Abstract: A rule creation application uses a reference web page, and user input regarding information displayed thereon, to generate a rule for extracting such information from the web page. The rule uses a structured graph representation of the web page, such as the page's Document Object Model (DOM), to extract the information. In addition to being applicable to the reference web page, the rule may be used to extract information from other web pages that have a similar structure.

Abstract: The Document Object Model (DOM) of a sampled web page is used to create a rule that extracts item-related data from web pages having a similar DOM structure to the sampled web page. In response to a user request for such a web page, the rule is retrieved from a data server based on the page's URL, and is applied to the DOM of the web page to extract item-identifying data. The item is then identified—preferably by the data server—by matching the item-identifying data to an item in a database. Supplemental information about the item is then retrieved from the database and supplied to the user's computer for viewing in conjunction with the requested page. In a preferred embodiment, the rule is retrieved from the data server and applied to the web page by a client application that runs in conjunction with a web browser.

Abstract: The Document Object Model (DOM) of a sampled web page is used to create a rule that extracts item-related data from web pages having a similar DOM structure to the sampled web page. In response to a user request for such a web page, the rule is retrieved from a data server based on the page's URL, and is applied to the DOM of the web page to extract item-identifying data. The item is then identified—preferably by the data server—by matching the item-identifying data to an item in a database. Supplemental information about the item is then retrieved from the database and supplied to the user's computer for viewing in conjunction with the requested page. In a preferred embodiment, the rule is retrieved from the data server and applied to the web page by a client application that runs in conjunction with a web browser.