WO2001077883A1

WO2001077883A1 - System and method for creating and searching web sites

Info

Publication number: WO2001077883A1
Application number: PCT/AU2001/000393
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jim Limberis
Original assignee: Netseek Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2000-04-06
Filing date: 2001-04-06
Publication date: 2001-10-18
Also published as: AUPQ673100A0

Abstract

The present invention relates to web sites, databases and search engines, and, in particular, relates to a combined web site and database which is searchable using an improved search engine. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of creating vertical portals or search infrastructures, and integrating them into existing web sites. The invention accordingly provides for a web page including displayed information wherein at least some of the displayed information corresponds with stored information which is stored in fields in tables in a web page database, wherein the displayed information includes a plurality of displayed information units, the stored information includes a plurality of stored information units, and each displayed information unit is displayed in a displaying region on the web page, and wherein the web page database includes a primary web page table including a primary web page field which contains a primary web page database identifier which uniquely identifies the web page database. The invention also provides for a web site comprising a plurality of web pages, and a set of affiliate web sites and corresponding databases, including a super database made up of a series of portals each including their own affiliated set of web site databases.

Description

System and method for creating and searching web sites

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to web sites, databases and seaich engines, and, in particulai , relates to a combined web site and database which is searchable using an improved search engine More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of creating vertical portals or search infrastructures, and integrating them into existing web sites

Background of the invention

The Internet is growing at an alarming rate Its use is becoming increasingly business focussed Unfortunately the differentiation between general information (general content) and business information (business/transactional content) is not clear enough when searches are performed using traditional means

At present, known seaich engines act as individual entities so finding information becomes a combination of a consumei or business going to various typically non-independent sites, and hopefully coming across what they are looking for

Traditional business specific directories are limited in the way information can be found and maintained The present invention was developed for a number of reasons, the main ones being a) to standardise certain content on the Internet and provide a unique search engine architecture which can be used to create and locate that content, b) to provide an alternative to current web hosting methods, which offers cost benefits, and ease of maintenance, and c) to provide a transpaient solution for businesses who would like (content specific) search engine functionality integrated into their existing web sites

The present invention centres around the process of creating search engine infrastructure tor third parties

The present invention is an improvement over the prior art because its hierarchical architecture allows for third party/independent, sub-portals (search engines) to be created that contain specific information These search engines might contain restaurant information, accounting information, or health information

These sub-portals data can then be amalgamated into a higher level portal, which may be industry specific

The data within these sub-portals can be maintained through a maintenance interface New content can be added, activated, deactivated or changed via a user name and password

Additional advantages of the present invention can be summarised as follows a) A third party vertical portal structure can be implemented ready for update by the client within hours The architecture of the present invention is open, so that programming is not required Users need only choose the web site structure they like and fill in the details in the information entry interface b i The seai ch engine (SQL sei ver side ) aspect of the pi esent invention contains all the business rules foi the way the invention opei ates and functions It a change is l equii ed it can be implemented in the back end which will effectively replicate the functionality change to all vertical portal sites ) The present invention s back end architecture has been implemented to maximise the performance of interactions between the interface and the database content

The pi esent invention is capable of creating at least the following st ctures

1 a single web site for a single business (say a 10 page web site)

2 a collection ot web sites which tall under a search structure (accessed by a third pai tv web site) and are visible in the super database/search engine and 3 a collection ot web sites which tall under a seai ch structui e (accessed by a thu d party web site) which are invisible in the super database/search engine

Summary of the invention

Various exemplary non limiting aspects of the present invention are defined and disclosed in the following paragraphs According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a web page including displayed information wherein at least some of the displayed information corresponds with stored information which is stored in fields in tables in a web page database wherein the displayed information includes a plurality of displayed information units the stored information includes a plurality of stored information units and each displayed information unit is displayed in a displaying region on the web page and wherein the web page database includes a primary web page table including a pπmai v web page field which contains a primary web page database identifiei which uniquely identifies the web page database

In a preferred form ot the invention each displaying region coπ esponds to a field in the web page database such that the displayed information unit (DIU) displayed in that region corresponds with the stored information unit (SIU) stored in its corresponding field in the database Conveniently the position size coloui and/or orientation of the display regions on the page are defined by a page layout

Typically the fields store SIUs chosen from a group including a) characters b ) numbers c) pictures d ) links and e) dates

The SIUs mav be chosen from a group including a) names b) addresses c) phone numbers. ) tax numbers, e) email addresses f⁾ industry categories. product names h) product descriptions

0 service names

J) service descriptions ) announcements

1) catalogues, m) menus. n) keywords o) event names,

P) event descriptions, q) event dates, r) pictures, and s) banner advertisements Typically, the display regions display DIUs are chosen from the group including a) charactei b) numbers c) pictures, d) links The display regions may be chosen from a group including a) name regions, b) address regions, c) phone number regions, d) fax number regions, e) email address regions, t) industry category regions g product name regions, h) product description regions i) service name regions, j) service description regions, k) announcement regions

1) catalogue regions m) menu regions n) keyword regions o) event name regions, p) event description regions, or q) event date regions, r) owner contact information regions. s) picture regions t) product information regions u) announcement information regions v) link information regions, and w) menu information regions, and x) banner advertisement regions

Typically, all ot the displayed information corresponds with stored information which is stored in the fields in the tables in the web page database Advantageously, the primary web page table is linked to at least one subsidiary web page table by a foreign key. with the at least one subsidiary web page table conveniently being linked to further subsidiary tables by further foreign keys

Preferably each web page references, or is referenced by, at least one other web page via a link

The invention extends to a web site including a plurality of web pages, wherein each web page includes displayed information where at least some of the displayed information corresponds with stored information which is stored in fields in tables in a web page database, wherein the displayed information includes a plurality of displayed information units, the stored information includes a plurality of stored information units, and each displayed information unit is displayed in a displaying region on the web page, and, wherein the web site has a unique web site identifier which corresponds to a unique primary web site database identifier such that the displayed information on a particular web site is stored in its corresponding web site database, and wherein each web page references, or is referenced by. at least one other web page via a link

Conveniently, the displaying regions on the web pages are arranged according to a plurality of page layouts

The types ot page layouts may include a) home page layouts, b) menu page layouts c) newsletter page layouts, d) announcement page layouts e) product page layouts f) service page layouts, g) link page layouts, h ) general information page layouts and

!) content page layouts

Advantageously the web site has at least one relational identifier with the relational identifier of a particular web site being stored in its corresponding web site database Typically the at least one relational identifier is chosen from the group including a) an affiliate identifier b) a parent identifier c) a child identifier d) a vertical portal identifier or ej a horizontal portal identifier

The invention extends further to a set of affiliate web sites including a plurality of web sites of the type described above wherein each web site as the same affiliate identifier

The invention further provides an hierarchical set of affiliate web sites including a plurality of affiliate web sites of the type described above wherein a parent web site includes at least one child identifier and a child web site includes a parent identifier such that the child identifier of the parent web site corresponds to the parent identifier of the child web site

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a computer implemented method of forming the web page described above by a) defining a database including at least one table including at least one field and b) associating at least one of the fields with at least one display region on the web page

The computer implemented method extends to the formation of a plurality ot web pages ot a type described above by a) creating a template web page including a plurality ot display regions whose size orientation and/or layout is defined by a template page layout, b) creating a template database including at least one table including a plurality of fields containing default field information and being associated with one or more display regions on the template web page c) copying the template database to create a new database having substantially the same table attributes field attributes and default field information as the template database d) creating a new primary database identifier and storing it in a primary field of a primary table of the new database e) copying the template web page to create a new web page having a unique web site identifier which corresponds with the new primary database identifier and having a plurality of display regions whose size, orientation and/or layout matches the template page layout; f) associating the fields of the new database with the display regions on the new web page; and g) repeating steps b) to d) until the desired number of new web pages is reached.

Advantageously, the step of creating a template web page includes the step of accepting layout specifications from a user and applying those specifications to the web page.

The invention further provides a computer implemented method of forming a web site of the type described above by forming a first web page in accordance with the method defined above, forming a second web page in accordance with the method defined above, adding a link, which references the second web page to the first web page, and preferably adding a link which references the first web page to the second web page.

The invention still further provides a computer implemented method of creating and adding a new web page to an web site, wherein the existing web site is a web site as defined above, by forming a new web page in accordance with the method described above, adding a first new link, which references the new web page to a first existing web page in the existing web site, and preferably adding a second new link, which references a new web page to a second existing web page.

The method may extend to include the additional step of adding a third new link, which references an existing web page to the new web page.

There is further provided a computer implemented method of forming a set of affiliate web sites of the type described above by forming a first web site using the method described above, forming a second web site using the same method defined above, and assigning the same affiliate identifier to the first and second web sites.

There is still further provided a computer implemented method of forming an hierarchical set of affiliate web sites of the type described above by forming a set of affiliate web sites using the method defined above, assigning a child identifier to the parent web site, and assigning a matching parent identifier to the child web site. The invention extends to a data entry interface for updating displaying information on a web page of the type described above including a plurality of information entry fields, each of which corresponds to a field in a table in the database.

The interface preferably includes an uploader for uploading entered information from the information entry fields into the stored information fields in the database and may also include a downloader for downloading stored information from the stored information fields in the database into the information entry fields.

The interface may further include a downloader for downloading stored information from the stored information fields in the database into the information entry fields.

The entered information may include a plurality of entered information units (EIUs). The plurality ot information entry fields may be displayed on a plurality ot information entry pages which may be internet web pages, with at least some of the information entry pages preferably being linked to one another

The information entry pages may include a) personal information entry pages. b) product information entry pages, c) service information entry pages, d) announcement information entry pages, e) catalogue information entry pages. f) menu information entry pages, g) general information entry pages, h) additional links information entry pages, and/or

I) homepage information entry pages

The information entry pages may further include action choice buttons which may in the form of links or pictures which behave like buttons

The action choice buttons may be chosen from the group including a) edit buttons, b) add buttons, c) save buttons, and d) activate pick lists

Pressing the edit button on an information entry page may cause the downloader to download the SIUs from the database fields into the corresponding information entry fields in the information page tor editing by the user

Pressing the add button on an information entry page typically causes the downloader to download the SIUs from the database fields into the corresponding information entry fields in the information page in read only format, so that the user can only add entered information to empty information entry fields

Pressing the save button on an information entry page typically causes the uploader to upload the entered information units (EIUs) entered by user into the corresponding database fields as SIUs

Conveniently, selection ot the activate option in the activate pickhst on an information entry page causes the uploader to change an active indicator in a field in the database to an active state

According to a still further aspect of the invention theie is provided a computer implemented method ot generating a search string for use in searching a database having a plurality of database tables each of which has a database table name, wherein each table contains a plurality of database fields each ot which has a database field name and contains stored information wherein said search string is based upon at least one search parameter each search parameter having a corresponding database field and wherein said method includes the steps of a) generating a database field selection statement b) generating a database table selection statement cj generating a condition statement d ) concatenating said database field selection statement said database table selection statement and said condition statement to form a search string

The method preferably includes the additional step of generating a result order statement and concatenating said result Older statement to said search string Advantageously the step ot generating a database field selection statement is achieved by a) declaring a database field selection string variable, b) initialising said string variable, c) adding a database field selection command to the start of said string, d) adding at least one database field name to said string, followed by a separator, e) repeating step d) until the field selection string variable includes all the required database field names, and f) removing the final separator in the database field selection string

The database field selection command may be the SQL selection command "SELECT , and the separatoi may be a comma Conveniently the step ot generating a database table selection statement is achieved by a) declaring a database table selection string variable, b) initialising said string variable, c) adding a database table selection command to the start of said string d) adding at least one database table name to said string, followed by a separator, e) repeating step d) until the table selection string variable includes all the required database table names, and f) removing the final separator in said database table selection string

Typically, the database field selection command is the SQL selection command "FROM"

Preferably, the step ot generating a condition statement is achieved by a) declaring a condition string variable, b) initialising said string variable c) adding a condition command to the start of said string d) adding at least equation to said string followed by a separator e) repeating step d) until the condition string variable includes all the required equations, and f) removing the final separator from the string The condition command may be the SQL selection command WHERE

Typically, the equation takes the form of database field name = corresponding search parameter

Preferably the step of generating a result order statement is achieved by a) declaring a result order string variable b) initialising said string variable c) adding a result order command to the start of said string d) adding at least one database field name to said string followed by a separator e) repeating step d ) until the result order string variable includes all the required database field names and f) removing the final separator from the string

The result order command may be the SQL result order command ORDER BY

The invention still further provides a seaich string generated by the computer implemented method described above

The invention also extends to a computer implemented search string generator which generates search strings in accordance with the method described above

According to a still further aspect of the invention there is provided a web page database including stored information wherein at least some of the stored information corresponds with displayed information which is displayed in displaying regions on a web page, wherein the web page is a web page as defined in any one of the paragraphs above There is further provided a web site database including plurality of web page databases of the type described above

The web site database may include a plurality ot web sites of the type described in any of the relevant paragraphs above

Conveniently, at least some of the stored information in the web site database corresponds with displayed information displayed on the web site of the type described above

The invention further extends to a super database including a plurality of web site databases ot the type described above with each of the web site databases including an affiliate field which contains an affiliate identifier, wherein web sites which are affiliated with one another preferably have the same affiliate identifier

Conveniently, each web site database further includes a visibility field containing a visibility variable which has a positive status and a negative status, indicating whether or not the web site database is visible in the super database

The super database may include a super affiliate field which contains a super affiliate code

According to a yet further aspect ot the invention there is provided an internet searching system including a search interface including at least one search field tor receiving user supplied search parameters, a super database ot a type described above, a search engine a search results displaying interface tor displaying a plurality ot search result units, wherein said search interface receives said user supplied search parameters and communicates them to said search engine. said search engine receives said search parameters, generates a query based thereon, searches said super database using said query, produces said plurality of search result units and communicates same to said search results displaying interface, and wherein said search results displaying interface receives and displays said search result units

Typically, the search interface has a plurality of search interface types, and each ot said search interface types has an associated search interface identifier

Conveniently, said search interface communicates its search interface identifier to said search engine along with said user supplied search parameters The search engine typically generates an amended query based upon both said search parameters and said search interface identifier

Advantageously, the search engine searches said super database using said amended query, producing a plurality of filtered search result units

Typically, said filtered search result units include stored information which is relevant to said search interface type

Advantageously, said search interface type is a super search interface having a supei search interface identifier

The amended query may include a condition that the only web site databases which are searched are those having visibility variables with a positive status The search interface may be an affiliate seaich interface having an affiliate search interface identifier

The amended query may include a condition that the only web site databases which are searched are those having an affiliate identifier which corresponds with said affiliate search interface identifier

The search results displaying interface may have a plurality ot interface types, with each ot the displaying interface types having an associated displaying interface layout The displaying interface layout typically determines the presentation, colour and arrangement of said search result units on said displaying interface Advantageouslv. the search result units are displayed in a search results table having column headings on said displaying interface and wherein said displaying interface layout determines the presentation coloui and arrangement ot said results table

The displaying interface layout conveniently deteimine the information displayed in the column headings of the results table

The displaying interface layout may further determine the colour, size, orientation and appearance ot logos and advertising banners on said displaying interface

The displaying interface type may be determined bv the search interface type used, and the search interface type may be a super search interface and the displaying interface type may be a super search results displaying interface

The search interface type may be an affiliate search interface and the displaying interface type may be an affiliate search results displaying interface The invention further provides an internet searching system of the type described above wherein the query is a search string of the type described above

The search results displaying interface may also include at least one search field to enable a user to refine their search

The invention extends to a computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having thereon computer program code means, when said program is loaded, to make the computer execute procedure to provide a data entry interface ot the type described above

The invention still further provides a server hosting a web page database of a type described above, as well as a server hosting web site database of the type described above and a super database of the type described above

For purposes of clarity, it should be understood that the terms "affiliate' and portal" may be used interchangeably

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 shows a schematic high level diagram of a web portal creation system of the invention, Figure 2 shows a flowchart illustrating the various steps involved in creating a portal,

Figures 3A and 3B show a typical template page layouts tor enabling the capture of portal creation information,

Figure 4 shows a typical page layout for creating a product web page.

Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a web site and portal updating process of the invention, Figure 6 shows a typical page layout providing a user with a business updating interface,

Figure 7 shows a typical homepage constructed using the updated information present in the page layout ot Figure 6, Figure 8 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a searching pi ocedure for searching portals created by the portal creation process of the invention.

Figure 9 shows a page layout ot a search result, and

Figure 10 shows an entity relationship diagram illustrating the architecture ot the portal database Detailed description of the preferred embodiments

Referring first to Figure 1 , a web site portal creation system 10 of the invention has at its heart a portal database 12 residing in a web servei 14 and including a database or portal query engine 15 A remote subscriber terminal 16 is linked via the internet to the server web site and is provided with a web browser 18 for enabling portal set up requirements to be captured from the subscribe! A series of data entry template pages 20 are used to capture the portal set up parameters from the subscriber, who provides information such as the number of web sites contained in a particular portal or search infrastructure and the number and type ot pages contained within each web site The information entered into the data entry data pages 20 is transmitted via the internet 22 to the web server 14 in the form of active server pages (ASPs) 24 The portal database 12 includes a series of portals A, B Z which are created by a series of SQL stored procedures that populate corresponding tables within the portal database 12

The ASPs are used in the creation of web sites containing various pages, including a web site homepage, a general content page, announcement pages, catalogue pages, cuisine or menu pages, special deal pages and external links Each web site homepage has a keyword field associated with it for use during location functions, and is created visually via portal creation parameters 26 which are transmitted via the portal engine to the database, which contains within its tables content and visual information

The database engine 15 also has a number of different enquiry and display functions These include the acceptance of search parameters and the performance of a search against such parameters Catalogue parameters are accepted, and catalogue tables are searched, as are announcement parameters and searching of the corresponding announcement table The same is applicable in respect of menu parameters and product and service keyword parameters

Further functions include the display ot one or more web sites within an individual portal through a URL call The database engine requests and accepts a user name and password tor update access On successful login, a browser interface is presented tor enabling on-line changes

A request portal function ot the database engine captures portal requirement requests, and includes a series of tables recording captured lequest information which remains in the tables until processed by a request processoi procedure This is run periodically, and creates portal web sites based on the information in the tables in the manner described further on in the specification

A series ot administration update procedures update the portal records, from information passed from the browser-based user maintenance pages These records correspond with the web site pages A picklist populator function populates portal-specific pickhsts when performing updates to the system, and a page process function runs periodically either to activate or deactivate announcement pages A tax/email process is run periodically by the database engine so as to fax or email messages contained within the tax or email table

Turning now to Figuie 2 the portal creation process will be described in more detail Typically, a subscriber 01 portal creator 34 would belong to an umbrella organisation such as a club or institute a local chamber of commerce, a shopping centie or exhibition or conference organisation The usei accesses the portal database via a URL, and the browser 17 displays in sequence a number of ASP pages, including a main page template 24 1 a content page template 24 2, an announcement page template 24 3, a catalogue page template 24 4. a menu page template 24 5 and a deal page template 24 6 The number of required web sites are entered on the main page template 24 1 , and the number ot pages required in respect of the content, announcement catalogue, menu and deal pages are similarly entered on the corresponding page templates

Once the user has entered the portal details, a portal creation confirmation page appears containing the following text

Are you sure you want to create ten web sites each with

• 5 product/services • 5 announcements

• 2 catalogues

• 0 menus

• 0 menu deals⁷

If the user is satisfied with the portal configuration, the "yes' or create portal button 36 is pressed This causes the portal creation parameters to be transmitted to the portal web site Various portal link creation procedures 40 are initiated These include the initialisation of portal request tables within the database, and the allocation of a unique identification code for the particular portal, as shown at 40 1 The request tables within the portal database are subsequently populated with portal requirement data including the number of web sites and the number of pages within each web site as is shown at 40 2 The portal web site creation procedure is illustrated in more detail at 42 Once the request tables have been populated with the overall number of web sites and the overall number of pages within each web site, each web site is then individually constructed by creating a main page and thereafter the requisite number of content, announce, catalogue, cuisine or menu and deal pages, as shown at 42 1 to 42 6 respectively The unique web site user name and password is subsequently generated at 42 7 using the first of those letters of the portal code together with the web site unique identifier The password is created using a time and date stamp seed Once all of the web sites have been generated, a fax email notification record is created at 44, and the subscriber is then notified at 46

A lower level description of this procedure now follows

Activation of the create portal button calls the stored procedure spiInsertManual to insert a blank record into each of the SQL tblRequest tables and returns the IRequestlD. which is unique to that specific portal The portal template information and data that is entered by the end user is then exported via update queries to the tblRequest records just created The IRequestlD is used to reference the correct portal creation records in the event that numerous users are creating portals simultaneously

When the portal template information and data is written to the tblRequest tables, the procedure spCreateRecords is called, passing the current IRequestlD as an identifier tor the portal being created This process commences at the top ot the tblRequestPortal for each IRequestlD, it a specific IRequestlD is not passed

The spCreateRecords process inspects details of the 'Create Portal' request, (bAddMorePages lWebsitelD. iRequestQty) in the underlying tblRequest tables and creates the table records via three sub procedures These are spCreatePortal, spCreatePortalChild and spCreateOther The spCreatePortal pi ocedure creates the portal 'main page' records and also calls spCreateWebsiteChild and spCreateOther This procedure accepts the IRequestlD and iChildQty parameters so that it can process the correct request record and flag each Website as individual web site or parent web site

The spCreateWebsiteChild procedure solely creates Website records that are flagged as children and attaches them to a parent This procedure accepts the IRequestlD and lWebsitelD parameters so that it can process the correct request record and attach it to the correct Website

The spCreateOther procedure will create all other Website related records (Announcement, Menu, MenuDeal, ProductService CataloguePage. and Catalogueltem) and attach them to a Website record This procedure accepts the IRequestlD and lWebsitelD parameters so that it can process the correct request record and attach it to the correct Website The password is generated as a string of random letters and digits in a new stored procedure called spCreatePassword This procedure is called within the spCreatePortal, and spCreateWebsiteChild procedures This process loops to create the next portals web site, until the requested number of web sites are created within the portal After the records are successfully created, the request records that match the passed IRequestlD are then deleted from the tblRequest tables A scheduled job exists on the Portal Server that will periodically scan the tblRequestWebsiteParent table for records that are flagged as WWW requests (sRequestSource = 'W' ) and that have the transaction approved (bTransApproved = True)

This routine will loop through all the pending transactions that match the criteria and call the Record Creation procedure tor each request It the Record Creation procedure returns with a Success status, then the user is informed that the request has been processed and will email them with their UserlD and Password

It is expected that during the processing of a portal s creation, this polling routine may be processing hundreds of records at a time

When records have been created via the WWW. a record is to be written to the tblFaxEmail table so that either a Fax or Email can be sent to the user to lntorm them that their portal has been created The procedures spCreateRecords and spCreatePortal call a pi ocedure called spiEmail, which writes a record to the tblFaxEmail table An external process then interrogates this table and sends the faxes/emails

The fax/email process 44 retrieves all 'PENDING' items in the tblFaxEmail table

The process opens the result set and inspects the sCorrespondanceType field If it is 'FAX', then a tax tile is and sent to the tax server It it is 'EMAIL' , then an email is sent via the ASPMail It ASPMail detects an error in sending the email, the error message is written to the sFailReason field in the tblFaxEmail table

Referring now to Figures 3A and 3B. a data entry page is called up from the browser in an HTML format Alternatively, a locally deployable version of the software, such as Miciosoft Visual Basic ®, could be utilized The number of web sites (in this case ten) is entered together with the affiliate or portal code (CHAMBER), and the business category (Automotive) The number of pages (five) in respect of each web site is also indicated An ordei seed no may also be entered to detei mine the retrieval priority of the web site Typically, the web sites are initially allocated the same seed no so that they have the same priority Thereafter individual subscribers may pay a premium for a lower number, so that their web sites have priority when the portal is searched A logo path (/chamber/images/logo jpg) is generated for the entire portal based on the affiliate or portal code As individual web site images are created they are allocated separate directories within the path Various other contact details are then entered where applicable, in place of default and prompt data

In Figure 4, a typical screen layout of a content page 20 2 is shown, which includes the total number of desired content pages (five) as well as an order seed number Provision is made for the entry of product and service details, together with a product or service external URL Once all the other necessary data has been entered by the user in respect of the other pages, the web site user name and password are generated in the manner described above

At this stage the umbrella organisation has ten web sites carrying separate id s and passwords This organisation has an administration password enabling it to access and update any web site in the portal All ot the members are then notified of their passwords and ids to enable them to update their individual web sites and enter user specific information

The updating processes are illustrated in more detail in Figures 6 and 7

At the customer terminal 16 1 , the customer logs into the "Chamber ' portal web site via the web browser 17 1 by entering his or her password which is allocated by the umbrella organisation Together with the updating of business details, the user may update content pages catalogue pages, announce pages, web site details and cuisine pages From Figure 7, the various data entry fields are self-explanatory Once the user has updated the data, the save button is pressed, thereby passing the fields as parameters to the update procedures specific to each page

As is clear from Figure 6, the update parameters are used to update the corresponding tables in the portal database 12 using portal update procedures 50 The current database information stored in the tables is then transmitted back to the user terminal 16 1 via ASPs, which determine the identical web page layouts The pages are then physically viewed by the user at 52 A typical main web page incorporating the information of Figure 6 is shown in Figure 7 with one-to-one correspondence between fields within the database and displayed infoi mation units displayed in displaying regions on the web page

In Figure 8. the seaiching process is shown The searches were conducted via a web browser 17 2 at a user terminal 16 2 The search parameters are transmitted via ASPs to a portal search engine 54 at the portal web site Searching is facilitated within a particular portal using the portal code as part of the search string The portal code is preserved throughout the user session The search string is constructed dynamically using the parameters specified during the search For performance reasons, search criteria not specified are not incorporated within the dynamically created search string within the portal engine The searcher also has the opportunity to confine the search to a particular web page-defined category within a particular portal By way ot example, business, catalogue, announcement and cuisine searches 54 1 to 54 4 may be conducted with the search results being conveyed via the portal result pages 56 An example of a search result within a particular portal is illustrated in the page layout ot Figure 9

Referring now to Figure 10. a detailed diagram of the architectuie ot the portal database is shown Each of the blocks in the diagram represent individual table location in the database, with the identity of each table being indicated on the diagram Each of the tables has at least one corresponding web page or part thereof associated with it, with the tables and the web pages having a one-to-one. many-to-one or one-to-many relationship Similarly, the individual fields within each table house stored information units which have corresponding displayed information units or web regions where the stored information is ultimately displayed It is clear from the diagram that each of the tables has a particular table identification which is also mirrored in the corresponding web page The relationship between the tables is indicated by way of the broken lines in the diagram, with a black dot representing the "many" side of a one-to-many relationship

When a search is conducted in respect of a particular portal, the map field table 58 in the database in respect of that particular portal not only determines the search results, but also the particular fields that are displayed within those results This allows portals to be customised to the extent that only the relevant data being searched tor with respect to a particular portal category is uncovered Irrelevant information with respect to a particular portal is therefore simply not displayed in the results The map field table thus determines exactly which information is displayed with respect to a particular portal

The portal code which is resident in the portal table is used as a primary distinguishing mechanism to distinguish one portal from another within the database The portal code is preserved for the duration of each usei session so as to ensure that only information associated with that particular portal is displayed at the front end

Various aspects ot the present invention are described in more detail, and way of example only, in the following appendices

Appendix A Search Engine Specification Appendix B Update Admin Specification Appendix C Portal Creation Process Definition

Appendix D Search Architecture ASP Pages

Appendix E Portal Creation Processes & Functions

Although the invention has been described with reference to specific examples, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms

It will be understood that the invention disclosed and defined herein extends to all alternative combinations ot two or more of the individual features mentioned or evident from the text or drawings All of these different combinations constitute various alternative aspects of the invention

The foregoing describes embodiments of the present invention and modifications, obvious to those skilled in the art can be made thereto, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1 A web page including displayed information wherein at least some ot the displayed information corresponds with stored information which is stored in fields in tables in a web page database, wherein the displayed information includes a plurality ot displayed information units, the stored information includes a plurality ot stored information units and each displayed information unit is displayed in a displaying region on the web page, and wherein the web page database includes a primary web page table including a primary web page field which contains a primary web page database identifier which uniquely identities the web page database

2 A web page as claimed in claim 1 wherein each displaying region corresponds to a field in the web page database such that the displayed information unit (DIU) displayed in that region corresponds with the stored information unit (SIU) stored in its corresponding field in the database

3 A web page as claimed in either one of claims 1 or 2 wherein the position, size, colour and/or orientation ot the display regions on the page are defined by a page layout

4 A web page as claimed in any one ot the preceding claims wherein the fields store SIUs chosen from a group including a) characters, b) numbers c) pictures. d) links, and e) dates 5 A web page as claimed in claim 4 wherein the SIUs are chosen from a group including a) names b) addresses

C ) phone numbers. d) fax numbers, e) email addresses. f) industry categories, σ product names, h) product descriptions service names.

J⁾ service descriptions, k) announcements,

1) catalogues, m) menus, n) keywords o) event names

P⁾ event descriptions q) event dates r) pictures and s) banner advertisements

6 A web page as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the display regions display DIUs are chosen from the group including a) characters, b) numbers

L) pictures, and d) links 7 A web page as claimed in claim 6 wherein the display regions are chosen from a group including a) name regions. b) address regions c) phone number regions d) fax number regions e) email address regions f) industry category regions, σ product name regions. h) product description regions,

0 service name regions,

J) service description regions, k) announcement regions.

1) catalogue regions m) menu regions. n) keyword regions,

0) event name regions

P) event description regions, or q) event date regions, r) owner contact information regions, s) picture regions t) product information regions u) announcement information regions v) link information regions, w) menu information regions, and x) banner advertisement regions 8 A web page as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein all of the displayed information corresponds with stored information which is stored in the fields in the tables in the web page database

9 A web page as claimed in anv one ot the preceding claims wherein the pπmaiy web page table is linked to at least one subsidiary web page table by a foreign key

10 A web page as claimed in claim 9 wherein the at least one subsidiary web page table is linked to further subsidiary tables bv further foreign keys 1 1 A web site including a plurality ot web pages as claimed in any one ot claims 1 to 10 wherein each web page references, oi is l eterenced by at least one other web page via a link

12 A web site including a plurality, ot web pages wherein each web page includes displayed information where at least some ot the displayed information corresponds with stored information which is stored in fields in tables in a web page database wherein the displayed information includes a plurality of displayed information units, the stored information includes a plurality of stored information units, and each displayed information unit is displayed in a displaying region on the web page, and, wherein the web site has a unique web site identifier which corresponds to a unique primary web site database identifier such that the displayed information on a particular web site is stored in its corresponding web site database, and wherein each web page references, or is reterenced by, at least one other web page via a link 13 A web site as claimed in either one of claims 1 1 or 12 wherein the displaying regions on the web pages are arranged according to a plurality of page layouts

14 A web site as claimed in claim 13 wherein the types of page layouts include a) home page layouts, b) menu page layouts, c) newsletter page layouts, d) announcement page layouts, e) product page layouts, f ) service page layouts g) link page layouts, h) general information page layouts, and

I) content page layouts

15 A web site as claimed in any one of claims 1 1 to 14 wherein the web site has at least one relational identifier with the relational identifier of a particular web site being stored in its corresponding web site database

16 A web site as claimed in claim 15 whet group including a) an affiliate identifier, b) a parent identifier c) a child identifier d) a vertical portal identifier and e) a horizontal portal identifier

17 A set of affiliate web sites including a plurality ot web sites as defined in claim 16 wheiein each web site has the same affiliate identifier

18 An hierarchical set of affiliate web sites including a plurality of affiliate web sites as claimed in claim 17 wherein a parent web site includes at least one child identifier and a child web site includes a parent identifier, such that the child identifier of the parent web site corresponds to the parent identifier ot the child web

19 A computer implemented method of forming the web page as claimed in any one ot claims 1 to 10 by a) defining a database including at least one table including at least one field, and b) associating at least one of the fields with at least one display region on the web page

20 A computer implemented method of forming a plurality of web pages as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 by a) creating a template web page including a plurality of display regions whose size, orientation and/or layout is defined by a template page layout b) creating a template database including at least one table including a plurality of fields containing default field information and being associated with one or more display regions on the template web page, c) copying the template database to create a new database having substantially the same table attributes, field attributes and default field information as the template database, d) creating a new primary database identifier and storing it in a primary field of a primary table of the new database, e) copying the template web page to create a new web page having a unique web site identifier which corresponds with the new primary database identifier and having a plurality of display regions whose size, orientation and/or layout matches the template page layout, f) associating the fields of the new database with the display regions on the new web page, and g) repeating steps b) to d) until the desired number of new web pages is reached

21 A method as claimed in claim 20 wherein the step ot creating a template web page includes the step of accepting layout specifications from a user and applying those specifications to the web page

22 A computer implemented method of forming a web site as claimed in any one of claims 1 1 to 16 by aj forming a tnst web page in accordance with the method defined in either one ot claims

19 or 20, b) forming a second web page in accordance with the method defined in either one ot claims 19 or 20. and c) adding a link, which references the second web page to the first web page

23 A method as claimed in claim 22 further including the additional step ot adding a link which references the first eb page to the second web page

24 A computer implemented method of creating and adding a new web page to an existing web site, wherein the existing web site is a web site as defined in any one of claims 1 1 to 18, by a) forming a new web page in accordance with the method defined in any one of claims 19 or 20, b) adding a first new link which references the new web page to a first existing web page in the existing web site

25 A method as claimed in claim 24 further including the additional step of adding a second new link, which references the new web page, to a second existing web page

26 A method as claimed in either one of claims 24 or 25 further including the additional step of adding a third new link, which references an existing web page to the new web page

27 A computer implemented method of forming a set of affiliate web sites as defined in claim 17 by a) forming a first web site using the method defined in either one of claims 22 or 23, b) forming a second web site using the method defined in either one of claims 22 oi 23, and c) assigning the same affiliate identifier to the first and second web sites

28 A computer implemented method of forming an hierarchical set of affiliate web sites as defined in claim 18 by a) forming a set of affiliate web sites using the method defined in claim 27, b) assigning a child identifier to the parent web site, and c) assigning a matching parent identifier to the child web site

29 A data entry interface for updating displayed information on a web page as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 including a plurality of information entry fields, each ot which corresponds to a field in a table in the database

30 An interface as claimed in claim 29 further including an uploader for uploading entered information from the information entry fields into the stored information fields in the database

31 An interface as claimed in claim 29 further including a downloader foi downloading stoied information trom the stored information fields in the database into the information entiy fields

32 An interface as claimed in claim 30 further including a downloader tor downloading stored information trom the stored information fields in the database into the information entry fields 33 An interface as claimed in any one of claims 29 to 32 wherein the entered information includes a plurality ot entered information units (EIUs)

34 An interface as claimed any one of claims 29 to 33 wherein the plurality of information entry fields are displayed on a plurality of information entry pages

35 An interface as claimed in claim 34 wherein the information entry pages are internet web pages 36 An interface as claimed in either one of claims 34 oi 35 wherein at least some of the information entry pages are linked to one another

37 An interface as claimed in any one of claims 34 to 36 wherein the information entry pages are chosen from a group including a) personal information entry pages, b) product information entry pages, c) service information entry pages d) announcement information entry pages, e) catalogue information entry pages, f) menu information entry pages. g) general information entry pages, h) additional links information entry pages, and/or

I) homepage information entry pages

38 A interface ot claim 37 wherein the information entry pages further include action choice buttons

39 The interface as claimed in claim 38 wherein the action choice buttons are links or pictures which behave like buttons

40 The interface of claim 38 wherein the action choice buttons are chosen from a group including a) edit buttons, b) add buttons, c) save buttons, and d) activate pick lists

41 The interface as claimed in claim 40 wherein pressing the edit button on an information entry page causes the downloader to download the SIUs from the database fields into the corresponding information entry fields in the information page for editing by the user

42 The interface as claimed in claim 40 wherein pressing the add button on an information entry page causes the downloader to download the SIUs trom the database fields into the corresponding information entry fields in the information page in read only format, so that the user can only add entered information to empty information entry fields 43 The interface as claimed in either one of claims 41 or 42 wherein pressing the save button on an information entry page causes the uploader to upload the entered information units (EIUs) entered by user into the corresponding database fields as SIUs

44 The interface as claimed in any one ot claims 41 to 43 wherein selecting the activate option in the activate pick list on an infoi mation entry page causes the uploader to change an active indicator in a field in the database to an active state

45 A computer implemented method of generating a search string tor use in searching a database having a plurality of database tables each of which has a database table name, wherein each table contains a plurality of database fields each of which has a database field name and contains stored information, wherein said search string is based upon at least one search parameter, each search parameter having a corresponding database field and wherein said method includes the steps of: a) generating a database field selection statement; b) generating a database table selection statement; c) generating a condition statement; d) concatenating said database field selection statement, said database table selection statement and said condition statement to form a search string.

46. A method as claimed in claim 45 further including the additional step of generating a result order statement and concatenating said result order statement to said search string

47. A method as claimed in claim 45 wherein said step of generating a database field selection statement is achieved by a) declaring a database field selection string variable, b) initialising said string variable; c) adding a database field selection command to the start of said string, d) adding at least one database field name to said string, followed by a separator; e) repeating step d) until the field selection string variable includes all the required database field names; and f) removing the final separator in the database field selection string

48 A method as claimed in claim 47 wherein said database field selection command is the SQL selection command "SELECT "

49 A method as claimed in claim 47 wherein said separator is a comma 50 A method as claimed in claim 45 wherein said step ot generating a database table selection statement is achieved by a) declaring a database table selection string variable b) initialising said string variable c) adding a database table selection command to the start of said string, d) adding at least one database table name to said string, followed by a separator, e) repeating step d) until the table selection string variable includes all the required database table names, and f) removing the final separator in said database table selection string 51 A method as claimed in claim 50 wherein said database field selection command is the SQL selection command 'FROM "

52 A method as claimed in claim 50 wherein said separator is a comma

53 A method as claimed in claim 45 wherein said step ot generating a condition statement is achieved by a) declaring a condition string variable, b) initialising said string variable, c) adding a condition command to the start of said string, d) adding at least equation to said string, followed by a separator, e) repeating step d) until the condition string variable includes all the required equations, and f) removing the final separator from the string

54 A method as claimed in claim 53 wherein said condition command is the SQL selection command "WHERE "

55 A method as claimed in claim 53 wherein said equation takes the form ot "database field name = corresponding search parameter"

56 A method as claimed in claim 53 wherein said separator is the SQL condition separator "AND "

57 A method as claimed in claim 46 wherein said step of generating a result order statement is achieved by a) declaring a result order string variable b) initialising said string variable, c) adding a result order command to the start of said string, d) adding at least one database field name to said string, followed by a separator, e) repeating step d) until the result order string variable includes all the required database field names, and f) removing the final separator from the string 58 A method as claimed in claim 57 wherein said result order command is the SQL result order command "ORDER BY '

59 A method as claimed in claim 57 wherein said separator is a comma

60 A search string geneiated by the method defined in any one of claims 45 to 59 61 A computer implemented search string generator which generates search strings in accordance with the method defined in any one of claims 45 to 59

62 A web page database including stored information wherein at least some of the stored information corresponds with displayed information which is displayed in displaying regions on a web page, wherein the web page is a web page as defined in any one of claims 1 to 10 63 A web site database including a plurality of web page databases as claimed in claim 62

64 A web site database including a plurality of web sites as claimed in any one of claims 1 1 to 18

65 A web site database as claimed in claim 63 wherein at least some ot the stored information in the web site database corresponds with displayed information displayed on the web site as claimed in any one of claims 11 tolό 66 A super database including a plurality of web site databases as claimed in claim 64 or claim 65

67 A super database as claimed in claim 66 wherein each of said web site databases includes an affiliate field which contains an affiliate identifier

68 A super database as claimed in claim 67 wherein web sites which are affiliated with one another have the same affiliate identifier 69 A super database as claimed in any one of claims 66 to 68 wherein each web site database further includes a visibility field containing a visibility variable which has a positive status and a negative status, indicating whether or not the web site database is visible in the super database

70 A super database as claimed in any one of claims 66 to 69 wherein said super database includes a super affiliate field which contains a super affiliate code 71 An internet searching system including a search interface including at least one search field for receiving user supplied search parameters a super database as claimed in any one of claims 66 to 70, a search engine, a search results displaying interface tor displaying a plurality ot search result units, wherein said search interface receives said user supplied search parameters and communicates them to said search engine, said search engine receives said search parameters generates a query based thereon, searches said super database using said query, produces said plurality ot search result units and communicates same to said search results displaying interface and wherein said search results displaying interface receives and displays said search result units 72 An internet searching system as claimed in claim 71 wherein said search interface has a plurality of search interface types

73 An internet searching system as claimed in claim 72 wherein each ot said search inteiface types has an associated search interface identifier

74 An internet searching system as claimed in claim 73 wherein said search interface communicates its search interface identifier to said search engine along with said user supplied search parameters

75 An internet searching system as claimed in claim 74 wherein said search engine generates an amended query based upon both said search parameters and said search interface identifier

76 An internet searching system as claimed in claim 75 wherein said search engine searches said super database using said amended query, producing a plurality of filtered search result units 77 An internet searching system as claimed in claim 76 wherein said filtered search result units include stored information which is relevant to said search interface type

78 An internet searching system as claimed in any one of claims 72 to 77 wherein said search interface type is a super search interface having a super search interface identifier

79 An internet searching system as claimed in claim 78 wherein said amended query includes a condition that the only web site databases which are searched are those having visibility variables with a positive status

80 An internet searching system as claimed in any one of claims 72 to 77 wherein said search interface is an affiliate search interface having an affiliate search interface identifier

81 An internet searching system as claimed in claim 80 wherein said amended query includes a condition that the only web site databases which are searched are those having an affiliate identifier which corresponds with said affiliate search interface identifier

82 An internet searching system as claimed in any one of claims 71 to 81 wherein said search results displaying interface has a plurality ot interface types

83 An internet searching system as claimed in claim 82 wherein each of said displaying interface types has an associated displaying interface layout

84 An internet searching system as claimed in claim 83 wherein said displaying interface layout determines the presentation, colour and arrangement of said search result units on said displaying interface 85 An internet searching system as claimed in claim 84 wherein said search result units are displayed in a search results table having column headings on said displaying interface and wherein said displaying interface layout determines the presentation, colour and arrangement of said results table

86 An internet searching system as claimed in claim 85 wherein said displaying interface layout determines the information displayed in the column headings ot said results table

87 An internet searching system as claimed in any one of claims 84 to 86 wherein said displaying interface layout further determines the colour, size, orientation and appearance of logos and advertising banners on said displaying interface

88 An internet searching system as claimed in any one of claims 83 to 87 wherein said displaying interface type is determined by the search interface type used

89 An internet searching system as claimed in claim 88 wherein said search interface type is a super search interface and said displaying interface type is a super search results displaying interface

90 An internet searching system as claimed in claim 88 wherein said search interface type is an affiliate search interface and said displaying interface type is an affiliate search results displaying interface 91 An internet searching system as claimed in any one ot claims 71 to 90 wherein said query is a search string as claimed in claim 110

92 An internet searching system as claimed in claim 82 wherein said search results displaying interface includes at least one search field to enable a user to refine their search

93 A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having thereon computer program code means, when said program is loaded, to make the computer execute procedures to provide a data entry interface as claimed in any on ot claims 29 to 44

94 A server hosting a web page database as claimed in claim 62

95 A server hosting a web site database as claimed in any one of claims 63 to 65

96 A server hosting a super database as claimed in any of claims 66 to 70

Appendix A Netseek

Netseek Search Engine Functionality

Module Functional Specification

1 FUNCTIONAL DECOMPOSITION

1.1 FUNCTIONAL DECOMPOSITION DIAGRAM

3 1 Funct oan! Decomposition Diagram

Portal Entry Page

S ubscribers

Seek Subscribers Frame Area

Results Subm it For Update Update Update Update U pdate Update Purchase Pages Payment Company Announce Catalog Menu Prod/Serv Keywords More Space

1.2 FUNCTION DECOMPOSITION DESCRIPTION

No. Function Priorit Descri tion

2 VISUAL DESIGN

The following are visual designs to reflect preferred functionality and purpose

2.1 INTERFACE STANDARDS

The following are the common elements that appear as standard functions through out the system It is assumed that the users minimum resolution is preferably 800x600, with 256 colours. It is assumed that either MS Internet Explorer 4.0, Netscape 4.5 or greater is preferably used.

2.2 PAGES

The following are the pages as they appear and descriptions of how they function.

2.2.1 HOME PAGE

This is the main Netseek home page.

No. Name Descri tion

2.2.2 SEEK FRAME

A search frame appears on the left of each page. This frame contains the following search selection criteria.

No. Name Description

1 Category List Box The default option is preferably 'All Categories'. The user may select multiple categories.

2.2.3 BASIC SEEK FUNCTIONALITY

No. Selection l;.4--.IIH-l

2.2.4 DETAILED SEEK FUNCTIONALITY

No. Selection l:. --U H

Suburb/Postcode

2.2.5 SEEK RESULTS GRID PROPERTIES

The following fields are preferably displayed in the result grid generated from a search These will be driven by a table called tblPortalResultsFields This table will record the field names and results column names to be specified in any of the following result sets The software will work in such a way, where prior to returning a set of results, it will determine the fields which are required for view, and present them in the result columns

Seek Results Fields Displayed Requested

2.2.6 SEEK RESULTS PAGE PROPERTIES

The following fields are preferably displayed when the user selects a result record Please note that fields in Italics do not have their field labels shown, and are preferably centered on the page

No. Results Shown Fields Displayed

1 Company/Main Company Name

Page Business Category Name

Streetl

Street2

Suburb

Postcode

State

Main Phone

Contact Title + Contact F Name + Contact S Name

Contact Phone

2.2.7 WEB PAGE NAVIGATION BAR.

When a Netseek web site page is displayed The left hand bar is dynamically constructed based on the results returned by spgmPickLists This allows every netseek web site to have its own established navigation bar, which is created by various entries in it tables, such that everything is data driven

2.2.7.1 CONTACT

The Fax Company button does present the user with a fax or email data entry form containing the following fields

No. Name Descri tion

The message is preferably written to a fax table, which records the CompanylD against the record A process sitting on Fax/Email Server does periodically poll this table. If any new unsent messages have been inserted into this table, they are either emailed or faxed, and then updated as being sent on the server. If an error occurs, the error is recorded against the record so that the cause can be determined.

2.2.8 CONTACT

This page displays the Netseek contact details.

2.2.9 ABOUT NETSEEK

This page displays information about Netseek.

Appendix B

Netseek Pty Ltd

Update Admin Specification

Module Functional Specification

1 FUNCTIONAL DECOMPOSITION

1.1 FUNCTION DECOMPOSITION DESCRIPTION

2 VISUAL DESIGN

2.1 INTERFACE STANDARDS

The following are the common elements that appear as standard functions through out the system It is assumed that the users minimum resolution will be 800x600, with 256 colours It is assumed that either MS Internet Explorer 4 0, Netscape 4 5 or greater will be used

All pages will have Save functionality located in the same position Such as a save button, or a Cancel button, etc

2.2 PAGES

The following are the pages as they will appear and descriptions of how they function

2.2.1 SUBSCRIBERS

This page will provide an interface for accepting new subscribers or maintaining existing subscribers' details

The following button will be displayed on the home page in the form of an image

No. Name Descri tion

2.2.1.1 VALIDATION SUCCESSFUL - SUBSCRIBERS AREA The subscriber s area will present the user with a bar on the left of the page that is common throughout the whole system (Use current bar measurements)

When the bar is initially constructed and displayed, the right hand side will contain instructions on the usage of the system

The header will be the same as the header on the web site home pages Room for a banner is required

As a standard, each page's images will be displayed on that page when editing throughout the whole system

The Portal Name, user name and the currently selected web site being edited is displayed at the top of the page underneath the header in a grid, which resembles

The colours for this grid are driven by the PortalTheme table, which will record the colour schemes supported by the portal

The following buttons/Links will be displayed

2.2.1 .2 SELECT WEBSITE To UPDATE

If the user who logged in is a Portal or a parent, then this link must be made visible On selection, the user will be presented with a grid containing all the web sites that fall under the Portal or parent code that the user has logged in as

(If they are a parent, the first record in the results set will be their web site, all others will be listed in alphabetical order based on web page title - this is to be controlled from the SQL Server)

The form will show 15 records at a time With an option to go <Next> and <Prev> just like a typical search result set (There may be 100's of web sites under a Portal) A search field will also be made available to allow the user to search the list of portal websites, and thus filter down on their selection

Once a record is selected, by clicking on the first column, the system will place this record into edit mode and update the grid to reflect the selection (See the 'You Are Editing:' box)

2.2.1.3 BUSINESS DETAILS

The company details will be presented for editing. The following fields are to be displayed in this order.

I'd like all fields to be displayed in a table containing three columns, as follows:

1. Name - Left aligned

2. Actual Field - Left aligned

3. Help - Left aligned - To contain text regarding the use of the fields

The physical form length of each field should vary to reflect the number of characters allowed All fields and fonts are to default to the Anal Standard font

The following stored procedure will be called for retri eving resul ts spgCompanyDetail θlCompanylD mt , θsPortalCode udtPortalCode

If no sPortalCode is supplied then the resul tset will be fil tered where bAllowWri te = 1

The resultset that is returned is as follows

ICompanylD, sStreetl , sStreet2 , sSuburb, sRegion, sPostCode, sState, sMainPhone, sMamFax, sContactTi tle, sContactFName , sContactSName , sContactPhone, sContactFax, sContactMobile,

SContactEmail , bRequiresFax , sURL,

SNetseekURL, sCompanySeekName , bRequiresMenu , sCompanyLogoImageFilePathl , sPortalCode, bVisibleToNetseek, sClientLogoPath, sCli entLogoURL

The following stored procedure will be called for updating resul ts spuCompanyDetail

ΘlCompanylD mt, θsStreetl varchar (50) = ' ', @sStreet2 varchar (50) = QsSuburb char (30) = ' ' , @sRegιon char (19) = ' ' , θsPostCode char (4 ) = ' ' , θsState char (3 ) = θsMamPhone udtPhone = ' ' , SsMamFax udtPhone = ' ' , θsContactTi tl e varchar ( 5) = ' ' , @sContactFName varchar (25) = ' ' , θsContactSName varchar (35) = '', θsContactPhone udtPhone = ' ' , θsContactFax udtPhone = ' ', θsContactMobil e udtPhone = '', @ SContactEmai l varchar (50) = '', SbRequiresFax udtYesNo = 0, θsURL varchar (150) = ' ', SsNetseekURL varchar ( 75) = ' ', ΘsCompanySeekName char (50) = '', θsCompanybogoImageFil ePa thl varchar (255) θsPortalCode udtPortalCode - 'Netseek ' , ΘbVisibl eToNetseek udt YesNo = 0, ΘsClientLogoPa th varchar (100) = θsClientLogoURL varchar (100) = ' '

These fields will not be displayed (therefore no Form Label Name), but they must either default to something or perform some sort of function.

2.2.1 .4 HOME PAGE

The home page details will be presented for editing The following fields are to be displayed in this order.

1. Name - Left aligned

2. Actual Field - Left aligned

3. Help - Left aligned - To contain text regarding the use of the fields.

The physical form length of each field should vary to reflect the number of characters allowed

All fields and fonts are to default to the Anal Standard font

See NetseekPhase2HomePageLayout.Doc file for the form layout.

The following stored procedure will be called for retrieving resul ts spgCompanyHome

§1 CompanylD in t , θsPortalCode udtPortalCode = Null

If no sPortalCode is suppli ed, then the resul tset will be fil tered where bAllowWri te = 1

The resultset that is returned is as follows

ICompanylD, sBusinessCategoryName, mCompanyDescHea der , mCompanyDescBody, mCompanyDescFooter , sCompanyKeywords , sStatus , sPortalCode, bVi s ibleToNet seek , sClien t Logo Pa th , sClientLogoUR

The following stored procedure will be called for updating resul ts spuCompanyHome θlCompanylD mt , θ sBusinessCategoryName char (19) = ' ' , θmCompanyDescHeader varchar (500) = '', θmCompanyDescBody varchar (4000) = '', θmCompanyDescFooter varchar (500) = ' ' , θ sCompanyKeywords varchar (500) = '', θsStatus udt Status = ' INACTIVE ' , ΘsPortalCode udtPortalCode = 'Netseek ' , θbVisibleToNetseek udtYesNo = 0, θsClientLogoPath varchar (l OO) = ' ' , θsClientLogoURL varchar (100) = ^• ' Unresolved Issues

2.2.1.5 CONTENT PAGES LIST

The content pages for this web site will be presented (in ascending order of tblCompanyProdServ iPageOrder) for selection via a results grid of some sorts It should look and behave similar to the current result's grids in the system When a user selects a Product / Service page record from the grid, its fields will be displayed below the grid for editing

These fields are to be displayed in the Product / Service Page list

The following stored procedure will be called for retri eving resul ts spgCompanyProdServhi s t ΘlCompanylD mt , ΘsPortalCode udtPortalCode = Null

If no sPortalCode is suppli ed, then the resul tset will be fi l tered where bAllowWπ te = 1

The resultset that is returned is as follows tblCompanyProdServ lProdServID, tblCompanyProdServ sProdServName , tblCompanyProdServ sStatus,

Left (tblCompanyProdServ mProdServDesc , 70) AS sShortDeεc Once a 'prod/serv' page record is selected, I'd like all fields to be displayed in a table containing three columns, as follows

1 Name - Left aligned

2 Actual Field - Left aligned

3 Help - Left aligned - To contain text regarding the use of the fields

The following stored procedure will be called for retri eving resul ts : spgCompanyProdServDetail θlProdServID mt

The resultset that is returned is as follows tblCompanyProdServ . lProdServID, tblCompanyProdServ . lOrderSeed, tbl CompanyProdServ . sProdServCa t egoryName , tbl CompanyProdServ . sProdServName , tblCompanyProdServ . mProdServDesc , tbl CompanyProdServ . sProdServPageFoo t er, tblCompanyProdServ sProdServI ageFil ePa thl , tblCompanyProdServ sSta tus

The following stored procedure will be called for upda ting resul ts spuCompanyProdServDetail θlProdServID m t θiOrderSeed udtOrderSeed = 99, θsProdServCa tegoryName char (19) = ' ' θsProdServName varchar (20) = ' ' , θmProdServDesc varchar (4000 ) = ' ' , θsProdServPageFooter varchar (255) = '', θsProdServImageFi lePa thl varchar (255) = '', θsStatus udtSta tus = ' INACTIVE '

This page needs image upload and image change functionality like the Update Web site Home Page The currently selected image should always be displayed

2.2 1 .6 UPDATE ANNOUNCEMENT LIST

The announcement pages for this web site will be presented for selection via a results grid of some sorts It should look and behave similar to the current result's grids in the system When a user selects an announcement page record from the grid, its fields will be displayed below the grid for editing

These fields are to be displayed in the Announcements list ldHMι.M'ι'ιTa mimj Heading Functionality Required Label

The following stored procedure will be called for retrieving resul ts spgAnnouncemen tList

ΘlCompanylD mt

ΘsPortalCode udtPortalCode = Null

If no sPortalCode is suppli ed, then the resul tset will be fil tered where bAllowWπ te = 1

The resultset that is returned is as follows lAnnouncelD, sAnnounceTi tle, sAnnounceSubTi tle, sAnnounceCa t egoryName , tAnnounceStartDa te, tAnnounceEndDa te

Once an announcement page record is selected, I'd like all fields to be displayed in a table containing three columns, as follows'

4. Name - Left aligned

5. Actual Field - Left aligned

6. Help - Left aligned - To contain text regarding the use of the fields.

The physical form length of each field should vary to reflect the number of characters allowed. All fields and fonts are to default to the Anal Standard font.

The following stored procedure will be called for retri eving resul ts : spgAnnouncementDetail ΘlAnnouncelD int

The resultset that is returned is as follows- lAnnouncelD, sAnnounceCa egoryName , sAnnounceTi ti e , sAnnounceSubTi ti e, mAnnounceText , sAnnouncePageFooter , tAnnounceStartDa te , tAnnounceEndDa te , sSta tus , sAnnouncelmageFi lePathl

The following stored procedure will be called for upda ting resul ts : spuAnnouncem entDetail θlAnno uncelD mt , θsAnno unceCa tegoryName char (19) = ' ' , θsAnno unceTi tle varchar (50) = ' ', ΘsAnno unceSubTi tle varchar (100) = ' ', θmAnno unceText varchar (4000) = '', sAnno uncePageFooter varchar (255) = ' ' , θtAnno unceStartDate udtDateTime = NULL, θtAnno unceEndDate udtDa teTime = NULL, θsStat us udtStatus = ' INACTIVE ¹ , ΘsAnno uncelmageFilePathl varchar (255) =

This page needs image upload and image change functionality like the Update Web site Home Page. The currently selected image should always be displayed

2.2.1.7 UPDATE MENU LIST

The menu pages for this web site will be presented (in ascending order of tblCompanyMenu. iPageOrder) for selection via a results grid of some sorts. It should look and behave similar to the current result's grids in the system. When a user selects a menu page record from the grid, its fields will be displayed below the grid for editing.

These fields are to be displayed in the Menu list-

■■.MMJ ..!J milMJ Heading Functionality Required Label

The following stored procedure will be called for retrieving resul ts - spgCompanyMenuLi s t

ΘlCompanylD mt ,

ΘsPortalCode udtPortalCode = Null

If no sPortalCode is supplied, then the resul tset will be fil tered where bAllowWπ te = 2 The resultset that is returned is as follows lMenuID, sMen uStyl eNam e , sMen uPag eNam e , sMenuPageDesc , sSta tus

Once a menu page record is selected, the menu edit page should be constructed to look similar to the existing menus, with the common fields presented in both the same vertical and horizontal order All menu images are to be displayed as well

The following stored procedure will be called for retrieving resul ts : spgCompanyMen uDetail θlMenuID mt

The resultset that is returned is as follows iMenuID, lOrderSeed, sMen uStyl eNam e , sMenuPageName , sMenuPageDesc , sMenulteml ImageFilePa th, sMenuItemlDesc , cMenuItemlLargePrice, sMenuItem2 ImageFilePa th, sMenuItem2Desc , cMenuItem2LargePrιce, sMenuItem3 ImageFilePath, sMen u I t em3 Des c , cMenuItem3LargePrιce, sMenuItem4 ImageFilePath sMenuItem4Desc , cMenuItem4LargePπce, sMenuItemS ImageFilePath, sMenuItem5Desc , cMenuItem5LargePπ ce, sMen ult emGlmageFi lePach, sMen ul e 6Desc , cMenuItemβLargePrice , sMenuPageFooter, sStatus

The following stored procedure will be called for updating results spuCompanyMenuDetai 1 θlMenuID mt,

ΘiOrderSeed udtOrderSeed = 99, θsMenuStyleName varchar ( 19) = ' ', θsMenuPageName varchar (20) = ' ' , θsMenuPageDesc varchar (255) = ' ', θsMenuItemllmageFilePath varchar(255) = ' ', θsMenuItemlDesc varchar(200) = ' ', θcMenuItemlLargePrice udtMoney = 0, θsMenuItem2lmageFιlePath varchar(255) = ' ', θsMenuItem2Desc varchar (200) = ' ', θcMenuItem2LargePrιce udtMoney = 0, θsMenuItem3 ImageFilePath varchar(255) = '', @sMenuItem3Desc varchar (200) = '', θcMenuItem3LargePπce udtMoney = 0, θsMenuItem4lmageFιlePath varchar(255) = ' ', θsMenuItem4Desc varchar (200) = ' ', θcMenuItem4LargePrιce udtMoney = 0, θsMenuItem5ImageFιlePath varchar(255) = '', 0sMenuItem5Desc varchar (200) = '', θcMenuItem5LargePπce udtMoney = 0, @sMenuItem6ImageFιlePath varchar (255) = ' ', θsMenuItemβDesc varchar (200) = ' ', θcMenuItemβLargePrice udtMoney = 0, θ sMenuPageFooter varchar (255) = ' ' θsStatus udtStatus = 'INACTIVE'

This page needs image upload and image change functionality for menu items similar in functionality to the Update Web site Home Page The currently selected images should always be displayed

2.2.1.8 UPDATE CATALOGUES LIST

The catalogue pages for this web site will be presented for selection via a results grid of some sorts. It should look and behave similar to the current result's grids in the system. When a user selects a catalogue page record from the grid, its fields will be displayed below the grid for selection

See NetseekPhase2CataloguePageLayout.DOC for format.

These fields are to be displayed in the Catalogue list

The foll owing stored procedure will be called for retri eving resul ts ' spgCa talogu eLi s t

ΘlCompanylD mt ,

ΘsPortalCode udtPortalCode = Null

The resultset that is returned is as follows

ICataloguelD, sCatalogueCa tegoryName , sCatalogu eName , mCatalogueDesc , sStatus

Once a catalogue page record is selected, the catalogue edit page should be displayed for the selected record, looking similar to the existing catalogue pages, with the common fields presented in both the same vertical and horizontal order. All catalogue images are to be displayed as well

These fields are then displayed for each of the 6 catalogue page items, which are sourced from the tblCataloguePageltem table.

For Each Catalogue Item.

The following stored procedure will be called for retrieving resul ts : spgCatalogueDetail θlCataloguelD mt

The resultset that is returned is as follows: tbl CompanyCa taloguePage . ICataloguelD, tbl CompanyCa taloguePage . sCa talogueCategoryName , tblCompanyCa taloguePage . sCa talogueName , tbl CompanyCa taloguePage .mCa talogueDesc, tbl CompanyCa taloguePage . sCataloguePageFooter , tbl CompanyCa taloguePage . sCataloguelmageFilePathl , tbl CompanyCa taloguePage . sCataloguelmageFileDescl , tbl CompanyCa taloguePage . sStatus, tblCataloguePageltem . ICatalogueltemID , tblCataloguePageltem . lOrderSeed, tblCa taloguePageltem . sCatalogueltemDesc , tblCataloguePageltem. sCatalogueltemGroupName , tblCataloguePageltem. sCatalogueltemlmageFilePathl , tblCataloguePageltem. sStatus

The following stored procedures will be called for updating results: spuCataloguePage θlCataloguelD t, θsCatalogueCategoryName char (19) = ' ', θsCatalogueName varchar (50) = ' ' , θmCatalogueDeεc varchar (4000) = ' ', θsCataloguePageFooter varchar (255) = '', θsCataloguelmageFilePathl varchar(255) = ' ', θsCataloguelmageFileDescl varchar (50) = ' ', θsStatus udtStatus = 'INACTIVE' and spuCataloguelte θlCatalogueltemID mt, θiOrderSeed smallmt = 6, θsCatalogueltemDesc varchar (255) = ' ', θsCatalogueltemGroupName char (20) = ' ', θsCatalogueltemlmageFilePathl varchar(255) = '', ΘsStatus udtStatus = 'INACTIVE'

This page needs image upload and image change functionality for menu items similar in functionality to the Update Web site Home Page. The currently selected images should always be displayed

2.2.1.9 UPDATE DEAL LIST

The deal pages for this restaurant will be presented for selection via a results grid of some sorts. It should look and behave similar to the current result's grids in the system. When a user selects a special deal record from the grid, its fields will be displayed below the grid for editing.

These fields are to be displayed in the Deals list.

■■.U1M. .M - wlllMJ Heading Functionality Required Label

The following stored procedure will be called for retrieving results : spgMenuDealList

ΘlCompanylD mt,

ΘsPortalCode udtPortalCode = Null

If no sPortalCode is supplied, then the resultset will be filtered where bAllowWπte = 1 The resultset that is returned is as follows tblMenuDeal . IDeallD, tblMenuDeal . sDealName , tblMenuDeal . sDealDesc, tblMenuDeal . sSta tus

Once an announcement page record is selected, I'd like all fields to be displayed in a table containing three columns, as follows:

1. Name - Left aligned

2. Actual Field - Left aligned

3 Help - Left aligned - To contain text regarding the use of the fields

The physical form length of each field should vary to reflect the number of characters allowed All fields and fonts are to default to the Anal Standard font.

The following stored procedure will be called for retri eving resul ts : spgMenuDealDetail θlDeallD mt

The resultset that is returned is as follows: tblMenuDeal . IDeallD, tblMenuDeal . lOrderSeed, tblMenuDeal . sDealName, tblMenuDeal . sDealDesc, tblMenuDeal . cDealPπce, tblMenuDeal . sDealFooter, tblMenuDeal . sDeallmageFilePathl , tblMenuDeal . sStatus

The following stored procedure will be called for updating resul ts : spuMenuDeal θlDeallD mt, θiOrderSeed udtOrderSeed = 99, θsDealName varchar (50) = ' ' , θsDealDesc varchar (255) = ' ' , θcDealPπ ce udtMoney = 0, θsDealFooter varchar (255) = ' ', θ sDeallmageFi lePa thl varchar (255) ΘsStatus udtStatus = ' INACTIVE '

2.2.1 .10 UPDATE USER DETAILS

Once selected the following fields will be displayed in a table containing three columns, as follows:

1. Name - Left aligned

2. Actual Field - Left aligned

3. Help - Left aligned - To contain text regarding the use of the fields.

The following stored procedure will be called for retrieving resul ts : spgUserDetail

ΘlCompanylD iπt

The resultset that is returned is as follows:

ICompanylD , sUserlD, sUserTi tle, sUserFName, sUserSName, sUserPhone, sU ser Fax, sUserEmail , sUserPassword

The following stored procedure will be called for updating resul ts : spu Us erDe tail

ΘlCompanylD mt , θsUserlD char (15) , θsUserTi tl e varchar ( 5) = ' θsUserFName varchar (25) = θsUserSName varchar (35) = θsUserPhone udtPhone = ' ' , θsUserFax udtPhone = ' ' , θsUserEmai l varchar ( 50) = θsUserPassword varchar ( 10)

This page needs image upload and image change functionality like the Update Web site Home Page The currently selected image should always be displayed.

2.2.1 .1 1 STATISTICS

The statistics page will prompt the user for the date range to display the statistics for The following fields will be displayed based on the results returned from spgPageStatistics

All fields and fonts are to default to the Anal Standard font

A new stored procedure exists that displays a list of page 'hit' statistics

The following stored procedure will be called for retrieving resul ts : spgPageStatistics

©sPortalCode udtPortalCode = 'Netseek', ©tFrom datetime, ©tTo datetime

Assumption. That only dates are passed to the procedure (not datetimes), therefore the time component will be 00:00:00 Eg- Passing ©tFrom = '01/01/2000' and ©tTo = '01/01/2000' will filter records that are >= '01/01/200000.0000' And <= '01/01/20002359.59'

The resultset that is returned is as follows sType, sPageName,

/Visits where sType is the Page Type sPageName is the record's main descriptive field

IVisits is the count of 'visits' on that page

2.2.1 12 UPDATE LINKS LIST

The links pages for this web site will be presented for selection via a results grid of some sorts It should look and behave similar to the current result's grids in the system When a user selects a links list record from the grid, its fields will be displayed below the grid for editing

These fields are to be displayed in the Links list wTffgl Heading Functionality Required Label

spgCompanyLmkLis t

ΘlCompanylD mt,

ΘsPortalCode udtPortalCode = Null

The resultset that is returned is as follows

1 Company! klD, sNameofLmk, sURL

This stored procedure will retrieve a list of additional hyper links that the web site may set up to be displayed in the left hand side navigation bar of the asp pages

Once an link record is selected, I'd like all fields to be displayed in a table containing three columns, as follows

1 Name - Left aligned

2 Actual Field - Left aligned

3 Help - Left aligned - To contain text regarding the use of the fields

spgActiveLmks

©ICompanylD mt

(A new stored procedure exists that displays a list of all Active records within a web site The user is able to select a record to become a hyper link that is stored in the tblCompanyLink table )

The resultset that is returned is as follows

'/Order',

'ITablelD',

'sType ,

'sName',

'sDesc' where lOrder is

1 for web site records,

2 for product/services records,

3 for catalogue page records,

4 for menu records,

5 for menu deal records and

6 for announcement records

ITablelD is the corresponding table's ID field value sType is the table name sName is the record's main descriptive field eg sMenuDealName sDesc is the record's secondary descriptive field eg sDealDesc

If its an external link, the user can type in the URL themselves bOpenlnNewWmdow spgCompany Open New Yes or No picklist LmkDetail Browser lOrderSeed spgCompany Display Order Allow numerics 2 digits Max LmkDetail

The following stored procedure will be called for retrieving resul ts spgCompanyLi nkDe tail θlCompanyLmklD mt

The resultset that is returned is as follows

1 CompanyLinklD, sNameofLmk, sURL bOpenNewWmdow, lOrderSeed The following stored procedure wil l be called for updating resul ts spuCompanyLmkDetail

@1 Company L klD mt, θsNameofLmk varchar (20) = ' ' , θsURL varchar (150) = ' ht tp ^■ / /www. netseek . com . au ' ,

SbOpenNewWmdow udt YesNo = 0, θi OrderSeed udtOrderSeed = 99

A new data export stored procedure exists This is called by spPortalExport

©sPortalCode udtPortalCode, @ lExportOption smallint = 0

The lExportOption can be one of the following

0 - exports Portal data

1 - exports web site data

2 - exports product/services

3 - exports announcements

4 - exports menus

5 - exports menu deals

6 - exports catalogues

7 - exports web site links

2.2.1.13 PURCHASE A WEB SITE / ADDITIONAL PAGES

Netseek will allow users to purchase either a web site or additional web pages through a payment interface.

The transaction component will be outsource to a transaction house, who will host the pages that select the product being purchased, instigate the transaction, and on success, notify netseek that the transaction was approved.

On approval, a record needs to be inserted into spiWWWRequest

A new stored procedure exists that will submit a request from the WWW for a Netseek package. spiWWWRequest

©ICompanylD mt = 0,

©sPortalCode varchar(W) = 'Netseek',

©sCompanyName varchar(50),

©sContactTitle varchar(5),

©sContactFName varchar(25),

©sContactSName varchar(35),

©slnformBy varchar(W) = EMAIL',

©SContactEmail varchar(50),

©sContactFax varchar(15),

@ι Package smallint = 0, ©sTransactionNo varchar(40), ©sReceiptNo varchar(40),

Each particular package (@ιPackage) will insert appropriate records into the tblRequest... tables.

A process will periodically scan this table for new entries and process the requests as required. Users are notified of their web-site creation, and are either emailed or faxed the username and password.

2.2.1.14 FORGOT PASSWORD

A field needs to be placed on the home page (or somewhere) which allows a user to enter their own email address. This email addressed is then passed to spSendUserPassword, which will send that email address its password.

The new stored procedure will send the company contact their UserlD and password if they forgot it.

The stored procedure spSendUserPassword

©sUserEmail varchar(50) will be called from an .asp page and will write a record into the tblFaxEmail table. This table will later be scanned by an automated process to send the email.

Appendix C Netseek Portal Creation Process Definition

1. Populating Netseek Database Tables - Create Portal

The functionality of populating the Netseek database to create a portal will comprise a component that will allow a user to purchase a portal package online

1.1 Portal Creation Process

This ASP will allow an operator to create any number of records for certain portal creation tables, which translate into a portal entity within the database

The first step allows entry of default information for creating new portals within the database

1.1.1 Create New Portal

A series of data entry pages are presented for entering default portal website information, as follows

oducts/Services

3 Announcements

4 Catalogues and Catalogue Items

5 Menus

6 Deals

The user will be able to navigate through the series of screens entering default information and specifying how the portal websites should look, and the default template information it should contain.

When the CREATE button is pressed, the system will write the records to the tblRequestPortal tables for processing.

1.1.2 Creating Records

This forms the core of the population system This creation procedure is called from the Creation Polling Routine and also when the user clicks the Create button to create a portal

The actual portal creation process starts after the user selects the CREATE button after the portal template and data collection process.

This action calls the stored procedure spilnsertManual to insert a blank record into each of the SQL tblRequest tables and returns the IRequestlD, which is unique to that specific portal

The portal template information and data that is entered by the end user is then exported via update queries to the tblRequest records just created The IRequestlD is used to reference the correct portal creation records in the event that numerous users are creating portals simultaneously

When the portal template information and data is written to the tblRequest tables, the procedure spCreateRecords is called, passing the current IRequestlD as an identifier for the portal being created

This process commences at the top of the tblRequestPortal, for each IRequestlD, if a specific IRequestlD is not passed

1.1.3 Create the Actual Portal Website Records (IRequestlD Specific)

The spCreateRecords process inspects details of the 'Create Portal' request, (bAddMorePages, lWebsitelD, iRequestQty) in the underlying tblRequest tables and creates the table records via three sub procedures These are spCreatePortal, spCreatePortalChild, and spCreateOther

The spCreatePortal procedure creates the portal 'main page' records and also calls spCreateWebsiteChild and spCreateOther This procedure accepts the IRequestlD and iChildOty parameters so that it can process the correct request record and flag each Website as individual or parent

The spCreateOther procedure will create all other Website related records (Announcement, Menu, MenuDeal, ProductService, CataloguePage, and Catalogueltem) and attach them to a Website record This procedure accepts the IRequestlD and lWebsitelD parameters so that it can process the correct request record and attach it to the correct Website

The password is generated as a string of random letters and digits in a new stored procedure called spCreatePassword This procedure is called within the spCreatePortal, and spCreateWebsiteChild procedures

This process loops to create the next portal website, until the requested number of websites are created within the portal

After the records are successfully created, the request records that match the passed IRequestlD are then deleted from the tblRequest tables

1.1.4 spCreateRecords

A scheduled job exists on the Portal Server that will periodically scan the tblRequestWebsiteParent table for records that are flagged as WWW requests (sRequestSource = 'W') and that have the transaction approved (bTransApproved = True)

This routine will loop through all the pending transactions that match the criteria and call the Record Creation procedure for each request (see 1 1 3) If the Record Creation procedure returns with a Success status, then the user is informed that the request has been processed and will email them with their UserlD and Password

It is expected that during the processing of a portals creation, this polling routing will be processing hundreds of records at a time

1.4 Fax/Email Requestor - To Notify That Portal and Websites

When records have been created via the WWW, a record is to be written to the tblFaxEmail table so that either a Fax or Email can be sent to the user to inform them that their portal has been created

If an individual website is created, the email or fax should be sent immediately (Status = 'PENDING')

The procedures spCreateRecords and spCreatePortal call a procedure called spiEmail, which writes a record to the tblFaxEmail table An external process then interrogates this table and sends the faxes/emails See 1 5 below

1.5 Fax/Email Process

This process retrieves all 'PENDING' items in the tblFaxEmail table

The process opens this resultset and inspects the sCorrespondanceType field If it is 'FAX', then a fax file is and sent to the fax server If it is 'EMAIL', then an email is sent via the ASPMail If ASPMail detects an error in sending the email, the error message is written to the sFailReason field in the tblFaxEmail table

The emailing component has two new entries in the NetSeekFax mi file These are

[SMTP SERVER], which specifies the email server address (eg mail netseek com au) and

[SMTP TIMEOUT], which specifies how long ASPmail should attempt to send the email in seconds

After the resultset has been processed, the process will poll the working folder (specified by the [FAX/EMAIL PROCESS PATH] entry in the NetseekFax mi file) every minute to determine if all fax files have been processed by GFIFaxMaker When no files exist with the extension txt (all have been processed by GFIFaxMaker), the fax files are organised into Success and Error subfolders and the program is closed

An NT Schedule has been set up to start the polling every 15 minutes More than one process session is not be allowed The process should check to see if it is already running on activation

Appendix D Search Architecture ASP Pages

Portal Entry page.

Starting point into a portal search engine is a single page (can be static or dynamic) This is a content providing page containing the portal code together with basic search criteria keywords, suburb, region, state These are embedded in the form tags as an input text

Control is passed to seek asp using POST method Action selected is embedded in the image selected depending on the selection like < name=announcement src="ιmages/purple_01_02 gif type=ιmage wιdth=55>

There are 4 types of actions catalogue, announcement, company and menu The Portal code for this page is hardcoded into it The main portal search page has a Portal code of 'that corresponds to a value in the tblPortalCode table

Dynamic pages

Dynamic pages (ASP) are located in /scripts directory Structure of most of the dynamic pages is similar For modularity and extensibility certain functions are located in the server side includes Here is an example of the seek asp includes

<^|--#ιnclude file =" /scripts/style css"->

[common style elements of the site like hyperlink colors, table cells colors, etc]

<^|--#ιnclude file ="aspconst ιnc"-> [ASP constants definition - optional]

<i--#ιnclude file ="commonvb ιnc"-->

[Common functions used throughout the system like setting stored procedure parameters, building search bar, etc]

<'--#ιnclude file ="commonvbseek ιnc"-->

[Page specific functions This varies from page to page Current page specific includes commonvbdetl inc commonvbdetLcatalogue inc commonvbenrol inc commonvbmsg inc commonvbseek inc]

<^|-#ιnclude file =" /scripts/footer ιnc"~> [Dynamically creates page footer with Copyright information]

Most of the information on the dynamic pages comes from the database (delivered through stored procedures and populated to HTML tags through ASP functions)

Common programming mechanism for getting this information looks like

Set Conn = Server CreateObject("ADODB Connection") y/spgqmCompany

Set RS = Server CreateObject("ADODB Recordset")

Conn Open "NETSEEK", "SQLuser", "password"

Set cmd = server createObjectfADODB command") set cmd activeconnection = Conn cmd.CommandType = adCmdStoredProc sType="Company" SetSPParamsDetl cmd, slD, sType Set RS = cmd. Execute

Database data is displayed in two ways. Either through direct insertion of the HTML tags like:

<font sιze="2"><%=RS("sProdServPageFooter")%χ/font> or through HTML formatting subfunctions like:

<%=GetProdServBar(cmd, slD, RS1 , RS) %> <%=GetCompanyHeader(RS) %> <%=GetProdServBar(cmd, slD, RS1 , RS) %> <%= GetCompanylnfo(RS, RS2, "Product")%>

Seek page.

Seek page is preferably a recursive dynamic page. It's preferably called in 3 scenarios: from the static page like a portal entry page(above), a new search from company pages or by itself (when displaying search results). When called by entry page or new search option it sets itself in corresponding mode (business, announcement, catalogue or restaurant). When traveling through Netseek system user preferably always stays in one of those modes until new search is initiated from the entry page. Seek uses server site variables to preserve information between the searches or throughout result navigation.

To identify users and match them with server side temporary storage Netseek sites use temporary cookies. Users cookie holds a unique session handle that allows server side ASP to identify which information to restore.

Initial search is preferably always executed using POST method. Navigation through the results is preferably achieved through GET method.

Here is a list of dynamic pages with the basic description: lal UETim Function/Descri tion

Portal Files

ROOT: global. asa default.htm

ROOT images: background.jpg background2.jpg

Banner.GIF

BANNER.jpg bannereg.gif btnannouncement.jpg btncatalogue.jpg btncompany.jpg btnmenu.jpg clear.gif

ColourLogoSmall.jpg

ColourLogoSmallEmboss.jpg interimhome.gif keywords.gif hlacbackground.jpg nslogo.jpg purple_00.gif purple_01_01.gif purple_01_02.gif purple_01_04.gif purple_01_05.gif purple_02_02.gif purple_02_03.gif purple_03_03.gif purple_04_02.gif purple_04_04.gif purple_05_01.gif purplebutton.gif region.gif smllogo.jpg smllogol .jpg state.gif suburb.gif thmbluehne.gif

Thinblueline_hp.gif ROOTΛscripts:

I prodserv.asp

2menu.asp

3deal.asp announcement.asp announcements. asp aspconst.inc catalogue. asp catalogues. asp commonvb.inc commonvbdetl.inc commonvbdetl_cataiogue.ιnc commonvbenrol.mc commonvbmsg.inc commonvbseek.mc company.asp contact.asp enrolbasic.asp enrolbasicend.asp footer. c seek.asp sndmessage. asp style.css style. inc

Appendix E

Portal Creation Processes and Functions

Version 7 3

1. Populating Netseek database

1.1 Automatic Portal and Website Creation and Population (via WWW)

1.1.1 information Collection

Any Internet user will have the option to visit a Purchase page on the site and purchase any one of a set of pre-defined packages

The first page presented to the user will consist of the collection of mandatory information

The user will be asked to enter information about their company such as Name, Address, and Contact details The user will also be informed when their portal request has been completed,

1.1.2 Purchase Portal Pages

The next page that is presented will allow the user to select one of many predefined portal or website packages that are available A portal package may exist that will ask the user how many websites to create within the portal A website package may exist specific to restaurants and cafes or specific to a retailer

Eg

An example of a portal might be a shopping mall containing 150 shops, each requiring 4 content pages, and 10 catalogue pages, with shopping cart functionality Netseek would create 150 records in the tblCompany table through this process

A restaurant may purchase the following package

1 home page + 3 Menu pages (each menu containing 6 items)

Whereas a hardware store may purchase

1 home page + 2 Announcements

+ 5 Catalogues (each catalogue with 6 items)

The user will also be asked to enter their credit card details for the online purchase

1.1.3 Request Processing

Initial Requirement

A stored procedure will be called when the user submits the requests The stored procedure will accept as parameters all the portal and company specific fields that they entered as well as an integer flag to indicate what package they have selected

This flag will be inspected and will create records in the tblRequest tables that correspond to the package indicated In the tblRequestCompanyParent table, the sRequestSource flag will be set to 'W' and the bTransApproved flag set to False The Transaction Server will then attempt to make the purchase via the entered credit card details If successful, the bTransApproved flag will be set to True to indicate that the purchase was successful and that the polling routine can process the request

What was implemented

A new stored procedure has been created called spiWWWRequest This procedure accepts key company fields such as sCompanyName, sContactName etc and also an integer to indicate what package they have selected

The procedure then creates the corresponding records in the tblRequest tables according to the selected package The polling routine will then extract this information from the tblRequest tables and process the requested records

1.1.4 Polling Routine

Initial Requirement

A scheduled job will be set up on the Netseek SQL Server that will periodically scan the tblRequestCompanyParent table for records that are flagged as WWW requests (sRequestSource = 'W') and that have the transaction approved (bTransApproved = True)

This routine will loop through all the pending transactions that match this criteria and call the Record Creation stored procedure for each request (see 1 3) If the Record Creation stored procedure returns with a Success status, then the user is informed that the request has been processed and will either fax or email them with their UserlD and password

It is expected that if a portal is requested, this polling routing will be processing hundreds of records at a time

1.2 Manual Population (via Access ASP)

This ASP will allow an operator to create any number of records for certain tables, which translate into a portal

The first option will allow entry of default information for creating new portals within the Netseek database

1.2.1 Create New Portal

A series of screens will be presented for entering default portal website information The screens that will be presented are

+ Company

+ Content/Products/Services

+ Announcements

+ Catalogues and Catalogue Items

+ Menus

+ Menu Deals

The user will be able to navigate through the series of screens entering default information and specifying how the portal websites should look, and the default information they should contain

When the create button is pressed, the system will write the records to the WWWRequest table for processing

1.2.2 Creating Records The actual record creation process starts after the user clicks the Create button that is on the last data entry screen This action will call the stored procedure spilnsertManual to insert a blank record into each of the SQL tblRequest tables and return the IRequestlD

The data that is temporarily stored will then be exported via Update queries to the records just created on SQL server (using the IRequestlD to update the correct ones)

When the data is in SQL Server, the procedure spCreateRecords is called This procedure accepts the IRequestlD to inform it what records it should process

1.3 Create Records Process

Initial Requirement

This will form the core of the population system This stored procedure will be called from the Polling Routine and when the user clicks the Create button to create a portal

This process commences at the tope of the file, for each IRequestlD

This procedure will accept the IRequestlD as a parameter to indicate what record from the request tables should be processed as many requests may exist in these tables

The entire process will be enclosed within a transaction so should something fail, nothing will get written to the 'Live' database

Records will be extracted from each table that match the passed IRequestlD and the corresponding record will be written to the 'Live' tables

If the procedure is processing a manual request ('M'), the bNewRecords flag will be inspected to determine if new or more records are to be created and will process the request accordingly

At this stage, the UserlD will be generated The UserlD must be unique and will be generated via the following algorithm

UserlD = First three left most characters from the selected PortalCode +

ICompanylD field

Eg UserlD = 'NET96832015' or 'WES87642389'

The Password for the user will always be set to 'password'

If the entire process of creation is successful, then the records in the request tables are deleted for that particular IRequestlD

This process must also create a string of the UserlD and passwords that were created This string is then to be written to the tblFaxEmail table so that the Fax/Email Process can process the requests and send off a corresponding fax or email

Actual Functionality

The spCreateRecords procedure inspects details of the Request (bAddMorePages, ICompanylD, iRequestQty) in the underlying tblRequest tables and creates the according records via three sub procedures These are spCreateCompany, spCreateCompanyChild, and spCreateOther

The spCreateCompany procedure creates company records and also calls spCreateCompanyChild and spCreateOther This procedure accepts the IRequestlD and iChildQty parameters so that it can process the correct request record and flag the company as individual or parent

The spCreateCompanyChild procedure solely creates company records that are flagged as children and attaches them to a parent This procedure accepts the IRequestlD and ICompanylD parameters so that it can process the correct request record and attach it to the correct company

The spCreateOther procedure will create all other company related records (Announcement Menu, MenuDeal, ProductService, CataloguePage, and Catalogueltem) and attach them to a company record This procedure accepts the IRequestlD and ICompanylD parameters so that it can process the correct request record and attach it to the correct company

The password does not default to 'password' It is generated as a string of random letters and digits in a new stored procedure called spCreatePassword This procedure is called within the spCreateCompany, and spCreateCompanyChild procedures

This process now loops to create the next portal website

1.4 Inform Fax/Email Requestor that pages have been created

Initial Requirement

The procedures spCreateRecords and spCreateCompany call a new stored procedure called spiEmail This procedure will write a record to the tblFaxEmail table to notify the requestor that the records have been created

12b. Display Active Links

Initial Requirement

When the user is editing their home page details, a section will be displayed on the asp page to allow a link to be set up that points to a particular page within their Netseek site or to an external site If the user has chosen to create links to a particular page within their Netseek site then a list of all 'Active' pages are displayed

From this list, the user will be able to select a page that is to have a link displayed on the left hand portion of the asp page when viewing their portal website This functionality is porely for the purpose of showcasing specific pages with links from the mam page

A stored procedure will be created called spgActiveLmks that will return the following fields

The ID of the particular table, the Type of page (le from which table), the page name, and the page descπption. All records returned will be filtered on 'Active' and will be returned in the order of home page, product/services, catalogues, menus, menudeals and announcements Eg

ID Type Name Desc

1 home page Acme repair service We fix all electrical items

2 prod/serv repairs Repairs done on all makes and models

1 catalogue Acme catalogue Acme April Specials Catalogue

A new stored procedure, spgActiveLmks returns a resultset of all the 'Active' records within a company (company record, tblCompanyProdServ, tblCompanyCataloguePage, tblCompanyMenu, tblMenuDeal, and tblCompanyAnnounce) and returning them as a single resultset as outlined in the initial requirement

9. Remove Invalid Characters

Initial Requirement

The search stored procedures are using the CONTAINS predicate to search on Keywords If the keywords contain invalid characters (characters that are non alphanumeric), then the keyword search may fail

To prevent this from occurring, a generic procedure will be constructed to scan the keyword string and remove any invalid character(s)

This procedure will be called by all four of the 'search engine processors' prior to extracting individual keywords, and will work as follows

For each character in the keyword string

If the character is not numeric (0 to 9) or not alphabetic (a to z and A to Z), then it is an invalid character

If the character is a space, then ignore it because the space character delimits the keywords in the string

Replace the invalid character with a space character (effectively removing the invalid character and separating words) loop

Pass the new string to the procedure for extracting individual words

Eg "bargain, home & shopping" will be converted to "bargain home shopping"

This string will then have the keywords extracted from it

"bargain"

"home"

"shopping"

A new stored procedure has been created called spValidateKeyword This procedure is called from all four search stored procedures when either the 'all the words' or 'any of the words' querytype is specified

15c. Retrieve statistics Initial Requirement

Portal's owners may want to retrieve statistical data about their portals visits and activity. This will be achieved by creation of a new stored procedure that accepts a portalCode and a Start and End date range.

The procedure will count the number of records in the tblStatsCompanyPage table for the Portal that are within the Start and End dates inclusive.

A resultset will be returned with one field that will record the number of visits Records will be returned in the following order:

1. Company

2 Announcement

3. Menu

4. Menu Deal

5. Product/Service 6 Catalogue

A new stored procedure has been created called spgPageStatistics. This procedure assumes that only dates (not date/times) will be passed to the procedure, therefore the time component will always be 00:00:00

Three fields are returned, Type, Page Name, Number of Visits. The resultset is sorted by the Type (which is in the order above) and then by the number of vists in descending order.

10. Automatic Activation/Deactivation routine

Initial Requirement

A scheduled process will be set up on the SQL Server to periodically scan through the tables and activate and deactivate records.

A stored procedure will be run called spActivateDeactivate that will scan the following tables: tblPortal tblCompany tblCompanyAnnounce tblCompanyMenu tblMenuDeal tblCompanyProdServ tblCompanyCataloguePage (includes tblCataloguePageltem)

Two updates will occur on each of the above tables:

1) Activate inactive records

Update the sStatus field to 'Active' if the current system datetime falls within the record's start and end dates and if the sStatus field is 'Inactive'

2) Deactivate active records

Update the sStatus field to 'Inactive' if the current system datetime falls outside of the record's start and end dates and if the sStatus field is 'Active'

3) Website home page records will be excluded from this process.

Created a new stored procedure (spActivateDeactivate) that performs the above. This procedure is called by a SQL Server job called Activate/Deactivate records.

11. Email/Fax customer of due expiration

Initial Requirement

The Netseek customer is to be informed if any of his/her pages are due for expiration within a pre-determined time period A scheduled SQL Server job will be set up to scan the following tables and determine if any of the records are due for expiration tblPortal tblCompany tblCompanyAnnounce tblCompanyMenu tblMenuDeal tblCompanyProdServ tblCompanyCataloguePage

This routine will call a stored procedure that calculates a date in the future (calculated by the current date + a set interval) and determine if this calculated date exceeds the EndDate of any records in the above mentioned tables

One message will be sent that will contain details of which item is due to expire

The customer will be either faxed or sent a notice that the ιtem(s) is about to expire soon and that payment must be made to reactivate the item

The procedure is to inform the user at 28 days, 14 days, 7 days and at 0 days At 0 days - the website is Inactive - inform user that the record has been deactivated

A new stored procedure has been created called splnformExpiry that is run by a scheduled SQL Server job every 24 hours

A period can be set up in the procedure to determine when a record should be classed as about to expire. Currently this period has been set up as 14 days in the future.

The procedure will scan the above tables and retrieve all records that are Active and have an EndDate that falls on the calculated 'cut off date (14 days from now)

These records are inserted into a single message that is written into the tblFaxEmail table These messages will always be emailed

The procedure won't pick up the records again that next time it is executed

20. Administration Interface

20.1 Masterfiles

Clicking this option will open the Masterfiles submenu that will contain a screen for editing each of the following tables tblPortal tblAnnounceCategory tblBusmessCategory tblCatalogueCategory tblCatalogueltemGroup tbllgnoredWord tblMenuStyle tblProdServCategory

20.2 Company Details

Clicking this option will display a company search screen A search must be performed to retrieve one company This is to ensure that the speed is optimal when editing a large database.

Once a company for editing is selected, a submenu with the following options is displayed each of which will open a screen to edit the corresponding table tblCompany tblCompanyAnnounce tblCompanyBanner tblCompanyCataloguePage (includes tblCataloguePageltem) tblCompanyMenu tblCompanyPayment tblCompanyProdServ tblFaxEmail tblMenuDeal

20.3 System Tables

This menu option accesses all system tables that the user would not normally be aware of Clicking this option will open the System Tables submenu that will contain a screen for editing each of the following tables tblRequestAnnouncement tblRequestCataloguePage (includes tblRequestCatalogueltem) tblRequestCompanyChild tblRequestCompanyParent tblRequestMenu tblRequestMenuDeal tblRequestProductService tblStatsCompanyPage tblStatsNetseekPage

23. Export Portal Data

Initial Requirement

The Portal's owners may need to view a listing of all the records that they have in their portal An .asp page will be created that allows the Portal owner to log on and select one of many options that export data from a particular table (eg: Export companies or Export Product/Services)

The options for export are as follows'

0) tblPortal

1 ) tblCompany

2) tblCompanyProdServ

3) tblCompanyAnnounce

4) tblCompanyMenu

5) tblMenuDeal

6) tblCompanyCataloguePage (this will include Catalogueltems)

7) tblCompanyLink

A stored procedure will be created that accepts sPortalCode and lExportOption as parameters. Each option will export most fields from the table - only fields that are specific to Netseek will be excluded, such as ICompanylD, bVisibleToNetseek (as these have no meaning for the Portal)

28. Login Stored Procedure initial Requirement

Develop a login stored procedure that accepts a UserlD and password This procedure will first try to locate the User in the Portal table and if not found, then it will try and find it in the tblCompany table

If not found in either table, then a resultset will be returned outlining the error (Greg will reply to this), otherwise, the following fields will be returned sType varchard )

This field indicates if the user belongs to an (A)ffιlιate, (l)ndιvιdual Company, (P)arent

Company or (C)hιld Company sPortalCode

This field will store the PortalCode of the user if the Type is 'A'

ICompanylD

This field will store the ICompanylD of the user if the Type is T, 'P', or 'C

Created procedure spvValidateUser that accepts sUserlD and sPassword The procedure will always return bSuccess as the first field that is either 1 for success or 0 for failure

If the user is valid, the fields sType, sPortalCode, and ICompanylD are returned after bSuccess

If the user is invalid, the field sReason is returned after bSuccess

32. Email UserlD + Password

Initial Requirement

The WWW page will allow a user to enter their email address so that their UserlD and Password can be emailed to them if they forgot it

The stored procedure will accept an email address and attempt to find it in the tblCompany table on the sUserEmail field If not found, an error will be returned, otherwise the UserlD and Password are written to the tblFaxEmail table and sent to the SContactEmail address

What was implemented

A new stored procedure has been created called spSendUserPassword It accepts the sUserEmail as a parameter and attempts to locate it in the tblCompany table If found, a record is written to the tblFaxEmail that is directed to the email address of the Contact of the Company

33. Fax/Email Process

This process retrieves all 'PENDING' items in the tblFaxEmail table

The emailing component has two new entries in the NetSeekFax mi file These are [SMTP SERVER] which specifies the email server address (eg: mail.netseek.com.au) and

[SMTP TIMEOUT] which specifies how long ASPmail should attempt to send the email in seconds.

After the resultset has been processed, the process will poll the working folder (specified by the [FAX/EMAIL PROCESS PATH] entry in the NetseekFax mi file) every minute to determine if all fax files have been processed by GFIFaxMaker. When no files exist with the extension .txt (all have been processed by GFIFaxMaker), the fax files are organised into Success and Error subfolders and the program is closed

An NT Schedule will be set up to start the polling every 15 minutes. More than one process session will not be allowed The process should check to see if it is already running, on activation.