Cool ice automatic footer text on HTML pages

• US 6,662,343 B1
• Filed: 11/09/1998
• Issued: 12/09/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Unisys Corporation
• Original Assignee: Unisys Corporation
• Inventors: Gebauer, Niels
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild, Joseph H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): DESAI, RACHNA SINGH
• Application Number:
  US09/189,383
• Time in Patent Office: 1,856 Days
• Field of Search: 707/517, 707/1, 707/513, 715/513, 715/517
• US Class Current: 715/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing

Abstract

An apparatus for and method of utilizing an internet terminal coupled to the world wide web to access an existing proprietary data base management system having a dialog-based request format. The user request is received by a web server from the world wide web and converted into one or more sequenced data base management commands. These data base management commands are sequentially presented to the data base management system and the intermediate products stored. After all of the sequenced data base management commands have been executed, the web server combines the intermediate products to form a complete response to the initial user request. The response is transferred to the user over the world wide web as an HTML display page. The server automatically adds a footer text to the response if enabled by the system settings. The footer text may be created and modified from the internet terminal.

Claims

1. In a data processing environment having a user terminal coupled to a publicly accessible digital communications network with transmitted and received communication via HTML display pages and having a state machine including an enterprise-based legacy data base management system including an internal format which does not receive input or produce output as HTML pages and which operates in response to a sequence of command script statements wherein an individual command language script statement is interpreted in light of a previous command language script statement, the improvement comprising:

a. interface middleware software located intermediate said user terminal and said enterprise-based legacy data base management system which converts transmitted HTML pages from said user terminal to said internal format of said sequence of command script statements and converts output from said enterprise-based legacy data base management system into HTML pages; and

b. server responsively coupled to said user terminal via said publicly accessible digital communications network and responsively coupled to said interface middleware software wherein said server includes an administration module for automatically adding an optional footer to said received HTML display pages which indicates that said received HTML display pages are the output of said state machine.

2. The improvement according to claim 1 wherein said server includes a repository for storing options concerning said optional footer.

3. The improvement according to claim 2 wherein said publicly accessible digital communications network is the world wide web.

4. The improvement according to claim 3 wherein said options concerning said optional footer includes a systems setting module for modifying the text of said optional footer.

5. The improvement according to claim 4 wherein said data base management system is Classic MAPPER.

6. An apparatus comprising:

a. a user terminal;

b. a publicly accessible digital communications network communicating with said user terminal via an HTML display page;

c. middleware responsively coupled to said user terminal via said publicly accessible digital communications network which converts said HTML display pages received from said user terminal into a format incompatible with HTML including a sequence of command language script statements and responses in said format incompatible with HTML into HTML display pages;

d. a state oriented data base management system wherein an individual one of said sequence of command language script statements is interpreted in light of a previous command language script statement, and employing said format incompatible with HTML responsively coupled to said middleware; and

e. an administration module responsively coupled to said publicly accessible digital communications network and said middleware which automatically adds an optional footer to said HTML display page indicating that said HTML display page was produced by said state oriented data base management system.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said administration module has storage for options concerning said optional footer.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising a repository for storing at least one version of text for said optional footer.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said publicly accessible digital communications network is the world wide web.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said user terminal is an industry compatible personal computer having a commercially available web browser.

11. A method of communicating between a user terminal utilizing HTML display pages and a state machine data base management system employing a legacy format incompatible with HTML pages which executes an ordered sequence of dialog-based requests wherein an individual one of said sequence of dialog-based requests is interpreted in light of a previous one of said sequence of dialog-based requests, comprising:

a. transmitting an HTML display page from said user terminal;

b. converting said HTML display page into said ordered sequence of dialog-based requests;

c. executing said sequence of dialog-based requests within said data base management system to produce a result;

d. formatting said result as a second HTML display page;

e. automatically inserting an optional footer in said second HTML display page indicative of a process which is really the output of a state machine data base management system; and

f. transferring said second HTML display page to said user terminal.

12. A method according to claim 11 further comprising storing modifiable text for said optional footer.

13. A method according to claim 12 wherein said automatically inserting step may be optionally disabled.

14. A method according to claim 13 wherein said transmitting step further comprises transmitting over the world wide web.

15. A method according to claim 14 wherein said data base management system further comprises Classic MAPPER data base management system.

16. An apparatus comprising:

a. means for permitting a user to transmit an HTML display page;

b. means responsively coupled to said permitting means for providing said user with access to a publicly accessible digital communication network for transmitting said HTML display page;

c. means responsively coupled to said permitting means for converting said HTML display page into a format incompatible with HTML including a sequence of command language script statements and converting a result in said format incompatible with HTML into a second HTML display page;

d. means responsively coupled to said converting means for offering data processing services in response to said HTML display page converted to said format incompatible with HTML to produce said result in said incompatible legacy format;

e. means responsively coupled to said converting means and said permitting means for transferring said second HTML display page containing said result of said response of said offering means; and

f. means responsively coupled to said converting means for automatically attaching an optional footer to said second HTML display page.

17. An apparatus according to claim 16 wherein said publicly accessible digital communication network further comprises the world wide web.

18. An apparatus according to claim 17 wherein said automatically attaching means further comprises means for storing text for said optional footer.

19. An apparatus according to claim 18 wherein said offering means further comprises Classic MAPPER data base management system.

20. An apparatus according to claim 19 wherein said permitting means further comprises an industry standard personal computer.

21. An apparatus comprising:

a. a user terminal including an industry compatible personal computer which issues a service request;

b. a commercially available Internet browser operably located within said user terminal which converts said service request into an HTML page;

c. an Internet access responsively coupled to said user terminal via said commercially available Internet browser;

d. a state-based enterprise server responsively coupled to said user terminal via said Internet;

e. a dialog based legacy data base management system hosted on said enterprise server accessible by a series of command language script statements wherein one of said series of command language script is interpreted in light of the previous command language script statements which produces a service request result;

f. a gateway hosted on said enterprise server which converts said service request from said HTML page into said series of command language script statements and which converts said service request result into a resultant HTML page; and

g. an administration module hosted on said enterprise server which automatically and optionally modifies said resultant HTML page to include a footer.

22. An apparatus according to claim 21 further comprising a repository hosted on said enterprise server which stores an indication of whether said administration module should automatically modify said resultant HTML page to include said footer.

23. An apparatus according to claim 22 further comprising a system settings window wherein said indication of whether said administration module should automatically modify said resultant HTML page to include said footer may be set.

24. An apparatus according to claim 23 wherein said footer further comprises an indication that said service request resultant was produced by said dialog based legacy data base management system.

25. An apparatus according to claim 24 wherein said footer may be further modified by said system settings window.

26. A method comprising:

a. generating a service request at a user terminal including an industry standard personal computer;

b. converting said service request into an HTML page via a commercially available browser;

c. transmitting said HTML page via the Internet;

d. receiving said HTML page by a state-based enterprise server;

e. converting said HTML page into a series of command language script statements using a gateway;

f. temporarily storing said series of command language script statements in a repository;

g. executing said series of command language script statements with a dialog based legacy data base management system wherein a given one of said series of command language script statements is interpreted in light of a previous one of said series of command language statements;

h. producing a service request resultant by said dialog based legacy data base management system as a consequence of said executing step;

i. converting said service request resultant into a resultant HTML page within said gateway;

j. automatically and optionally adding a footer to said resultant HTML page; and

k. transferring said resultant HTML page to said user terminal via said Internet.

27. A method according to claim 26 further comprising:

l. indicating whether to automatically and optionally add said footer via an administration module system settings page.

28. A method according to claim 27 further comprising:

m. storing said administration module system settings within a respository hosted by enterprise server.

29. A method according to claim 28 further comprising:

n. modifuing the content of said footer via said administration module system settings page.

30. A method according to claim 29 further comprising:

o. indication that said service request resultant was production by said dialog based legacy data base management system within said footer.