System and method for passive detection and context sensitive notification of upgrade availability for computer information

[0001] The present invention relates generally to computer information upgrades, in particular, to upgrading computer information on a user's computer from a remote server.

[0002] One of the primary factors that contributes to the value of a computer is its ability to perform a wide range of useful, often unrelated functions. Each of these functions utilizes some type of computer information. Over time, modifications are typically made to the various types of computer information and updated versions of the information are made available by a provider company. Many types of computer information need frequent upgrades to maintain the most recent version on a user's system. Whether it be a computer program, such as an executable program or an application, or an informational file, such as a database or help file, the need to upgrade the information is crucial to keeping a computer system current, and thereby maintain the overall value of the computer system.

[0003] Traditionally such information has been transferred in the form of upgrade computer disks or CD-ROMs. Three main disadvantages in transferring upgrade information using disks or CD-ROMs are speed, expense, and convenience. Because these types of upgrades are slow to reach the user and expensive for a company to send, many computer systems may not have the most up-to-date computer information on the user's computer system. Upgrading in this manner is also inconvenient for a user because the user often must determine which version of the software is on the user's system and whether or not the upgrade is necessary.

[0004] In network environments, it is possible to send an electronic mail message to all users on the network to inform them that an upgrade is available. In this case, however, the individual users are required to download and install the upgrade themselves, when and if the upgrade is desired. For those users who are not familiar with the procedures necessary to retrieve and/or install the upgrade, the installation may end up being faulty, inadequate, or delinquent. In such situations, support from a network administrator or the like may be required. Consequently, uniform and timely upgrades to any large number of users can be difficult or impossible to achieve. In such a network environment, the problems of cost and convenience still persist.

[0005] Even where automated upgrade mechanisms have been made available in the past, they were limited to network-based independent programs that attempted to affect changes to software modules that were identified by a network administrator, based on a set of rules. To be effective, these approaches required significant maintenance of the rule set by the administrator, adding complexity and overhead to the process. In addition, since these operations were external to the software being updated, they required interruption of the operation of the software before the updating could take place. The user often had no control over when an update occurred. Furthermore, since they exerted external control, security issues were raised. For example, an active operation that has access to a large number of computers, such as an external updating program, provides a path by which a virus or a hacker can invade the computer system.

[0006] With the advent of the Internet, the problem of speed has been reduced by providing upgrades, including large ones, within a relatively short time period as compared to the time required to mail an upgrade. However, downloading upgrade information over the Internet presents other problems. For example, it may not be convenient for a user to search for upgrades online and use a significant portion of available bandwidth to download such information. Additionally, unfamiliarity with the procedures necessary to retrieve and/or install upgrades over the Internet may still exist.

[0007] To allow users to determine if the user's computer has the latest version of a particular product, many programs have implemented the Simple Internet Version Checking (SIVC) protocol. However, these programs offer little help for users in determining how and where to obtain such upgrades and, for inexperienced users, installation may still be a problem. These programs also have a disadvantage in that they rely on a server to receive a version report and then must process the version report to determine if an update is available. Problems with a server's version information may cause faulty availability information in the availability report.

[0008] With many different forms of computer information residing on a user's computer, it becomes increasingly difficult to monitor upgrade information for all such computer information. In addition to the many different forms of computer information present on a user's computer, it is common to have certain types of information which need to be updated frequently. One such type of information that may require frequent updates is a help file. The help files on a computer may contain information that relates to every program on the computer. As a result, with any changes to application programs or operating system, the corresponding help files must be updated to reflect changes in the help suggestions relating to any changed applications. Also, various recommendations in the help files may be modified over time, requiring the help files to be upgraded to reflect such modifications. All of this updating can become burdensome for a user to monitor, making it difficult for the user to maintain a computer system's information current.

[0009] Accordingly, it is desirable to create a system that will automatically monitor and upgrade information and alert the user to the presence of any upgrades available for computer information on the user's computer. It is also desirable to allow the user to determine which of the available upgrades will be downloaded to the user's computer and installed.

[0010] In accordance with the present invention, these objectives are achieved by a system and method that monitors upgrade availability for computer information on a user's computer and allows the user to determine which of the available upgrades will be downloaded to the user's computer and installed. The upgrade availability for computer information on the user's computer is monitored in the background, without user intervention when the user connects to a network, such as the Internet. If any such upgrades are available, a flag is set to notify the user of such upgrades. The user is notified of any available upgrades when computer information is accessed for which an upgrade is available, and given a choice of whether or not to download the available upgrade(s). The downloaded upgrade(s) may then be installed by an installation means. In this manner, the present invention allows the user to selectively download only those upgrades desired by the user. Through the use of the present invention, problems with cost, speed, and convenience of upgrading computer information can be avoided by automatically determining upgrade availability and notifying the user, and allowing the user to ultimately control what upgrades will be installed on the user's computer.

[0011] Further features of the invention, and the advantages offered thereby, are explained in greater detail hereinafter with reference to specific embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

[0019] To facilitate an understanding of the principles and features of the present invention, it is explained hereinafter with reference to its implementation in an illustrative embodiment. In particular, the invention is described in the context of an upgrade system for upgrading help files via the Internet, specifically HTML-based “books” for use in the Apple Help® system on the Macintosh® operating system (Mac OS) developed by Apple Computer, Inc. It will be appreciated however that this is not the only embodiment in which the invention can be implemented. Rather, it can find utility in a variety of computer configurations, as will become apparent from an understanding of the principles which underscore the invention.

[0020] An exemplary computer system of the type in which the present invention can be employed is illustrated in block diagram form in FIG. 1. The structure of the computer itself does not form part of the present invention. It is briefly described here for subsequent understanding of the manner in which the features of the invention cooperate with the structure of the computer.

[0021] Referring to FIG. 1, the system includes a computer 100 having a variety of external peripheral devices 108 connected thereto. The computer 100 includes a central processing unit 112, a main memory which is typically implemented in the form of a random access memory 118, a static memory that can comprise a read only memory 120, and a permanent storage device, such as a magnetic or optical disk 122. The CPU 112 communicates with each of these forms of memory through an internal bus 114. The peripheral devices 108 include a data entry device such as a keyboard 124, and a pointing or cursor control device 102 such as a mouse, trackball or the like. A display device 104, such as a CRT monitor or an LCD screen, provides a visual display of the information that is being processed within the computer, for example the contents of a document. A hard copy of this information can be provided through a printer 106, or similar device. Each of these external peripheral devices communicates with the CPU 112 by means of one or more input/output ports 110 on the computer. Input/output ports 110 also allow computer 100 to interact with a local area network server or an external network 128, such as a LAN or WAN, or the Internet 130.

[0022] Computer 100 typically includes an operating system, which controls the allocation and usage of the hardware resources such as memory, central processing unit time, disk space, and peripheral devices. In addition to an operating system, computer 100 may also include a of help mechanism that provides the user with computer-aided assistance. Although described separately herein, the help system could reside as a component of the operating system or could be stored on any type of machine-readable medium, such as disk 122. Additionally, computer 100 also includes an automatic help system updating system, which may reside as a component of the operating system or could be stored in memory or on any type of machine-readable medium, such as disk 122. The automatic help system is further described herein in connection with one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention.

[0023] The layout of the help system, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, is set forth in FIG. 2. As is evident from FIG. 2, the layout of the help system is hierarchical and includes a number of folders, sub-folders and files. An operating system help folder 210 is the centralized folder in which the help information for the computer system is stored.

[0024] In the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, folders 212 which are one level deep within the operating system help folder are referred to as “books.” While the operating system help folder in FIG. 2 comprises only two books 212, one skilled in the art will recognize that the help folder could comprise any number of books. The individual books 212 of the present invention include files and may also include sub-folders 214. The sub-folders 214, which are those folders two levels deep within the operating system help folder, are referred to hereinafter as “chapters.” As recognized by those skilled in the art, the chapters contain files and may contain additional sub-folders.

[0025] FIG. 3 shows the basic components of an upgrade system 302 for upgrading a help system, and the interconnectivity of these components with each other and other devices. Contained within the upgrade system is a monitoring component 304 for monitoring the availability of upgrades for the help system, a notification component 306 for notifying a user of the availability of an upgrade for the help system, and a downloading component 308 for downloading any upgrades available for the help system, pursuant to a user's approval. The upgrade system is optionally connected to an installation component 310, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 3, for installation of any upgrades available for the help system after the upgrades are downloaded using the downloading component. Alternatively, the installation component may be included as part of the upgraded information itself. The monitoring component 304, notification component 306 and downloading component, are all interconnected within the upgrade system, and are all externally connected to I/O ports 110, which may be connected to peripheral devices 108, the Internet 130, or a network 128 such as a LAN, WAN, or other type of network.

[0026] With that brief overview of the layout of the upgrade system, the operation of the monitoring component 304 of the upgrade system 302 is now described with reference to FIG. 4. In monitoring the availability of upgrades for the help system, the monitoring component determines if the user is currently connected to the Internet at step 402. The monitoring component then determines if a pre-set time limit, since the last time that the monitoring operation was carried out, has expired at step 404. If the pre-set time limit has expired, then the system acquires an update location from the help book at step 406. Each help book includes a designated file 216 that indicates a location where updates to the book will be made available. For example, the location may be in the form of a universal resource locator (URL) that consists of a server and file path. For example, http://help.xyzcorp.com/oshelp/version10/ is the help update location for the book on operating system Help, version 1.0. Upon acquiring available update locations, the upgrade system checks each help update location, indicated in the associated files of the help books, at step 408.

[0027] When the user is connected to the Internet, the monitoring component checks each help update location acquired from the help book at step 408 and ascertains whether or not an update is available 410. If an update is available, an update available flag is set at step 414 to notify the user of the existence of an available update. The determination of update availability may be based on a location being empty or another determination such as a file date or version number. As each location is checked, various aspects of the updates at each location may be examined by the monitoring component. For example, the monitoring component may check file date, file version number, file size, or estimated download time.

[0028] The monitoring component performs these checks until all of the help update locations have been checked. After all of the help update locations have been checked, the monitoring component may be programmed to wait a predetermined time period, such as 48 hours, before checking for available updates again, or may wait a time period programmed by the user through an options menu, or the like, as depicted at step 404. These checks may occur either with user supervision, or as a background process, which may not be known to the user. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, all functions of the monitoring component of the upgrade system are performed without user knowledge or intervention to provide automatic and convenient update checking.

[0029] In the embodiment of the present invention described above and depicted in FIG. 4, the establishment of a connection to the Internet is the triggering event used by the monitoring component to determine if an update is available. Alternatively, another event may be used to trigger the monitoring component to search for available updates. One such triggering event may be starting a program. In this alternate embodiment, the monitoring component may be programmed to establish a connection to an external network, such as the Internet, and search for updates. The updates that are searched for by the monitoring component may include updates associated with the triggering program or another program. After the triggering event, starting a program, has occurred, the monitoring component functions as described above in connection with FIG. 4, searching for available updates and setting flags to notify the user of available updates.

[0030] The operation of the upgrade system is further described with reference to FIG. 5, which outlines the operation of the notification and downloading components 306, 308. Once the monitoring component has determined that an update is available, and has flagged the update with an update availability flag, user notification may take place in a variety of manners. For example, the user may be notified immediately, or at a pre-determined interval, which could be set by a user, of the availability of any such updates. Notification may also be reserved until the computer information, for which the update is available, is accessed by the user. In the preferred embodiment of the invention described herein, the notification takes place only when a user opens the help book for which an update has been flagged by the monitoring component. This notification is displayed to the user on the computer display 104. A user option may be available through a pull-down menu, or otherwise, for the user to ignore update notifications, or specify a wait period after being notified of available updates, to expire before receiving more notifications of available upgrades.

[0031] Each time a user opens a help book, as shown at step 502 in FIG. 5, the help system may be programmed to check the book's update flag at step 504. If the flag indicates that an update is not available at step 506, then the help book is opened at step 508, as requested. If, however, a flag exists indicating that an update is available, then the invention may identify flags for other help books at step 510, which indicate the availability of upgrades for the other help books, and notifies the user of all available updates at step 512. The user may request an update, which is detected at step 514, in which case the invention downloads the selected updates from their locations at step 516 and installs them at step 518 by means of an installer which accompanies the updated information, or an outside executable program, which may be inherent to the operating system. The installation replaces some or all of the pages in the help book, and also provides a new update location file 216. For example, the previously described location might be replaced with a new update location such as http://help.xyzcorp.com/oshelp/version11/. Once the installation of an updated help book has taken place, the requested help book is opened at step 522. Alternatively, if the user does not request any updates, the requested help book is simply opened at step 508.

[0032] As shown by the broken line in FIG. 5, a time period may be set as step 524, during which the user will not be notified of existing updates again to prevent inconvenient, multiple notifications of the same updates. This period could be a specific session, or for a specific amount of time, and could be set or overridden using a menu option, such as a “check for updates” menu option, which would force the monitoring and notification components to perform their functions immediately. An override function may be available to the user to allow the user to override the notification component, disabling all update notifications. Additionally, as new updates become available, new download locations are specified from which the system may download the updates, pursuant to the user's instruction. During download, the downloading component may be configured to display real-time downloading options such as: download statistics, download time, and file identification information. The user may further be presented with the option to cancel a download during the download.

[0033] FIGS. 6 and 7 show the display presented to the user by the notification module. In FIG. 6, the user is notified by way of a notification window 600 of the availability of an update and given the choice to display updated information, update the help system, or ignore the update temporarily. In FIG. 7, the user is shown all of the possible updates by way of a notification window 700, which have been flagged by the monitoring component, and given a choice of which to update. The user is allowed to select any of the available updates for downloading.

[0034] From the foregoing, it can be seen that the present invention provides a system and method for monitoring the availability of upgrades to computer information on a user's computer. This upgrade information, when available, is flagged for availability to notify the user and allow the user to download and install the upgrade information if it is so desired. The preferred embodiment of the present invention is directed toward a system that monitors the availability of updates in the background and notifies the user of such available updates only when computer information is accessed by the user for which an update is available.

[0035] It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. For example, the invention has been described in the context of help files upgraded via the Internet, in which an upgrade availability is automatically monitored when a connection to the Internet is established, and a user is notified when the computer information to which the upgrade pertains is accessed, allowing the user to decide whether or not to download or install any available upgrades. The particular type of computer information to be upgraded is not critical to the operation of the present invention, nor is the type of network over which upgrade information is communicated. Alternatively, the system of the present invention could be implemented within a LAN, WAN, or other type of network, as an alternative to the Internet. Additionally, the type of computer information for which upgrades are monitored and downloaded can include any type of computer information, including but not limited to: computer programs, executable computer programs, compiled computer programs, computer applications, bytecode computer programs, computer software, operating system software, computer documents, computer files, computer databases, and computer books.

[0036] The presently disclosed embodiments are therefore considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims, rather than the foregoing description, and all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalents thereof are intended to be embraced therein.