U.S. patent application number 10/076517 was filed with the patent office on 2002-08-29 for computer system.
This patent application is currently assigned to British Telecommunications public limited company. Invention is credited to Fisher, Patrick W.E..
Application Number | 20020120621 10/076517 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 10850772 |
Filed Date | 2002-08-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020120621 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Fisher, Patrick W.E. |
August 29, 2002 |
Computer system
Abstract
An electronic catalogue is implemented on a server computer by a
software component which functions as a catalogue system and an
associated database. The catalogue contains details on a set of
individual products. The database contains a set of tables, which
contain data items relating to the products. A set of first, second
and third order templates are also stored in the database. Each
second order template is subordinate to an associated first order
template and each third order template is subordinate to an
associated second order template. The electronic catalogue can be
accessed via the public Internet from a client computer. When the
user of the client computer wishes to retrieve information on a
particular product, the client computer transmits a request to the
server computer. The server computer uses the request to retrieve a
first order template 150. The catalogue system then uses control
information contained in the first order template 150 together with
a request received from the client computer to search the tables in
its database for data items relating to the selected product.
Control information in the tables searched also specify a set of
second order templates 152, 154, 156, 158 and 160, and a set of
third order template 162, 164, 166, 168 and 170. These templates
are retrieved by the catalogue system from the database. It then
uses the retrieved data items together with the retrieved templates
to create an information page containing data on the selected
product. In this information page, the first order template 150
defines the overall format of the page, the second order template
defines the format of respective parts of the page and each of the
third order template defines the format of a portion of a part of
the page covered by an associated second order template 160.
Inventors: |
Fisher, Patrick W.E.;
(Pantmawr, GB) |
Correspondence
Address: |
NIXON & VANDERHYE P.C.
8th Floor
1100 North Glebe Road
Arlington
VA
22201-4714
US
|
Assignee: |
British Telecommunications public
limited company
|
Family ID: |
10850772 |
Appl. No.: |
10/076517 |
Filed: |
February 19, 2002 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10076517 |
Feb 19, 2002 |
|
|
|
09299588 |
Apr 27, 1999 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 ;
707/999.003 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 40/103 20200101;
Y10S 707/99943 20130101; G06Q 10/087 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
707/3 |
International
Class: |
G06F 007/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 31, 1999 |
GB |
9907490.8 |
Claims
1. A method of generating an information page in a computer system,
said computing system including a database stored in said computer
system, said database comprising a set of templates and a set of
data tables each of which contains a set of data items, said method
comprising the steps of: selecting a first order template;
performing a search on said database using at least one input
parameter to retrieve a set of data items; selecting at least one
second order template, the or each second order template being
subordinate to the first order template; and creating an
information page containing the data items retrieved in the search;
the first order template defining the overall format of the
information page, and the or each second order template defining
the format of an associated part of the information page.
2. A method of generating an information page as claimed in claim
1, in which, in said step of selecting at least one second order
template, the or each second order template is selected by using
control information contained in one of said tables.
3. A method of generating an information page as claimed in claim 1
or claim 2, including the additional step of: selecting at least
one third order template, the or each third order template being
subordinate to an associated second order template; the or each
third order template defining the format of a portion of a part of
the information page defined by its associated second order
template.
4. A method of generating an information page as claimed in any one
of the preceding claims, in which the parameters used to retrieve
said set of data items are obtained from an input command entered
by a user and control information contained in said first order
template.
5. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which
said data tables include a first table containing data items
belonging to a first class of information, a second table
containing data items belonging to a second class of information,
and a table linking the data items in the first table with the data
items in the second.
6. A method of generating an information page as claimed in any one
of the preceding claims, in which said database contains data on a
set of related products or services, and the information page
contains a set of data items relating to one of said
categories.
7. A method of generating an information page as claimed in any one
of the preceding claims, in which said database contains data on a
set of related products or services, and the information page
contains a set of data items relating to one of said products or
services.
8. A computer system for generating an information page, said
computer system including a database stored on said computing
system, said database comprising a set of templates and a set of
data tables each of which contains a set of data items, said
computer system being arranged to perform the operations of: select
a first order template; perform a search on said database using at
least one input parameter to retrieve a set of data items; select
at least one second order template, the or each second order
template being subordinate to the first order template; and create
an information page containing the data items retrieved in the
search; the first order template defining the overall format of the
information page, and the or each second order template defining
the format of an associated part of the information page.
Description
[0001] This invention relates to a method of generating an
information page in a computing system and also to a computing
system arranged to generate such a page.
[0002] In a presently known method of generating an information
page in a computing system which has a database, a search is
performed on the database to extract a set of data items which are
then inserted into a fixed template to create an information page.
This method has the disadvantage that it is difficult to produce
variations in the layout and format of the information pages which
are created.
[0003] According to one aspect of this invention, there is provided
a method of generating an information page in a computer system,
said computing system including a database stored on said computer
system, said database comprising a set of templates and a set of
data tables each of which contains a set of data items, said method
comprising the steps of selecting a first order template,
performing a search on said database using at least one input
parameter to retrieve a set of data items, selecting at least one
second order template, the or each second order template being
subordinate to the firs, order template, and creating an
information page containing the data items retrieved in the search,
the first order template defining the overall format of the
information page, and the or each second order template defining
the format of an associated part of the information page.
[0004] The method of this invention has the advantage that it
provides flexibility in the layout and format of the information
pages which are created and an improvement in the visual impact of
the individual pages.
[0005] Preferably, in said step of selecting at least one second
order template, the or each second order template is selected by
using control information contained in one of said tables.
[0006] The method may also include the step of selecting at least
one third order template, the or each third order template being
subordinate to an associated second order template, the or each
third order template defining the format of a portion of a part of
the information page defined by its associated second order
template.
[0007] Preferably, the parameters used to retrieve said set of data
items are obtained from an input command entered by a user of said
computer system and control information contained in the said first
order template.
[0008] Preferably, said data tables include a first table
containing data items belonging to a first class of information, a
second table containing data items belonging to a second class of
information, and a third table linking data items in the first
table with data items in the second table.
[0009] In one embodiment of the invention, said database contains
data on a set of related products or services, and the information
page contains a set of data items relating to one of said products
or services.
[0010] According to a second aspect of this invention, there is
provided a computer system for generating an information page, said
computer system including a database stored on said computer
system, said database comprising a set of templates and a set of
data tables each of which contains a set of data items, said
computer system being arranged to perform the operations of select
a first order template, perform a search on said database using at
least one input parameter to retrieve a set of data items, select
at least one second order template, the or each second order
template being subordinate to the first order template, and create
an information page containing the data items retrieved in the
search, the first order template defining the overall format of the
information page, and the or each second order template defining
the format of an associated part of the information page.
[0011] This invention will now be described in more detail, by way
of example, with reference to the drawings in which:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a server computer which
stores an electronic catalogue in accordance with this invention,
two client computers and network connections between these
computers;
[0013] FIG. 2 shows the hardware construction of a computer;
[0014] FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating the
components of the server computer which provide the electronic
catalogue and the components of the client computers which are used
to access the electronic catalogue;
[0015] FIG. 4 is an entity diagram of tables stored in the
electronic catalogue;
[0016] FIG. 5 is a flow-chart illustrating the operation of the
electronic catalogue when it has been accessed from a computer
belonging to a buyer;
[0017] FIG. 6 is a flow-chart illustrating how an information page
is generated in the electronic catalogue; and
[0018] each of FIGS. 7 to 10 shows the construction of an
information page produced by the electronic catalogue.
[0019] Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown the arrangement of a
server computer 10, two client computers 12, 14 which can access
the server computer 10 and the network arrangement which is used
for connecting the computers 10, 12 10 and 14 together.
[0020] The server computer 10 stores an electronic catalogue which
contains data on a set of products which are available for sale. In
this example, the catalogue stores data on kitchenware products.
The server computer 10 will also be referred to as a catalogue
computer. This computer is owned by a provider of catalogue
services. Although in this example the catalogue computer 10 stores
only a single catalogue, it is appreciated that it could also store
a set of catalogues of products for sale by one or more vendors. It
could also be used to store a catalogue containing a set of
services, such as telecommunications services, which are available
from a service provider.
[0021] The client computer 12 belongs to the vendor of the products
listed in the electronic catalogue and this computer will also be
referred to as the vendor's computer. The vendor's computer 12 is
used to load individual data items into the electronic catalogue
and to edit these items.
[0022] The client computer 14 is illustrative of client computers
belonging to members of the public who may wish to obtain data on
the products listed in the electronic catalogue. The computer 14
will also be referred to as the buyer's computer.
[0023] As will be explained in more detail below, when the
catalogue computer 10 is accessed by the buyer's computer 14, it
can generate information pages relating to the products listed in
the catalogue. The data items for the products are stored in a
database. In order to generate an information page, a search may be
performed on the data items in the database. A main or first order
template, one or more second order templates and possibly higher
order templates are selected. The retrieved data items and the
selected templates are then used to create the desired information
page. Each second order template is subordinate to the main or
first order template and defines the format of part of the
information pages. Each third or higher order template is
subordinate to a lower order template and defines a portion of the
information page within the part defined by its associated higher
order template.
[0024] The connections between the computers 10, 12 and 14 will now
be described. The catalogue computer 10 may be connected through a
Local Area Network (LAN) 12 and a router 14 to the public Internet
20. Similarly, the vendor's computer 12 may be connected through a
LAN 22 and a router 24 to the public Internet. The buyer's computer
14 may be connected through the Public Switched Telecommunications
Networks (PSTN) 26 to an access server 28 belonging to an Internet
service provider. The access server 28 provides a connection to the
Internet 20.
[0025] Each of the computers 10, 12 and 14 is of conventional
construction and the hardware construction of one of these
computers is shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the hardware
components include a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 30, a Visual
Display Unit (VDU) 32, a keyboard 34, a mouse 36, input and output
ports 38, and a store 40 formed from a combination of hard disk
storage 42, floppy disk storage 44, Read-Only-Memory (ROM) 46 and
Random Access Memory (RAM) 48. These components are connected to a
central bus 50. The operating system and the programs which provide
the desired functionality are stored in the store 40.
[0026] Each of the computers 10, 12 and 14 can transmit and receive
data packets using the well known Transmission Control Protocol
(TCP) together with the Internet Protocol (IP). Each of these
computers can use the higher level protocol known as HyperText
Transfer Protocol (HTTP) for transmitting and receiving information
pages. Information pages which are transmitted using HTTP are
stored or created using the well known HyperText Markup Language
(HTML). As is well known, an HTML page usually contains one or more
hyperlinks. In this example, when the user of one of the client
computers 12, 14 clicks a mouse pointer on a hyperlink on an
information page produced by the server computer 10 to request
another information page, an associated URL is transmitted to the
sever computer 10. The server computer 10 then either retrieves the
requested page from fixed pages contained in its database or
dynamically generates the requested information page from data
items contained in its database.
[0027] Referring now to FIG. 3, there are shown the components of
the catalogue computer 10 which provide the electronic catalogue
and also the components of the computers 12 and 14 which are used
to access the catalogue.
[0028] The components of the computer 10 which provide the
electronic catalogue comprise a catalogue system 50 and a database
52. The catalogue system 50 is implemented as a program stored on
computer 10 and comprises a batch loader 52, a catalogue manager
54, a template manager 56, and a request broker 58. In this
example, the database 15 is implemented as the well known ORACLE
database. In the present example, both the catalogue system 50 and
the database 52 are stored on the catalogue computer 10. By way of
modification, the database 52 may be stored on a separate computer
which is connected to the computer which stores the catalogue
system 50 so as to form a computer system.
[0029] The vendor's computer 12 has a browser 60 for requesting
information pages from the catalogue computer and also for editing
data items and a data transfer component 62 for loading data items
into the catalogue computer 10. The buyer's computer 14 includes a
browser 64 for requesting information pages. The browsers 60, 64
and the data transfer component 62 are implemented as computer
programs and each of the browsers is the well known NETSCAPE
browser.
[0030] When the owner of the vendor's computer 12 is used to create
an electronic catalogue, the data items for the catalogue are
transmitted by the data transfer components 62 on the vendor's
computer 12 to the batch loader 53 on the catalogue computer 10.
The batch loader 53 then loads the data items into the database
52.
[0031] Using the browser 16 on the vendor's computer 12, the user
of this computer can access and edit the data items via the
catalogue manager 54. The database 52 contains a set of default
templates which are used, in the absence of other templates, for
creating information pages from data items. However, in order to
create a distinctive appearance for information pages, the user of
the vendor's computer 12 can access the template manager 56 from
the browser 60. By doing this, the user can then create its own
templates.
[0032] When the user of the buyer's computer 14 wishes to retrieve
an information page, the browser 64 accesses the request broker 58.
If the requested information page is a fixed page, for example the
front page of a catalogue, then the request broker 52 retrieves
this page directly from the database 52 and transmits it back to
the browser 64. If the requested information page is to be
generated from data items stored in the database 52, then the
request broker 58 passes the request to the template manager 56. As
will be described in more detailed below, the template manager 56
then performs a search on the data items in the database 52 to
retrieve those items which are needed for the requested page. The
template manager 56 also selects the templates which will be used
to create the requested page and retrieve these from the database
52. The selected templates and the retrieved data items are then
used to create the requested information page in the template
manager 56. This page is then passed to the request broker 58 which
transmits it to the browser 64.
[0033] In the database 52, data items for the products which are
for sale are stored in the form of a set of tables. Referring now
to FIG. 4, there is shown an entity diagram illustrating these
tables and their relationship with each other.
[0034] Referring now to FIG. 4, the catalogue has the following
tables: CATALOGUE, CATEGORY, PRODUCT, CATEGORY-MEMBERSHIP, FEATURE,
PRODUCT-FEATURE, PRODUCT IMAGE, STOCK UNIT, OFFER and STOCK UNIT
ATTRIBUTES. The individual products are grouped into categories and
data items on the individual categories are held in the table
CATEGORY. By way of modification, the categories may be divided
into sub-categories. With this modification there is a table for
the sub-categories and a further table to link the sub-categories
to the categories. For each product, a set of data items is held in
the table PRODUCT. The table CATEGORY-MEMBERSHIP links the data
items on the individual products with the categories. The table
FEATURE contains a set of data items for each feature of the
products and the table PRODUCT-FEATURE links the data items in the
table FEATURE with the data items in the table PRODUCT.
[0035] For each product, the table PRODUCT IMAGE contains an
identifier for the image depicting that product. Also for each
product, there are one or more purchase options and the table STOCK
UNIT contains a set of data items for each purchase option. In the
interests of simplicity, in this example, each product has only one
purchase option. For each purchase option, the table OFFER contains
details of the price and other sale information and the table STOCK
UNIT ATTRIBUTES contains a set of data items on the possible
attributes of the purchase option, such as its colour.
[0036] The individual tables will now be described in more detail.
Each table has a set of fields. Each table then has a set of
individual records corresponding to the individual items, such as
products or features, on which data is stored in the table. Each
record comprises a set of data items or data values which are
stored in the database 52 against the appropriate fields. For each
table which is illustrated below, the fields are shown together
with two blank columns which represent the first two records of the
table.
1TABLE 1 CATALOGUE FIELDS SHOP NUMBER SHOP NAME SHOP
DESCRIPTION
[0037] The table CATALOGUE is illustrated above as Table 1. In the
present example, there is only a single catalogue but, as mentioned
above, the database 52 could contain a set of catalogues. The table
CATALOGUE has the following fields: SHOP NUMBER, SHOP NAME and SHOP
DESCRIPTION. For each catalogue, the field SHOP NUMBER gives an
identifier for the catalogue, the field SHOP NAME gives a
description of the shop, such as "Smith's Cookware Shop" and the
field SHOP DESCRIPTION gives a description of the products listed
in the catalogue.
2TABLE 2 CATEGORY FIELDS CATEOGRY NUMBER CATEGORY NAME CATEGORY
DESCRIPTION
[0038] The table CATEGORY is illustrated above as Table 2. In the
table CATEGORY, the fields are CATEGORY NUMBER, CATEGORY NAME and
CATEGORY DESCRIPTION. For each category, the field CATEGORY NUMBER
contains an identifier for that category, the field CATEGORY NAME
contains the name of the category, for example, "Cutlery" and the
field CATEGORY DESCRIPTION contains a description of the products
in that category.
3TABLE 3 PRODUCTS FIELDS PRODUCT NUMBER PRODUCT NAME PRODUCT
DESCRIPTION START DATE END DATE
[0039] The table PRODUCT is illustrated above as Table 3. In the
table PRODUCT, the fields are PRODUCT NUMBER, PRODUCT NAME, PRODUCT
DESCRIPTION, START DATE and END DATE. For each product listed in
the catalogue, the field PRODUCT NUMBER contains an identification
code for the product, the field PRODUCT NAME contains the name of
the product, for example "teaspoon", and the field PRODUCT
DESCRIPTION contains a description of the product. The fields START
DATE and END DATE give the starting dates and end dates on which
the product is available.
4TABLE 4 CATEGORY-MEMBERSHIP FIELDS PRODUCT NUMBER CATEGORY
NUMBER
[0040] The table CATEGORY-MEMBERSHIP is illustrated above as Table
4. This table serves to link products with categories. The fields
in this table are PRODUCT NUMBER and CATEGORY NUMBER. In each
record, the fields PRODUCT NUMBER gives the identification code for
a product in the catalogue and the field in CATEGORY NUMBER gives
the identification number for a category to which the product
belongs. By providing a table for linking the categories and
products, it is to be appreciated that a particular product can
belong to two or more categories.
5TABLE 5 FEATURE FIELDS FEATURE NUMBER FEATURE NAME FEATURE
DESCRIPTION
[0041] The table FEATURE is illustrated above as Table 5. The
fields in this table are FEATURE NUMBER, FEATURE NAME and FEATURE
DESCRIPTION. For each record in this table, the field FEATURE
NUMBER contains an identification code for the feature in the
catalogue, the field FEATURE NAME gives the name of the feature,
for example "stainless steel", and the field FEATURE DESCRIPTION
gives a description of the feature.
6TABLE 6 PRODUCT-FEATURE FIELDS PRODUCT NUMBER FEATURE NUMBER
DISPLAY ORDER
[0042] The table PRODUCT-FEATURE is illustrated above as Table 6.
This table links the data items contained in the tables PRODUCT and
FEATURE. The fields of the table PRODUCT-FEATURE are PRODUCT
NUMBER, FEATURE NUMBER and DISPLAY ORDER. For each record, the
field PRODUCT NUMBER contains the identification code for a
particular product or feature, the field FEATURE NUMBER contains
the identification code for a particular feature and the field
DISPLAY ORDER contains a sort key. As may be readily appreciated,
for each product, there may be two or more features. The sort keys
determine the order in which the features are displayed.
7TABLE 7 PRODUCT IMAGE FIELDS PRODUCT NUMBER PRODUCT IMAGE NUMBER
PRODUCT IMAGE ID
[0043] The table PRODUCT IMAGE is illustrated above as Table 7. The
fields in this table are PRODUCT NUMBER, PRODUCT IMAGE NUMBER and
PRODUCE IMAGE ID. In each record in this table, the field PRODUCT
NUMBER contains the identification code for a particular product,
the field PRODUCT IMAGE NUMBER contains an identification number
for an image depicting that product and field PRODUCT IMAGE ID
contains a full file identifier for the location at which the image
is stored in the database 52.
8TABLE 8 STOCK UNIT FIELDS PRODUCT NUMBER SHOP PRODUCT CODE
MANUFACTURERS PRODUCT CODE OFFER CODE
[0044] The table STOCK UNIT is illustrated above as Table 8. The
fields in this table are PRODUCT NUMBER, SHOP PRODUCT CODE,
MANUFACTURERS PRODUCT CODE and OFFER CODE. For each record, the
field PRODUCT NUMBER contains the identification code for the
product, the field SHOP PRODUCT CODE contains an identification for
a purchase option for the product, the field MANUFACTURERS PRODUCT
CODE contains the manufacturers identification code for the
purchase option and the field OFFER CODE contains an identifier
which links the record with a record in the table OFFER.
9TABLE 9 OFFER FIELDS SHOP PRODUCT CODE OFFER START DATE OFFER END
DATE OFFER PRICE OFFER TEXT OFFER CODE
[0045] The table OFFER is illustrated above as Table 9. The fields
of the table OFFER are SHOP PRODUCT CODE, OFFER START DATE, OFFER
END DATE, OFFER PRICE, OFFER TEXT and OFFER CODE. In each record,
the field SHOP PRODUCT CODE gives the identification code for the
associated purchase option and the fields OFFER START DATE and
OFFER END DATE define the period during which the purchase option
is on sale. The field OFFER PRICE gives the price for the purchase
option and the field OFFER TEXT contains text to be displayed
together with the price such as "offer ends this month". The field
OFFER CODE contains an identifier which links the offer with a
record in the table STOCK UNIT.
10TABLE 10 STOCK UNIT ATTRIBUTES FIELDS SHOP PRODUCT CODE STOCK
ATTRIBUTE NAME STOCK ATTRIBUTE VALUE
[0046] The table STOCK UNIT ATTRIBUTES is illustrated above as
Table 10. The fields in this table are SHOP PRODUCT CODE, STOCK
ATTRIBUTE NAME and STOCK ATTRIBUTE VALUE. In each record, the field
SHOP PRODUCT CODE contains the identification code for the
associated purchase option, the field STOCK ATTRIBUTE NAME gives
the name of a particular attribute, such as "colour" and the field
STOCK ATTRIBUTE VALUE gives the value of the attribute, for example
"blue".
[0047] Except for the linking tables, each table is associated with
one or more templates. Each table contains control information
specifying its associated templates. More specifically, each table
may be associated with a first order template, one or more second
order templates, one or more third order templates and higher order
templates. Each of the templates can be a default template or a
template created by the vendor.
[0048] Also, each record within a table can be associated with one
or more templates. Where a record is associated with one or more
templates, it contains control information specifying the
associated templates. Templates associated with individual records
are created by the vendor.
[0049] In this example, each template may be associated with only a
single table.
[0050] There will now be described the operations which are
performed when the user of computer 14 uses it to access the
electronic catalogue stored on computer 10. The user will be
referred to as the buyer.
[0051] Referring now to FIG. 5, initially, in step 100, with the
browser 64 activated, the user enters the URL for the front page of
the catalogue. This URL is transmitted to the request broker 58.
The request broker 58 recognises this is a request for a fixed HTML
information page and retrieves the requested page from the database
52. The request broker 58 then transmits the front page to the
computer 14 where it is displayed.
[0052] Next, in a step 102, the buyer requests a list of categories
of the products by clicking a mouse pointer on an appropriate
hyperlink. The associated URL is transmitted to the request broker
58. The request broker 58 interprets this URL as a request for a
dynamically generated information page and forwards the URL to the
template manager 56. Using this URL, the template manager 56
selects and retrieves the appropriate first order template. The URL
received from the request broker 58 and control information in the
retrieved first order template define two search parameters. The
template manager 56 transmits these search parameters to the
database 52. After performing the search, the database 52 returns
the list of categories of products in the catalogue to the template
manager 56. Also, the database returns the identities of two second
order templates. As will be explained, these identities have been
extracted from control information contained in the tables which
have been searched. These second order templates are retrieved. The
template manager 56 then creates an information page containing the
list of categories.
[0053] In creating this information page, the template manager 56
uses the first order template and the two second order templates
which have been retrieved. The relationship of these templates is
indicated in FIG. 7 where the first order template is indicated by
reference numeral 104 and the two second order templates are
defined by reference numerals 106 and 108. The first order template
104 defines the overall format of the page and thus specifies
features such as the background colour and default values for font
size and font type of any text appearing on the page. The template
104 also defines the parts of the page which are controlled by the
second order templates 106 and 108. The template 106 covers the
part of the page which is used to display the title of the
catalogue and defines the format which is to be used. This includes
the background colour, and values for the font type and font size
for the text. The template 106 is specified in the table CATALOGUE.
The template 108 defines the format for the part of the page which
is used to show the list of categories. As well as defining
features such as the background colour, font size and font type,
the template 108 also defines the locations for the names of the
individual categories. Each category name is displayed in the form
of a hyperlink. One of the category names is indicated by reference
numeral 110. The template 108 is specified in the table
CATEGORY.
[0054] After the information page containing the list of categories
has been created by the template manager 56, it is transmitted to
the request broker 58 which, in turn, transmits it to the computer
14 where it is displayed in step 112.
[0055] Next, in a step 114, the buyer selects a particular category
by clicking the mouse pointer on the appropriate hyperlink. The
associated URL is transmitted to the request broker 58 which
recognises it is a request for a dynamically generated page. The
template manager 56 uses the URL obtained from the request broker
58 together with control information in the template 104 as
parameters for instructing a search in the database 52. After the
search has been performed, the database 52 returns a list of
products for the selected category to the template manager 56. The
database also returns the identity of a third second order
template. This template is specified in the table PRODUCT. This
template is retrieved. The template manager 56 then uses the list
of products to create an information page showing this list.
[0056] The construction of this information page is shown in FIG.
8. This page is identical to the page shown in FIG. 7 except that
it contains an area for the list of products. The template 104
defines the location of this area and the third second order
template mentioned above defines the format of this area. In FIG.
8, the second order template used for defining the format of this
area is indicated by reference numeral 116. As well as defining the
background colour, and the font size and font type used for text,
the template 11 6 also defines the location for the name of each
product. Each product is displayed as a hyperlink and one of this
hyperlinks is indicated by reference numeral 118.
[0057] The created information page is then transmitted to the
request broker 58, which in turn transmits it to the computer 14
where it is displayed in a step 120.
[0058] Next, in a step 122, the buyer selects a particular product
by clicking the mouse pointer on the appropriate hyperlink. The
associated URL is then transmitted to the request broker 58. The
request broker 58 transmits this request to the template manager
56, which performs a search to retrieve data on the selected
product and create an information page. This information page is
transmitted to the request broker 58, which then transmits it to
the computer 14 where it is displayed in a step 124
[0059] The steps which are performed by the template manager 52 in
generating this information page will now be described with
reference to FIG. 6.
[0060] In a step 130, the template manager 56 selects a first order
template and retrieves this template from the database 52.
[0061] In a step 134, the template manager 56 uses the URL obtained
from the request broker 58 and control information contained in the
first order template retrieved in step 130 to define search
parameters. In the step 136, it uses the search parameters to
instruct the database 52 to perform a search. The database 52 then
returns data items relating to the selected product to the template
manager 56. The database also returns the identities of five second
order templates and five third order templates. These identities
have been extracted from control information contained in the
tables which have been searched. These templates are retrieved.
[0062] In a step 138, the template manager 56 uses the retrieved
data items together with the retrieved templates to construct the
information page which shows the details of the selected
products.
[0063] Referring now to FIG. 9, there are shown the relative
locations of the templates. In FIG. 9, the main template is
indicated by reference numeral 150, the five second order templates
are indicated by reference numerals 152, 154, 156, 158 and 160 and
the third order templates are indicated by reference numerals 162,
164, 166, 168 and 170.
[0064] The first order template 150 defines the overall format of
the information page as well as the locations of the parts of the
page whose format is defined by the templates 152, 154, 156, 158
and 160. Each of the second order templates 152, 154, 156, 158 and
160 is subordinate to the first order template 150.
[0065] The second order template 160 also defines the location of
the portions of the page whose format is defined by the third order
templates 162, 164, 166, 168 and 170. Thus, each of these third
order templates is subordinate to the second order template
160.
[0066] In the created information page, the template 152 covers the
part of the page where the title of the product is displayed, the
template 154 covers the part of the page where an image of the
product is displayed, the template 156 covers the part of the page
where an attribute, such as a colour, of the product is displayed
and the template 158 covers the part of the page where the price
and any related text is displayed. The templates 152, 154, 156 and
158 are specified, respectively, by the tables PRODUCT, PRODUCT
IMAGE, STOCK UNIT ATTRIBUTES and OFFER.
[0067] The template 160 defines the part of the page where the
features of the product are displayed. In this example, five
features are displayed. The templates 162, 164, 166, 168 and 170
define the format of the part of the page where a respective one of
these features is displayed. These templates are specified in the
table FEATURE. Some or all of the templates 152, 154, 156, 158,
160, 162, 164, 166, 168 and 170 may be specified by individual
records within their respective tables.
[0068] By using second and third order templates for defining the
format of individual parts of the page, it is to be appreciated
that the page can have a distinctive and individual appearance. For
example, each of the features can be displayed in a different
manner, for example in a different colour.
[0069] When the buyer has browsed through various products which
are available in the catalogue, the buyer may then select one or
more of these products for purchase. The electronic catalogue
provides a buyer with an electronic order form for this
purpose.
[0070] FIG. 9 shows how an information page may be created by using
a first order template and then second order templates within the
first order template and third order template within one of the
second order templates. This concept of using one or more higher
order templates to define the format of a portion of the area
covered by a lower order template can be taken further than shown
in FIG. 9. Thus, fourth and higher order templates could be used to
create an information page.
[0071] Referring now to FIG. 10, there is shown the relationship of
the templates used in an alternative construction for an
information page which shows a set of products in a selected
category. The construction illustrated in FIG. 10 is thus an
alternative to the construction shown in FIG. 8. For simplicity,
FIG. 10 shows only two products, but it is to be appreciated that
the construction illustrated in FIG. 10 could be used for a larger
number of products.
[0072] In the construction shown in FIG. 10, there is a main or
first order template 200, and two second order templates 202 and
204, each of which is used for displaying a respective one of the
two products. Each of the second order templates 202, 204 contains
a third order template 206. The template 200 is selected by the
template manager 56 when the user selects a particular product and
control information in this template together with the URL
associated with the selected product are used in determining the
search parameters. This template also specifies the locations of
the templates 202 and 204. Each of the templates 202 and 204 is
specified by the record in the table PRODUCT for the respective
product. Thus, each product is displayed with an individual
template. Each of the templates 202 and 204 specifies the location
of the templates 206 within itself. The template 206 is specified
by the table PRODUCT IMAGE.
[0073] When the information is displayed, the name of the category
is displayed as indicated by line 210 and a description of the
category is displayed as indicated by the lines 212. The format for
the text at lines 210 and 212 is specified by the template 200.
[0074] For each product, the name of the product, the main feature
of the product and the price of the product are displayed,
respectively, as indicated by lines 214, 216 and 218. The format
for the text at lines 214, 216 and 218 is specified by the
respective one of templates 202 and 204.
[0075] Within each of the templates 202 and 204, the template 206
defines the format of the part of the page where the image of the
respective product is displayed.
[0076] Although this invention has been described with reference to
creating information pages from data items stored on the database
of an electronic catalogue, it is to be appreciated that the
invention can be used generally to create information pages from
data items stored in a database.
* * * * *