6,119,133
`[11] Patent Number:
`[19]
`Unlted States Patent
`
`Nusbickel et al.
`[45] Date of Patent:
`Sep. 12, 2000
`
`USOO6119133A
`
`[54] EXTENSIBLE METHOD AND APPARATUS
`FOR RETRIEVING FILES HAVING UNIQUE
`RECORD IDENTIFIERS AS FILE NAMES
`DURING PROGRAM EXECUTION
`Inventors: Wendi L. Nusbickel, Delray Beach;
`Jpslglph Celi, Jr., Boynton Beach, both
`o
`a.
`
`[75]
`
`[73] Assignee:
`
`International Business Machines
`Corporation, Armonk, NY.
`
`AP“ 16: 1998
`
`[21] Appl. No.: 09/061,387
`.
`Flled3
`G06F 17/30
`Int Cl 7
`UHS. CL ................................................077205 707/200
`
`F' ld f's'""""h
`707 ’200 205
`1e
`0
`earc
`””””””””””””””””””””
`/
`’ 5 ’
`707/ 08
`
`[22]
`[51]
`[52]
`58
`[
`]
`
`[56]
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`g’gg’igg 131333 giggly“ """""""""""""""""7‘132753
`
`........ 707/3
`5,873,076
`2/1999 Barr et a1.
`
`
`.......
`5,937,064
`8/1999 Eick et a1.
`707/101
`8/1999 Balabine et a1.
`........................ 707/100
`5,937,406
`
`400
`
`RECORD ID
`
`REGION
`
`.......................... 709/200
`10/1999 Rogers et a1.
`5,974,441
`Primar Examiner—Thomas G Black
`Assistait Examiner—William Trmh
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Fleit, Kain, Gibbons, Gutman &
`Bong1n1 PL; Jon A‘ Gibbons
`[57]
`ABSTRACT
`In an information processing system with a database for
`storing database records wherein each of said database
`records has a unique identifier, a method for naming data
`files comprising the steps of: (a) associating at least one of
`said database records with additional data specified by a data
`file name; and (b) naming at least part of said data file name
`to said unique record identifier for said one of said database
`records of step (a). In an alternate embodiment, an infor-
`mation processing system with a database for storing data-
`base records wherein each of said database records has a
`unique identifier; at least one data file name for specifying
`additional data wherein part of each data file name is
`composed of one of said unique identifiers for one of said
`database records, a method for locating data files comprising
`the steps of: retrieving one of said database records; deter-
`mining said unique identifier for one of said database
`records; and retrieving any additional data using said data
`file name‘
`
`32 Claims, 7 Drawing Sheets
`
`
`
`FLORIDA
`
`SOUTH-WEST
`
`PRINTING INDUSTRIES OF AMERICA
`
`EXHIBIT 1103
`
`O O O
`
`FLOR'DA
`NORTH-WEST
`
`FLORIDA
`NORTH-CENTRAL
`
`FLORIDA
`NORTH-EAST
`
`100.G|F
`
`101 GIF
`'
`
`102-GIF
`
`103.GIF
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Sep. 12,2000
`
`Sheet 1 0f7
`
`6,119,133
`
`109
`101
`\
`
`111
`
`
`
` WEB
`
`
`
`SERVER
`
`
`
`
`
`
`INTERNET
`
`WEB
`BROWSER
`
`
`
`APPLICATION
`
`
`
`105
`
`DATABASE
`SERVER
`
`100
`
`FIG. 1
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Sep. 12,2000
`
`Sheet 2 0f7
`
`6,119,133
`
`A BFEIQN.’ -
`
`Mfifliumflfiu
`
`209
`
`v.
`
`Tm: must sum-[v search Mink:
`
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`“mart
`
`1mm:
`
` 55?.me “$111.51:
`
`mm a (My
`Hum
`flail-51E“ Mum:
`
`REGION SEARCH SCREEN
`
`FIG. 2
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Sep. 12,2000
`
`Sheet 3 0f7
`
`6,119,133
`
`3_00
`
`RECORD ID
`
`REGION
`
`FILE
`
`
`
`
`FLORIDA
`
`FLNW.G|F
`
`NORTH-WEST
`
`
`
`
`FLORIDA
`
`
`
`
`NORTH-CENTRAL
`
`FLNC. GIF
`
`
`
`FLORIDA
`NORTHEAST
`
`FLNE- GIF
`
`FLORIDA
`SOUTH-WEST
`
`FLSW-G'F
`
`
`
`305
`
`
`
`o
`
`O O
`
`301
`
`100.
`
`101- G”:
`
`102 GIF
`
`103. GIF
`
`405
`
`PRIOR ART DATABASE ENTRY
`
`M
`
`RECORD ID
`
`REGION
`
`
`
`
`FLORIDA
`
`FLORIDA
`NORTH-CENTRAL
`
`
`FLORIDA
`NORTH-EAST
`
`
`FLORIDA
`SOUTH-WEST
`
`403
`
`401
`
`FIG. 4
`
`. C 0
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Sep. 12, 2000
`
`Sheet 4 0f 7
`
`6,119,133
`
`50_0
`
`501
`‘\
`
`503
`
`505
`
`507
`
`509
`
`511
`
`513
`
`RECEIVE USER QUERY
`
`TRANSLATE QUERY INTO
`
`DATABASE QUERY
`
`RETREIVE DATA FROM
`
`DATABASE
`
`DETERMINE DATABASE
`
`RECORD ID
`
`RETRIEVE FILENAME
`
`RECORD ID
`
`CORRESPONDING TO
`
`SELECTIVELY FILL-IN
`
`FILENAME IN HTML TEMPLATE
`
`DATABASE INFORMATION AND
`
`SEND HTML PAGE
`
`TO USER
`
`FIG. 5
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Sep. 12,2000
`
`Sheet 5 0f7
`
`6,119,133
`
`m RCADEMY mum WFWAL
`mm 00. HILLSEQRD ems.
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`
`FIG. 6
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Sep. 12,2000
`
`Sheet 6 0f7
`
`6,119,133
`
`/
`
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`Audlo
`>))
`
`\49’
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`
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`
`£09
`
`RECORD ID
`
`FLAG
`
`
`
`
`
`
`801
`
`803
`
`100001 (33)
`
`111111 (63)
`
`101000 (42)
`
`110010 (50)
`
`33.G|F
`
`63.G|F
`
`42.G|F
`
`50 GIF
`
`805
`
`FIG. 8
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Sep. 12, 2000
`
`Sheet 7 0f 7
`
`6,119,133
`
`9_00
`
`901
`\ RECEIVE USER QUERY
`
`903
`
`905
`
`907
`
`909
`
`911
`
`913
`
`TRANSLATE QUERY INTO
`
`DATABASE QUERY
`
`RETREIVE DATA FROM
`
`DATABASE
`
`DETERMINE FILE FLAG
`
`IN DATABASE RECORD
`
`RETRIEVE FILENAME
`
`FILE FLAG
`
`CORRESPONDING TO
`
`SELECTIVELY FILL-IN
`
`FILENAME IN HTML TEMPLATE
`
`DATABASE INFORMATION AND
`
`SEND HTML PAGE
`
`TO USER
`
`FIG. 9
`
`

`

`6,119,133
`
`1
`EXTENSIBLE METHOD AND APPARATUS
`FOR RETRIEVING FILES HAVING UNIQUE
`RECORD IDENTIFIERS AS FILE NAMES
`DURING PROGRAM EXECUTION
`
`CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED
`APPLICATIONS
`
`Not applicable.
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`1. Field of the invention
`
`The present invention relates to the field of computer
`information retrieval. More particularly, the present inven-
`tion relates to a method and apparatus to retrieve computer
`related data files when the required file name is not known
`until program execution time.
`2. Description of the Related Art
`Traditional paper telephone directory listings like the
`White Pages, Yellow Pages and industry specific directory
`listings have been around for decades. Online or Web-based
`directory listings are the online analogues to their familiar,
`traditional paper counterparts. With the advent of the Inter-
`net and the Web (World-Wide-Web), many owners and
`publishers of these directories have begun to offer their
`services online. These online directory services are expand-
`ing beyond providing simply name, address and telephone
`information and have begun to offer E-Mail directory
`listings, Web page address listings, fax directory listings,
`maps of the business location, additional information in a
`multimedia format about
`the business listing and much
`more.
`
`Computer applications such as online directory services
`use database retrieval techniques to present data to users.
`These classes of applications are often referred to as “data
`driven” because the exact display of the data on the com-
`puter screen is not known until runtime. Typically, these
`applications provide information in response to a user
`request by filling-in fixed data fields in a presentation screen
`with data retrieved from a database. In the online directory
`listing example data fields are filled-in with data stored in a
`database. The data includes residential name or business
`
`name, address and telephone number. Optional data fields
`such as zip code may also be included. As the types and
`variety of online directory services increase, the requirement
`to advertise the availability of these online services also
`increases. Many of these new services are data driven. As an
`example, online directory listings may offer images of street
`maps over the Web. The street maps are presented in
`response to a user request or query. The exact query is not
`known until program runtime (refer to www.yahoo.com for
`an online example of mapping street locations). A challenge
`for programmers and software designers is providing the
`correct regional map for each user request. Software design-
`ers typically use relational databases to organize data such as
`images files of regional maps. The use of databases allows
`images of regional maps to be indexed in an organized
`manner in order to be retrieved with a given user query.
`Database records comprising a series of database elements
`designed to hold one or more types of data. One type of
`database record is designated to hold the names of image
`files, such as images of street maps, and names of data files.
`It is common to create a separate database record holding
`these file names. The software designer creates separate
`database record entries to hold these file names to enable
`
`fast, efficient retrieval of these image files in response to user
`search requests.
`
`10
`
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`
`2
`One disadvantage with the use of separate database
`entries for holding the names of data files is the inability to
`extend or expand the number of these database entries
`without updating the corresponding program logic. System
`developers using separate database entries for holding the
`names of data files require either that: a separate database
`entry be associated with every street address; or some type
`of indexing table lookup system must be invoked in order to
`display the correct regional map image. A shortcoming of
`this method is that the database or mapping file and asso-
`ciated algorithm to retrieve the correct file must be updated
`when new regional maps are added. So a need exists to make
`an extensible file retrieval system that can accommodate
`additional entries into a file system without the need to
`update the programming logic every time an addition or
`deletion is made.
`
`A second problem that exists when using separate data-
`base record entries for holding the names of data files, is the
`need to test database references. Software programmers run
`tests to debug every line of programming logic designed for
`mapping a data file to specific data file requests. The
`inclusions of new files into database files requires the
`retesting of this programming logic. Therefore, a need exists
`to provide a method to retrieve files without the need to test
`every reference to a particular file.
`A third problem, when using separate database record
`entries for holding the names of data files is the need to
`determine efficiently data file names where the data may
`include a large combination of distinct elements or seg-
`ments. For example, certain data files in online directory
`listings may include a series of distinct graphical icons
`where each icon represents a particular electronic service.
`Six additional available services in an online business direc-
`
`tory listing may include: a map of the business location; a
`video clip about
`the business, an audio clip about
`the
`business, a homepage for the business listing, E-Mail for the
`business listing and a fax number for the business listing.
`Representative graphical icons may include an icon of an
`envelope for E-Mail service and an icon of a film clip for
`video information. The online directory services displays
`these icons next to a particular business directory listing
`according to the services available. In this business directory
`listing example, as mentioned above, there are six distinct
`possible types of icons that can be displayed through a series
`of icon images. Calculating the possible combination of
`these additional six directory services, there are 27 or 64
`separate combinations of these additional online services.
`Each of these 64 combinations requires a unique data file
`name. Each data file name refers to a particular series of
`icons representing the online services available. As the
`example for six additional services above illustrates, the use
`of icons advertising the availability of services produces the
`need for an exponentially large number of file names needed
`to advertise these service combinations. It is important to
`note that the addition of every new service doubles the
`number of file names needed to represent all these service
`combinations. Stated differently, adding one new service to
`the six services above yields 27 or 128 separate icon image
`combinations that are available. Therefore, an efficient,
`extensible method of runtime retrieval of file names repre-
`senting a large number of possible image combinations is
`needed.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`Briefly, in accordance with the present invention, in an
`information processing system with a database for storing
`database records wherein each of said database records has
`
`

`

`6,119,133
`
`3
`a unique identifier, a method for naming data files compris-
`ing the steps of: (a) associating at least one of said database
`records with additional data specified by a data file name;
`and (b) naming at least part of said data file name to said
`unique record identifier for said one of said database records
`of step (a).
`In an alternate embodiment, an information processing
`system with a database for storing database records wherein
`each of said database records has a unique identifier; at least
`one data file name for specifying additional data wherein
`part of each data file name is composed of one of said unique
`identifiers for one of said database records, a method for
`locating data files comprising the steps of: retrieving one of
`said database records; determining said unique identifier for
`one of said database records; and retrieving any additional
`data using said data file name.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING(S)
`
`FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a typical data
`processing system for hosting Web pages.
`FIG. 2 is an illustration of a Web browser screen display-
`ing an example of an online Yellow Pages directory search
`screen.
`
`FIG. 3 is an illustration of a portion of database records
`of prior art file location systems.
`FIG. 4 is an illustration of a portion of database records
`and associated data files according for a file location system
`to the present invention.
`FIG. 5 is an application process flow chart for an appli-
`cation running on the Web server of FIG. 1 according to the
`present invention.
`FIG. 6 is an illustration of a Web browser screen display-
`ing the ensuing search results of FIG. 2 for an alternative
`embodiment of the present invention.
`FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the file flag for referencing
`additional data files according to FIG. 6.
`FIG. 8 is an illustration of a portion of database records
`using the file flag of FIG. 7 and associated data files
`according to the present invention.
`FIG. 9 is an application process flow chart for the alter-
`native embodiment of FIG. 6 for an application running on
`Web server of FIG. 1 including additional file flag of FIG.
`7 according to the present invention.
`
`DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENT
`
`FIG. 1 depicts a functional block diagram of a data
`processing system for hosting Web pages 100. AWeb server
`101 running a Web server application 103 and coupled to a
`data base server 105. The Web server 101 can be an IBM
`
`compatible computer capable of running any HTTP (Hyper-
`Text-Transfer-Protocol) compatible server software such as
`Netscape Web server products or equivalent. The Web server
`101 is connected to the Internet 107. An end user data
`
`processing unit 109 with Web browser 111 is connected to
`the Internet 107 or other computer network. The Web
`browser 111 can be any HTTP compatible product such as
`Netscape Navigator, Sun Hot Java Browser, Microsoft Inter-
`net Explorer or equivalent.
`The application 103 is an online directory listing system
`for hosting directory listings on the Web browser 111.
`Publishers of directory listings such as regional telephone
`companies provide the name, address, and telephone direc-
`tory listing information for the database server 105. It is
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
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`
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`
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`
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`
`65
`
`4
`important to point out that the precise operating systems and
`hardware configurations of the database server 105, the Web
`server 101, the end user unit 109 and the Web-browser 111
`are not limited to any specific hardware or software con-
`figuration. These systems can be implemented on a wide
`variety of hardware and software platforms.
`The online directory application 103 provides directory
`listing services running on the Web server 101 for listing
`information stored on database server 105 to be rendered
`over Internet 107 on Web browser 111. An end user has the
`ability to enter desired search criteria into the application
`103. The Web browser 111 through Internet 107, commu-
`nicates with the Web server 101 to query the database server
`105. The results of the query from database server 105 are
`then sent back, through the Web server 101 and over the
`Internet 107, to the end user browser 111.
`FIG. 2 illustrates a typical Yellow Pages directory listing
`service search screen 200 rendered on the Web browser 111.
`The use of HTML compliant codes for presenting database
`queries is well understood. Online Yellow Page directory
`listings, as in their traditional paper counterpart are available
`for specific county, specific city and specific state directory
`regions. Yellow Pages directory listing service search screen
`200 is for regional southeast Florida as denoted by a title bar
`203. A corresponding southeast Florida map 201 is dis-
`played. A user selects a search criteria 205 comprising a
`region, a city, a directory heading or a business name. An
`advertisement 207 and the availability of additional infor-
`mation 209 is also displayed. It is important to understand
`that the layout of the search screen 200 remains consistent
`from regional directory area to regional directory area.
`Stated differently, the information in the title bar 203 and the
`map 201 change to reflect the directory region being used,
`e.g., southwest Florida, northeast Florida, northwest Florida,
`east central Florida and so on. Advertisement 207 and
`
`additional information 209 may also change depending on
`which regional directory a user is searching. Predefined
`screen layouts, sometimes called screen views or graphical
`screen templates are used to present data from a database in
`a particular style, arrangement, selection and format. The
`use of graphical search screen templates with areas such as
`the title bar 207 and the map 201 is well known. Commercial
`products that allow developers to build applications for
`constructing Web pages using templates whose data are
`filled-in from an associated database during runtime are
`available. Products such as the Lotus Domino Server give
`developers tools for defining desired views into a database.
`FIG. 3 is an illustration of a portion of database records
`300 of a prior art file location system. Notice a record ID 301
`of associated database records 300. This record ID 301 is
`
`unique to each database record so that no two database
`records contain the same record ID 301. Each record of
`
`database records 300 comprises a regional title bar entry 303
`and regional map image file 305. This information retrieved
`from the database, fills-in or loads the corresponding fields
`inside an HTML template The graphical search screen
`template in the preferred embodiment is an HTML docu-
`ment
`template. The process of filling information in an
`HTML template is known. Image file 305 is a GIF (Graphics
`Interchange Format) file, but any multimedia file format can
`be used. The image file 305 is used to fill in the map 201 to
`correspond to regional
`locations of the database being
`searched. For the Yellow Pages directory listing service
`search screen 200 of FIG. 2 this is in the southeast map
`image 201 of Florida. Regional title bar entry 303 is used to
`fill-in the text displayed in the title bar 203.
`FIG. 4 is an illustration of a portion of database records
`400 and associated data files for a file location system
`
`

`

`6,119,133
`
`5
`according to the present invention. A record ID 401 and a
`regional title bar entry 403 are identical to the database
`entries 301 and 303 of the prior art database records 300. It
`is important to notice there is no entry for image file 305.
`Instead the file is named by a predetermined format con-
`sisting of a field corresponding to the record ID and a file
`extension .GIF denoting the file type. File name 405 is an
`example image file name used to fill-in map 201 of search
`screen 200. Here the value of 103 derived from the record
`ID 401 is combined with the suffix .GIF to create a name
`
`103.GIF for file name 405. By naming the image file
`according to a unique record ID, there is no need to include
`a database record for image file 305. The elimination of
`database record 305 results in a smaller overall database. A
`
`smaller database requires less computer storage and often
`provides faster performance. It is important to note that other
`types of unique identifiers can be used for this present
`invention besides a database record ID. For this Yellow Page
`directory listing example, ID’s such as unique listing IDs,
`unique business IDs, unique GEO codes (codes specifying
`the precise geographical longitude and latitude position of a
`listing location) can be used.
`Returning to the description of FIG. 4, the unique ID 401
`is determined when application 103 retrieves the database
`entry. The technique of determining the unique record ID
`401 for a database record is well known. The use of the
`record ID 401 with a known suffix is all that is needed in the
`
`application 103 to fetch the appropriate file during program
`execution.
`In addition,
`there is no need to change the
`application 103 if database record entries are later added and
`deleted since the file name is determined at runtime. The use
`
`of suffix GIF is optional. Any suffix, even no file name suffix
`can be used. Moreover, the use of the unique record ID 401
`can be included as a portion of a larger file name naming
`hierarchy. The required programming logic for the applica-
`tion 103 must be matched to any file naming convention
`used to create the correct file name 403 from the unique
`record ID 401. For example, it may be beneficial to start all
`map files with the prefix “MP” and denote all these map files
`are stored in 64 color format “64”. So the resulting name
`would be MP10364.GIF for file name 405. Programming
`logic in application 103 for retrieving images would corre-
`spondingly add an “MP” prefix in front of the unique record
`ID 401 of 103 and add the appropriate file extension GIF to
`retrieve the corresponding image file 405.
`Referring now to FIG. 5 shown is an application process
`flow chart 500 of the application 103 running on the Web
`server 101. The application begins with receiving the user
`request, step 501, from Web browser 111 via Internet 107.
`This request is a database search request for the user selected
`criteria 205 as described above. The request is translated into
`the corresponding database server call, step 503. Popular
`database call formats include SQL as supported by Oracle
`and IBM. The database call retrieves data from database
`
`server, step 505. The process of retrieving data from a
`relational database is well known. Next, the record ID is
`determine for the database record, step 507. The file name
`405 for the image file 201 corresponding to the unique
`record ID 401 is retrieve, step 509. The image file 201 is
`along with other database records 400 are used to fill-in the
`HTML Web page template, step 511. The resulting HTML
`compatible Web page is sent to the user unit 109 for display
`on the Web browser 111 via the Internet 107, step 513.
`It is important to note that once a desired naming con-
`vention that includes unique record ID 401 is chosen for file
`names 405 and the programming logic of the application 103
`is set accordingly, there is no need to change the application
`
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`103. The application 103 can be completely data driven.
`Moreover, there is no need to test application 103 as new
`database records 400 are added or deleted. There is no need
`to update the program logic of application 103 if the
`database records 400 are reorganized or changed.
`Although this preferred embodiment discloses application
`103 as creating HTML compatible Web pages sent over
`Internet 107 to Web browser 111. Other client-server imple-
`mentations are possible. One implementation of application
`103 is the creation of a JAVA compliant APPLET where the
`APPLET is sent to a client computer and the data presented
`to the user on the end user unit 107. In this implementation
`the Web browser 111 is replaced by a JAVA enabled end user
`unit 107, such as a Java enabled thin client system from IBM
`or Sun Microsystems. In still another implementation, the
`application 103 can be completely host-based and the end
`user unit 107 a “dumb” terminal. Host based computer
`systems are known. An IBM ES/9000 unit connected to IBM
`3278 graphics terminals is an example host-based system
`with the corresponding “dumb” terminals.
`Referring to FIG. 6, an alternate embodiment of the
`present invention is described. FIG. 6 is an illustration of a
`Yellow Pages directory listing for a keyword search of
`“veterinarian” for a business heading 600. The sample
`business listing 601 alphabetically displays the business
`under the “veterinarian” business category. Again this is
`similar to the traditional Yellow Page listings found in the
`bound paper analogues. An example advertisement space
`603 and the availability of related directory services 605 are
`also displayed. Additional directory services 607 are shown
`as icons. These icons are animated GIF files that present an
`image of each service available for this directory listing
`service in a repetitive series. Each directory listing may have
`different available additional directory services. FIG. 7 is a
`block diagram of the file flag for additional directory ser-
`vices 700 according to the present invention. Six icons of
`additional directory services for a directory listing are
`shown. Starting from the left, these icons represent a fax
`service 701, an E-Mail service 703, a map service 705, a
`video clip 707, an audio clip 709, and text information 711.
`Each of these six additional services represents a bit position
`in file flag 713. The availability of each service is denoted by
`a logical true value, or number 1.
`FIG. 8 is an illustration of a portion of database records
`800 using the file flag 713 and associated data files according
`to the present invention. File flag 713 is a record in database
`record 803 with corresponding unique Record ID 801. There
`are six additional service icons for file flag 713. This
`represents 26 or 64 separate combinations of these addi-
`tional service icons. Database record 803 contains a binary
`value of 110010. The decimal equivalent of 50 denoted in
`parenthesis for convenience and does not need to be stored.
`The exact number system representation, e.g., binary,
`decimal, octal, is not important and binary and decimal is
`used in this description interchangeably. Continuing with
`database record 803, the binary value of 110010 denotes the
`following services are available for a corresponding direc-
`tory listing: fax service 701, E-Mail service 703 and audio
`clip 709. Correspondingly, the following services would not
`be available for this directory listing example with a file flag
`713 binary value of 110010: a map service 705, a video clip
`707 and text information 711. All 64 animated GIF files for
`
`these images are typically created automatically through an
`automated tool (not shown). These 64 animated GIF files are
`then made available to application 103 during runtime. The
`creation of all 64 animated image files in advance saves on
`Web server overhead during Web page construction.
`
`

`

`6,119,133
`
`7
`It is important to note that the addition of every new
`service doubles the number of file names needed to represent
`all these service combinations. Stated differently, adding one
`new service to the six services above yields 27 or 128
`separate icon image combinations that are available. The
`programming logic can be extended to manage long file flag
`713 values accordingly.
`FIG. 9 is an application process flow chart 900 of the
`alternative embodiment of FIG. 6 for the application 103
`running on the Web server 101. The initial process steps 901,
`903, and 905 of retrieving a user query, translating the user
`query into a database query and retrieving data from a
`database is identical to the previously described process
`steps 501, 503 and 505 of FIG. 5. Next, the file flag 713 for
`the database record is determined, in step 907. Selecting
`desired database records in a relational database is known.
`
`Once the file flag 713 is determined, a file name 805
`corresponding to the file flag 713 is constructed by appli-
`cation 103 and the associated image file is retrieved, in step
`909. The construction of the file name can use any set of
`rules as previously described in process flow chart 500
`where suffixes, prefixes and other information is added to the
`file flag 713 to create the resulting file name 805. Returning
`to the animated GIF examples, a file prefix of “AN” for
`animated GIF combined with the example file flag binary
`value of 110010 (decimal 50) and a file extension of GIF
`would create AN50.GIF for file name 805. As previously
`described above (steps 411 and 413), the steps 911 and 913
`fill-in the HTML template with data from the database
`records 800 and the animated image file named by the file
`flag 713 and send the resulting HTML compatible Web page
`to the user.
`
`It should be understood that the file data referenced by the
`file name 405, referenced by the file flag 713, and referenced
`by the file name 805 are not limited to any specific data file
`type or any specific file format. Any data type or data format
`(audio, video, text, multimedia) can be retrieved using the
`methods and apparatus described in this present invention.
`Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been
`disclosed, it will be understood by those having skill in the
`art that changes can be made to this specific embodiment
`without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
`The scope of the invention is not to be restricted, therefore,
`to the specific embodiment, and it
`is intended that
`the
`appended claims cover any and all such applications,
`modifications, and embodiments within the scope of the
`present invention.
`What is claimed is:
`
`1. In an information processing system with a database for
`storing database records wherein each of said database
`records has a unique record identifier, a method for naming
`data files comprising the steps of
`(a) associating at least one of said database records with
`additional data stored in said data file, specified by a
`data file name; and
`(b) naming at least part of said data file name to said
`unique record identifier for said one of said database
`records of step (a).
`2. The method for naming data files of claim 1, wherein
`said step (a) further comprises:
`(a) associating at least one of said database records with
`additional multimedia data referenced by a data file
`name.
`
`3. In an information processing system with a database for
`storing database records wherein each of said database
`records has a unique record identifier, at least one data file
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`name for specifying additional data wherein part of each
`data file name is composed of one of said unique record
`identifiers for one of said database records, a method for
`locating data files comprising the steps of
`(a) receiving a query;
`(b) retrieving data from the database, based on the query,
`the data including a unique record identifier; and
`(c) retrieving further data by retrieving at least one file
`whose file name includes the unique record identifier,
`the file containing the further data.
`4. The method for locating data files of claim 3, further
`comprising the step of:
`(f) creating a Web page using HTML compatible codes for
`rendering said at least part of said database records and
`at least part of said additional data.
`5. The method for locating data files of claim 3, further
`comprising the step of:
`(f) creating a Web page for an online directory listing
`using HTML compatible codes for rendering at least
`part of said database records and at least part of said
`additional data.
`
`6. The method for locating data files of claim 3, further
`comprising the step of:
`(f) creating a Web page for an Internet search listing using
`HTML compatible codes for rendering at least part of
`said database records and at least part of said additional
`data.
`
`7. The method for locating data files of claim 3, further
`comprising the step of:
`(f) creating an application for rendering at least part of
`said database records and at least part of said additional
`data, wherein said application executes on a client
`system coupled to said information processing system.
`8. The method for locating data files of claim 3, further
`comprising the step of:
`(f) creating a JAVA compliant application for rendering at
`least part of said database records and at least part of
`said additional data, wherein said application executes
`on a client system coupled to said information process-
`ing system.
`9. In an information processing system with a database for
`storing database records wher