Object oriented customer information exchange system and method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An information exchange system comprising:
- an application generator implemented on a computer to create an application for execution on said computer, to implement a select interaction of a plurality of devices, said application generator providing an object oriented user interface in which each of said plurality of devices is graphically represented on a display as an instance of an object, and positioning said instances adjacently to each other on said display implements said predetermined interaction; and
an object oriented work flow executive implemented on said computer for installing and executing said application on said computer to direct the operation of said plurality of devices responsive to said application, wherein said information exchange system further comprises a grid of cells, each cell adapted to carry a single step object and to enable linkage between said single step object and at least a single adjacent step object, said application comprises a first plurality of step objects sequentially ordered in time in successive cells and a second plurality of step objects each providing an alternative next step for a selected one of said first plurality of step objects; and
wherein said user interface positions said first plurality of step objects along a first axis of successive cells and at least one of said second plurality of step objects in placed in a cell offset from said first axis.
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Abstract
A computer-based information exchange system permits customers to request and receive different types of information from various sources. The operation of the system is controlled by an application created using object oriented techniques. These techniques permit simple and straightforward creation and modification of complex automation tasks involving numerous action-object pairs.
207 Citations
11 Claims
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1. An information exchange system comprising:
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an application generator implemented on a computer to create an application for execution on said computer, to implement a select interaction of a plurality of devices, said application generator providing an object oriented user interface in which each of said plurality of devices is graphically represented on a display as an instance of an object, and positioning said instances adjacently to each other on said display implements said predetermined interaction; and an object oriented work flow executive implemented on said computer for installing and executing said application on said computer to direct the operation of said plurality of devices responsive to said application, wherein said information exchange system further comprises a grid of cells, each cell adapted to carry a single step object and to enable linkage between said single step object and at least a single adjacent step object, said application comprises a first plurality of step objects sequentially ordered in time in successive cells and a second plurality of step objects each providing an alternative next step for a selected one of said first plurality of step objects; and
wherein said user interface positions said first plurality of step objects along a first axis of successive cells and at least one of said second plurality of step objects in placed in a cell offset from said first axis. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of organizing and manipulating a plurality of temporally and conditionally related, selectable objects, with an application generator and an object oriented work flow executive, the application generator implemented on a computer to create a selected application and provide an object oriented user interface including a grid of cells in which a plurality of selected devices are graphically represented on a display as object instances, each cell adapted to carry a single step object and to enable linkage between said single step object and at least a single adjacent step object, comprising the steps of:
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placing a first subset of said plurality of selectable objects in temporal order along successive cells a long a first axis; placing a second subset of said plurality of said selectable objects in selected cells along a second axis; and installing and executing the application on the computer to direct the operation of said plurality of devices responsive to said application. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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Specification