Apple Inc.

Richard B Hoiberg

Albert Riley Howard

Gordon Ross Meyer

Kevin Knabe

Daniel Eric Rose

Michael Monan

Curtis Stevens

Methods and systems are disclosed for displaying information topics that are available via an online help system. The methods and systems store information for given topics in a respective folder associated with a given topic, detect the selection of one of the folders associated with a topic of interest, search files at a hierarchical level in the selected folder to identify files of a predetermined type, locate HTML metatags that pertain to the display of help information, merge data associated with the HTML metatags into a HTML template file to generate an HTML file containing data associated with each of the located HTML metatags, and provide a table of contents for the topic of interest associated with the selected folder using the generated HTML file.

Method for dynamically generating a 'table of contents' view of the HTML-based information system

The present invention discloses a method for dynamically generating an HTML-based information help system. The information help system provides a user with a table of contents of the information that is currently available on the system. The table of contents is generated by scanning specific files for meta-tag information. The gathered information is merged with pre-defined HTML template files that control the formatting and presentation of the information. The resulting table of contents which is provided to the user accurately reflects the current content of the information system. By dynamically generating the table of contents for the information help system, the present invention allows authors to add, remove, and change individual components of the system while ensuring that users are presented with an accurate and complete list of the information available for use.

Method for dynamically generating a 'table of contents' view of a HTML-based information system

A single file, such as an HTML document, is logically divided into multiple articles that can be individually recognized and ranked by search engines. The segmentation of a document into separate articles is based upon tokens that are used in document mark-up languages. In addition to the tokens which delineate articles from one another, additional tokens, or tags, are used to create a named location for each article, so that a browser can immediately display an article within a document that is relevant to a search query.

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Gilroy, CA, United States of America

Richard B Hoiberg