Abstract: In one embodiment, a method or software development tools are provided which allow customised information systems, for example, accounts receivable or stock control software, to be designed, implemented and maintained in less time than is generally presently required, while still providing a customised information system which conforms to the requirements of an industry, individual or an organisation. The invention also provides a customised information system in which the existing development steps of Analysis, Design, and Coding are transformed into a single Definition step.

Abstract: Systems and methods for efficiently distributing a file from a first node to a plurality of recipient nodes are provided. A method comprises distributing a plurality of subfiles that comprise a file from a first node to a first group comprising a plurality of recipient nodes, wherein at least one subfile distributed from the first node to each recipient node of the first group but no individual recipient node receives all of the plurality of subfiles from the first node. The method further comprises exchanging subfiles among the plurality of recipient nodes of the first group, wherein at least one recipient node of the first group begins communicating a portion of the subfile that it is receiving from the first node to at least one other recipient node before the at least one recipient node fully receives the subfile.

Abstract: Systems for an automatically facilitated support for complex electronic services include a plurality of databases having customer records and problem solving information to assist a user with problem resolution and a cycler module configured to access the databases. The cycler module is further configured to search the databases for database pages having keywords that match input provided by the user. Other systems and methods are also provided.

Abstract: Shrinking a database file is performed by manipulating pages within the file such that all empty pages reside at the end of the file. Non-empty pages from the end of the file are written to empty pages at the start of the file. Repeating this process, the correct number of times, results in all of the empty pages residing at the end of the file. Once this is achieved, the file is truncated such that the space consumed by all empty and discardable pages is returned to the file system. Truncating the file involves traversing the file backwards from the end of the file until the first non-empty page is found. The file is truncated after the last non-empty page.

Abstract: A method, apparatus and article of manufacture, implementing the method, accesses rows in a range-clustered table in a database management system. A table stores data that is organized into rows and columns. At least one column is designated as a key column. A particular row in the table is accessed based on a relationship between a specified key value and a predetermined range of key values associated with the key column. The table has slots for storing rows, and the slots are organized in accordance with the values of the predetermined range.