Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to data communication networks, and
more particularly, to a system and method for communicating information among
users connected to such networks using templates and template-based
messages.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many applications are known that can be implemented to promote
communication among users of data communications networks. For example,
electronic mail, bulletin boards, news groups, and groupware programs (e. g.
Lotus Notes) each offer messaging, collaboration, thread management and
archiving functions for public and private consumption. Several of these
applications can be accessed via computer networks, such as the Internet.
Each of these applications suffers from certain drawbacks. One such drawback
is
that most group applications require a user to locate the application by
browsing
the World Wide Web ("Web"), accessing a Universal Record Locator ("URL"), or
other proprietary means.
Consequently, the user must either have prior knowledge of the specific URL or
navigate the Web. In the case of Web navigation, the member may access
unwanted links to other web sites, when searching for the desired application.
This tends to frustrate and confuse the member.
Even with the knowledge of a specific URL, the communication can yield poor
results. For example, to accumulate answers to a Web-based questionnaire, the
questions can be posted on a web site for members in the group to access and
answer. However, any computer user with a web browser that can access the
web site containing the questions may also answer. In this way, unwanted
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answers are submitted, and the results tend to be inaccurate. Participation by
unwanted users can be limited by implementing a security mechanism. Typically,
this requires several steps, which may include complete surveys and
biographical forms prior to granting access to the questionnaire.
Several known application systems use messaging to circumvent the above
difficulties. A major drawback to such applications is that the recipient in
any step
of the exchange has little or no knowledge of the structure of the message to
be
received, nor can the recipient influence the structure of its content
effectively.
This results in wasted time and messages that contribute little to the goal of
the
communication, and is unduly burdensome and potentially expensive to the
users of the system.
Some applications can be integrated with Internet electronic mail ("e-mail")
to
also restrict the number of users to only specified recipients of the e-mail
messages. However, current e-mail systems have several drawbacks as outlined
above. In addition, most e-mail systems can only support static content
messages. This means that the content of the e-mail message may become stale
or outdated as members of the group consider the message and respond.
Using current e-mail systems, the user is also faced with the daunting task of
sorting messages accumulated from group members. Once gathered together,
the user must sift through the text of these messages, which often lacks
structure
and is duplicated. Additionally, content embedded in an e-mail, such as an
attached file, is unnecessarily duplicated and stored on a number of mail
servers.
This wastes bandwidth and can cause bottlenecks in the network.
Known e-mail systems give recipients very little or no control over who can
send
specific types of e-mail messages, and no control over the content, structure
and
format of the messages. This results in many unwanted messages arriving in the
user's e-mail inbox. The lack of control is particularly costly for businesses
that
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rely increasingly on electronic means of communication with their customers.
Customers who initiate messages to a business may omit crucial information
related to the subject of the e-mail message, requiring expensive follow up by
businesses, and the content they provide may lack the structure necessary for
the businesses to automate the processing of messages effectively and put the
information to good use. This lack of control additionally prevents recipients
from
efficiently making the available services known to potential senders, and from
effectively routing incoming messages or soliciting the kind of information
they
require in the conduct of their business.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In general, the present invention is directed to a method for communicating
information among network users that allows senders to use pre-determined
message templates to enter the content of the messages. Preferably, a message
template is created by or known to an intended recipient, and transmitted
dynamically to a sender in response to a notification of their intent to send
a
message, which notification is communicated immediately upon entering the
recipient's address in the message. In this way, the preferred method causes
the
message template to be current when senders author their messages based on
it.
Accordingly, in one aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for
controlling the content and structure of information communicated among
network users using an electronic medium. The method includes sending a
request to a server in response to entering the recipient's address in the
electronic medium. The request signals the server of the sender's intent to
send
a message to a recipient. The sender may be served with one of a plurality of
message templates stored on the recipient's system or a server. The message
template may include static and active content, and is made available in the
electronic medium at the sender. The template may cause the sender to enter
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the message content in accordance with the template's contents. The message
thus entered by the sender may then be formatted and sent to the recipient in
response to a send action by sender.
Implementations of the invention may include one or more of the following: The
recipient may register the template in a template registry on the network
accessible by the sender, and store the template in the recipient's system or
in a
server. The sender may access the registry to locate the template, and then
access the template to enter a message to recipient. The sender may store a
copy of the template in a system cache, and access the stored copy, which may
be current with the template stored at the recipient, or otherwise updated
from
the template stored at the recipient. The message content entered by the
sender
in accordance with the template may be formatted and transmitted in an
instance
of the electronic medium to the recipient. The sender may store a copy of the
electronic medium in the sender's system or in a server. The message content
entered by the sender in a new instance of the electronic medium, using the
same template, may update the content of an existing instance stored at the
recipient or may be used to create a new instance with the new message
content. The active content of the template may include content entered by a
user other than the sender or recipient in accordance with the same or another
template. The message template may include text, graphics, images, executable
content, audio, and video, whether stored in the template or accessed from a
network-accessible peripheral device or server. The message template may be
sent asynchronously to a plurality of senders, and send actions by the senders
may result in a plurality of instances of the electronic medium at the
recipient,
each having different message content, or in a single instance of the
electronic
medium aggregating the contents of messages of the plurality of senders. The
user systems and servers may be configured to support a plurality of
electronic
mail, Web, and Internet protocols or standards. These may include HTTP, SMTP,
POP3, MIME, HTML, and XML.
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In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of effective
management and control of incoming messages by recipients. Instead of a
permission-based messaging system, as in known instant messaging or "buddy
list" systems, where permission is granted by recipient based on the identity
of
the sender, the method and system of the invention may define a permission-
based messaging system where permission is granted to send messages based
on message templates. In combination with an identity-permission messaging, a
user can safely and effectively manage or eliminate the superfluous e-mail
messages that swamp a typical e-mail user's inbox.
Implementations of the invention may include one or more of the following. A
recipient may have an address book, and a policy allowing users with entries
in
the address book to send messages, including those based on certain templates
that the recipient associates with different persons. In addition, the
recipient may
have a default template that defines a number of message types that the
recipient is prepared to accept from unknown users. On attempting to send a
message to this recipient, a user unknown to the recipient may receive this
default template, and may choose one of the message types that the recipient
may accept. The recipient can thus manage the flow of messages to his inbox
based on message types he defines, and further on the known structure and kind
of content of the messages he receives.
In a further aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for using
message templates to communicate information between a sender and multiple
recipients that includes retrieving a plurality of message templates in
response to
entering multiple network addresses in the electronic medium. The sender may
choose one or more templates to enter the message content, resulting in a
corresponding number of instances of the electronic medium, each making
available a different message template. Each instance of the electronic medium
corresponds to one or more recipients that share the same message template.
The message content entered by the sender using different templates updates
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the corresponding electronic mediums, and is sent to the corresponding
recipients in response to send actions by the sender. Alternatively, the
different
message templates may be merged at the sender and message content is
entered into a single electronic medium in accordance with the merged
template.
Implementations of the invention may include one or more of the following. The
network addresses may be imported from a peripheral device, explicitly
inputted
into the electronic medium, selected from a list, or partially completed by
the
recipient or a server. The message templates may be web pages accessed on
different web servers using a desktop or notebook computer, or a personal
digital
assistant. Message content entered into a single medium in accordance with a
merged template may be copied into several mediums based on the different
templates forming the merged template, resulting in several messages to
different recipients that conform to said templates.
In a further aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of
efficient
integration of electronic messaging with database systems. A message template
may include content that maps directly to fields in a database record. Message
content entered by senders must be accepted by the template, and thus may be
readily and dynamically entered into databases and acted upon by database
applications. Recipients may further offer senders a list of several message
templates, each reflecting a different database or other business application.
Message content and templates may reside completely in databases, and
electronic templates and messages may be dynamically and directly assembled
from the databases. Either party may include new templates or updated versions
of existing templates in an ongoing exchange of messages, thus allowing
replies
to continue to easily integrate with the databases.
In a further aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of
associating
different message types with different message senders. A message template
may be associated with a list of acceptable senders. The list of senders may
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further be drawn dynamically from a database. A request to retrieve a message
template may include the network address of the sender, and the recipient may
use this address and other criteria to determine the message template or list
of
message templates it wishes to make available to sender.
In a further aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of
efficiently
routing incoming electronic messaging within an organization. The recipient
may
determine other recipients of messages by certain types of message content,
including selections made in drop-lists, check boxes, radio buttons, and other
selection controls.
The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the
accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and
advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and
drawings,
and from the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of a sample network including network users and
servers.
FIG. 2 shows the various fields of a template specification.
Fig. 3 shows the various fields of a template request.
FIG. 4 illustrates an example list of message templates.
FIG. 5 illustrates a template list and a selected template displayed in the
messaging client.
FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a preferred method of the present
invention.
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DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In general, the present invention is directed to a method and system for
communicating among users of a data communication network, which method
allows targeted recipients of messages to determine the structure, and
partially
the content, of the messages they receive using electronic message templates.
The method uses an electronic medium that may display a message template
having static and active content. The message template may be coupled to a
database, and is stored in a server and accessed by users in the process of
composing messages. Input composed by the user or other sources may be
captured and used by the messaging client or the server housing the template
to
format the message to recipient.
Accordingly, in one aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for
controlling the content, structure, and format of information communicated
among network users. The method includes sending a request from the sender
to a server in response to entering the recipient's address in an electronic
medium. The request signals the server of the sender's intent to send a
message
to a recipient. The sender may be served with one of a plurality of message
templates stored on the recipient's system or a server. The message template
may include static and active content, and is made available in the electronic
medium at the sender. The template may cause the sender to enter the message
content in accordance with the template's contents. The message thus entered
by the sender may then be sent to the recipient in response to a send action
by
sender.
The invention is first based on a principle opposite to that of known
communication systems, in which systems the sender exclusively determines the
content and structure of messages, or at best relies on largely static and
limited
information about the recipient to make such determination. The method and
system of the invention allow recipients to actively participate in such
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determination at the initiation of the message; and further support a rich yet
efficient exchange of messages. Secondly, the method and system of the
invention allow message content to be handled using automated processes at
the recipient's end. The method and system usefully increases the efficiency
and
effectiveness of communication by allowing recipients to act on data whose
structure is known to them in advance.
A suitable system for the invention is a communication network that is
configured
with systems that support a variety of protocols, such as those for supporting
Internet, Web, and electronic mail ("e-mail"). The electronic media for
communicating information among users connected to the network comprises
message envelops, templates, and contents. A suitable implementation of
templates can be Web pages comprising the use of HTML, XML, scripting
languages, Web Services Descriptions Language (WSDL), and other Web
content. Thus, templates are customizable and programmable, containing
various static and active components to execute a variety of functions to
supply
all the functionality customarily available in Web applications.
The term active content can be defined as the components of the message
template that carry functionality or behaviour, including retrieval of
information
from a server or an external source, or editing of the contents of the
template or
an external file or database. The term static content can be defined as
components of the template that are fixed at the time the template is created
and
that are not modified in the normal course of exchanging messages between the
users.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have
substantially the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill
in the art to which the invention belongs. Although many methods and systems
similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice of
the
present invention, suitable methods and systems are described below.
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Additionally, the methods, systems, and examples described herein are
illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the
following detailed description, the drawings, and from the claims.
FIG. 1 illustrates a plurality of users 1,2, and 3 that are connected to a
network 4.
Any number of users may be connected to the network 4. The term user can be
defined as an entity or system that is capable of performing or executing a
variety
of functions on the message template and the message as described herein. For
simplicity, however, the following description will be made to users 1-3. Each
of
the users 1-3 may include any specific or general computer system that is
equipped to receive or read e-mail messages using standard e-mail protocols,
such as the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and the Multipurpose Internet
Mail Extensions (MIME), or navigate the Web. In addition, the computer may be
equipped with a computer program (Messaging Client) implemented separately
in accordance with the present invention or as an extension to an existing
MIME
compatible user agent. The Messaging Client may also be implemented as a
Web page and accessed by the users using a Web browser. The Messaging
Client allows users to create and edit template registrations, and to receive
templates and display them for use by users. The computer may be, for example,
a personal computer ("PC"), an Apple Macintosh, a Unix workstation, or other
computing machine that runs a windows-based operating system. A suitable
computer may also include a modem, a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, a browser
application, and system software including support for TCP/IP communication.
Alternatively, the users 1-3 may include other devices that are capable of
transmitting or receiving e-mail messages such as Palm computers provided by
3Com Corporation, Windows CE-based devices, messaging enabled cellular
telephones, pagers, television set top boxes, e.g., Web TV, or portable
computers. The users 1-3 may further include other devices that are capable of
processing text, audio or video messaging.
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The network 4 may be any local or global computer network. For example, the
network 4 may be the Internet, a wireless communications network, a satellite
communications network, or other similar data nefinrorks.
For simplicity, the following description will be made using a system and
method
configured to support any of the below listed e-mail protocols and data
structures. However, the invention can be configured and practiced in any of
the
above communication networks.
Each of the users 1-3 is configured to support a variety of protocols and mark-
up
languages, such as SMTP, HTTP, MIME, Hypertext Mark-up Language
("HTML"), Extensible Mark-up Language ("XML"), or similar e-mail protocols
and/or mark-up languages.
FIG. 1 also shows a Template Registry 5 that is connected to the network 4.
The
Template Registry 5 is preferably configured to provide lists of templates and
their properties using protocols supported by users 1-3. A Template 7 consists
of
a template record containing a unique template identifier, name, icon, and
other
properties, and a template application. The template record may reside on the
Registry 5, while the template application may reside on the Web Server 6.
The template application can be composed of industry standard HTML, Active
Server Pages (ASP or ASP+) file, XML, a specialized Template Application
Markup Language based on industry standard XML, or some other suitable
technology. Template Applications can access executable components or objects
using COM, Web Services or similar technologies supported by Web Server 6,
which components provide the business logic processing to the users using the
template to send messages.
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The registry 5 is responsible for receiving template registration requests
from
users, for assigning unique template identifiers to templates, associating the
template record with the template application, transmitting template records
to
requesting users, and maintaining template registrations in a database 10. The
database 10 may contain a record of the history of changes that have been made
to the templates by the users, which record may be used to determine the
sending of a template record to a requesting user as discussed below. The
registry 5 may be implemented on a computer server as a database server
application using a suitable commercially available database system, such as
ORACLE or MS SQL servers.
The Web Server 6 stores the Template Applications and is configured to manage
requests from Messaging Clients 1-3, to manage session information, to send
and receive template-generated data transmitted to or from the Clients 1-3
over
HTTP during message composition based on templates. The Web server can be
a suitable commercially available web server, such as an IIS server from
Microsoft, or a combination of Web server and Web application servers that
support the set of technologies as described herein.
The Web server 6 also connects to a Business Database 8 to provide templates
with access to business data using commercially available data access
components or servers. Contents of the database 8 may include demographic
data, user profile data including credit and payment information, user
preferences, and usage statistics for the templates and/or a web site. The
database 8 may also store basic template applications that act as blanks or
partial template applications for the creation of the templates. The database
8
may also include images and other resources used in the creation of the
templates applications and in their presentation to users.
The databases 8 and 10 may be relational databases, such as commercially
available SQL Server from Microsoft. The databases 8 and 10 may include
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multiple physical databases and may be implemented at a single site or
distributed among many sites. They may also be implemented using object-
oriented databases, object-relational databases, or hierarchical file
structures,
and may include information that is specific to any user or template. Other
data
management resources may also be used.
The Email Server 9 receives messages formatted by Messaging Client 1-3 and
routes messages between users using the SMTP protocol, and can be
implemented using a number of commercially available or open source e-mail
servers, including Sendmail and the Exchange server.
FIG. 2 illustrates the different components of a template specification 100
that
can be used by the users 1-3 to exchange messages in accordance with the
invention. The specification 100 includes a template unique ID 101 that
uniquely
identifies the template on the Network 5. The template name 102 is a short
descriptive text that, together with template icon 103, may allow users to
quickly
identify the template in a list of templates. The Recipient ID field 104 may
be the
email address of the user that would receive messages based on this template,
or another unique address associated with the recipient. The Sender ID List
105
optionally specifies the users that may use the template, and may be the email
addresses or other unique addresses associated with these users. Template
Options 106 may indicate recipient preferences such as the format of messages
based on the template, types of devices allowed access to the template, and
statistics to be gathered. Template options 106 may also include indicators of
the
processing preferences of recipient upon receiving the message, including
merging the message contents with those of a previous message based on the
same template. The Template Description field 107 may be displayed by the
Messaging Client 1-3 to provide users with more information about the Template
Application. The Template Application URL 108 is the unique network address of
the Template Application residing on Web Server 6. The fields 102-108 of the
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template specification 100 comprise a template registration that a recipient's
Messaging Client submits to the Registry 5.
Fig. 3 shows a structure of a Template Request 200 that the Messaging Client
of
a sending user may transmit to the Registry 5. Field 201 contains the intended
recipient's email address, which may be used by the Registry 5 to search the
Registry Database 10 for matching records. Field 202 contains the sending
user's email address, which may be used by the Registry to further select the
matching templates from the database 10. Field 203 contains the sending user's
current network address, such as its Internet Protocol (1P) address, which may
be used by the Registry 5 to communicate with the Messaging Client and send
the Template List 300, and optionally to further select the template list. The
optional Template ID List 204 may include the unique identifiers of templates
that
may be excluded from the Template List.
Fig. 4 shows a structure of a Template List 300 that the Registry 5 may
transmit
to the Messaging Client of a sending user. The fields carry the same meaning
as
those having the same names in the Template Specification 100.
Fig. 5 illustrates a sample template list and the template application of a
selected
sample template displayed in the messaging client.
FIG. 6 shows a flow chart of a preferred method of the invention. Initially,
one of
the users, who wishes to receive messages based on a certain template may
author the Template Specification 100 or modify an existing one by using the
Messaging Client to specify the template fields 102-108. The user uses a
computer program residing on the user's system to create or modify a Template
Application and publish it to the Web Server 6 at the Template Application URL
108 (step 401 ).
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The template icon may be imported from a folder or other file; and the list of
network addresses in the fields 104 and 105 may be explicitly inputted by the
user using a keyboard, imported from a folder or other file residing at the
user's
system or another system accessible by the user's system. In general, fields
102-
108 may be copied from existing template specifications and modified by the
user to create a new specification.
Template Applications may include user interface and navigation elements that
provide a graphical interface to allow users to interact with the application,
input
and manipulate data, and view the results of their interaction. These elements
may be authored in commercially available editors such as Front Page from
Microsoft. They may also include or access executable components that
implement business logic, such as authentication, authorization, and editing
of
templates and of business and user records. These executable components may
be written in Java, C/C++, Visual Basic, or other suitable languages.
For new template submissions, the user's messaging client assembles the fields
102-108 inputted by the user and submits it to the Template Registry 5, which
registry assigns a Template Unique Identifier 101 to the template (step 402).
For
modifications to a template, the Template Registry 5 updates its own record of
the template specification, and the Web Server 6 copies the modified template
application over the existing copy at the Template Application URL.
Alternatively,
the user may use Web applications to create, modify or submit the template
specification at Template Registry 5 or the Template Application at Web Server
6. At this stage, the template application is accessible on Web Server 6 by
any
user whose email address is included in the Sender ID List 105 in the Template
Specification.
Next, a sending user may initiate a new message using a template-enabled
messaging client (step 403). When the user enters the address of a recipient,
which address can be determined by recognizing one of the first level domains
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(suffixes ".com", ".net", ".org", ".ca", ...), or through an explicit action
by the user,
such as activating a "request template" action (step 404), the messaging
client
sends a Template Request 200 to the Template Registry 5 (step 405). The
template request includes the sender network address 201 and its email address
202, and the recipient's e-mail address 203, each of which may be used by the
Template Registry 5 to search for matches in the registry database 8 and
assemble a Template List 300. The registry 5 may then transmit the Template
List that matches the request 200 to the sending user using its network
address
201 (step 406). Optionally, the Template Request 200 may include a list of
template IDs 204 that the sender user already has received and stored on its
computer system, allowing for the efficient communication of the Template List
by transmitting back only template specifications that have not been
transmitted
earlier to the sending user.
In another scenario, if the sender activates a "reply" action to a message,
the
"Reply To" address in the message may be used to create the Template Request
200. Alternatively, the message may be based on a template, an option of which
may indicate whether to use the same template application or access a new one
for a reply.
The sender's messaging client now displays the template names 302 and icons
303 received in the template list 300 in a templates field (step 407) so that
the
user can select one of the templates for the message. Upon selecting a
template,
the messaging client sends the selected Template Application's URL 306 to the
Web Server 6 over HTTP, and thus retrieves the selected application from the
Web Server (step 408). The messaging client can now display the template body
in the message, possibly using data from Database 8 (step 409). A suitable Web
browser component, including commercially available Internet Explorer or
Netscape Navigator, may be integrated into the Messaging Client to display the
Template Application. The messaging client allows the user to interact with
the
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template and input message data (step 410) in input fields contained in the
template.
The messaging client captures user input and formats it into a message format
according to Template Options 304 (step 411 ). For example, the template
options may specify that the message to the recipient must conform to MIME
standard and sent using the Email Server 9 (step 412), or that the message be
formatted in a custom format and transmitted using an alternative transport to
a
user connected to network 4. Alternatively, the template application itself
may
perform steps 411 and 412. The message may also be formatted as a Web page
stored on Web Server 6, and sending the message may result into a notification
to recipient that includes the URL of the Web page containing the message, and
granting the recipient access privileges to the Web page.
The preferred method permits users to communicate efficiently and effectively.
Each user can send and receive information that relies on message templates,
resulting in messages that are consistently more usable by their recipients.
The preferred method supports privacy because the template applications can be
restricted to those specified in the template record, and messages are
specifically restricted to recipients using standard protocols. Further, the
preferred method and system allows templates used by senders to be constantly
up-to-date, further improving the effectiveness of communication. The
preferred
method also allows users to communicate using the convenience of a messaging
application, without the daunting task of "sung" the Web to find the Web pages
that serve the purpose of communication.
In another embodiment of the current invention, Template Applications may be
implemented using a mechanism other than a Web page or application that
resides on a Web server, including a message that conforms to the MIME
standard. In this embodiment, the Template Application may include all the
data
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needed for its functioning in accordance with the invention, and the Messaging
Client may include support for the MIME standard and extensions to allow the
processing of messages based on Template Applications. This embodiment may
allow the Messaging Client to use message templates independently of the Web
server, and may provide for further manipulation of messages and message
templates to the benefit of the users.
The methods and mechanisms described here are not limited to any particular
hardware or software configuration, or to any particular communications
modality, but rather they may find applicability in diverse data or computer
network environments.
The techniques described here may be implemented in hardware or software, or
a combination of the two. Preferably, the techniques are implemented in
computer programs executing on one or more programmable computers that
each includes a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor
(including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), and
suitable input and output devices. The programmable computers may be
general-purpose computers or special-purpose, embedded systems. In either
case, program code is applied to data entered with or received from an input
device to perform the functions described and to generate output information.
The output information is applied to one or more output devices.
Each program is preferably implemented in a high level procedural or object-
oriented programming language to communicate with a computer system.
However, the programs can be implemented in assembly or machine language, if
desired. In any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language.
Each such computer program is preferably stored on a storage medium or device
(e. g., CD-ROM, hard disk, magnetic diskette, or memory chip) that is readable
by a general or special purpose programmable computer for configuring and
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operating the computer when the storage medium or device is read by the
computer to perform the procedures described.
The system also may be implemented as a computer-readable storage medium,
configured with a computer program, where the storage medium so configured
causes a computer to operate in a specific and predefined manner.
A number of embodiments of the present invention have been described.
Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made
without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example,
additional template options may instruct the messaging client to retrieve
another
template if the current template application is not available, or to format
the
message in a manner not specified in the current embodiment. The Template
Registry and Web servers may also be implemented in a distributed manner on a
peer-to-peer basis. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the
following claims.
