International Business Machines Corporation

Other

Arthur Reginald Greef

Steffen Michael Fohn

Thomas R Maguire

Frank Vincent Castellucci

Robert Anthony Weida

John F Schumacher

Gary Lee Carter

Gregory Christopher Hansen

Dawn Marie Lemrise

Carlos Bernadino Perez

Ajit Singh

Frank Vincent Castelucci

Donald Carl Willenborg

Sharon Renee Consentino

Martin F Maldonado

John F Shumacher

Darko Hrelic

This Object-Oriented programming system migrates persistent objects when their class declarations are modified. The objects and their class descriptions are persistently stored and the persistent versions of an objects' superclass descriptions are compared to later versions of the objects' superclass descriptions. When a persistent version and a later version of the class description for the object differ, the object is migrated from the persistent version to the later version based on the differences between the two superclass descriptions. Finally, the migrated object is persistently stored with changes in its persistent class description.

Migrating non-persistent objects when one or more of the superclass fields of the object are modified

A method, system, and computer readable code for improving user exploration (i.e. navigation and browsing) through hierarchies of information. Entity relevance is calculated for the entities in the hierarchies, and this information is used to guide the user in his exploration. Two types of entity relevance are used, structural relevance and state relevance. Structural relevance is preferably pre-computed, being static in nature. State relevance is dynamically computed, as the user selects nodes or categories during exploration. Each selection serves to further constrain the solution space. Entities are determined to be strongly relevant, weakly relevant, or irrelevant for the current solution space. Node feasibility is also dynamically calculated, and provides a forward-looking indication of which nodes can be selected while still remaining consistent with the current solution space.

Intelligent exploration through multiple hierarchies using entity relevance

The method includes steps for creating and or modifying the organizational structure and data content of a frame-based, hierarchical product database with the use of tabularly arranged product data. The method features steps for enabling determination of a hierarchical database organizational structure capable of accommodating importation of tabular product data. Additionally, the method feature steps for facilitating either modification of an existing organizational structure where the database already exists, or, creation of a new frame-based, hierarchical organizational structure suitable for receiving the tabular data by generating an entirely new, original structure where none is available. In a first preferred form, the method is implemented in computer software and features program steps for enabling a database administrator, or the like, to determine what frame-based, hierarchical organizational structure would be needed to enable importation of tabular product data, the term &ldquo;product&rdquo; embracing both goods and or services. The method features steps for displaying to the database administrator the tabularly organized product data, and, where available, the organizational structure of an existing frame-based, hierarchical database. In a second preferred form, the method features software steps for automatically generating the required frame-based, hierarchical organizational structure where the tabular data includes the product record category and subcategory information necessary to define the organizational structure required to accommodate importation of the tabular data. Further, the method includes software steps for automatically associating the tabular product record information at the lowest level of the frame-based, organizational structure generated.

Method for creating and maintaining a frame-based hierarchically organized databases with tabularly organized data

This system involves an object persistence framework for an object-oriented program which provides a persistent class, data storage class and a data cursor class, that permits specialized implementations of object storage and retrieval with heterogeneous permanent storage systems.

Flexible object persistence framework using data cursor objects loaded

Software modules which are not part of a database systems source code is provided for interactively maintaining the semantics of concept hierarchies when concept properties and concept interrelationships are modified. These separate modules include command and rules modules. Each of the commands in the command module are linked to the appropriate rules in the rules module. The rules module is bifurcated into a check section and an action section. If the command does not violate any applicable rule in the rules section, the action section implements the command. If the command violates one or more applicable rules, the action section suggests alternate action. If no suitable action can be found, the action section implements reverse commands to return the database to its unaltered state.

Checking and enabling database updates with a dynamic, multi-modal, rule

A method and apparatus for navigating a concept hierarchy that interrelates a hierarchical presentation of the concepts of the hierarchy with a presentation of the declarations and constraints of those concepts is provided. The method includes the use of an additional computer screen presentation in which the presentation of the concepts and their declarations and restraints are interrelated. The user uses the screen to generate either a dictionary of the terms of all the concepts in the hierarchy, or a dictionary of descriptive terms of all the properties associated with those concepts. Means are provided on the screen for a user to then interrogate the generated dictionary for a desired property or concept. In a search of a dictionary of concept terms, once a desired property concept or property has been located and selected, the screen server provides, for use in continuing the search, a list of the properties that define the selected concept. If the search is of a dictionary of property terms, selection of a property produces a list of related concept terms. Irrespective of whether the list is of concept or property terms, the user can then select a term from the created list as an entry point into a tree view of the hierarchy or property presentation of a concept.

Method and apparatus for navigating multiple inheritance concept

An on-line interactive catalog system having a plurality of catalog agent metaphors (CAM's), each comprising a set of components, portions of a knowledge representation and a design for the creation of components, facilitating the creation of different forms of interactions with an electronic catalog knowledge representation. The CAM's further provide a methodology in which rich knowledge representations about cataloged information can be created iteratively. The creation of the knowledge representation or information model for the electronic catalog is driven by a particular set of desired interactions, thereby providing a unique approach to the creation and dynamic maintenance of electronic catalogs, information models and user interfaces. The CAM system also provides a method for providing flexible catalogs, allowing for simple interaction metaphors having simple information and modeling requirements to be created and become operational without overwhelming design demands, while still providing for dynamic flexible growth and extensibility of the product knowledge representation and interaction approaches.

Method and system for providing a flexible and extensible database

The objective of the instant invention is to define a computer user interface display system that presents hierarchical data in an enhanced tree presentation control that blends the ease-of-use character of the familiar 'tree presentation control' with a technique for navigating more complex lattice data structures, while at the same time providing more node information by displaying configured lattice-node labels along with the node's name. Thus a primary objective of this invention is to facilitate building, maintaining and using a multiple inheritance taxonomy such as a product catalog data base by means of a multi-navigation path browsing system, which is made possible through the capability of this system's multiple inheritance capability; with indicators in the tree view to indicate ancestors such as immediate parents and further removed ancestors.

Enhanced tree control system for navigating lattices data structures and

This invention relates to an electronic commerce software catalog system and a method of use. This electronic catalog system is specifically designed to provide the electronic shoppers with a customer-centric, virtual shopping experience by first facilitating the creation of customer-personas and their catalog-content affinities by a 'Sales Representative', secondly facilitating the persona-association based configuration of a 'Customer-Actor', by the actual 'Shopper'. Thirdly, the shopper selects an 'on-the-desktop' computer directed 'Sales-Advisor', that generates advice on catalog navigation, product applications and product function that is tuned to the proxy customer's configured personality and specific needs.

Customer centric virtual shopping experience with actors agents and

This invention uses a rule based system which is configurable at run time(1) to decide whether suitable preconditions exist for proposed modifications to a data base, (2) if not, optionally attempt to bring about such preconditions, and (3) prevent the proposed modifications if preconditions remain unmet.

Checking and enabling database updates with a dynamic multi-modal, rule

This electronic catalog searching system first, calculates attribute relevance (e.g., strongly-relevant, weakly-relevant, and irrelevant) for each node in a hierarchy (e.g., abstraction hierarchy, decompositional hierarchy) based on assignment constraints made at the nodes representing real-world concrete entities and then combines attribute relevance with a forward-checking parametric search to implement a hierarchical exploration scheme that can be enabled over a multitude of hierarchies residing on a base of concrete entities.

Electronic catalog system for exploring a multitude of hierarchies,

In response to the users actions relative to graphical representations of a multiple inheritance concept hierarchy to delete, add or modify the relationships between the various concepts, property declaration, property constraints and relationships therebetween, this system first, recognizes and disambiguates possible semantic incoherance introduced by the changes; second, suggests alternative procedures to ameliorate any perceived incoherence; third, interactively allows an agent (user or machine) to select from one of the alternatives; and fourth, performs the sequence of necessary operations to resolve semantic incoherence in the modified hierarchy.

Method and apparatus for maintaining multiple inheritance concept

The present invention is an catalog database system and method in which there are a plurality of catalog objects. Each catalog object contains at least one attribute and at least some of the catalog objects have at least one search path leading to at least one other object. A first object and the attributes of other objects in the electronic catalog are displayed. Those attributes which are defined in the first object and inherited to all descendant objects which are in any search path leading from the first object are displayed as strongly relevant attributes. Those attributes which are defined in at least one object which is in any search path leading from the first object are displayed as weakly relevant attributes. Those attributes which are contained in no objects which are in any search path leading from the first object are displayed as irrelevant attributes. To access a catalog object, a selection of an attribute or attribute value from among those displayed is accepted from a user. A search path from the first object to a second object, in which the selected attribute is defined, is followed and the second object is displayed.

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

Arthur Reginald Greef