Importance

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Abstract

Access to a database is provided via the Internet using a World Wide Web server including a search engine, a CGI gateway and user selectable data queries for extracting data, generating reports, and the like. Access by the user is authenticated by querying the user's central machine for authentication. The authentication process operates by sending a page request from the web browser through three checkpoints before the requested page can be served to the web browser. The first checkpoint determines if the requested page is protected. If not, the requested page is served to the web browser. However, if the requested page is protected, the authentication process on the web server checks the host name of the system where the page request is coming from. If the domain of the requesting host is the same domain specified in the web authentication configuration, then the requested page is served to the web browser. However, if the page request is determined to come from outside of the domain of the web server, then the authentication process checks a 'cookie' from the web browser to determine if the requesting user has been authenticated as an authorized user earlier in the same session. If the cookie has been 'set' during the login procedure, then the requested page is served to the web browser. Otherwise, the user is prompted with a login page. After the user ends the web browser session, the cookie is cleared. Data Query software at the web server permits queries initiated via a web browser to be completed off-line and the results e-mailed to the initiator of the request.

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First Claim