Method, apparatus, and system for capturing data exchanged between server and a user

[0001] This application is related to commonly assigned U.S. patent applications entitled Method, Apparatus, and System for Processing Data Captured During Exchanges Between a Server and a User and Method, Apparatus and System for Replaying Data Selected from Among Data Captured During Exchanges Between a Server and a User, filed on or about the same day as the present application and incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present invention is directed to a method, apparatus, and system for capturing data. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a method, apparatus, and system for capturing data exchanged between a server and a user.

[0003] For systems employing interactions between a user and server, it is often desirable to be able to view the interactions, ideally in a manner that is transparent to the user. This is particularly desirable in a context such as sales, customer service, or e-commerce, where interactions between customers and a service provider are important indicators of customer satisfaction.

[0004] Attempts have been made to recreate interactions between a user and a server. For example, click stream analysis procedures have been used to recreate interactions between a web user and a web service provider. This type of procedure is analogous to reviewing and analyzing the script to a movie. While this procedure reveals some information about the interaction between the server and the user, it does not provide a clear tangible picture of special effects, the environment, chemistry between the user and the server, etc.

[0005] Other attempts have been made to replay recorded interactions between a server and a user. However, these attempts are typically implemented at the server and are thus suitable only for a particular type of server.

[0006] There is thus a need for a way of capturing data exchanged between a server and a user in a manner that is independent of the server and transparent to the user and that provides a full picture of the interaction between the server and the user.

[0007] The present invention is directed to a method, apparatus and system for capturing data exchanged between at least one server and at least one user.

[0008] According to exemplary embodiments, data from the user destined for the server or data from the server destined for the user is intercepted in a capturing module that operates independently from the server and the user. A copy of the intercepted data is stored in a database. The intercepted data destined for the server is forwarded to the server, or the intercepted data destined for the user is forwarded to the user. The intercepting and storing are performed transparently to the user. Interception may be performed continuously. Storing of data may be performed during a predetermined time window or at predetermined time intervals

[0009] According to exemplary embodiments, the intercepted data includes events, attributes, images, user identifications, requests, and/or responses. Only a predetermined portion of the data and/or data that satisfies predefined rules may be stored.

[0010] According to an exemplary embodiment, the user is a web server or a web browser, and the server is a web server. The data may be exchanged in the form of an Internet protocol and assembled into a web page view for the user.

[0011] Data may be exchanged between a plurality of servers and the user, the server and a plurality of users, or a plurality of servers and a plurality of users. The intercepting and storing may be performed concurrently for capturing data exchanged simultaneously between the plurality of servers and the user, the server and the plurality of users, or the plurality of servers and the plurality of users.

[0012] Further objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent when reference is made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0013] FIG. 1A illustrates an exemplary system for capturing data exchanged between a server and a user;

[0014] FIG. 1B illustrates an exemplary implementation of the data capturing system; and

[0015] FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate an exemplary method for capturing and recording data exchanged between a server and a user.

[0016] According to exemplary embodiments, data exchanged between a server and a user is captured in a manner that is independent of the server and transparent to the user. In the following description, the server is referred to as a web server, and the user is referred to as a web browser. It will be appreciated, however, that the invention may be applicable to other types of servers and users.

[0017] FIG. 1A illustrates a system for capturing data exchanged between a server and a user according to an exemplary embodiment. The system includes a server, such as a web server 100, a data capturing module, such as a page capture module 110, and a user, such as a web browser 120. Although only one web server 100, page capture module 110, and web browser 120 are depicted in FIG. 1A, it will be appreciated that the invention is applicable to any number of servers, data capturing modules, and users.

[0018] The web browser 120 may be implemented in a personal computer, a telephone, etc. The web server 100 may be implemented as a server supporting any operating system, e.g., Unix, Linux, NT or Windows 2000.

[0019] The page capture module 110 is arranged between the web server 100 and the web browser 120. For security purposes, a firewall 115 may separate the web browser 120 and the page capture module 110.

[0020] The page capture module 110 operates independently from the web server 100 and the web browser 120. Thus, the page capture module 110 does not need to be customized for each type of web server but may be used with any web server, supporting any operating system.

[0021] Although the page capture module 110 operates independently from the web server 100 and the web browser, it may be implemented in the same device as the web server 100 or the web browser 120.

[0022] According to an exemplary embodiment, the page capture module 110 intercepts data exchanged over the Internet using the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Both HTTP (unsecure) and HTTPS (secure) protocols may be supported by the page capture module 110. For secure protocols, a security certificate is shared between the web server 100 and the page capturing module 110. In addition, other types of data stream protocols may be supported, e.g., eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and socket based data transfers.

[0023] According to exemplary embodiments, the page capture module 110 acts as a redirection or proxy server from the user's perspective. The page capture module 110 listens on a specified port, such as port 80 for HTTP or port 443 for HTPPS, and then redirects all browser requests to the web server 100, which is configured to listen on a port other than ports 80 or 443. Of course, if the page capture module 110 is implemented in the same device as the web server 100, the web server may listen on the same port. Web server responses are intercepted by the page capture module 110 and redirected back down to the web browser 120.

[0024] The page capture module 110 captures pages and other data exchanged between the web server 100 and the browser 120. Pages and other data may be captured continually or at designated intervals or time windows. The page capture module 110 may also record these pages and other data, or recording may be performed in a separate recorder server connected to the page capture module.

[0025] Each web browser 120 is assigned a unique machine identity (ID) by the web server 100. A persistent machine ID cookie may be created by the web server 110 and stored at the web browser 120 for this purpose. All pages served to a particular web browser 120 are identified and grouped by the machine ID.

[0026] Although the module 10 is described as a page capture module, according to exemplary embodiments, other types of data may also be captured. For example, events and attributes may be captured. Attributes may be captured in a manner similar to that in which pages are captured, as described above.

[0027] For event capturing, according to an exemplary embodiment an event capture module captures user side events and delivers these to the page capture module 110. The event capture module may be implemented as an applet 130 that is downloaded to the web browser 120. Although shown as a separate component, the event capture applet 130 is stored at the browser, with parameters such as the web browser machine ID, the host Internet Protocol (IP) address, and the current page name. The event capture applet 130 may be notified, for example, by JavaScript embedded in the current page, whenever an event needs to be recorded. The event capture applet 130 records events such as: page load, page unload, page scroll, page resize, and browser exit The event capture applet 130 sends captured events to the page capturing module 110 via, for example, a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) socket connection on port 80 (or port 443 for secure exchanges).

[0028] For event capturing, an HTTP request header containing a unique signature or identifier may be used to send a captured event to the page capture module 110. The unique signature may take the form of an application defined request header. Captured event data may include a browser machine ID, a page name, an event type ID, and event data.

[0029] According to an exemplary embodiment, the page capture module 110 intercepts HTTP requests that are identified as event captured HTTP requests and does not send the event captured HTTP request to the web server 110.

[0030] FIG. 1B illustrates an implementation of the page capturing system in a capturing, processing, and playback system. Pages and other data captured during exchanges between the web server 100 and the web browser 120 at the page capture module 110 are sent from the page capturing module 110 to a page preprocessor 125 via, e.g., a TCP/IP socket.

[0031] According to an exemplary embodiment, each captured page is assigned a unique page ID and is associated with a specific browser user machine ID. Each page may also contain the date and time that the page was captured and the page status (recording, processing, playback, etc.) After pages are captured, this information is extracted from the captured page, and a new record is inserted into a database 145.

[0032] The page preprocessor 125 acts as a recorder server and stores the captured data in a device such as a database 145. The pages 135 are passed on to the page postprocessor 140. Alternatively, the page capture module 110 may perform this recording. To reduce the amount of storage necessary, only predetermined portions of data may be stored, e.g., the request portion or the response portion. Also, only data satisfying predetermined rules, e.g., rules indicating timing, may be stored. When the captured pages are recorded, identifying information may also be recorded, e.g., a session record ID, a date/time of recording, a machine ID, etc.

[0033] The post-processing module 140 determines which captured data satisfies predefined rules, e.g., business rules, and records this data in a file 180, such as a Java ARchive (JAR) file. The database 145 is updated to indicate what captured data has been selected and recorded for playback. An exemplary post-processor is described in more detail in the afore-mentioned application entitled Method, Apparatus, and System for Processing Data Captured During Exchanges Between a Server and a User.

[0034] A playback tool 190 selects recorded data from the database 180, using the information in the database 145. An exemplary playback tool is described in more detail in the afore-mentioned application entitled Method, Apparatus, and System for Replaying Data Selected From Among Data Captured During Exchanges Between a Server and a User.

[0035] Although not shown in the interest of simplifying the illustrations, it will be appreciated that the system in FIG. 1B may also include other components, e.g., configuration files used for processing and log files use for storing information for debugging, etc.

[0036] FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary process for capturing data exchanged between a server and a user. The process begins at step 200 at which the page capture module 110 receives a request/response from the web browser 120 or receives a response/request from the web server 100. The page capture module 110 passes the request/response to the web server 100 or the web browser 120, respectively. At step 205, the page capture module 110 determines whether the request/response is eligible for recording based on, e.g., on timing, content type (for example, text or HyperText Markup Language (HTML)), positioning on a page, etc. If not, the process proceeds to step 210, at which no action is required. If the request/response is eligible for recording, a determination is made at step 215 whether a browser machine ID cookie exists. If not, an attempt to create the cookie is made at step 220. A determination is made at step 225 whether the cookie is created successfully. If not, a cookie create failure is created, and the request/response is redirected to the web browser 120 (or the web server 100) at step 230. Instead of a cookie, it will be appreciated that any other form of persistent ID may be used. For example, a persistent ID may be created using Uniform Resource Locator (URL) rewriting.

[0037] If the cookie (or other persistent ID) is created successfully or the browser machine ID cookie exists, a determination is made whether event capturing is enabled, e.g., whether the event capture applet 130 has been notified that an events needs to be recorded, at step 235. If not, the page is sent to the page preprocessor at step 240. Otherwise, the event is captured at step 245.

[0038] An exemplary process for recording captured requests and responses is shown in FIG. 2B. The process begins at step 250 at which a page preprocess thread is created. At step 255, a determination is made whether there is an event type request header. If not, the last page ID for the current browser machine ID is obtained at step 260, and the captured event is recorded at step 265. If there is an event type request header, a page table entry for the captured page is inserted at step 270 and stored, e.g., in the database 145. At step 275, the next available page ID is retrieved. At step 280, the captured data, e.g., page and attributes, are recorded.

[0039] According to exemplary embodiments, a user interaction with a server is captured. For a web user and a web server, this information may be used to recreate the web experience of the user. For example, in a customer service context, the flow of customer inputs and the text and images that are displayed on the pages that are viewed by the customer may be captured and recorded. In such a context, this recreation will provide contact center personnel the ability to observe the customer's experience for the purpose of analyzing how well service was delivered and whether or not the needs of the customer were met. The invention may also be useful in other contexts, such as sales or e-commerce.

[0040] According to exemplary embodiments, all the user actions within a browser session may be captured, without degrading the performance of the browser session or web host environment. Also, all captured data may be transmitted efficiently with low network bandwidth utilization. Thousands of concurrent users may be supported simultaneously, with the recording of a large number of sessions that are simultaneously occurring on different web sites provided by various web servers.

[0041] It should be understood that the foregoing description and accompanying drawings are by example only. A variety of modifications are envisioned that do not depart from the scope and spirit of the invention. The above description is intended by way of example only and is not intended to limit the present invention in any way.