Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Computer-to-computer data modifying
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-13
2002-01-15
Coulter, Kenneth R. (Department: 2154)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Computer-to-computer data modifying
C709S230000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06339795
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A computer program listing appendix entitled “Appendix to Ser. No. 09/229,593” and contained on a compact disc submitted herewith, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Applicant submits two compact discs, one original plus an identical copy, containing one file with the title “Appendix to Ser. No. 09/229,593”.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods for exchanging data between disparate data hosts including application programs and data bases. More specifically, the present invention relates to a user transparent process for exchanging and routing data representing postal address information between disparate data hosts.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Application programs and databases, including relational databases, are examples of data hosts used for generating, manipulating, and storing data. A wide variety of data hosts are commercially available for managing many different types of data for a multitude of purposes. Application programs and databases typically include strict rules for defining composite data types that may be used therein. The data types may include records, arrays and other structures.
Generally, data formats may be categorized as either plain text data, or parsed and tagged data. Plain text data is of variable length and composition and is not easily parsed into fields, and therefore there are no portions of the plain text data which are separately identifiable. Plain text data is most commonly managed in word processing type application programs. In database files, data is generally managed in a parsed and tagged type of format either by a database manager or by a special purpose application program.
Database files generally include data records and header records. In general, database files may be managed either by a database manager or by a special-purpose application program. A database manager provides for a user to specify record structures upon creation of the database file. A record structure is generally described by field names, data formats, and byte offsets or specific delimiters in the record. Database manager programs maintain data dictionary records as headers in the database file, the records typically specifying parameters associated with each field including a name, a start byte offset, and a data format. Special-purpose application programs are used to generate and manipulate databases of one specified record structure, the specification of which is embedded in the code of the program rather than in header records of the file. Currently, there is no standard internal data format used by all application programs and data base managers. Application programs and data bases typically use complex proprietary data formats.
The disparity in internal data formats between different types of application programs and database managers causes problems for users who wish to exchange data between these disparate databases. A disparity in internal data formats from one data host to another may also arise due to the use of different compilers and different hardware architectures, sometimes referred to as “platforms”. application programs and data bases are written in a higher order language, and then compiled by other programs called compilers. The same or different compilers used on different computers may result in different internal data formats for the same data. Different compilers used on identical platforms may also result in different internal data formats. Another problem is that different compilers and platforms may use different byte ordering including Big-Endian and Little-Endian byte ordering.
It has become increasingly desirable for users to be able to conveniently exchange data between disparate application programs and databases running on disparate computer platforms including desk top computers, hand held computers, and web servers. Due to the disparities in the internal data formats of the various data hosts, transfer of data between disparate data hosts typically is not readily achievable via ordinary file transfer. The different internal data formats must be reconciled for disparate data hosts to communicate with each other. When information is to be exchanged between disparate data hosts, some form of data format conversion is required.
A variety of prior art techniques have been developed specifically for exchanging data between handheld computers and desk top computers. Handheld computers, such as personal digital assistants (PDA's), typically provide some combination of personal information management functions, database functions, word processing functions, and spreadsheet functions. Due to limitations in memory size and processing power, handheld computers are generally limited in functionality and differ in data content and usage from similar applications on desktop computers. Many users of handheld computers, such as personal digital assistants (PDA's), also own a desktop computer which may be used for application programs that manage data similar to the data stored in the handheld computer. A user typically stores the same data on the desktop computer and handheld computer. Therefore, it is very desirable for a user to be able to conveniently exchange data between desk top application programs and data bases, and memory resident data sets of a hand held computer.
Data exchange between disparate application programs is also very important in electronic commerce wherein computer systems are interconnected through computer networks of various configurations. Networked computer systems have allowed for the emergence of many different types of transactions between users operating disparate application programs running on disparate computer platforms. A recent development in the World Wide Web is the capability to send data from web clients back to a web server using fill-in “forms”. This enables web users to enter information such as, for example, credit card numbers and addresses for purchases made over the Internet. In the growing field of electronic commerce, many such information transactions are becoming common place of for varying purposes. A “form” typically includes standard graphic user interface (GUI) controls such as text boxes, check boxes, and menus. Each control is given a name that eventually becomes a variable item that a processing script uses. Text and password boxes can be used to create registration forms which include fields representing an address including a name field, a phone number field, a street address field, a city field, a state field, and a zip code field, a phone number field, an e-mail address field, and a web address field.
In accordance with one type of prior art methods for exchanging data between disparate data hosts, a user must call separate services to encode and decode basic data field types or to define messages in a separate language syntax that will be used for information exchange. These prior approaches do not provide transparent data exchange, and impose a significant translation overhead on the systems involved.
Crozier (U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,423, issued Dec. 23, 1997) discloses a computer implemented method for translating computer data from a source record structure having information arranged in a source file, to a destination record structure. Each of the source and destination record structures includes a plurality of fields, each having a name. The destination record structure differs from the source record structure in field name, field order, or one-to-many or many-to-one field correspondence. The source file exists on a first computer and the destination record structure is specified by a program for execution on a second computer. The method includes the steps of: presenting the names of the fields of each of the source and destination record structures on a display; allowing a user to interactively select a field from the source record structure and a corresponding field from the destination record structure, thereby establishing a mapping between the fields; and translating th
Bodapati Chandra
Narurkar Rajen
Coulter Kenneth R.
eGrabber, Inc.
Hamrick Claude A. S.
Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP
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