Abstract: A method of retrieving hierarchical information, the method including receiving a request on an interface of a server, the request identifying a base node and an expansion node, the base node and the expansion node being hierarchically-arranged data objects in a data memory in communication with the server, parsing the request to determine the base node in the hierarchical information, parsing the request to determine the expansion node in the hierarchical information, retrieving a base record associated with the base node, retrieving an expansion record associated with the expansion node and referenced by the base record, inserting information from the base record and information from the expansion record into a response, and returning the response to a client computer in response to the request.