METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING A DYNAMIC DOCUMENT

• US 20100088590A1
• Filed: 10/07/2008
• Published: 04/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bigmachines Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Bigmachines Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Bajohr, Colleen Y., Handorf, Timothy, Gupta, Prashant
• Granted Patent: US 8,578,265 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/235
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/154 Tree transformation for tree-structured or markup documents, e.g. XSLT, XSL-FO or stylesheets
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting

Abstract

A dynamic document generator system and method provides a web- based visual editor which includes a drag-and-drop mechanism structured to facilitate generation of a markup language version of a dynamic document including data indicative of a dynamic field. The markup language version of the dynamic document is then converted to a stylesheet version of the dynamic document. The stylesheet version of the dynamic document is deployed via a wide area network, wherein a plurality of different users are able to execute the deployed stylesheet version of the dynamic document. When one user executes the dynamic document, the dynamic field takes on one value. When another user executes the dynamic document, the dynamic filed takes on another value.

Claims

1. A method of generating a dynamic document, the method comprising:

providing a web-based visual editor structured to facilitate generation of a markup language version of the dynamic document, the markup language version of the dynamic document including first data indicative of a dynamic field;

converting the markup language version of the dynamic document to a stylesheet version of the dynamic document, the stylesheet version of the dynamic document including second data indicative of the dynamic field; and

deploying the stylesheet version of the dynamic document via a network, wherein when the stylesheet version of the dynamic document is executed by a first user, a first instance of the dynamic document is generated using data associated with the first user, and when the stylesheet version of the dynamic document is executed by a second different user, a second different instance of the dynamic document is generated using data associated with the second user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the web-based visual editor includes a drag-and-drop mechanism.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the generation of the markup language version of the dynamic document includes:

inserting the dynamic field into the dynamic document through a drag-and-drop mechanism;

inserting an image through the drag-and-drop mechanism;

inserting an XSL snippet through the drag-and-drop mechanism; and

formatting properties of the dynamic document, the properties including color and font size.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a designer terminal provides the web-based visual editor.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the markup language version of the dynamic document includes at least one of an HTML file, an XHTML file, an XML file, and a WML file.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamic field is associated with an XML schema element.

7. The method of claim 1, including displaying a plurality of dynamic fields.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein a user is enabled to drag the dynamic field into the dynamic document through a drag-and-drop mechanism.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the stylesheet version of the dynamic document includes an XSL stylesheet.

10. The method of claim 1, including enabling the first user to enter data after deploying the stylesheet version of the dynamic document.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the data associated with the first user includes data entered by the first user.

12. The method of claim 1, including enabling the first user to create a logical expression using the web-based visual editor.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the logical expression includes a repeating loop.

14. A dynamic document generator system, the system comprising:

a display device;

a processor operatively coupled to the display device;

a memory device storing a plurality of instructions, which when the plurality of instructions are executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

(a) provide a web-based visual editor structured to facilitate generation of a markup language version of the dynamic document, the markup language version of the dynamic document including first data indicative of a dynamic field;

(b) convert the markup language version of the dynamic document to a stylesheet version of the dynamic document, the stylesheet version of the dynamic document including second data indicative of the dynamic field; and

(c) deploy the stylesheet version of the dynamic document via a network, wherein when the stylesheet version of the dynamic document is executed by a first user, a first instance of the dynamic document is generated using data associated with the first user, and when the stylesheet version of the dynamic document is executed by a second different user, a second different instance of the dynamic document is generated using data associated with the second user.

15. The dynamic document generator system of claim 14, wherein the web-based visual editor includes a drag-and-drop mechanism.

16. A dynamic document generator system of claim 14, wherein when executed by the at least one processor, the plurality of instructions cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one input device to:

insert the dynamic field into the dynamic document through a drag-and-drop mechanism;

insert an image through the drag-and-drop mechanism;

insert an XSL snippet through the drag-and-drop mechanism; and

format properties of the dynamic document, the properties including color and font size.

17. The dynamic document generator system of claim 14, wherein the markup language version of the dynamic document includes at least one of an HTML file, an XHTML file, an XML file, and a WML file.

18. The dynamic document generator system of claim 14, wherein the dynamic field is associated with an XML schema element.

19. The dynamic document generator system of claim 14, including displaying a plurality of dynamic fields.

20. The dynamic document generator system of claim 19, wherein a user is enabled to drag the dynamic field into the dynamic document through a drag-and-drop mechanism.

21. The dynamic document generator system of claim 14, wherein the stylesheet version of the dynamic document includes an XSL stylesheet.

22. The dynamic document generator system of claim 14, wherein when executed by the at least one processor, the plurality of instructions cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one input device to enable the first user to enter data after the stylesheet version of the dynamic document is deployed.

23. The dynamic document generator system of claim 14, wherein the data associated with the first user includes data entered by the user.

24. The dynamic document generator system of claim 14, wherein when executed by the at least one processor, the plurality of instructions cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one input device to enable the first user to create a logical expression.

25. The dynamic document generator system of claim 24, wherein the logical expression includes a repeating loop.

26. A machine readable media storing instructions structured to cause an apparatus to:

provide a web-based visual editor structured to facilitate generation of a markup language version of the dynamic document, the markup language version of the dynamic document including first data indicative of a dynamic field;

convert the markup language version of the dynamic document to a stylesheet version of the dynamic document, the stylesheet version of the dynamic document including second data indicative of the dynamic field; and

deploy the stylesheet version of the dynamic document via a network, wherein when the stylesheet version of the dynamic document is executed by a first user, the dynamic field is associated with a first instance of field data, and when the stylesheet version of the dynamic document is executed by a second different user, the dynamic field is associated with a second different instance of field data.

27. The dynamic document generator system of claim 26, wherein the web-based visual editor includes a drag-and-drop mechanism.

28. The machine readable media of claim 26, wherein the instructions are further structured to cause an apparatus to:

insert the dynamic field into the dynamic document through a drag-and-drop mechanism;

insert an image through the drag-and-drop mechanism;

insert an XSL snippet through the drag-and-drop mechanism; and

format properties of the dynamic document, the properties including color and font size.

29. The machine readable media of claim 26, wherein the markup language version of the dynamic document includes at least one of an HTML file, an XHTML file, an XML file, and a WML file.

30. The machine readable media of claim 26, wherein the dynamic field is associated with an XML schema element.

31. The machine readable media of claim 26, wherein the instructions are further structured to cause an apparatus to display a plurality of dynamic fields.

32. The machine readable media of claim 31, wherein the instructions are further structured to cause an apparatus to enable a user to drag the dynamic field into the dynamic document through a drag-and-drop mechanism.

33. The machine readable media of claim 26, wherein the stylesheet version of the dynamic document includes an XSL stylesheet.

34. The machine readable media of claim 26, wherein the instructions are further structured to cause an apparatus to enable the first user to enter data after deploying the stylesheet version of the dynamic document.

35. The machine readable media of claim 26, wherein the data associated with the first user includes data entered by the first user.

36. The machine readable media of claim 26, wherein the instructions are further structured to cause an apparatus to enable the first user to create a logical expression using the web-based visual editor.

37. The machine readable media of claim 36, wherein the logical expression includes a repeating loop.