Abstract: A building block that is releasably attachable to another block of compatible design by wedging the tongue of one block into the groove of another block, without the need for any intermediate adhesives, bonding materials or any other means of holding the blocks together. The block includes a body, an outwardly-extending tapered tongue, and two inner surfaces that form a tapered groove therebetween. The tongue and groove have substantially the same taper. The top of the tongue is wider than the bottom of the groove. The base of the tongue is wider than the opening of the groove. A tongue and groove joint is also disclosed as well as methods for forming a tongue and groove joint. A base which includes a plurality of spaced-apart tongues and grooves is provided for use in supporting a plurality of building blocks thereon.

Abstract: A building block that is releasably attachable to another block of compatible design by wedging the tongue of one block into the groove of another block, without the need for any intermediate adhesives, bonding materials or any other means of holding the blocks together. The block includes a body, an outwardly-extending tapered tongue, and two inner surfaces that form a tapered groove therebetween. The tongue and groove have substantially the same taper. The top of the tongue is wider than the bottom of the groove. The base of the tongue is wider than the opening of the groove. A tongue and groove joint is also disclosed as well as methods for forming a tongue and groove joint. A base which includes a plurality of spaced-apart tongues and grooves is provided for use in supporting a plurality of building blocks thereon.

Abstract: A configuration builder provides a common user interface for configuring a variety of different software components. The configuration builder consists of a number of component-specific builder modules and a generic user interface module. Each builder module contains templates defining user screens for inputting configuration information for a component, as well as validation rules and error messages. The configuration data for a component is obtained as set of tables, each containing records, and is then translated into the actual configuration file for use by the component.