Vermeer Technologies, Inc.

Randy J Forgaard

Andrew J Schulert

Thomas P Blumer

Peter R Amstein

Arthur L Coburn, Iv

Charles H Ferguson

Scott F Drellishak

Robert J Mauceri

Ted Stefanik

A visual editing system for creating commercial online computer services. The visual editing system creates online services that consist of a number of subservices. Each subservice is a program that provides a particular type of functionality to the online service. Different subservices exist for displaying hypermedia documents, searching directories and databases, displaying classified advertisements, providing a bulletin board system, etc. Each subservice has an associated database of information and a collection of scripts that handle events such as input from a user. The visual editing system of the present invention features a fee setting tool that allows the developer to develop a fee structure for an online service. The fee structure can handle both fees levied against users and third party content providers. For example, users can be levied fees for logging onto an online service, performing searches, or downloading information. Third party content providers can be levied fees for submitting advertisements or for executing a transaction with a user. Similarly, the fee setting tool also allows the developer to assign a payment system whereby users or content providers can be paid for certain actions. A user may be paid when that user that fills out a marketing questionnaire or wins a contest. A third party content provider can be paid when that third party content provider supplies valuable information desired by the users of the online service.

Online service development tool with fee setting capabilities

A client/server system for authoring an on-line service uses a server machine accessed a client machine which performs authoring operations on information stored on the server machine comprising the on-line service. Requests for authoring operations to be performed on information on the server machine, for authoring the online service, are translated on the client machine into at least one message which is sent to the server machine. The server machine receives the at least one message from the client machine and performs authoring operations identified in the received at least one message so as to author the online service. This information on the server machine is then made accessible by the server machine to other client systems that can be used to access the information without modifying the information, such as a browser. Generally, when the client machine receives a response message from the server machine, it displays information about performance of the authoring operation by the server, using the response message. The client and server may communicate using the HTTP protocol over a TCP/IP connection. The may also have different file name spaces, requiring the server to maintain and perform mapping between identifiers used by the client and those used on the server. The server may have a server program for processing HTTP messages and a server extension program for processing authoring operations. This extension program can be called via the common gateway interface. The authoring operations to be performed can include storing, creating or modifying information, such as documents and scripts and meta-information about services, documents and scripts on the server. Also, operations for providing a listing of services and documents are also available.

Computer system and computer-implemented process for creation and

A client/server computer system for remote editing of document objects stored on the server includes a client computer connected to a server computer via a communication channel over which messages are sent in a communication protocol. Typically, the client computer has an operating system with a first file name space and the server computer has an operating system with a second file name space and the first file name space does not include names of files which map to names of files in the second file name space. The connection is preferably a TCP/IP connection providing data transport according to TCP/IP. Messages in the HTTP protocol are preferably used. The client computer sends request messages to the server. A request message may indicate a request for either retrieval or storage of a document object, such as an HTML document or script program. The server receives the request messages and processes them to either store a document object or retrieve a document object and return it to the client in a response message. When the server is an HTTP server, the request messages from the client are processed by a single control script. The messages from the client indicate a desired document object and the action to be performed.

Computer system and computer-implemented process for remote editing of

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Lexington, MA, United States of America

Randy J Forgaard