Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-09
2002-07-02
Corrielus, Jean M. (Department: 2172)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000, C707S793000, C709S219000, C709S223000, C709S229000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06415288
ABSTRACT:
CROSS REFERENCE TO CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/164,759, filed Oct. 1, 1998, and entitled, “A Common Gateway Which Allows Applets to Make Program Calls to OLTP Applications Executing on an Enterprise Server”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/164,932, filed Oct. 1, 1998, and entitled, “A Multi-Client User Customized DOM Gateway for an OLTP Enterprise Server Application”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/164,098 filed Oct. 1, 1998, and entitled, “An Automated Development System for Developing Applications that Interface with Both Distributed Component Object Model (DOM) and Enterprise Server Environments”,now U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,681; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/164,933, filed Oct. 1, 1998, and entitled, “Providing a Modular Gateway Architecture Which Isolates Attributes of the Client and Server Systems into Independent Components”, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,546; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/164,822 filed Oct. 1, 1998, and entitled, “Making CGI Variables and Cookie Information Available to an OLTP System”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/164,673, filed Oct. 1, 1998, and entitled, “A Gateway for Dynamically Providing Web Site Status Information”,now U.S. Pat. No. 6,321,251; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/164,756, filed Oct. 1, 1998, and entitled, “Development System for Automatically Enabling a Server Application to Execute with an XATMI-complaint transaction MGR: Managing Transactions within Multiple Environments”, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,272,675; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/189,381, filed Nov. 9, 1998, and entitled, “Cool ICE Batch Interface”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/188,628, filed Nov. 9, 1998, and entitled, “Cool ICE Debug”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/188,628, filed Nov. 9, 1998, and entitled, “Cool ICE Workstation Directory/File Browser”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/188,840, filed Nov. 9, 1998, and entitled, “Cool ICE Icons”, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,351,746; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/188,738, filed Nov. 9, 1998, and entitled, “Cool ICE Service Templates”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/189,383, filed Nov. 9, 1998, and entitled, “Automatic Footer Text on HTML Pages”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/188,725, filed Nov. 9, 1998, and entitled, “Availability Message”, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,539; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/188,725 filed Nov. 9. 1998, and entitled, “Cool ICE State Management”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/188,807, filed Nov. 9, 1998, and entitled, “Cool ICE Service Handler”; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/189,616, filed Nov. 9, 1998, and entitled, “Server Side Variables” are commonly assigned co-pending applications incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to data base management systems and more particularly relates to enhancements for providing access to data base management systems via internet user terminals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Data base management systems are well known in the data processing art. Such commercial systems have been in general use for more than 20 years. One of the most successful data base management systems is available from Unisys Corporation and is called the Classic MAPPER® data base management system. The Classic MAPPER system can be reviewed using the Classic MAPPER User's Guide which may be obtained from Unisys Corporation.
The Classic MAPPER system, which runs on proprietary hardware also available from Unisys Corporation, provides a way for clients to partition data bases into structures called filing cabinets and drawers, as a way to offer a more tangible format. The Mapper data base manager utilizes various predefined high-level instructions whereby the data base user may manipulate the data base to generate human-readable data presentations called “reports”. The user is permitted to prepare lists of the various predefined high-level instructions into data base manager programs called “Mapper Runs”. Thus, users of the Classic MAPPER system may create, modify, and add to a given data base and also generate periodic and aperiodic reports using various Mapper Runs.
However, with the Classic MAPPER system, as well as with similar proprietary data base management systems, the user must interface with the data base using a terminal coupled directly to the proprietary system and must access and manipulate the data using the Mapper Run command language of Classic MAPPER. Ordinarily, that means that the user must either be co-located with the hardware which hosts the data base management system or must be coupled to that hardware through dedicated telephone, satellite, or other data links. Furthermore, the user usually needs to be schooled in the command language of Classic MAPPER (or other proprietary data base management system) to be capable of generating Mapper Runs.
Since the advent of large scale, dedicated, proprietary data base management systems, the internet or world wide web has come into being. Unlike closed proprietary data base management systems, the internet has become a world wide bulletin board, permitting all to achieve nearly equal access using a wide variety of hardware, software, and communication protocols. Even though some standardization has developed, one of the important characteristics of the world wide web is its ability to constantly accept new and emerging techniques within a global framework. Many current users of the internet have utilized several generations of hardware and software from a wide variety of suppliers from all over the world. It is not uncommon for current day young children to have ready access to the world wide web and to have substantial experience in data access using the internet.
Thus, the major advantage of the internet is its universality. Nearly anyone, anywhere can become a user. That means that virtually all persons are potentially internet users without the need for specialized training and/or proprietary hardware and software. One can readily see that providing access to a proprietary data base management system, such as Classic MAPPER, through the internet would yield an extremely inexpensive and universally available means for accessing the data which it contains and such access would be without the need for considerable specialized training.
There are several basic problems with permitting internet access to a proprietary data base. The first is a matter of security. Because the internet is basically a means to publish information, great care must be taken to avoid intentional or inadvertent access to certain data by unauthorized internet users. In practice this is substantially complicated by the need to provide various levels of authorization to internet users to take full advantage of the technique. For example, one might have a first level involving no special security features available to any internet user. A second level might be for specific customers, whereas a third level might be authorized only for employees. One or more fourth levels of security might be available for officers or others having specialized data access needs.
Existing data base managers have security systems, of course. However, because of the physical security with a proprietary system, a certain degree of security is inherent in the limited access. On the other hand, access via the internet is virtually unlimited which makes the security issue much more acute.
The second major problem is imposed by the internet protocol itself. One of the characteristics of the internet which makes it so universal is that any single transaction in HTML language combines a single transfer (or request) from a user coupled with a single response from the internet server. In general, there is no means for linking multiple transfers (or requests) and multiple responses. In this manner, the internet utilizes a transaction model which may be referred to as “stateless”. This limitation ensures that the internet, its users, and its servers remain sufficiently independent during operation that
Corrielus Jean M.
Johnson Charles A.
Nawrocki, Rooney & Sivertson P.A.
Starr Mark T.
Unisys Corporation
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