Abstract: A client terminal sends a request signal representing contents of a questionnaire to an agent server, in accordance with operations of a client. The agent server sets target people to be provided with the questionnaire, in accordance with the contents of the questionnaire represented by the request signal sent from the client terminal through a network. The agent server creates a plurality of questions in accordance with the contents of the questionnaire which are represented by the request signal. The agent server sends the created questions to the set target people through a network. After this, the agent server sums up completed questionnaires sent back from the target people through a network. The agent server sends the summed result to the client terminal through a network, thereby to provide the summed result to the client.

Abstract: Supply department side determines and lays open data to be laid open among collection parts based on lay-open level corresponding to the confidential level of the collection parts, while specifying suppliers qualified to read the lay-open data. The lay-open ranking is determined by hierarchically ranking the collection department side into a plurality of layers, determining the rating for judging the confidential level of the collection parts and by taking the individual ratings determined for the plurality of hierarchical layers into considerations. Also, on the collection department side, registered suppliers are classified into a plurality of supplier rank groups, and lay-open data are laid open only to suppliers belonging to a rank group corresponding to a pertinent confidential level.

Abstract: A client terminal sends a request signal representing contents of a questionnaire to an agent server, in accordance with operations of a client. The agent server sets target people to be provided with the questionnaire, in accordance with the contents of the questionnaire represented by the request signal sent from the client terminal through a network. The agent server creates a plurality of questions in accordance with the contents of the questionnaire which are represented by the request signal. The agent server sends the created questions to the set target people through a network. After this, the agent server sums up completed questionnaires sent back from the target people through a network. The agent server sends the summed result to the client terminal through a network, thereby to provide the summed result to the client.

Abstract: In the network-based design service system of the present invention, a parts vendor registers on a design DB server various kinds of information, including the names of parts/vendor items, sample circuits, and design know-how, e.g., anti-noise circuits, in advance through a parts vendor terminal via a network, a designer performs circuit design for a device on a WWW site through a designer terminal, and an account terminal pays a royalty for the utilization of the design database from the bank account of the designer to the bank account of the parts vendor upon utilization of the design database, and pays an employment fee from the bank account of the parts vendor to the bank account of the designer upon employment of a part.

Abstract: A commercial sales system is disclosed, which provides convenience for purchasers of items relevant to a specific item from a WWW home page, and provides profitable business to both sellers selling the specific item and sellers selling the relevant items. A specific-item catalogue and a relevant-item catalogue are registered in advance in a WWW home page. A purchaser views both catalogues via a network by using a purchaser terminal, and sends a purchase request to a relevant-item seller by designating one of the items relevant to the specific item. The relevant-item seller delivers a product of the designated item to the purchaser, and informs a settlement computer of sales data of the purchased item. The settlement computer transfers a sales commission from a sales account of the relevant-item seller to a sales account of the specific-item seller.

Abstract: In a case of accessing a site side server through an Internet network to purchase a commodity, enciphering and registering personal authentication information and physical characteristic information so as to be correlated with other on the side of a server for members enable personal authentication by the application of physical characteristics even when personal authentication information is forgotten, so that connection to a mail-order system using the Internet network is enabled to release members from conducting management of various personal authentication information and security can be ensured as well.

Abstract: For use in a packed nine-bit-byte data processing system, a shift circuit comprises a shifter for subjecting a datum given by a bit sequence of nine-bit bytes to a shift of a preselected whole number N of digits or, more particularly, a shift of [9N/2] and [9(N-1)/2+5] bits when the whole number is an even and an odd integer, respectively. Before written in a register, the shifted bit sequence is edited by an editor into an edited bit sequence wherein each prescribed binary bit in each nine-bit byte is produced as it stands when the whole number is even and is placed, when the whole number is odd, at a next more significant bit than a four-bit byte which is next more significant in the shifted sequence than that binary bit.