conventional rendering schemes. Optionally, objects related to the nearest objects may be rendered the same time, and various other objects may be rendered or partially rendered while data corresponding to the nearest object is being received by the browser.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for controlling an order in which objects are rendered on a display page by a browser, comprising
 requesting, by a computing device, a main document corresponding to the display page from a network server, said main document comprising code defining a layout of internal objects and external objects to be rendered in the display page, wherein the internal objects are included in the main document and the external objects are referenced by the main document, said external objects including and include any frame documents referenced in the main document; 
 parsing, by the computing device, said code of the main document and any frame documents referenced by the main document to identify locations where said internal and external objects are to be rendered on in the display page; and 
 during rendering of the display page:
 for one or more graphic objects of the internal and external objects, determining, by the computing device, one or more respective sizes and locations for the graphic objects in the display page and rendering one or more placeholders of the determined respective sizes at the respective locations in the display page;  
 
 identifying, by the computing device, a location of a cursor relative to the display page; 
 identifying an internal or external and selecting, by the computing device, a to-be-rendered graphic object nearest the location of the cursor; 
 rendering in the display page, by the computing device, the internal/external graphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor in place of a placeholder associated with the graphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor, such that the rendering is performed before rendering remaining to-be-rendered graphic objects in the display page; and 
 after rendering the graphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor, continuing rendering of the display page by the computing device rendering other internal and externalthereafter the remaining graphic objects to complete rendering of the display page. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprise facilitating a user to select whether internal and external objects in the display page are to be rendered using a conventional ordering scheme without considering the location of the cursor, or are to be rendered as defined in  claim 1 . 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the user is enabled to made said selection by a user-interaction with a pointing device that interacts with the browser. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising rendering internal/external, by the computing device, graphic objects related to the internal/external object determined to be nearest the cursor prior to rendering other internal/external objects in the display page. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising rendering, by the computing device, a portion of the internal objects included in the main document and any frame documents referenced by the main document while data corresponding to the internal/external graphic object determined to be nearest the cursor are being received by the browser from the network server or another network server. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining, by the computing device, if the cursor has been moved, and that it is nearest an internal/external a graphic object that has yet to be rendered on in the display page; and 
 rendering, by the computing device, the internal/external graphic object nearest the cursor prior to rendering other internal/external objects if it is determined in response to determining that the cursor has been moved. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising rendering placeholders corresponding to where graphic internal/external objects are to be rendered on the display page prior to such graphic internal/external objects being rendered. 
     
     
       8. A system for controlling an order in which objects are rendered on a display page, comprising:
 a memory in which machine instructions comprising a browser computer program are stored; 
 a processor coupled to the memory for executing the machine instructions; 
 a display, coupled to the memory and processor; and 
 said processor machine instructions implementing a plurality of functions when executing in response to execution of the machine instructions by the processor, including functions to:
 requestingrequest a main document corresponding to the display page from a network server, said main document comprising code defining a layout of internal objects and external objects to be rendered in the display page, wherein the internal objects are included in the main document and the external objects are referenced by the main document, said external objects includingand include any frame documents referenced in the main documents; 
 parsingparse said code of the main document and any frame documents referenced by the main document to identify locations where said internal and external objects are to be rendered onin the display pagespage; and 
 during render of the display page;
 for one or more graphic objects of the internal and external objects, determine one or more respective sizes and locations for the graphic objects in the display page and render one or more placeholders of the determined respective sizes at the respective locations in the display page;  
 
 identifyingidentify a location of a cursor relative to the display page; 
 identifying an internal or externalidentify and select a to-be-rendered graphic object nearest the location of the cursor; 
 renderingrender, in the display page, the internal/externalgraphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor in place of a placeholder associated with the graphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor, such that the render is performed before render of remaining to-be-rendered graphic objects in the display page; and 
 rendering otherafter render of the internal/external object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor, continuing render of the display page through a render thereafter of the remaining internal and external objects complete rendering of the display page. 
 
 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 8 , wherein said execution of the machine instructions by the processor further implements the function of facilitating a user to select whether internal and external objects in the display page are to be rendered using a conventional ordering scheme without considering the location of the cursor, or are to be rendered as defined in  claim 8 . 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 9 , wherein execution of the machine instructions by the processor further implements the function of enabling the user to made said selection by a user-interaction with a pointing device that interacts with the browser. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 8 , wherein execution of the machine instructions by the processor further implements the a function of rendering to render internal/external objects related to the internal/external graphic object determined to be nearest the cursor prior to rendering other internal/external objects in the display page. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 8 , wherein execution of the machine instructions by the processor further implements the a function of rendering to render a portion of the internal objects included in the main document and any frame documents referenced by the main document while data corresponding to the internal/external graphic object determined to be nearest the cursor are being received by the browser from the network server or another network server. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 8 , wherein execution of the machine instructions by the processor further implements the a function of to:
 determining ifdetermine whether the cursor has been moved, and that it is nearest an internal/externala graphic object that has yet to be rendered onin the display page; and 
 renderingrender the internal/externalgraphic object nearest the cursor prior to rendering other internal/external objects if it is determinedin response to determining that the cursor has been moved. 
 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 8 , wherein execution of the machine instructions by the processor further implements the function of rendering placeholders corresponding to where graphic internal/external objects are to be rendered on the display page prior to such graphic internal/external objects being rendered. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 8 , wherein said system is a selected one of a desktop computer, a set top box, a notebook sized computer, a palm sized personal digital assistant, and or a wireless cell phone. 
     
     
       16. An article of manufacture for controlling an order in which objects are rendered on a display page, comprising:
 a memory media adapted to be used with a computer; 
 a plurality of machine instructions stored on the memory media, said machine instructions effecting a plurality of functions when executed operations in response to execution of the machine instructions by the computer, the operations including:
 requesting a main document corresponding to the display page from a network server, said main document comprising code defining a layout of internal objects and external objects to be rendered in the display page, wherein the internal objects are included in the main document and the external objects are referenced by the main document, said external objects including and include any frame documents referenced in the main documents; 
 parsing said code of the main document and any frame documents referenced by the main document to identify locations where said internal and external objects are to be rendered on in the display page; and 
 during rendering of the display page:
 for one or more graphic objects of the internal and external objects, determining one or more respective sizes and locations for the graphic objects in the display page and rendering one or more placeholders of the determined respective sizes at the respective locations in the display page;  
 
 identifying a location of a cursor relative to the display page; 
 identifying an internal or external and selecting a to-be-rendered graphic object nearest the location of the cursor; 
 rendering, in the display page, the internal/external graphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor in place of a placeholder associated with the graphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor, such that the rendering is performed before rendering remaining to-be-rendered graphic objects in the display page; and 
 after rendering the graphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor, continuing rendering of the display page by rendering other internal and externalthereafter the remaining graphic objects to complete rendering of the display page. 
 
 
     
     
       17. The article of manufacture of  claim 16 , wherein said functions effectuated when executed by the computer further include the function of facilitating a user to select whether internal and external objects in the display page are to be rendered using a conventional ordering scheme without considering the location of the cursor, or are to be rendered as defined in  claim 16 . 
     
     
       18. The article of manufacture of  claim 16 , wherein said functions effectuated when executed by the computer further include the function of enabling the user to made said selection by a user-interaction with a pointing device that interacts with the browser. 
     
     
       19. The article of manufacture of  claim 16 , wherein said functions operations effectuated when executed in response to execution of the machine instructions by the computer further include the function of the function of rendering internal/external objects related to the internal/external graphic object determined to be nearest the cursor prior to rendering other internal/external objects in the display page. 
     
     
       20. The article of manufacture of  claim 16 , wherein said functions operations effectuated when executed in response to execution of the machine instructions by the computer further include the function of the function of rendering a portion of the internal objects included in the main document and any frame documents referenced by the main document while data corresponding to the internal/external graphic object determined to be nearest the cursor are being received by the browser from the network server or another network server. 
     
     
       21. The article of manufacture of  claim 16 , wherein said functions operations effectuated when executed in response to execution of the machine instructions by the computer further include the function of the function of:
 determining if the cursor has been moved, and that it is nearest an internal/external a graphic object that has yet to be rendered on in the display page; and 
 rendering the internal/external graphic object nearest the cursor prior to rendering other internal/external objects if it is determined in response to determining that the cursor has been moved. 
 
     
     
       22. The article of manufacture of  claim 16 , wherein said functions effectuated when executed by the computer further include the function of the function of rendering placeholders corresponding to where graphic internal/external objects are to be rendered on the display page prior to such graphic internal/external objects being rendered. 
     
     
       23. A method, comprising
 requesting, by a computing device, a main document from a network server, said main document comprising code defining a layout of objects to be rendered in a display page on a display;   parsing, by the computing device, said code of the main document to identify locations where said objects are to be rendered within the display page; and   during rendering of the display page:
 for one or more graphic objects of the objects to be rendered in the display page, determining, by the computing device, one or more respective sizes and locations for the graphic objects in the display page and rendering one or more placeholders of the determined respective sizes at the respective locations in the display page; 
 identifying, by the computing device, a location of a cursor relative to the display page; 
 identifying and selecting, by the computing device, a graphic object to be rendered in the display page nearest the location of the cursor; 
 rendering in the display page by the computing device, the graphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor in place of a placeholder associated with the graphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor, such that the rendering is performed before rendering remaining to-be-rendered objects; and 
 after rendering the graphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor, continuing rendering of the display page by the computing device rendering thereafter the remaining graphic objects.  
   
     
     
       24. The method of claim 23, further comprising rendering, by the computing device, objects related to the graphic object determined to be nearest the cursor prior to rendering other objects within the display page.  
     
     
       25. The method of claim 23, further comprising rendering, by the computing device, a portion of the objects included in or referenced by the main document while data corresponding to the graphic object determined to be nearest the cursor are being received by the browser from the network server or another network server.  
     
     
       26. The method of claim 23, further comprising:
 determining, by the computing device, if the cursor has been moved, and that it is nearest a graphic object that has yet to be rendered within the display page; and   rendering in the display page, by the computing device, the graphic object nearest the cursor prior to rendering other objects in response to determining that the cursor has been moved.    
     
     
       27. A system, comprising:
 a memory in which machine instructions comprising a browser computer program are stored;   a processor coupled to the memory for executing the machine instructions;   a display, coupled to the memory and processor; and   said machine instructions implementing a plurality of functions in response to execution of the machine instructions by the processor, including functions to:   request a main document from a network server, said main document comprising code defining a layout of objects to be rendered in a display page on the display;   parse said code of the main document to identify locations where said objects are to be rendered within the display page; and   during render of the display page:
 for one or more graphic objects of the objects to be rendered in the display page, determine one or more respective sizes and locations for the graphic objects in the display page and render one or more placeholders of the determined respective sizes at the respective locations in the display page; 
 identify a location of a cursor relative to the display page; 
 identify and select a graphic object to be rendered in the display page nearest the location of the cursor; 
 render, in the display page the object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor in place of a placeholder associated with the graphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor, such that the render is performed before rendering remaining to-be-rendered objects; and 
   after rendering the graphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor, continuing rendering of the display page through a render thereafter of the remaining graphic objects.    
     
     
       28. The system of claim 27, wherein execution of the machine instructions by the processor further implements a function to render objects related to the graphic object determined to be nearest the cursor prior to rendering other objects within the display page.  
     
     
       29. The system of claim 27, wherein execution of the machine instructions by the processor further implements a function to render a portion of the objects included in or referenced by the main document while data corresponding to the graphic object determined to be nearest the cursor are being received by the browser from the network server or another network server.  
     
     
       30. The system of claim 27, wherein execution of the machine instructions by the processor further implements a function to:
 determine whether the cursor has been moved, and that it is nearest a graphic object that has yet to be rendered within the display page; and   render, in the display page, the graphic object nearest the cursor prior to rendering other objects in response to determining that the cursor has been moved.    
     
     
       31. The system of claim 27, wherein said system is a selected one of a desktop computer, a set top box, a notebook sized computer, a palm sized personal digital assistant, or a wireless cell phone.  
     
     
       32. An article of manufacture including a tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution of the instructions by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a plurality of operations comprising:
 requesting a main document from a network server, said main document comprising code defining a layout of objects to be rendered in a display page on a display;   parsing said code of the main document to identify locations where said objects are to be rendered within the display page; and   during rendering of the display page:
 for one or more graphic objects of the objects to be rendered in the display page, determining one or more respective sizes and locations for the graphic objects in the display page and rendering one or more placeholders of the determined respective sizes at the respective locations in the display page; 
 identifying a location of a cursor relative to the display page; 
 identifying and selecting a graphic object to be rendered in the display page nearest the location of the cursor; 
 rendering, in the display page, the graphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor in place of a placeholder associated with the graphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor, such that the rendering is performed before rendering remaining to-be-rendered objects; and 
 after rendering the graphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor, continuing rendering of the display page by rendering thereafter the remaining graphic objects.  
   
     
     
       33. The article of manufacture of claim 32, wherein said operations effectuated in response to execution of the instructions by the computing device further include rendering objects related to the graphic object determined to be nearest the cursor prior to rendering other objects within the display page.  
     
     
       34. The article of manufacture of claim 32, wherein said operations effectuated in response to execution of the instructions by the computing device further include rendering a portion of the objects included in the main document while data corresponding to the graphic object determined to be nearest the cursor are being received by the browser from the network server or another network server.  
     
     
       35. The article of manufacture of claim 32, wherein said operations effectuated in response to execution of the instructions by the computing device further include:
 determining if the cursor has been moved, and that it is nearest a graphic object that has yet to be rendered within the display page; and   rendering, in the display page, the graphic object nearest the cursor prior to rendering other objects in response to determining that the cursor has been moved.    
     
     
       36. An apparatus, comprising
 means for requesting a main document from a network server, said main document comprising code defining a layout of objects to be rendered in a display page on a display;   means for parsing said code of the main document to identify locations where said objects are to be rendered within the display page;   means for determining, for one or more graphic objects of the objects to be rendered in the display page, one or more respective sizes and locations for the graphic objects in the display page and rendering one or more placeholders of the determined respective sizes at the respective locations in the display page;   means for identifying a location of a cursor relative to the display page;   means for identifying and selecting a graphic object to be rendered in the display page nearest the location of the cursor;   means for rendering, in the display page, the graphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor in place of a placeholder associated with the graphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor, such that the rendering is performed before rendering remaining to-be-rendered objects; and   after rendering the graphic object that is identified to be nearest the location of the cursor, continuing rendering of the display page by the computing device means for rendering thereafter the remaining graphic objects.