Object oriented framework mechanism for an electronic catalog
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- at least one processor;
a memory coupled to the at least one processor;
an object-oriented framework mechanism residing in the memory and executed by the at least one processor that provides at least one electronic catalog environment for generating at least one electronic catalog that is displayed to a user, wherein the electronic catalog environment comprises;
at least one core function defined by at least one core class and by the relationships between a plurality of classes within the framework mechanism, wherein the implementation of the at least one core function is defined by the framework mechanism and cannot be modified by a consumer of the framework mechanism and cannot be modified by a consumer of the framework mechanism;
at least one extensible function defined by at least one extensible class, wherein the implementation of the at least one extensible function is defined by the consumer of the framework mechanism by extending the at least one extensible class;
at least one content page that is displayed to a user that is an extensible class of the framework mechanism; and
a cover page that is displayed to a user that includes at least one link to at least one content page, the cover page comprising an extensible class of the framework mechanism.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An object oriented framework mechanism provides a straightforward and convenient way to implement an electronic catalog by providing an infrastructure that embodies the steps necessary for a framework consumer to define an electronic catalog by extending the framework to fit a particular electronic catalog environment. The electronic catalog framework includes core classes and extensible classes that allow a framework consumer to implement a desired electronic catalog. The core classes and class relationships define the core function of the framework mechanism. Extensible classes include a catalog class, a content page class, a table of contents page class, an index page class, a content list page class, a cover class, and a jacket class. These extensible classes are extended by a framework consumer to implement a desired electronic catalog environment. The framework provides consistent programmer interfaces over a wide variety of different electronic catalogs, which greatly enhances programmer efficiency and which makes the resultant code much easier to maintain.
143 Citations
64 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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at least one processor; a memory coupled to the at least one processor; an object-oriented framework mechanism residing in the memory and executed by the at least one processor that provides at least one electronic catalog environment for generating at least one electronic catalog that is displayed to a user, wherein the electronic catalog environment comprises; at least one core function defined by at least one core class and by the relationships between a plurality of classes within the framework mechanism, wherein the implementation of the at least one core function is defined by the framework mechanism and cannot be modified by a consumer of the framework mechanism and cannot be modified by a consumer of the framework mechanism; at least one extensible function defined by at least one extensible class, wherein the implementation of the at least one extensible function is defined by the consumer of the framework mechanism by extending the at least one extensible class; at least one content page that is displayed to a user that is an extensible class of the framework mechanism; and a cover page that is displayed to a user that includes at least one link to at least one content page, the cover page comprising an extensible class of the framework mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method for providing an electronic catalog containing a plurality of pages, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing an extensible object oriented framework mechanism that defines the electronic catalog according to extended portions of the framework mechanism that are customized to provide a desired electronic catalog environment; extending the framework mechanism to define the desired electronic catalog environment, the step of extending the framework mechanism including the steps of; generating at least one content page that is displayed to a user; generating a cover page that is displayed to a user that includes at least one link to at least one content page; and executing the extended object oriented framework mechanism on an apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A program product comprising:
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an object-oriented framework mechanism for providing an electronic catalog containing a plurality of pages, the framework mechanism including an extensible electronic catalog mechanism that is defined by extended portions of the framework mechanism, the framework mechanism comprising; a catalog object corresponding to the electronic catalog mechanism; and a first set of object methods on the catalog object to perform a plurality of predetermined functions to display an electronic catalog to a user; and signal bearing media bearing the framework mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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41. A program product comprising:
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(A) an object oriented framework mechanism for processing a plurality of orders, the framework mechanism including;
a configuration process object corresponding to the at least one electronic catalog environment, the configuration process object including a first set of object methods on the configuration process object to perform a plurality of predetermined functions to implement the electronic catalog environment;
an order item object, the order item object including a second set of object methods to create at least one of the order items;
an order object, the order object corresponding to at least one of the plurality of orders, each order object including a plurality of the order items and including a third set of object methods to retrieve at least one of the order items from at least one of the order objects;
an order input object including a fourth set of object methods for reading at least one of the orders;
an order output object including a fifth set of object methods for outputting information regarding one of the orders after processing;
an exploder object including a sixth set of object methods for exploding at least one of the plurality of order items;
a validator object including a seventh set of object methods for validating each of the plurality of order entries;
a link generator object including an eighth set of object methods for generating relationship links between selected order items; and
a test data object including a ninth set of object methods for generating test data for each of the plurality of orders;
wherein the object oriented framework mechanism processes at least one of the plurality of orders according to extended portions of the framework mechanism that are customized to provide the desired electronic catalog environment; and(B) signal bearing media bearing the object oriented framework mechanism.
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52. An apparatus comprising:
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at least one processor; a memory coupled to the at least one processor; an object oriented framework mechanism residing in the memory, the framework mechanism comprising; at least one catalog object corresponding to the at least one electronic catalog environment, the catalog object containing a plurality of pages; a first set of object methods to perform a plurality of predetermined functions to implement the at least one electronic catalog environment; at least one customer object corresponding to a purchaser; a second set of object methods to create and modify a list of products to purchase; at least one product object corresponding to at least one of a plurality of products; a third set of object methods to locate and display the plurality of products; at least one order object corresponding to an order for at least one product; a fourth set of object methods to create and modify a list of products corresponding to the order; at least one content page object corresponding to at least one of a plurality of content pages; a fifth set of object methods to create and move among the plurality of content pages; at least one table of contents page object corresponding to at least one of a plurality of table of contents pages; a sixth set of object methods to create and move among the plurality of table of contents pages; at least one index page object corresponding to at least one of a plurality of index pages; a seventh set of object methods to create and move among the plurality of index pages; at least one content list page object; an eighth set of object methods to create and move among a plurality of content list pages; at least one cover object; a ninth set of object methods to display information in the cover object to a user of the apparatus; at least one jacket object; and a tenth set of object methods to display information in the jacket object to a user of the apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (53)
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54. A method for providing an electronic catalog environment defined by an object oriented framework mechanism, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing at least one catalog object corresponding to the at least one electronic catalog environment, the catalog object containing a plurality of pages; providing a first set of object methods to perform a plurality of predetermined functions to implement the at least one electronic catalog environment; providing at least one customer object corresponding to a purchaser; providing a second set of object methods to create and modify a list of products to purchase; providing at least one product object corresponding to at least one of a plurality of products; providing a third set of object methods to locate and display the plurality of products; providing at least one order object corresponding to an order for at least one product; providing a fourth set of object methods to create and modify a list of products corresponding to the order; providing at least one content page object corresponding to at least one of a plurality of content pages; providing a fifth set of object methods to create and move among the plurality of content pages; providing at least one table of contents page object corresponding to at least one of a plurality of table of contents pages; providing a sixth set of object methods to create and move among the plurality of table of contents pages; providing at least one index page object corresponding to at least one of a plurality of index pages; providing a seventh set of object methods to create and move among the plurality of index pages; providing at least one content list page object; providing an eighth set of object methods to create and move among a plurality of content list pages; providing at least one cover object; providing a ninth set of object methods to display information in the cover object to a user of the apparatus; providing at least one jacket object; providing a tenth set of object methods to display information in the jacket object to a user of the apparatus; and executing the objects and object methods on an apparatus to allow the user to view at least one of the plurality of pages. - View Dependent Claims (55)
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56. A program product comprising:
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(A) an object oriented framework mechanism for providing an electronic catalog environment including at least one catalog object containing a plurality of pages, and a first set of object methods to perform a plurality of predetermined functions to implement the at least one electronic catalog environment;
at least one customer object corresponding to a purchaser and a second set of object methods to create and modify a list of products to purchase;
at least one product object corresponding to at least one of a plurality of products and a third set of object methods to locate and display the plurality of products;
at least one order object corresponding to an order for at least one product and a fourth set of object methods to create and modify a list of products corresponding to the order;
at least one content page object corresponding to at least one of a plurality of content pages, and a fifth set of object methods to create and move among the plurality of content pages;
at least one table of contents page object corresponding to at least one of a plurality of table of contents pages, and a sixth set of object methods to create and move among the plurality of table of contents pages;
at least one index page object corresponding to at least one of a plurality of index pages, and a seventh set of object methods to create and move among the plurality of index pages;
at least one content list page object, and an eighth set of object methods to create and move among a plurality of content list pages;
at least one cover object, and a ninth set of object methods to display information in the cover object to a user;
at least one jacket object, and a tenth set of object methods to display information in the jacket object to a user;
wherein the object oriented framework mechanism defines at least one electronic catalog according to extended portions of the framework mechanism that are customized to provide the desired electronic catalog environment; and(B) signal bearing media bearing the object oriented framework mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58, 59)
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60. A method for providing an electronic catalog using an apparatus having a central processing unit and a memory, the memory having an application program that provides an object oriented programming environment, the method comprising the steps of:
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(A) providing in the program an object oriented framework mechanism that defines the electronic catalog according to extended portions of the framework mechanism that are customized to provide a desired electronic catalog environment, the framework mechanism including; a set of core functions wherein the implementation of the core functions is defined by the framework mechanism and cannot be modified by a consumer of the framework mechanism and cannot be modified by a user of the framework mechanism; and a set of extensible functions wherein the implementation of the extensible functions is defined by the consumer of the framework mechanism; (B) extending the extensible functions in the framework mechanism to define particular classes having predetermined protocols and defining particular object methods that define the electronic catalog, the extensible functions defining the desired electronic catalog environment; (C) generating an executable electronic catalog by integrating together the extensible functions and the core functions; and (D) executing the executable electronic catalog on the apparatus to define the electronic catalog environment. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64)
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Specification