Creating, translating and publishing large information plans to a network

• US 6,574,634 B2
• Filed: 03/08/2001
• Issued: 06/03/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Infor Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Enwisen, Inc. (KOCH Industries Incorporated)
• Inventors: Woehl, Roger
• Primary Examiner(s): Coby, Frantz
• Application Number:
  US09/801,940
• Publication Number:
  US 20020129034A1
• Time in Patent Office: 817 Days
• Field of Search: 707/102, 707/104.1, 707/1, 707/513, 709/217, 709/218, 709/219, 705/4
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

The invention is a data structure published to an access viewer network such as the Internet or a wide area network. The deployment and publication of the data structure results in topic pages containing content items displayed for the access user. Means accomplish subscription and changes to the published data structure with minimal re-publication or re-deployment changes, thereby minimizing uploading time.

Claims

1. A method for publishing plan information to an access user viewing network comprising:

(a) a database structure of content items, each content item having a first relational link to one or more first topics;

(b) one or more content items having one or more second relational links, where each second relational link is with a topic link;

(c) each topic link is in a third relational link with a second topic different than first topics; and

(d) operating a deployment algorithm to translate the database structure into a format for publishing to the network and storing the translated database structure, such that upon access of the network by an access user, one or more topics of the database structure each result in, as viewable by an access user;

(i) one or more topic pages of information comprising those content items linked to each topic by the first relational links;

(ii) one or more navigational links on one or more topic pages that on activation change the access viewer'"'"'s view to another topic page representing another topic than the one being viewed, where such navigational links are the result of publication of the topic links.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the publishing format is HTML.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the database structure format is XML.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the access user viewing network is the Internet, a wide area network or a local area network.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein one or more topics in the database structure have one or more fourth relational links respectively with one or more modules, whereby publication by the deployment algorithm as in step (d) results in, as viewable by the access user, each module displaying a module page having navigational links that on activation change the access user'"'"'s view to a topic page representing a relationally linked topic.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein one or more content items in the database structure have a fifth relational link with one or more module links, each module link has a sixth relational link to a module, and publication by the deployment algorithm as in step (d) results in, as viewable by the access user, each topic page whose content items are relationally linked to a module by a module link showing one or more navigational links that on activation change the access user'"'"'s view to a module page representing a relationally linked module.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein each of one or more plans are in a seventh relational link with a module and in an eighth relational link with one or more content items.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein each plan is adapted to, at the publication step (d) to select one or more content items for viewing by an access user, whereby only the selected content items are viewable by an access user.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein one or more company functions are respectively in one or more ninth relational links with content items.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein each company function is in a tenth relational link with a hook function, and each hook function is in an eleventh relational link with one or more plans.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein a subscription mode is achieved by operation of a company function for a customer to select one or more plans by integration with the hook function, thereby resulting in viewing by access users of only the plans and content items selected by the customer.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein subscription mode selection comprises the customer viewing, as an access user to the network, a display of one or more plan subscription links as activatable aspects of the display whereby activation of a plan subscription link by a customer results in subscription to the plan associated with the plan subscription link and a customer'"'"'s personnel are thereafter capable of viewing the publication results of step (d) for only the subscribed plans.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the customer subscribes to one or more plans and thereafter is permitted to remove fewer than all the content items or to add content items to any one subscribed plan.

14. The method of claim 7 wherein each plan is adapted to select all content items for publication such that topic pages as viewed by the access viewer cumulatively comprise all the content items selected by the plan.

15. A method for minimizing uploading time to an access user viewing network comprising:

(a) a database structure of content items, each content item having a first relational link to one or more first topics;

(b) one or more content items having one or more second relational links, where each second relational link is with a topic link;

(c) each topic link is in a third relational link with a second topic different than first topics; and

(d) operating a deployment algorithm to translate the database structure into a format for publishing to the network, such that upon each access action of the network by an access user, one or more topics of the database structure each result in, as viewable by an access user;

(i) one or more topic pages of information comprising those content items linked to each topic by the first relational links;

(ii) one or more navigational links on one or more topic pages that on activation change the access viewer'"'"'s view to another topic page representing another topic than the one being viewed, where such navigational links are the result of publication of the topic links.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the publishing format is HTML.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the database publishing format is XML.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the access viewer network is the Internet, a wide area network or a local area network.