Customizable remote order entry system and method

• US 7,127,677 B2
• Filed: 01/23/2001
• Issued: 10/24/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Majandro LLC (IP Edge LLC)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Chou, Chien-Sheng
• Primary Examiner(s): Kincaid, Kristine
• Assistant Examiner(s): PESIN, BORIS M
• Application Number:
  US09/768,148
• Publication Number:
  US 20020099796A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,100 Days
• Field of Search: 395/854, 395/855, 395/765, 395/826, 395/866, 709/203, 709/228, 707/10, 705/26, 705/37, 715/741, 715/742, 715/743, 715/744
• US Class Current: 715/741
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A system for generating a requisition comprises a client computer system and a server computer system connected via a network. The client computer is configured to allow a plurality of users to access the server computer system. The system further includes a server application comprising a user interface running on the server computer system and having a multi-tier architecture. The multi-tier architecture includes a first tier of client application code for initiating processing by the server application in response to input by a user of the client computer system, a middle tier of object-oriented server application code, and a third tier of shared access and data code. An application programming interface is configured to allow a user, such as a system administrator or the like, to customize the user interface. In a further aspect, a method of customizing a server application is also provided.

Claims

1. A customizable system for generating a requisition for user selectable print on demand items comprising:

a client computer system connected to a network, the client computer configured to run web browser software;

a server computer system connected to the network, the server computer configured to run web server software, the network interconnecting the client computer system and the server computer system, the client computer configured to allow a plurality of users to access the server computer system, and the server computer system comprising;

a requestor database for associating individual users or shared account users with one or more work sites;

a working site database for associating user attributes with one or more specific work sites;

a validation rule database for associating items of inventory with one or more specific work sites;

an inventory database for associating data describing print on demand items of inventory and the respective availability of the items of inventory;

a requisition cart database for associating print on demand items a user has selected for potential requisitioning; and

a requisition database for tracking previously generated requisitions;

the server computer system configured to;

associate one or more of a plurality of web page work sites with each of said users, each web page worksite accessible to a specific group of users having common attributes required for requisitioning user selectable print on demand items, the print on demand items tailored to the common attributes;

associate the print on demand items with one or more of a plurality of work sites using client configurable validation rules associated with the items;

identify associated Print on demand items which may be requisitioned by a user associated with the one or more associated work sites, and identify associated print on demand items which may not be requisitioned by a user associated with the one or more associated work sites;

receive and process a request for one or more user selected print on demand items;

verify that each user requested print on demand item is an item associated with the user'"'"'s one or more associated work sites; and

generate a requisition for the verified user requested print on demand items;

a server application comprising a user interface running on the server computer system, the server application having a multi-tier architecture comprising a first tier of client application code for initiating processing by the server application in response to input by a user of the client computer system, a middle tier of object-oriented server application code, and a third tier of shared access and data code; and

an application programming interface configured to allow customization of the user interface,

wherein the customizable system is configured to allow a first user to access a first web work site including print on demand items tailored to the first user'"'"'s attributes, and a second user to access a second web work site including print on demand items tailored to the second user'"'"'s attributes.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface comprises one or more interface elements defined using HTML, the interface elements selected from one or more of input elements, form elements, and text elements.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the requester database comprises data associating one or more of an user identifier, a password, and personal information for the plurality of users.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the requester database contains at least one shared user entry, the shared user entry associated with a single work site.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said inventory database comprises one or more of a item identifying indicia, an item description, and an image representation of each item.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a validation rules datastore associating each of said selectable items with one or more of a plurality of work sites with which a user must be associated to verify the item for a requisition.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the validation rules are customizable via said application programming interface.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the validation rules datastore is further configured to associate two or more of said selectable items with a single item identifier.

9. The system of claim 3, further comprising a database storing a list of items preselected by the user to be used at a later time to create a requisition.

10. The system of claim 3, further comprising a requisition database containing information about previously generated requisitions.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the common attribute is the geographical location of the user.

12. A method for generating a requisition for user selectable print on demand items comprising:

connecting a client computer system to a network, the client computer configured to run web browser software;

connecting a server computer system to the network, the server computer configured to run web server software, the network interconnecting the client computer system and the server computer system, the client computer configured to allow a plurality of users to access the server computer system, and the server computer system comprising;

a requestor database for associating individual users or shared account users with one or more work sites;

a working site database for associating user attributes with one or more specific work sites;

a validation rule database for associating items of inventory with one or more specific work sites;

an inventory database for associating data describing print on demand items of inventory and the respective availability of the items of inventory;

a requisition cart database for associating print on demand items a user has selected for potential requisitioning; and

a requisition database for tracking previously generated requisitions;

configuring the server computer system to perform the method comprising;

associating one or more of a plurality of web page work sites with each of said users, each web page worksite accessible to a specific group of users having common attributes required for requisitioning user selectable print on demand items, the print on demand items tailored to the common attributes;

associating the print on demand items with one or more of a plurality of work sites using client configurable validation rules associated with the items;

identifying associated print on demand items which may be requisitioned by a user associated with the one or more associated work sites, and identify associated print on demand items which may not be requisitioned by a user associated with the one or more associated work sites;

receiving and processing a request for one or more user selected print on demand items;

verifying that each user requested print on demand item is an item associated with the user'"'"'s one or more associated work sites; and

generating a requisition for the verified user requested print on demand items;

configuring a server application to run a user interface on the server computer system, the server application having a multi-tier architecture comprising a first tier of client application code for initiating processing by the server application in response to input by a user of the client computer system, a middle tier of object-oriented server application code, and a third tier of shared access and data code;

configuring an application programming interface to allow customization of the user interface, and

configuring the server computer system to allow a first user to access a first web work site including print on demand items tailored to the first user'"'"'s attributes, and a second user to access a second web work site including print on demand items tailored to the second user'"'"'s attributes.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the user interface comprises one or more interface elements defined using HTML, the interface elements selected from one or more of input elements, form elements, and text elements.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the client computer system and the server computer system communicate via the Internet.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising identifying the user and retrieving information previously stored for the user.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising providing at least one shared user account for use by multiple users, the shared user account associated with a single work site.

17. The method of claim 12, further comprising providing at least one managerial account associated with a single work site and allowing a user to generate a requisition for any other user associated with said single work site.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of assigning a work site to a user is performed by retrieving previously stored information associating each user with at least one of a plurality of work sites.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising displaying previously stored information about selectable items.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the previously stored information comprises one or more of a item identifying indicia, an item description, and an image representation.

21. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of displaying a previously stored a list of items preselected by the user to be used at a later time to generate a requisition.

22. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of displaying previously stored information about previously generated requisitions.