Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly is meant by onClick?

The term "onclick" appears to have originally referred to a programming term indicating an event in which a mouse button is clicked on an icon and so forth. Thus, this software that runs by clicking on a highlighted character string or image area or sound waveform for which the range has been specified was named "onClick". Since the term "onClick" has never been used for the name of a software in the past, it was decided to use this as the name of the software.

What are the features of onClick?

The worldwide web (WWW) employs a truly well-designed system. This is because it allows users to move around the world by successively jumping from page to page simply by clicking on a hyper link. However, for those locations on a page where there is no link, nothing happens no matter how much you click, and all you can do is look at the screen. Even if there is a word you are interested in on a page, you cannot get to another document relating to that word.

If you use onClick, however, you can get to a related page even if a link is not provided on that page. It also saves you the trouble of having to frequently move to a search engine page since you can use a search engine from the page you are currently viewing.

As you can see by slowly performing the highlighting procedure with onClick, since the procedure can be performed while visually confirming the progress status of the range specification, it is as if you are attaching your own link to that particular word or phrase. This is in contrast to previous links that were provided by the producer of the page. If you are unable to correctly specify the range you desire, you can cancel range specification and repeat the procedure as many times as you like until you specify the desired range. The clicking operation that follows is completely the same as clicking on a conventional link.

In contrast to conventional links being static, the character string procedure performed using onClick involves the creation of your own (Kassaku - dynamic link).

What led up to the conception of onClick?

I think it was in 1993 when I first saw the WWW and Mozaic. I was really quite astonished because personal computer communication up to that time was unable to send and receive images and characters that easily. What is more, the WWW was truly easy to use. It was as if you had your own personal library the size of the entire world.

Speaking of the WWW, I was very inspired by Tim Berners-Lee and Marc Andreessen. I was always thinking how great it would be if I could contribute to the proliferation of the Internet like they did.

Starting about that time, however, the situation became such that several ten thousands of search results were being displayed on my computer by search engine whenever I made a search. Although this may have been attributed to poor search skills, I certainly remember feeling somewhat frustrated.

During the course of encountering this huge number of search results, I came upon the idea that if it were possible to simply specify the range of a keyword in the form of a word or phrase and then click on that word or phrase to extract a search system, searching would be much easier and more efficient. I also really liked the idea of employing a procedure that was the same as clicking on a hyperlink.

I then thought that it would be best if the source from which the keywords were extracted was a huge library that contained knowledge and information from around the world. I also thought it would be helpful to build your own personal library on your own hard disk.

Still later, I came upon the idea of estabLINK for performing site searches as an effective application of onClick.

What is referred to by a site menu?

Since onClick is also able to send character strings to existing search services by performing large searches in the form of global searches targeted not only at estabLINK site searches but also at web sites around the world, it was decided to incorporate these search services in a menu. Since the primary objective of onClick is currently the performing of such site searches, indication of the above menu is a service, and will probably be changed as the occasion demands.

Toshi Okabe, Inventor

Frequently Asked Questions

What is meant by estabLINK?

I encountered considerable difficulty in coming up with a name. When I tried to use the term ".com", I found that most names were already registered. This is similar to the case of registering trademarks. I therefore thought that I should be able to find a name that was not already registered if I created my own word. This led to the creation of the compound word, "estabLINK" coming from "establish" and "LINK". This refers to the establishment of a new link. As a result, I was able to successfully register "estabLINK.com".

The title of the page containing the results of a search is indicated with "Link Generation Results". What is meant by this?

The principle of searching involves the use of a search engine. However, since all of the documents in which a character string is used within that site already exist within that site, the task of estabLINK can be considered to be the creation of all documents in which that character string is used. This task is referred to as generating a link.

Furthermore, in the case of estabLINK, in order to realize the same operation as clicking on a hyperlink, the software is designed to allow a character string to be highlighted followed by clicking on that highlighted character string. Although a hyperlink is conventionally provided by the producer of the page, the job of generating a link from a highlighted character string is performed by onClick and estabLINK. Documents composed of a hyperlink only employ a tree structure, and documents provided with the onClick function may be considered to employ a structure that can be likened to rhizomes.

What led up to the conception of estabLINK?

onClick was realized as something for sending a query to existing search services (Experiment 1). Since the operation of onClick was much speedier than having to type in a keyword in a search window, pages of search results of portal sites came to feel like quite a burden.

On the other hand, although it is possible to jump to a web site by selecting a single web site from search results and then clicking, problems occurred when that web site contained useful information and the user wanted to examine it more closely. More specifically, as long as there was no search function provided on that web site, it was not possible to examine the contents within that web site. What is more, since it was necessary to move to the previously mentioned search service, the result was the appearance of several hundred search results, causing the useful web site previously viewed to end up being buried in those search results. This was because, in the case of conventional search services, searches were basically made targeted at all web sites throughout the world.

This led to the idea of how convenient it would be if it were possible to only search within the web site being viewed, and estabLINK was the realization of this objective (Experiment 2). Furthermore, in the case of a site search, since the page containing the search results is inserted within that web site, it could be completely incorporated within that web site provided there were no banner advertisements and so forth inserted. Although a list of registered sites was first made available as a demonstration of this concept, I ultimately hope to make it possible to conduct site searches on the web sites of individuals, schools, private corporations and so on.

Will banners or other advertisements be placed on pages of link generation results?

Even if it becomes possible to handle registration of the web sites of individuals and private corporations, advertisements will not be placed on pages of link generation results. I do not intend to insert advertisements as long as estabLINK is able to be maintained. This is because I would like the page that contains the search results (link generation results) to belong to that site only. Since the estabLINK of Experiment 2 is different from portable sites of the past, I prefer not to have it exposed. In other words, the page of link generation results is treated as being a part of that web site.

Who stands to benefit from the usefulness of estabLINK?

The way estabLINK works is currently demonstrated in the form of Experiment 2. Ultimately, however, I would like to make it possible to perform site searches on all of the web sites in the world. I would like to be able to search within a site after you happen to come on a site during the course of net surfing. In other words, estabLINK would serve as a browsing guide for users who visit your web site. I am convinced that this would make it possible to increase the number of repeaters.

However, it is also an important tool that allows you yourself to save time the greater your efforts are to further enhance your web site. Similarly, in the case of the web sites of private corporations, since the job of finding the information you are looking for will continue to be a formidable task, estabLINK can also be used as a basic tool for both customers and employees.

I also believe it is suitable for use at schools as well. This could be done by creating a library that contains all educational materials required for classes, and then conducting site searches within that library. Ultimately, I hope that estabLINK will become an essential tool for significantly increasing the speed of accessing important information and knowledge.

Toshi Okabe, Inventor