Abstract: Methods and apparatus for scheduling delivery of an order via a wide area network. A computer system associates a customer point value with each customer according to a customer point system. The customer point values is determined with reference to customer order data. The computer system then divides the customers into customer groups, each of which has a range of customer point values. The system determines an actual capacity allocation distribution among the customer groups based on the customer order data. The system adjusts the range of customer point values for customer groups to cause the actual capacity allocation distribution to converge to a target capacity allocation distribution.

Abstract: An execution engine embeddable in a plurality of host application programs to control execution of code in each of the host application programs is disclosed. The execution unit includes a command unit, an execution unit and a host call unit. The command unit receives commands from a host application program in which the execution engine is embedded, including a command to execute a sequence of platform-independent instructions. The execution unit executes the sequence of platform-independent instructions until an instruction indicating either a break event or a remote procedure call is detected. The host call unit initiates execution of one or more procedures in the host application program in response to the execution unit detecting the instruction indicating a break event or a remote procedure call.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for scheduling delivery of an order via a wide area network. A computer system associates a customer point value with each customer according to a customer point system. The customer point values is determined with reference to customer order data. The computer system then divides the customers into customer groups, each of which has a range of customer point values. The system determines an actual capacity allocation distribution among the customer groups based on the customer order data. The system adjusts the range of customer point values for customer groups to cause the actual capacity allocation distribution to converge to a target capacity allocation distribution.

Abstract: An execution engine embeddable in a plurality of host application programs to control execution of code in each of the host application programs is disclosed. The execution unit includes a command unit, an execution unit and a host call unit. The command unit receives commands from a host application program in which the execution engine is embedded, including a command to execute a sequence of platform-independent instructions. The execution unit executes the sequence of platform-independent instructions until an instruction indicating either a break event or a remote procedure call is detected. The host call unit initiates execution of one or more procedures in the host application program in response to the execution unit detecting the instruction indicating a break event or a remote procedure call.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for implementing a data construct, referred to herein as a "cursor variable", that has many of the attributes of simple variables and that can be used to access active sets of data from a database. Cursor variables identify a current set of data in an active set generated as a result of a database query. A cursor variable can be associated with any one of a number of different queries at any given time during program execution without using a host programming language. As a result, different active sets having different columns, different tables, and/or different predicates may be associated with the same cursor variable using instructions from a single programming language.