Importance

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Abstract

An electronic catalogue is implemented on a server computer by a software component which functions as a catalogue system and an associated database. The catalogue contains details on a set of individual products. The database contains a set of tables, which contain data items relating to the products. A set of first, second and third order templates are also stored in the database. Each second order template is subordinate to an associated first order template and each third order template is subordinate to an associated second order template. The electronic catalogue can be accessed via the public Internet from a client computer. When the user of the client computer wishes to retrieve information on a particular product, the client computer transmits a request to the server computer. The server computer uses the request to retrieve a first order template 150. The catalogue system then uses control information contained in the first order template 150 together with a request received from the client computer to search the tables in its database for data items relating to the selected product. Control information in the tables searched also specify a set of second order templates 152, 154, 156, 158 and 160, and a set of third order template 162, 164, 166, 168 and 170. These templates are retrieved by the catalogue system from the database. It then uses the retrieved data items together with the retrieved templates to create an information page containing data on the selected product. In this information page, the first order template 150 defines the overall format of the page, the second order template defines the format of respective parts of the page and each of the third order template defines the format of a portion of a part of the page covered by an associated second order template 160.

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First Claim