Automated web site creation using template driven generation of active server page applications

Abstract

A computer-implemented system is designed to assist a merchant in setting up an electronic online storefront that is customized to the merchant's business, without requiring the merchant to program. The system employs a store builder wizard to guide a merchant through a series of questionnaires designed to extract information pertaining to the merchant's business. The system further employs a page generator to create active server pages (ASPs) that form the customized storefront. The page generator creates the active server pages from a set of templates that are generic to formation of an online storefront. The templates are written as an extension to the active server page technology in a combination of hypertext language and scripting language. The active server templates specify an additional, higher order scripting level that distinguishes a second level of code by a new delimiter. During creation of the storefront, the page generator reads each active server template file and converts it to a scripting program having executable lines of code derived from the higher-order level of instructions denoted by the new delimiters. The page generator then executes the scripting program using the merchant data as input to produce a customized set of active server pages. The resulting active server pages contain the hypertext language and the lower-order level of instructions in the scripting language denoted by the original delimiters. The active server pages are stored together to form an active server application customized to the merchant's storefront.