Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-31
2002-05-28
Mizrahi, Diane D. (Department: 2771)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000, C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06397221
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Use
This invention relates generally to the creation and maintenance; i.e., management, of frame-based, hierarchically organized databases, as for example, those used for providing interactive product data to prospective purchasers; and more particularly, to a method preferably implemented in computer software for the creation and maintenance; i.e., management, of frame-based, hierarchically organized databases containing product data with the use of tabularly organized product data, the method featuring steps for displaying tabularly organized data and, when available, a hierarchical data organizational structure to the software user who compares the organization of the tabular data and data values to a desired or available frame-based, hierarchical database organizational structure and, thereafter, enters information to facilitate creation or, when available, maintenance of the frame-based, hierarchical database structure and infusion of the tabular data into the database; further, in the case where the frame-based, hierarchical data organizational structure can be inferred from the tabular data, the method includes steps for automatically merging the tabular product data into the hierarchical database without user intervention; and still further, this method, where the frame based hierarchical data organizational structure can be inferred from the tabular data, is implemented in a computer software program using the JAVA computer programming language.
2. Related Art
Continuing advances in personal computing and the explosive growth of the Internet and its World Wide Web, have combined to produce tremendous opportunity for buying and selling just about any kind of product or service, from just about anyplace in the world where an Internet connection can be made. Generally referred to as “Electronic Commerce” or “E-Commerce” for short, this new frontier is revolutionizing the way people for centuries have bought and sold things. With E-Commerce, instead of prospective purchasers; i.e., shoppers, having physically to go out to actual stores, malls or other points of distribution to search for the things desired, they, instead, can simply fire up their respective personal computers, access the Internet's World Wide Web and browse cyberspace for virtual points of sale at which everything from Automobiles to Zoot Suits can be found—a true cornucopia of whatever there is to be had—anywhere. Gone too, generally, are the problems of commuting, crowds, long lines and empty shelves. Instead, if the items sought can be downloaded; e.g., information, books, software, music, videos, and the like, they can be immediately had on payment of the required purchase price. Or, if the thing desired is tangible; e.g., from fruit baskets to refrigerators, it can be ordered for delivery from the manufacturer or distributor.
However, while this advance in commercial enterprise, provides a plethora of shopping possibilities, it also presents a number of new and perplexing problems. One that is particularly difficult is the problem of providing systems for browsing and effectively presenting the many and varied things that can be found and purchased in cyberspace.
As those familiar with the technology are aware, Web site sales facility are commonly fashioned around some form of computer-based catalog, which is itself built upon a product database containing records concerning the items being offered. And, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, though the term “product” is used here and elsewhere in this disclosure, the term should be understood to include both goods and services, and indeed, anything that might be offered for sale.
In that regard, workers have found that the ability to satisfy a shoppers search expectations are dependent upon how the product data is organized; i.e., what type of product data is included, how much of it is present and how quickly it can be reviewed. As many Web shoppers have regrettably found, at some sites, they may have to plow through mounds of product information to find, if at all, the item they're looking for, and that can be a toilsome and perplexing task. Additionally, the job can be made yet the more frustrating where one is unsure of exactly what one is looking for, and as a result be unable to successfully navigate through the information provided to find the kind of thing desired, or be unable to effectively compare what is found with alternatives when something of interest is located to assure that what has been found would be a wise choice.
More specifically, experience has shown that where a product database is structured in relational form, i.e., tabularly, with rows of product names associated with columns of product features, or vice versa, shoppers can encounter difficulty. While it is common to find product databases organized in relational form; relational form being favored by manufactures and providers for its simplicity, and favored by distributors and suppliers for the abundance and typically low cost of relation database software, shoppers, on the other hand, unfortunately, find relational databases difficult and frustrating to select products from. In relational form, and as noted, the product data is tabularly arranged. Typically, product names, model numbers or other form of designators are disposed, in rows as record identifiers, followed by columns of product features; i.e., product attributes, which define the product, or vice versa, i.e., columns of product names and rows of attributes. As will be appreciated, to access a product record, commonly, either the user has to designate a product name, model number, or enter a descriptive, product-feature word strings to locate the product desired. However, such record access procedures are difficult for shoppers who don't know what model names or numbers to ask for, or who don't understand what features will be appropriate to put in a string search, or indeed, who don't really know what they are exactly looking for, And, as might be expected, this problem becomes even more difficult where the shopper spectrum includes individuals having different levels of product awareness, and diverse ages, educational, and community backgrounds. As will be appreciated, the less sophisticated the shoppers, the more difficult it is for them to appreciate the search process, understand product jargon, and discriminate between product features.
As an alternative to relational databases, however, it has been found that even shoppers having different product familiarity and backgrounds are commonly able to easily and quickly extract desired product information from database that are hierarchically arranged and presented. As an illustration, where a shopper is looking for specialty apples; for example, from a gourmet site, he can more readily make progress with his selection if he looks first at foods, then fruits, and then apples as he progress to his selection. At the least, the approach of moving from generally understood category to subcategory and sub-subcategory avoids the risk of causing the uninitiated shopper to mistakenly compare apples and oranges when trying to make his purchase selection.
However, because, product data as noted, is usually found in relational rather than hierarchical form, difficult can be encountered in economically building and maintaining hierarchically organized product databases. Where hierarchical product data is limited, labor-intensive, and accordingly, expensive efforts may have to be undertaken to develop sufficient hierarchical product data to create and maintain the site database in hierarchical form. Again as noted, manufacturers, the primary source of product data, prefer relational; i.e., tabular, data format because of its simplicity. Additionally, manufactures may not be able to anticipate, or indeed, not care how there products will be hierarchically arranged for purposes of comparison. Further, in other cases, manufacturers may wish to frustrate hierarchical comparison so their products
Fohn Steffen M.
Greef Arthur R.
Maldonado Martin F.
International Business Machines Corp.
Mizrahi Diane D.
Scito, Esq. Paul C.
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