Abstract: Configuration spaces facilitate the useful presentation of data, particularly configuration data used for representing configured products. Products include features and common features can be grouped by families. For example, an automobile can include a transmission family. The transmission family could include features such as automatic transmission and 4-speed manual transmission. Configuration spaces can be achieved by consolidating selected data without loosing useful information. The degree of consolidation achieved can be significant enough to permit display of data using conventional display technology. Configuration spaces break down the “universe” of possible configurations into constituent spaces defined by groups of rules for a selected feature. Common dependencies between the selected feature and related features can be consolidated to produce a more minimal form of the data used for representing the selected features and related features.

Abstract: An arbitrary number of custom catalogs for an arbitrary number of customers can be published from a single database of seller catalog data. Custom browse hierarchies can be generated for each of the custom catalogs. The custom catalogs are subsets of the catalog database, and are generated in accordance with a set of rules that defines the scope of the content of the custom catalog. The rule sets define a series of sequential searches by which a subset of the product SKUs contained in the database are returned. A primary hierarchy is maintained that can have a scope coextensive with the primary database. Custom browse hierarchies can be pruned to render their scope approximately coextensive with each subset. The custom catalog subsets and the custom browse hierarchies are generated periodically through a virtual publication process.

Abstract: A computer-based automated testing framework tests a multimedia application (such as a Flash application running in a player module) that includes one or more Flash objects by executing test scripts in an external Java-based test module that uses proxy objects in the test module to represent the Flash objects in the player module. Correspondence between the proxy object and Flash objects is maintained by translating the first test script into a command, sending the command from the external test module to the player module, interpreting the command by accessing a lookup table at the player module, and then returning a value to the external test module in response to the command.

Abstract: A method, system, and apparatus for debugging an application program from a workstation that is remote from a server on which the application program resides includes invoking the application program from the workstation via a network interface; displaying a user frame at the workstation that includes information generated by the application program; providing a debug view option at the workstation for generating a debug frame of the application program; and displaying the debug frame at the workstation when the debug view option is selected. A user can select options to switch between the user frame and the debug frame. The debug frame includes information about one or more components of the application program such as a list of the variables or objects, and the fields, methods, and/or the constructors associated with them.

Abstract: An information system environment is described that, among other things, facilitates integration of electronic commerce and physical store front retailer selling channels. In some realizations, the system includes a shopper accessible kiosk co-located with a physical store front retailer and an electronic commerce information service accessible from locations external to the physical store front retailer. Both access inventory information supplied from a suitable information service. The shopper accessible kiosk allows a user thereof to access inventory information particular to the physical store front retailer, while the electronic commerce information service allows a user thereof to order items from out of stock of the physical store front retailer.

Abstract: A goal management system stores at least first and second goals. The goal management system also stores a relationship between the first goal and the second goal. In one aspect, the goal management system detects modification of the first goal and, in response, causes the second goal to be automatically highlighted for alignment verification. In another aspect, the second goal is a parent goal to the first goal, and the relationship is stored as a parent link associating the first goal with the parent goal. The goal management system also stores an owner for the first goal. In response to detecting modification of the parent goal, the goal management system causes the first goal to be automatically highlighted for alignment verification in a display associated with the owner of the first goal, based on the parent link. Additional aspects relate to additional technological solutions which facilitate goal management through, for example, goal alignment.

Abstract: A method is disclosed that includes identifying an inventory item corresponding to a product configuration. The product configuration is defined using a feature map. The inventory item is also defined using the feature map. Each entry of the feature map corresponds to one of a number of features of a product.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for consolidating net-pay and debt management of a sales representative or sales team is presented. A party associated with the sales representatives may obtain debts and specify rules on payment of those debts which can be tracked back to the domain (e.g., agreements, rules, sale item, etc.). The ledger items created for that distributor by the commission engine are typically processed to distribute payments into accounts specified by the distributor and to pay debts obtained by the distributor. Available money may be split into various methods of payments for a distributor. These splits can be tracked by adding various constraints (related to the financial industries business model). The system allows the user to model the payment rule/constraints. Payment splits support pay-outs to alternate payee from funds of a distributor. The distributor may specify deduction rules which can be applied to the distributors earning to facilitate deductions for items such as taxes, mutual funds etc.

Abstract: Nested commit/reveal sequences using randomized inputs from each participant in a gaming transaction (e.g., the house and each player) may be employed to provide a selection of outcome or outcomes that can be verified by each participant as free from cheating. In general, techniques may be employed in a variety of distributed gaming transaction environments and as a verification facility for any of a wide variety of games in which the risk of player collusion can be eliminated. Nonetheless, several variations on a distributed card dealing method are illustrative and will be appreciated by persons of ordinary skill in the art as applicable in other gaming environments, including games employing outcomes denominated in die (or dice) rolls, coin toss, wheel spins, blind selection or other ostensibly random selection of an outcome from a predefined set thereof.

Abstract: Techniques have been developed whereby an actuary-manipulable rating model may be defined and transformed into executable form using automated techniques. By allowing business users to define, review and revise rating models using familiar methodologies and constructs (such as factor tables) and by providing an automated facility for transformation of the rating model into an efficient executable form, systems and techniques in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention facilitate rapid deployment and update of insurance product offerings.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention create a binding specifications file that is compatible with a user interface application from a grammar rich XML file. The grammar rich XML file uses a complex DTD for transformation. The complex DTD may be prone to error if created by the user, therefore, the complex DTD file is automatically created from a schema definition provided by the user or user's agent. The user or user's agent defines a schema for the desired grammar level. Through a series of XSL transformations, the complex DTD file is created. Also, a stylesheet used for transforming the grammar rich XML file is automatically created. The grammar rich XML file provided by the user conforms to the automatically created complex DTD file. Thus, the grammar used in defining bindings of a user interface application is extensible without any requirement to enrich and recompile the application anytime an extension of the language is desired.

Abstract: A session quality system collects and evaluates data from multiple user world wide web (“web”) product selection sessions and correlates the collected data with actual product purchases. The system assembles the data into a set of session profiles and assigns a score to each profile that represents a relative likelihood of purchasing the product. The system matches session data collected from future product selection sessions with a master profile. A weighted average of scores based on matched master profiles provides useful product demand information. Furthermore, the system can determine product demand with varying ranges of resolution. For example, the system can capture specific features of each product, such as color, audio system selections, and wheel types. Since these features can be common across multiple products, manufactures can expand their use of the high resolution product demand information.

Abstract: An information system environment is described that, among other things, facilitates integration of electronic commerce and physical store front retailer selling channels. In some realizations, the system includes a shopper accessible kiosk co-located with a physical store front retailer and an electronic commerce information service accessible from locations external to the physical store front retailer. Both access inventory information supplied from a suitable information service. The shopper accessible kiosk allows a user thereof to access inventory information particular to the physical store front retailer, while the electronic commerce information service allows a user thereof to order items from out of stock of the physical store front retailer.

Abstract: The invention organizes various pricing tables and price adjustment tables and various products and purchasing organizations based on “who” (i.e. which purchasing organization) is purchasing “what” (i.e. which product). The invention utilizes a denormalized table to relate the “who” to the “what” using denormalized numbers. The invention further organizes various purchasing organizations and products into hierarchical tables. These hierarchical tables are called organizational groups and product groups. Various price adjustments may be specified for each level of the organizational groups and product groups hierarchies. The price adjustments for a particular purchasing organization are determined by retrieving the price adjustments for that particular purchasing organization as well as the price adjustments for organizational groups above the particular purchasing organization in the organizational groups hierarchy.

Abstract: Response delay associated with a state-based client-server application can be reduced with utilization of an application state server-side cache. A server caches data for a set of one or more possible states of a client-server application that may follow a current state of the application. The server rapidly responds to a client request with data that corresponds to an appropriate new state of the application in accordance with the application state server-side cache. The server determines that the application will transition to the appropriate new state from the current state of the application with the application state server-side cache based, at least in part, on an operation indicated by the client request.

Abstract: A data processing system generates recommendations for on-line shopping by scoring recommendations matching the customer's cart contents using by assessing and ranking each candidate recommendation by the expected incremental margin associated with the recommendation being issued (as compared to the expected margin associated with the recommendation not being issued) by taking into consideration historical associations, knowledge of the layout of the site, the complexity of the product being sold, the user's session behavior, the quality of the selling point messages, product life cycle, substitutability, demographics and/or other considerations relating to the customer purchase environment.

Abstract: A recommendation appliance, system and method are provided for generating and deploying additional web page content or functionality (e.g., retail recommendations) to an existing web page server system. For example, the present invention may be embodied as a reverse proxy server that is inserted as an intermediate network node between a web server and the end users accessing the web server. In this position, the recommendation appliance can introduce recommendation messages to web pages generated by the web server without requiring any modification to the code or architecture of the web server. In addition, the appliance may separately track the transaction activities of end users who receive recommendation messages and the transaction activities of end users who do not receive recommendation messages, so that a comparison of the effectiveness of the recommendations may efficiently be demonstrated without requiring any modification to the code or architecture of the web server.

Abstract: A system provides a way to manage agreements that institutions such as financial services companies have with distributors who sell their products. Each distributor has a plurality of sales representatives that earn commissions for selling such products. The commissions earned and any other constraints imposed on the sales representatives may be defined within a selling agreement. The system can generate each selling agreement utilizing a set of components representative of the type of agreement formed between the institutions and the distributor. The components of each selling agreement contain an associated rule set that enables a configuration engine to generate an appropriate document. The system also contains a set of regulatory conditions for each sale made by the sales representatives. The system may be utilized to process sales transaction data to ensure that selling agreement terms are followed and that regulations for each sale are satisfied.

Abstract: A framework that enables financial services companies to manage and track information about a sales force is provided. The framework includes object models for managing distributors information, for validating and tracking licenses and credentials, for creating customized contracts, and for maintaining compensation structures. The framework allows for configuring compensations, providing financial services companies a toolkit for creating and modeling their complex commission schedules used to compensate their sales force. The framework also provides modeling tools for agreements and contracts between a financial services company or provider and the distributors who sell their products. The framework has a multi-component architecture comprising multiple modules, multiple data processing engines, a backbone and multiple data sources. The processing modules carry out information processing using one or more data processing engines.

Abstract: A system and method of multi-objective visualization utilize a multiple-objective optimizer approach to multi-objective optimization and specifically utilize a method for exploring and visualizing Pareto surfaces for any number of dimensions using an interactive graphical user interface. The general solution is to maintain all natural problem objectives separately and use a special multiple-objective optimizer to solve the problem. In this case there is no single solution point. Rather, the solution is a hyper dimensional surface in an objective space with various surface points representing different tradeoffs between objectives.