초록 ▼

Methods, systems, and computer program products, for using a web browser to view stored data over the World Wide Web, where the data is stored in a format normally incompatible with such viewing. A client computer processes a view descriptor and a general view class to generate a specific view class

Methods, systems, and computer program products, for using a web browser to view stored data over the World Wide Web, where the data is stored in a format normally incompatible with such viewing. A client computer processes a view descriptor and a general view class to generate a specific view class, or template, and a query. The specific view class is used as a template to display data the client receives from a data server after submitting the generated query to the data server. The result of using a specific view class as a template for the data is that the data is output in Hypertext Markup Language, so as to be easily displayable on a web browser. View classes and view descriptors may be developed using existing Web development tools such as Extensible Style Language and Extensible Markup Language.

대표청구항 ▼

1. In a system including a data server and a client computer that is associated with a web browser, wherein the client computer accesses data stored on the data server and displays such data using the web browser, a method for transforming the accessed data into a format for viewing using the web br

1. In a system including a data server and a client computer that is associated with a web browser, wherein the client computer accesses data stored on the data server and displays such data using the web browser, a method for transforming the accessed data into a format for viewing using the web browser, the method comprising:an act of the client computer accessing a view descriptor, the view descriptor identifying (i) data stored at a data server in any of a plurality of formats, including one or more proprietary formats that are not natively displayable using the web browser, and (ii) one or more data transforms to be performed on the stored data for viewing with the web browser; an act of the client computer processing the view descriptor using a generic style sheet, that contains generic information on how to display the stored data and that is applicable to a wide variety of different display layouts, to generate a specific style sheet tailored specifically to the stored data; an act of the client computer accessing the stored data that was identified by the view descriptor; and an act of the client computer transforming the accessed data using the specific style sheet generated from the view descriptor and generic style sheet for viewing with the web browser. 2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of the client computer accessing a view descriptor comprises the following:an act of the client computer accessing a view descriptor that includes parameters on how the identified stored data should be arranged when viewed on the web browser. 3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of the client computer accessing a view descriptor comprises the following:an act of the client computer accessing a view descriptor that includes Extensible Markup Language tags. 4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of the client computer accessing a view descriptor comprises the following:an act of the client computer downloading the view descriptor. 5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the act of downloading the view descriptor comprises the following:an act of the client computer downloading the view descriptor over a dial-up connection. 6. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the act of the downloading the view descriptor comprises the following:an act of the client computer downloading the view descriptor over a permanent network connection. 7. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the act of downloading the view descriptor comprises the following:an act of the client computer downloading the view descriptor over the Internet. 8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of the client computer accessing a view descriptor comprises the following:an act of the client computer accessing a locally stored view descriptor through an API to an operating system running on the client computer. 9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the view descriptor includes Extensible Style Language tags, in order to generate a specific style sheet for the stored data.10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of the client computer processing the view descriptor comprises the following:an act of the client computer processing the view descriptor to generate a query, which may be submitted to the data server. 11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the act of the client computer processing the view descriptor to generate a query comprises the following:an act of the view control processing the view descriptor to generate an SQL query, which may be submitted to the data server. 12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of the client computer accessing the stored data comprises the following:an act of the client computer submitting a query to the data server. 13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of the client computer submitting a query to the data server comprises the following:an act of the client computer submitting a SQL query to the data server. 14. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of the client computer accessing the stored data comprises the following:an act of the client computer downloading the stored data from the data server. 15. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein the act of the client computer downloading the stored data from the data server comprises the following:an act of the client computer receiving stored data, which includes Extensible Markup Language tags, from the server. 16. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein the act of the client computer downloading the stored data from the data server comprises the following:an act of the client computer receiving stored data, which includes Hypertext Markup Language tags, from the server. 17. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of the client computer accessing the stored data comprises the following:an act of the client computer accessing locally stored data through an API to an operating system running on the client computer. 18. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of the client computer formatting the accessed data for viewing comprises the following:an act of the client computer processing the specific style sheet to format the data. 19. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein the act of the client computer processing the specific style sheet comprises the following:an act of the client computer processing Extensible Markup Language tags in the specific style sheet. 20. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein the act of the client computer processing the specific style sheet comprises the following:an act of the view control processing Extensible Style Language tags in the specific style sheet. 21. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein the act of the client computer processing the specific style sheet comprises the following:an act of the client computer processing Extensible Markup Language tags and Extensible Style Language tags in the specific style sheet. 22. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of the client computer formatting the accessed data for viewing comprises the following:an act of the client computer formatting the accessed data into data that includes Hypertext Markup Language tags. 23. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising an act of the client computer outputting the formatted data.24. The method as recited in claim 23, wherein the act of the client computer outputting the data comprises the following:an act of the client computer displaying the data to a web browser. 25. The method as recited in claim 23, wherein the act of the client computer outputting the data comprises the following:an act of the client computer outputting the data in Hypertext Markup Language. 26. In a system including a data server and a client computer that is associated with a web browser, wherein the client computer accesses data stored on the data server and displayed such data using the web browser, a method for transforming the accessed data into a format for viewing using a web browser, the method comprising:an act of the client computer accessing a view descriptor, the view descriptor identifying (i) data stored at a data server in any of a plurality of formats, including one or more proprietary formats that are not natively displayable using the web browser, and (ii) one or more data transforms to be performed on the stored data for viewing with the web browser; an act of the client computer processing the view descriptor using a generic style sheet, that contains generic information on how to display the stored data and that is applicable to a wide variety of different display layouts, to generate a specific style sheet tailored specifically to the stored data; an act of the client computer accessing the stored data that was identified by the view descriptor; and a step for the client computer converting the identified stored data using the specific style sheet generated from the view descriptor and the generic style sheet for viewing with the web browser. 27. The method as recited in claim 26, wherein the step for converting the identified stored data for viewing comprises the following:an act of converting the identified stored data into displayable data that includes Hypertext Markup Language tags. 28. A computer program product for implementing, in a system including a data server and a client computer that is associated with a web browser, wherein the client computer accesses some the data stored on the data server and displays such data using the web browser, a method for transforming the accessed data into a format for viewing using a web browser, the computer program product comprising:a computer-readable medium carrying computer-readable instructions, that when executed at the client computer, cause the client computer to perform the following: an act of accessing a view descriptor, the view descriptor identifying (i) data stored at a data server in any of a plurality of formats, including one or more proprietary formats that are not natively displayable using the web browser, and (ii) one or more data transforms to be performed on the stored data for viewing with the web browser; an act of processing the view descriptor using a generic style sheet, that contains generic information on how to display the stored data and that is applicable to a wide variety of different display layouts, to generate a specific style sheet tailored specifically to the stored data; an act of accessing the stored data that was identified by the view descriptor; and an act of transforming the accessed data using the specific style sheet generated from the view descriptor and generic style sheet for viewing with the web browser. 29. The computer program product as recited in claim 28, wherein the computer-readable medium is a physical storage device.30. The computer program product as recited in claim 28, wherein the computer-readable instructions that cause the client computer to perform the act of formatting the accessed data for viewing in accordance with the formatting parameters comprise computer-readable instructions that cause the client computer to perform the following when executed at the client computer:an act of converting the identified stored data into displayable content that includes Hypertext Markup Language tags.