Abstract:
A hybird Notes/DB2 environment provides a requisition catalog on the Web. Client browsers are connected to a GWA infrastructure including a first network dispatcher and a virtual cluster of Domino.Go servers. The network dispatcher sprays out browser requests among configured .nsf servers in virtual server cluster. Communications from this virtual server cluster are, in turn, dispatched by a second network dispatcher servers in a Domino cluster. External objects, primarily for a GUI, are served in a .dfs and include graphic files, Java files, HTML images and net.data macros. The catalog is built from supplier provided flat files. A front end is provided for business logic and validation, as also is a relation database backend. HTML forms are populated using relational database agents. A role table is used for controlling access both to Notes code and DB2 data. Large amounts of data is quickly transferred using an intermediate agent and window.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   
       
       
         
           The following U.S. patent applications filed concurrently herewith are assigned to the same assignee hereof and contain subject matter related, in certain respects, to the subject matter of the present application, the teachings of which applications are incorporated herein by this reference: 
         
       
       Ser. No. 09/657,215, entitled “System and Method for Clustering Servers for Performance and Load Balancing”; 
       Ser. No. 09/657,216, entitled “System and Method for Front End Business Logic and Validation”; 
       Ser. No. 09/657,217, entitled “System and Method for Data Transfer With Respect to External Applications”; 
       Ser. No. 09/656,037, entitled “System and Method for Providing a Relational Database Backend”; 
       Ser. No. 09/656,803, entitled “System and Method for Providing a Role Table GUI via Company Group”; 
       Ser. No. 09/657,196, entitled “System and Method for Catalog Administration Using Supplier Provided Flat Files”; and 
       Ser. No. 09/657,195, entitled “System and Method for Providing an Application Navigator Client Menu Side Bar”. 
     
  
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Technical Field of the Invention 
   This invention pertains to a system and method for managing a requisition catalog on the web. 
   2. Background Art 
   A requisition catalog for a large enterprise in a web environment must enable very fast access to a very large database from a large number of clients. A large number of clients is required for optimal performance of a catalog system. There is a need to architect such a system so as to be scalable, that is, capable of providing that fast access to an ever increasing number of clients and a growing database or collection of databases. 
   In a requisition catalog system for a large enterprise in a web environment, there is a requirement for a system and method for insuring that all general ledger accounts associated with commodities are correct, and within this requirement for providing a description from the associated accounting system for use by customer or requester to select the correct general ledger (GL) account when doing financial validation on a requisition. 
   A requisition catalog for a large enterprise is stored in a very large database. However, a Lotus Notes database has a hard limit of 2 to 4 gigabytes of data. That is, Notes puts its entire database into one big Notes standard format(.nsf) file. Information in such a .nsf file is accessed by a system geometrically. As a result, such a system slows down significantly as it accesses larger files. This slow down ramps up rather badly. Consequently, the hard limit is artificially put in because of this ramp up in access time. The typical solution to this problem is to split a very large database into many smaller databases. Lotus Notes has a Lotus connector/Lotus script extensions connector (LCLSX). This allows connection to other databases but these script extensions are not set up to actually be the database. There is a need in the art for a system and method for utilizing Lotus script extensions in combination with a relational database to provide high capacity storage without performance degradation. 
   In building a requisition catalog for a large enterprise with many suppliers, an automated process is needed to receive a flat file from a supplier for review by a buyer before being externalized for use by requesters. While the buyer must be able to review the contents, he must be restricted from making changes to certain sensitive fields, such as changing a unit price or a unit of measure, both of which could constitute fraud. Consequently, allowing the buyer to edit the flat file can&#39;t provide the level of security required. There is a need in the art to provide a buyer a means of auditing catalog content before externalizing it to production for access by requesters. 
   A requisition catalog for use in a web environment requires a very large database, such as an IBM DB2 database, and the functionality provided by, for example, a Lotus Notes server. However, a Lotus Notes access control list (ACL) can not be used to control access to an IBM DB2 database, and the privileges on a DB2 table can be granted only by the table instance owner. Additionally, since Notes agents which access DB2 are running from a Notes server, the Notes server ID often has full access to all tables, and there is no way to limit that. That is, in a hybrid (Notes/DB2) environment, the user ID which accesses DB2 tables is the ID of the Notes server. Therefore, access by a user to the DB2 tables can&#39;t be restricted with current technology. There is a need in the art for a system and method which allows certain users access to certain data in certain selected tables. That is, there is needed a system and method for providing very flexible access to DB2 tables without requiring database administrator (DBA) involvement to issue grants against the tables, and bypassing the problem caused by Notes agents all coming from the same user (the Notes server ID). 
   In a hybrid requisition catalog system for use in a web environment, much of the application data is stored in, for example, IBM DB2 tables. However, a web interface written in Java script and in HTML does not have functionality for connecting to DB2 and reading data from DB2 tables. No function is provided in Java script and in HTML to connect to or access such a database. It is not presently possible to make the connection by connecting to the database and executing SQL queries. Consequently, there is a need in the art for a system and method utilizing an existing infrastructure including Lotus Notes, Domino Go, and DB2 to combine HTML and Java script web presentation with DB2 data. 
   In a requisition catalog system for use in a web environment by a large enterprise, there must be provided a way to deal with web sites that exist outside of a firewall, or internal applications within the firewall but outside of the requisition catalog (Req/Cat Web or RCW) application. That is, a system and method is required for transferring a large quantity of data back from such a web site or application to the RCW application in a timely manner. One possible way is to send data on the universal resource locator (URL). However, such a URL is limited to 1 K bytes, which is not enough to do the task quickly for the quantities of information required. Information can be put into a frame, and that information can be read, but only if the information is written and read by the same server. 
   In a preferred system, the RCW application exists in a frame set in a browser. As part of security for such a browser, Netscape and Internet Explorer (IE) establish ownership of the frames: each frame is a window under control of the browser. A user can open up a session in any frame desired. However, if all of the frames are not owned by same session, then these frames not commonly owned cannot see the contents of each other. In Netscape version 4.51 frame ownership was changed to protect against frame spoofing. Frame spoofing is a way other servers can use to trick the owner of a frame into thinking it had created a frame actually created by someone else, enabling access to data not owned. Netscape 4.51 plugs that hole. 
   Consequently, in the new environment (with spoofing inhibited) a problem is presented: if a RCW application needs to access an outside supplier site for information to get back through one its own the frames, as soon as data is written by that outside supplier site into one of the frames owned by RCW, ownership of the frame is transferred from RCW to the supplier; RCW no longer owns the frame and cannot access the information. A system and method is needed to enable transfer of data from a supplier site to a RCW application which does not entail frame spoofing. 
   In a web application, such as a requisition catalog system for a large enterprise, a fast browser interface and navigator is needed, including a very fast graphical user interface (GUI). 
   There is known in the art several Internet applications which provide a strip down, for example, the left hand side of a window that has menu of items from which a user may select. Such windows also may display a header, including header type items which will expand upon selection into a drop down list. Such windows also may include a footer including leafs which will, upon selection, change what is seen on right side of screen. Such applications provide a very nice user interface for documents, with a table of contents (TOC) on the left, and on the right the selected contents. 
   However, these expandible and collapsible menus are characteristically slow. This slowness is a result of every click sending a request to a remote server, which server responds by sending information back to expand the list at the browser. Every click on the web is slow, involving communications of the request and response over a relatively slow web communication link. There is, therefore, a need in the art to dramatically increase the speed of operation of a graphical user interface at a browser. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a scalable database system in a web environment with optimal access performance characteristics for an expanding number of clients and a growing database. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a system and method for enabling a requester to select the correct general ledger account when doing financial validation on a requisition. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a system and method for utilizing Lotus script extensions in combination with a relational database to provide high capacity storage without performance degradation. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a system and method for enabling a buyer a means for editing catalog content before externalizing it to production for access by requesters. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a system and method for providing very flexible access to DB2 tables without requiring database administrator (DBA) involvement to issue grants against the tables, and bypassing the problem caused by Notes agents all coming from the same user (the Notes server ID). 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a system and method utilizing an existing infrastructure including Lotus Notes, Domino Go, and DB2 to combine HTML and Java script web presentation with DB2 data. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a system and method for enabling transfer of data from a supplier site to a RCW application which does not entail frame spoofing. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a system and method for dramatically increasing the speed of operation of a navigation frame of a GUI. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   A system and method for generating a web presentation in a hybrid environment. A page display hypertext markup language is written to a browser display, and an agent is executed to read data from a database table and dynamically populate the data to the page display. 
   Other features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a high level system diagram illustrating a clustered configuration of servers for performance and load balancing. 
       FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating proxying out of URLs to clustered servers. 
       FIG. 3  is a system diagram illustrating a specific example of a clustered configuration of servers. 
       FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating the frames comprising a typical screen display. 
       FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating a specific instance of the display of  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating ZIP code validation. 
       FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating requisition catalog searching. 
       FIG. 8  is a diagram illustrating the mapping of commodity codes to accounting codes. 
       FIG. 9  is a diagram illustrating a commodity document. 
       FIG. 10  is a diagram illustrating a pyramid structure of application program interfaces. 
       FIG. 11  is a diagram illustrating the graphical, database, and business logic API&#39;s of the pyramid structure of  FIG. 10 . 
       FIG. 12  is a diagram illustrating the interaction of API&#39;s with each other, a database, and a browser. 
       FIG. 13  is a diagram illustrating an example configuration of API&#39;s. 
       FIG. 14  is a flow diagram illustrating the operation of the userprofile class of  FIG. 13 . 
       FIG. 15  is a system diagram illustrating the system of  FIG. 1  for accessing a requisition catalog. 
       FIG. 16  is a system diagram illustrating a system for using a staged requisition catalog built from supplier flat catalog files. 
       FIG. 17  is a flow diagram illustrating the steps for receiving a supplier flat catalog. 
       FIG. 18  is a flow diagram illustrating the steps executed by an application server and database server for building and accessing a requisition catalog. 
       FIG. 19  is a diagram illustrating a user profile. 
       FIG. 20  is a diagram illustrating a Notes agent for building an HTML page from a DB2 table. 
       FIG. 21  is a diagram illustrating Notes agents for transferring data to an application browser session from a supplier window. 
   

   BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 
   1. Clustered Servers 
   In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, a requisition catalog system (RCW, or Rec/Cat Web) is provided within a global web architecture (GWA) infrastructure. Such an architecture provides for the large number of clients required to assure good performance. In an exemplary embodiment, the requisition catalog application is deployed within the IBM web domain, which requires the use of GWA for clustering of W3 and www.ibm.com web sites. This architected solution assures a scalable Req/Cat Web application. 
   Referring to  FIG. 1 , client browsers  100  are connected to a GWA infrastructure including network dispatcher  102  and domino.go, a virtual cluster of Domino servers. Network dispatcher  102 , sprays out or dispatches requests among configured servers S 1 , S 2 , S 3  in virtual server cluster  104 . Communications from cluster  104  are, in turn, dispatched (also referred to as sprayed out, distributed, proxy passed, or redirected) by network dispatcher  106  among servers S 4 , S 5 , and S 6  in Domino cluster  112 . While three servers are illustrated as configured in each of clusters  104  and  112 , each cluster configuration may be scaled to any number of servers. External objects  108 , which can be stored on a distributed file system (.dfs), include graphic files, Java files, HTML images, net.data macros, and other .nsf files external to Domino, and in particular include configuration file proxy statements  110 . In this instance, external objects  108  are stored on a .dfs and exist only once, so it is not necessary to replicate all of the external objects to each of the servers S 4 –S 6 . External objects  108 , served in a .dfs are graphic files, Java files, anything that would live outside of the server files (also referred to .nsf files) S 4 –S 6 , including HTML images and net.data macros. These are part of the code implementing the Req/Cat Web application of the preferred embodiment of the invention, but are not part of Domino code, and are primarily for the GUI. By storing them outside of cluster servers  112 , performance is improved. 
   In order to avoid potential bottlenecks on the clustered Domino servers  112  and in order to store a larger amount of data than is quickly searchable in Domino, a relational database  129 , such as the IBM DB2 database, is used to store configuration data. Data is written by the clustered servers  112  by the end user, or by batched programs stored on application server  114  that are receiving data from back-end systems  116 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 2 , in accordance with the invention, a proxy pass is used with both domino.go cluster  104  and Domino cluster  112 . In accordance with a proxy pass, when a URL  120  is passed to network dispatcher  106 , the NP processes that out and sprays it to any one of the configured servers. Spray means to distribute or map a URL  120  to any one of these configured servers S 1 –S 3 , S 4 –S 6 , which is the effect of mapping, as is represented by line  126 , URL  120  to any of S 4 , S 5 , S 6  in cluster  112 . Examples of URLs include &lt;w3.ibm.com/*&gt;, &lt;www.ibm.com/*&gt;, and &lt;w3.ibm.com/transform/reqcat/?opendatabase rccreate&gt;. 
   In accordance with the invention, a unique architecture for a requisition catalog system includes a hybrid application using external objects  108  in a distributed file system off of the domino.go cluster  104  that works with network dispatcher  106  and the proxy pass capability  110  to redirect traffic to the Domino cluster  112 . 
   These servers S 4 –S 6  are mirror images: each has same .nsf files. Periodically, these servers replicate back and forth so that information is contained in all of them. Data is kept consistent. 
   In operation, when a client comes in through browser  100 , his request can be directed to any domino.go server S 1 –S 3  that determines the mapping of the URL request and what type of function is needed (displaying of images or code execution on S 1 –S 3 , or connecting to an .nsf server S 4 –S 6  to display user data). 
   .nsf servers S 4 –S 6  then feed requests to the application server  114 , which in this embodiment is a backend Req/Cat Web (RCW) server to which all data gets replicated and where the bridges and agents run. Data gets replicated out to other back-end servers (DB2, MVS, SAP)  116  as needed. A bridge is an application that transfers data from one server to another server. An agent is an application that runs scheduled or by request to do some processing of data. 
   In an exemplary embodiment, Domino.go, or virtual server cluster,  104  is part of the GWA infrastructure. Any w3.ibm.com or www.ibm.com must go through a domino.go cluster  104 . In accordance with the present invention a proxy out to the Domino cluster  112  is also provided. The purpose of this is to improve scalability and performance. Proxy statements  110  are used to ensure that the proper pieces of the application are invoked as appropriate, depending upon what the end user is doing. These statements are a mapping through a configuration file of URL  120  to any clustered server  112 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 3 , a specific exemplary embodiment of the invention includes client browser  100  connected to network dispatcher (URL redirect)  102 , which is connected to GWA shared GO cluster (W3-1.IBM.COM)  104 . Cluster  104  is connected to external objects including OBI  117  and DFS  118 , to dedicated DB2 server  129 , and to network dispatcher (proxy)  106 . Dispatcher  106  is connected to dedicated Domino “end user” cluster  112 . Cluster  112  is connected to Blue Pages database  121  (an internal personnel database), dedicated DB2 server  129 , dedicated Domino “application” server  114 , and other Notes databases  119 , including Skills Matching (an application for contracting technical services), AMNF (an application for identifying nonmanager requisition approvers), and public address book (PAB, for user login and authentication). Application server  114  is connected to FormWave  125  (an application that does approval form routing), PRISM/Copics  123  (which are requisition feeder systems on MVS and AS/400), SAP  382  (an ERP, or enterprise resource planning system, including an accounting application having an accounts payable function), dedicated content staging server  127  where an administration Notes client  128  runs, and dedicated DB2 server  129 . The content staging server is used to update both .nsf and DB2 configuration data, and is also connected to server  129 . 
   The architecture of  FIG. 3  presents a complex, scalable global procurement application (referred to as Req/Cat Web) implemented within Global Web Architecture (GWA). Req/Cat Web allows customers to generate on-line, general procurement requisitions. Customers interfacing client browser  100  can search through vendor catalogs to select items and fill in order information. Submitted requisitions are routed through an approval process using FormWave  125 . Requisitions that have been approved are sent to a back-end system (SAP)  382 , where a purchase order is cut and billing occurs. Customers can monitor their requisition status, as the back end sends status updates to the application  114 . 
   Technologies utilized in building Req/Cat Web include the following: Domino.Go  104  provides a proxy passing function and caching facility. Lotus Notes/Domino is used for its security and workflow capabilities. DB2 provides rich relational database functions and data management. Net.Data is used for its catalog searching functionality. Javascript is used for GUI presentation and data verification. Req/Cat Web application code sits on DFS  118 , on the Domino cluster servers  112 , and on Domino application server  114 . 
   Architectural elements include load balancing, file storage, end-user front end (which reside in the Domino cluster servers  112 ), back-end processing, external dependencies, and use of frames. 
   For load balancing, Req/Cat Web uses the GWA proxy pass architecture, documented in the presentation currently available on the Notes/Web application CoC Web site at http://w3.coc.ibm.com/coc/cocweb.nsf/Homepages/gwatrain.html. 
   Network dispatchers  102 ,  106  are used between the client  100  and the Domino.Go cluster  104  and also between the Domino.Go cluster  104  and Domino cluster  112  to automatically balance the load of http requests among servers S 1 –S 3  and S 4 –S 6 . Configuration file (httpd.conf)  110  contains the proxy statements that are used for redirections. When a client  100  enters the url (w3.ibm.com/transform/reqcat) and Network dispatcher  106  redirects the client to the appropriate server  112 , the redirection is transparent to the client. 
   Workload is split between Domino.Go  104  and Domino  112  to improve performance. 
   File storage is provided by dynamic file system (.dfs, or DFS)  118 , which contains javascript files (.js), html, images, and net.data macros. Domino servers  114  contain navigation, configuration, create requisition, open requisition, requisition invoice paid, requisition archive, cost center, confirmations, and help databases. DB2 server  129  contains tables including: confirmations, user profiles, zip codes, accounting data, commodity configuration data, buyer information, routing, and catalogs. 
   An end-user front end for Req/Cat Web uses Domino authentication to permit login to the application. The client uses his Lotus Notes ID and pre-set http password to “authenticate”. When a client logs in at browser  100 , the Domino servers  112  (S 4 –S 6 ) are configured to check the name and password in public address book  119 , which is a designated server within GNA. In a further exemplary embodiment, secure login function may be provided through the implementation of digital certificates. Data is retrieved from DB2  129  using LC:LSX calls via Notes agents, or Net.Data. Net.Data is used for a catalog searching and drill-down function. Java APIs are used for information retrieval from BluePages  121 . 
   As much processing as possible is performed asynchronously on the back-end, application server  114 . Bridge jobs are scheduled on two levels: system level (CRON) and notes level (Agents). Agents run periodically, say hourly, to process requisitions and send them to SAP  382 . Other agents are scheduled off-peak, where ever possible. 
   External dependencies include FormWave for form approval routing, BluePages for personal data for user profile creation and approver changes, interfaces to Open Buying on the Internet (OBI) server and skill matching applications, and SAP for receiving requisitions for purchase order (PO) creation and processing. Information returned by SAP to Req/Cat Web includes requisition status, PO/RFS status, PO history, negative confirmations, currency codes, and configuration information. 
   By using frames, a large majority of preprocessing can be performed dynamically, on the client, reducing the number of trips back and forth to the server. This is a tremendous boost to performance. The web screen described hereafter is not he result of a Notes form, but rather of a dynamically generated HTML/javascript code produced by a displayReqHeader( ) function. This function dynamically writes html and javascript code into the content frame of the application. The javascript function is coded in a displayreq.js file stored on the filesystem and loaded into a jsCode frame by a source (&lt;script src=“./js/displayreq.js”&gt;) command in a jscode.html file at the time when the initial frameset is loading. A displayReqHeader( ) function is called from several places in the application to redisplay the requisition information in the content frame. This screen is called any time a WebReq Lotus Notes form is opened by an OpenForm command for a new requisition, or by an OpenDocument command when an existing document is opened. OpenForm occurs when the displayReqHeader( ) javascript function is called as the last part of an OnLoad event coded in the HTML-Attributes property of the WebReq form. Any time an existing document is opened that was saved with Form-WebReq, the OnLoad event causes the displayReqHeader( ) javascript to be run to OpenDocument. Any time a content frame has been loaded with some other page during the processing of a requisition, and the user performs an action to return to the requisition in process, the displyReqHeader( ) javascript function is called directly. This form reads the information stored in reData frame and dynamically fills the content frame with this screen. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , as will be more fully described hereafter, a screen display includes header frame  470 , navigation frame  472 , footer frame  474 , temporary data frame  476 , request data frame  478 , and content frame  480 . The tempData frame  476  is used as a temporary holder for information, and to direct calls dynamically, while keeping the current data in the screen, and making the return data available to the application. 
   Table 1 shows, for the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 3 , the software loaded on each of the servers used for the Req/Cat Web application. 
   
     
       
             
           
             
             
             
           
         
             
               TABLE 1 
             
           
           
             
                 
             
             
               SERVERS AND SOFTWARE 
             
           
        
         
             
               1 
               Server Description 
               Software 
             
             
                 
             
             
               2 
               Domino.Go Servers S1–S3 
               AIX 4.3.2 
             
             
               3 
                 
               Domino Go 4.6.2.6 with 
             
             
               4 
                 
               Denial of Service Fix 
             
             
               5 
                 
               Net.Data 2.0.8 
             
             
               6 
                 
               DB2 CAE 5.2 
             
             
               7 
                 
               DFS Client 
             
             
               8 
                 
               Java Runtime 1.1.6 
             
             
               9 
               Domino End-User Servers S4–S6 
               AIX 4.3.2 
             
             
               10 
                 
               Domino 4.6.4 
             
             
               11 
                 
               DB2 CAE 5.2 
             
             
               12 
                 
               Java Runtime 1.1.6 
             
             
               13 
               Domino Application Server 114 
               AIX 4.3.2 
             
             
               14 
                 
               Domino Go 4.6.2.6 with 
             
             
               15 
                 
               Denial of Service Fix 
             
             
               16 
                 
               DB2 CAE 5.2 
             
             
               17 
                 
               Java Runtime 1.1.6 
             
             
               18 
                 
               Mercator 1.4.2 with Svc 
             
             
               19 
                 
               Pack 3 Hith Test API 
             
             
               20 
                 
               Lotus VIM 
             
             
               21 
                 
               C++ 3.6.4 
             
             
               22 
               UDB Server 129 
               AIX 4.3.2 
             
             
               23 
                 
               UDB 5.2 
             
             
               24 
                 
               Java Runtime 1.1.6 
             
             
               25 
               Content Staging Server 127 
               AIX 4.3.2 
             
             
               26 
                 
               Domino 4.6.4 
             
             
               27 
                 
               DB2 CAE 5.2 
             
             
               28 
                 
               Java Runtime 1.1.6 
             
             
                 
             
           
        
       
     
   
   2. Front End 
   The Req/Cat Web front end provides several validation routines, including ZIP code validation, catalog search criteria, and chart of account validation. In the architecture of  FIGS. 1 and 3 , various programs, including ZIP code validation, catalog search and chart of account validation routines reside in application server  114 , and the data tables, including the chart of accounts, reside in the relational database  129 . 
   ZIP code validation is provided to assure that the tax department is provided the information needed implement the correct tax rules on purchase orders in SAP  382 . 
   Chart of accounts validation includes the mapping of commodity codes to account codes. This is done to insure that all general ledger accounts associated with commodities are correct, and within this to insure that a description from SAP  382  is available for use by a customer to select correct general ledger (GL) account when doing financial validation on a requisition. 
   Referring to  FIG. 6 , for ZIP code validation, when a purchaser access RCW, a user profile  130  is accessed. Profile  130  includes many defaults, one of which is delivery information (defaulted to all line items of requisition). One of the fields in profile  130  is ZIP code. When the purchaser enters his ZIP code, RCW searches ZIP code database  134 , a database for ZIP codes which is fed periodically, say nightly, from the enterprise tax system  136 . This same validation routine continues by creating a requisition  132  with item options, including deliver to information with a zip code field. The requester can change the deliver to information,  132 , but any time it is changed, the ZIP code is checked against ZIP code database  134 . Whereas previously, customer input of ZIP code was accepted without checking. By this invention, ZIP code validation is performed at the front end by a java or SQL program call to db2 database  134 . Responsive to entry of ZIP code on a requisition or to the changing of delivery information which includes ZIP code on a requisition line item, the ZIP code is validated against a database of valid ZIP codes. In an alternative embodiment, the ZIP code database is refreshed from a trusted source, and the entered or changed ZIP code is checked for valid match with respect to state and city. 
   A create requisition request goes to catalog search, which used to search by part number or description. Previously, this was a very limited search to just the catalogs. A search argument of % pen % was not a very crisp search for the customer. In order to improve the catalog search, in accordance with the present invention, searches may be conducted against a longer description and files up to 255 characters. Screen down searches are provided for sub-commodity. Wild card searches used to require %, but now assumes a wild card search in all cases. Searches are also provided against subcommodity. As a result, catalog searches now reference short description, long description, and catalog sub-commodity. A database catalog includes part number, short description, long description, oem part number, commodity code. Newly added is subcommodity. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 7 and 9 , the method of the preferred embodiment of the invention is described for managing a chart of accounts  140 . When creating a commodity list, which includes expense, capital, and resale accounts  142 , commodities descriptions  180  are pushed to the correct commodity group. The resulting chart of accounts  140  is available from SAP  382 . Previously an administrator had input a chart of accounts. Now, a company administrator, for example, may select from commodity accounts  142  the expense field, which results in drop-down display of a valid chart of accounts  144  from SAP chart of accounts  140  with account numbers  148  and commodity descriptions  146 . The company administrator may then select from that valid chart of accounts  144  the correct commodity to push to company/commodity document  150 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 8 , the process for a requester to create requisition is set forth. By way of example, a requester creates a requisition by doing in step  154  a search for “supplies”, which will bring to him in step  156  a display presenting commodity W 14 , and thence in step  158  to a catalog (for example, a Staples catalog) which includes commodities (pens, erasers, calendars), from which the requester can create several line items. Upon selecting “proceed to accounting”, the requester is presented a financial summary  160  including commodity code w 14  pens for line item  1 , w 14  erasers for line item  2 , and w 14  for line item  3  calendars. The user may then request display of financial worksheet  162 . In this window  162 , the requester will see a title  164  expense, which can be changed, for example, by toggling to other categories, such as balance sheet. Selecting G/L account  166  may drop down a list showing several account codes  168  and related descriptions  170 , depending upon what the company administrator has pushed to the commodity document  150  from which financial worksheet  162  is derived. Previously, a requester was provided in worksheet  162  one account code choice without description. By this invention, the requester is provided correct general ledger account codes and descriptions, resulting in less miscodes, more correct ledger entries, and correct SAP account codes. This improved general ledger account selection process avoids back end processing to correct erroneous entries. 
   Thus, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, a method is provided for creating a valid chart of accounts from which an administrator  184  can facilitate and enable a requisitioner to select a valid general ledger account. First, there is push from an enterprise (erp) system a chart of accounts  140  with descriptions to a req/cat system database. The administrator selects from req/cat system database valid accounts with descriptions for a given commodity and purchase time period, and then pushes the selected account/description tuple to the company commodity groups, thus completing the setup of the commodity documents  150  to be used in the requisition creation process. A company commodity document  150  created by administrator  184  may include for each commodity code under each company, commodity code  152 , which is a very broad catagory, short description  190 , long description  191  (from procurement organization  182 ), key words  192 , approvers  193 , financial information  194  (including purchase type  198 , and general ledger account  199 ), route-to buyer  195  (by plant association), preferred supplier  196  (which associates the commodity code to a catalog  158 ), and special handling code  197  (with drop list including, for example, skills matching, obi, administrative services)—all used to drive the customer to the correct commodity. 
   To create a requisition, a user searches against commodities and catalogs in commodity description documents  150 , which may be Notes documents or DB2 records, and creates one or more line items. These searches may be done by catalog and non-catalog, and driven based on descriptions entered by requester. A hierarchy of families may be provided as an alternative search approach. The requisitioner initiates a proceed to accounting process, which displays line items which may be selected by requisitioner; and then displays a financial worksheet created by a Java agent with fields which need to be selected or populated by the requisitioner from the company commodity document, based on purchase type, and which presents valid general ledger accounts numbers and descriptions to the requisitioner. 
   3. Back End 
   Referring to  FIG. 12 , in a large enterprise, the requisition catalog requires a very large database. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, such a large data repository is provided by the using the IBM DB2 relational database  210 . Other possible databases include Oracle, Sybase, and MSSQL. 
   Lotus Notes databases are built upon an object model and classes: databases, views, and documents are classes used to access Notes data. But, these classes are set to be final and not extendible, and a Req/Cat Web database must be extendible. 
   Consequently, referring to  FIG. 12 , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, DB2 access routines  208  are provided for accessing DB2 data  210 . The Req/Cat Web application executes Lotus code, with access controlled on the code, and data obtained from and written to relational database  210 . 
   Normally, Notes saves all data as documents. There is a save method provided for that purpose. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the Notes save method is intercepted and stopped, and execution passed to Req/Cat Web code for saving data to DB2. In the same way, execution of a Notes open method is intercepted and stopped, and then Req/Cat Web code executed to pull information in from DB2. 
   Lotus Notes provides for web applications, and supports methods called webqueryopenagent, and webquerysaveagent. Notes also provides a saveoptions parameter. Setting saveoptions to zero tells Notes not to save a document. 
   In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, saveoptions is set to zero, and webquerysaveagent used to save data in DB2. The webquerysaveagent is written in Lotus Script, and calls Lotus Script extensions and also can also call its own APIs  200 ,  202 , including the database api&#39;s  208 . At this point, Req/Cat Web haves full control, and can save one or many tables, can explode the data model and write many tables. 
   On the other side, instead of editing an existing document as is done with Notes, Req/Cat Web executes createnewdocument. As the document opens, Lotus Notes gives the query webqueryopenagent, and this is also written in Lotus Script, which has access to data base api&#39;s  202 , where data from many database  210  tables may be read to construct a Lotus document from DB2. 
   This configuration involves some naming standards and a hierarchy of interfaces. By way of example, database access routines are, by convention, data application programming interfaces (DAPI)  208 . These are routines for accessing data  210  outside of the Req/Cat Web application. Referring to  FIG. 10 , a hierarchy of application program interfaces (APIs) includes core API&#39;s  200  containing everything necessary to connect to database  210 . Next in hierarchy, to access specific data, are database API&#39;s (DAPI)  208 , which interface to a single piece of data (such as company or employee information.) Below these rest the business logic code  204 . 
   In a programming environment, the top of pyramid represents the work of a core DB2 programmer. Below him are those people who use core DB2 API&#39;s and write, for example, DAPI&#39;s  208  to access individual DB2 tables within database  210 , for example API&#39;s for countries. These core APIs  200 , therefore, include a GET method, and update, insert, and delete routines. Third level  204  represents the application programmer who only needs to use these methods (ie, company dapi: IBM US) in their business logic  204  applications, including ability to update, for example. 
   Referring to  FIG. 11 , this same pyramid is used to implement graphical APIs  206  on the user interface  212 , business APIs  207  on the business logic  204  interface, and database APIs  208  on the database  210  interface. This illustrates that duties of programers can be separated, so that everyone need not know the complexities of the entire system. That is, some developers work on data manipulation, others on the user interface, and still others on business logic. The application developer need not know the names of the actual database, tables, or fields, or even how to access them. This also enables a DB2 administrator to alter a table, and only affect the one DAPI developer that wrote the specific table DAPI  202 . All code is one routine, so changes to the database need only affect one piece of logic. 
   Referring to  FIG. 13 , an example of this API implementation is illustrated. CoreDB2  220  is the core API  200  to connect to DB2  210 . It contains two classes, configuration class DB2Config  222  and base class DB2Base  224 . 
   Calling DB2Config  222  determines database name  230 , user identifier  231 , and password  232 —information that the database requires to establish a valid connection, and is passed to DAPI  208  for making that connection. (Without this method, user IDs and passwords would have to be hard coded in the application.) 
   DB2Base  224  is extended by the DAPI  208  programmer for each DAPI  202  instance that is needed. It contains methods  240 ,  241  for connecting to and disconnecting from the database, a method  242  for defining the number of rows to return at a time, a method  243  for getting the next group of records, methods for reads  244 , inserts  245 , updates  246 , and deletes  247 , commit  248  and rollback  249  options, and a flag  250  to determine if all data has been retrieved. 
   DAPIUserProfile  226  is a class for retrieving or updating information about an employee. It extends DB2Base  224  so the application  204  developer would not have to write the logic to access DB2  210 , but could concentrate on the information about the employee. The DAPI  202  developer would need to know about the employee table (table and field names, for example) and would implement methods for selecting and displaying data. In an exemplary embodiment, DAPIUserProfile class methods include the following:
           260  selectEmployeeByEmplID(employeeID, companyCode, countryCode)     261  selectEmployeeByWebID(employeeWebID)     262  selectEmployeeBothWays(employeeID, companyCode, countryCode, employeeWebID)     263  selectEmployeeByName(lastName, firstName)     264  insertEmployee(columnNames, DB2 ColumnValues)     265  updateEmployeeByEmpID(employeeID, employeeCompanyCode, employeeCountryCode, UpdateNameValues . . . )     266  updateEmployeeByWebID(employeeWebID, UpdateNameValues, UpdateByUserID)     267  deleteEmployeeByEmpID(employeeID, companyCode, countryCode, UpdateByUserID)     268  deleteEmployeeByWebID(employeeWebID, UpdateByUserID)     269  deleteEmployeesWhere(Condition, UpdateByUserID)     270  clearTable( )
 
Once the data is selected, a few of the properties that are available for a given employee include empWebID, empLastName, empFirstName, empIntPhoneNum, empExtPhoneNum, empEmailID, empID, empCompanyCode, empCountryCode, and empCountryName.
       

   An application  204  like the human resources (HR) application would then need to read HR data and insert it into the employee table if the employee did not exist, or update it if something changed, or delete it if the employee no longer exists. This application developer would then only have to know the methods and properties of the userprofile class  226  in order to write the application. An example of such an application is set forth in Table 2, with reference to the steps of  FIG. 14 . This table sets forth the HR load routine, a batch program to read HR data from a flat file and insert it into the DB2 user profile table. 
   
     
       
             
           
             
             
             
           
         
             
               TABLE 2 
             
             
                 
             
             
               EXAMPLE APPLICATION 
             
             
                 
             
           
           
             
                 
             
           
        
         
             
               1 
                 
               ‘in the following step, instantiate a DB2 config 
             
             
               2 
                 
               object, and call it db2; the database name 230, etc., 
             
             
               3 
                 
               is determined by instantiating the db2 config object, 
             
             
               4 
                 
               as defined by the core programmers’ 
             
             
               5 
               272: 
               Dim db2 As New DB2Config(session) 
             
             
               6 
                 
               ‘the database information is known, and can be passed 
             
             
               7 
                 
               to the employee profile.’ 
             
             
               8 
               274: 
               Print ″The target DB2 database alias is ″&amp; 
             
             
               9 
                 
               db2.getDB2DatabaseName ( ) ) 
             
             
               10 
                 
               ‘All that must be done is to pass the DB2 class to the 
             
             
               11 
                 
               userProfile.’ 
             
             
               12 
               276: 
               Dim eps As New userProfile(db2) 
             
             
               13 
                 
               ‘Delete everything from the employee table to start the 
             
             
               14 
                 
               bridge.’ 
             
             
               15 
               278: 
               I headerDivision = “ ” Then 
             
             
               16 
                 
                Call eps.clearTable( ) 
             
             
               17 
                 
               Else 
             
             
               18 
                 
                Call eps.deleteEmployeesWhere(“COGRP — CD= “ ” 
             
             
               19 
                 
                &amp;headerDivision &amp;” ″) 
             
             
               20 
                 
               End If 
             
             
               21 
               280: 
               For count = 2 To records−1 
             
             
               22 
                 
               ‘Read the next record and make sure that it can be 
             
             
               23 
                 
               loaded without problems’ 
             
             
               24 
                 
               If ReadInputFile(inputFileNum, count, userid, al, cl 
             
             
               25 
                 
               eps, cci) Then 
             
             
               26 
                 
                Call eps.insertEmployee (DB2ColumnNames, 
             
             
               27 
                 
               BuildDB2ColumnValues ( ) ) 
             
             
               28 
                 
                db2kAdditions = db2Additions+1 
             
             
               29 
                 
               End If 
             
             
               30 
                 
               Next . . . 
             
             
                 
             
           
        
       
     
   
   In Table 3, a pseudo code example of use of the webquerysaveagent process is illustrated. 
   
     
       
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
             
           
         
             
               TABLE 3 
             
             
                 
             
             
               WEQUERYSAVEAGENT EXAMPLE 
             
             
                 
             
           
           
             
                 
             
           
        
         
             
                 
               1 
               Dimension db2 As New DB2Config(session) 
             
             
                 
               2 
               Print ″The target DB2 database alias is ″&amp; 
             
             
                 
               3 
               db2 getDB2DatabaseName ( ) ) 
             
             
                 
               4 
               Dimension eps As New userProfile(db2) 
             
             
                 
               5 
               execute process 260 to selectemployee by employee id 
             
             
                 
               6 
               if employee does not exist, then 
             
           
        
         
             
                 
               7 
                 
               execute process 264 to insert employee 
             
             
                 
               8 
                 
               else if employee changed, then 
             
           
        
         
             
                 
               9 
                 
               execute process 265 to update employee 
             
           
        
         
             
                 
               10 
                 
               else (employee not changed) information to user 
             
             
                 
               11 
                 
               “employee not changed” 
             
           
        
         
             
                 
               12 
                 
               no save 
             
           
        
         
             
                 
               13 
                 
               endif 
             
             
                 
                 
             
           
        
       
     
   
   In the example of Table 3, an application programmer  204  is using a dapi written by programmers  202 . 
   In this manner, the relational database  210  is used as the data source, instead of a Notes database, in a way that hides the complexities of DB2 database programming. That is, in a fashion to similar Notes programming—the idea is to allow a Notes programmer to use a familiar looking class  226  to load and save data. 
   4. Catalog Administration 
   In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, a requisition catalog administration function provides control, audit, and publishing procedures for flat files received from suppliers. 
   Referring to  FIG. 15 , a system architecture for implementing catalog administration includes a requester browser  410 , a buyer browser  412 , with net.data connections  391  and  393  to a dedicated DB2 server and DB2 database  390  having a staging table  392  and a production table  394  through network dispatcher  102  and Go cluster  104 . Go cluster  104  is also connected through network dispatcher  106  and Domino cluster  112  to Domino application server  114 . A buyer  412  accesses staging table  392  via net.data connection  391 , and a requestor  410  accesses the production  394  table via net.data connection  393 . This connection  391 ,  393  is implemented as a single path, and the requester and buyer provided different levels of authority to access different tables  392 ,  394  in DB2  390  over that same path. Buyer  412  can change selected fields in the staging table  392  and can update production table  394  from staging table  392 . Requester  410  can only view (not change) the production table  394 . The buyer at browser  412  is controlled by a GUI which contains access control list (ACL) control on fields, and edit authority for catalog access. 
   Referring to  FIG. 16 , this architecture further includes a catalog flat file  314 , an application program  384  within application server  114 , catalog administration function  386 , Req/Cat Web function  388 , and WEB communications  396  and  398  connecting a catalog administration function with ACL control  400  and requester  402  to database  390 . 
   In operation, catalog flat file  314  is received by application server  114  through firewall  380  via EDI and loaded into DB2 database  390  by application program  384 . Catalog administration function  386  specific users  400  audit control over certain fields in staging table  392 , and publishes the catalog data to the live, or production, system  394 . Function  386  presents to buyer  400  a staging table  392  with a GUI front end, with selected fields enable and other fields not enabled to be personalized. 
   Catalog file  314  is a flat file containing catalog items in a column delimited format specified to supplier  300  by the enterprise. 
   Application server  114  manages database  390  containing staging table  392  and production table  394 . A catalog file  314  comes to application server  114 , which includes a program  384  for moving data from that flat file to staging table  392 . 
   A buyer at terminal  400  accesses the staging table  392  on the web  396 . He views catalog items and enters transactions with action button which transfers information from staging table  392  to production table  394 . Production table  394  is referenced by req cat web  388 , and staging table  392  is referenced by the catalog administration function  386  operated by the buyer  400 . Typically, a buyer is member of procurement organization with responsibility for negotiating deals with suppliers. A requester  402  accesses production table  394  over web  398  to create and submit a requisition to SAP  382 . 
   In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, control over what buyer  400  can change is provided by a GUI in a process which loads a catalog  392  from a supplier into a production system  394 . 
   Catalog files  314  come in from suppliers in an enterprise defined standard format, and the access to fields in that format is hard coded into the catalog administration function  386 . Application server program  384  has error checking functions to assure validity of a catalog  314  from a supplier  300 . Buyer  400  accesses staging table  392  through a catalog administration function  386  which has hard coded into it the access controls on the various fields in the catalog format. Production table  394 , which is accessed by the requester  402 , is updated periodically (upon buyer actuation) from the staging table  392 . 
   Implementation of the invention involves several code procedures: there is a program  384  which loads a file  314  that is received via EDI into a table  392  in DB2. There are routines  388  which allow a buyer  400  to browse certain catalogs in the staging table  392  and change certain fields while being inhibited from changing others. And there are the routines  386  which take the approved catalog and migrate the data from the staging DB2 table  392  to the production DB2 table  394 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 17 , a preferred embodiment of these processes are presented. In supplier system  300 , supplier source data  310  is extracted and reformatted in step  312  to create catalog flat file  314  in the format specified by the enterprise. In step  316  that flat file is transmitted to the enterprise  302 , as is represented by line  305 , where it is accepted in step  320  into the enterprise EDI mailbox  322 . In step  324 , the data in the flat file in mailbox  322  is reformatted and put into generation data group (GDG)  328 , a location for saving more than one file, so as to retain the last N iterations, and a archive entry made to processing log  326 . In step  330 , a delivery component executes to send data from GDG  328  to application server  114 , as is represented by line  303 , in the form of catalog flat file  340 . In step  342 , a delivery component receives the flat file and, as is represented by line  347 , starts job scripts including MASSLOAD for reading the flat file and loading staging table  392 , and as represented by line  345  alerts the buyer  352 . As is represented by lines  311 ,  313  and  315 , respectively, MASSLOAD  344  accesses database server  306  procedures catalog — s  360 , product — s  362 , and Req/Cat Web  364 , and makes an archival entry to processing log  346 . 
   Catalog — S  360  is the staging table  392  for the catalog profile, which provides for each catalog the supplier name, the start and end dates of catalog validity, the currency, and so forth. 
   Product — S  362  is the staging table  392  that holds the catalog parts, a listing by part number of price, description, and so forth. 
   Req/Cat Web validate procedure  364  is a Java stored procedure for performing the initial validation of data received in flat file  340 . 
   Front end  370  is a GUI used by the buyer, for example to update the catalog  366 . 
   In operation, validation procedure  364  validates the format and identifies catalog changes to product — s  362 , logging those changes in file  332 . It then checks a flag in catalog  366 , and if the flag is on invokes procedure  350  provided catalog — s  360  does not indicate any critical errors. Validate and load procedure  350  then moves the contents of product — s staging table  362  into the appropriate production table  368 , writing any errors to processing log  348 . (In the event that procedure  364  does not call procedure  350 , then buyer  352  intervention is required via GUI  370 .) After procedure  364  completes execution, it may either stop, or if catalog  366  has a flag set on and catalog — s staging table  360  indicates no critical errors, then procedure  364  will invoke validation and migration procedure  350 . After validate procedure  364  completes, it has written to prod — message — s file  332 , and the buyer may use GUI  370  to read messages from file  332  and make any desired changes to staging table  362 . They buyer may also choose to reject the catalog and, via step  354 , contact the supplier to restart the process. This occurs if there is an error in the unit prices, which is an example of information in the catalog which a buyer is not authorized to change on his own. 
   After the buyer has used GUI  370  to make the values in staging table  362  acceptable, he sets the flag in staging table  360  which allows migration procedure  350  to run to move data from staging table  362  into production table  368 , a relational database, such as Net Commerce (NC) or IBM DB2. 
   5. Role Table GUI 
   A preferred embodiment of the invention provides through use of a role table in DB2 database  129  ( FIG. 3 , or  390  in  FIG. 16 ) very flexible access to DB2 tables without requiring involvement by a database administrator (DBA) to issue grants against the tables, thus bypassing the problem caused by Notes agents all coming from the same user (the Notes server ID). 
   Everything in Lotus Notes, even code, is in documents which require access control list (ACL) controls on access. Consequently, the preferred embodiment of the invention uses Notes ACLs to access code. However, when accessing data, a role table  420  (see  FIG. 19 ) is used to build roles and permissions, and an object model is provided to generically access data from database  210 , thus extending Notes to access a non-Notes data source  210 . In order to configure DB2 to work in a Notes application environment, a single sign off is provided after getting through Notes code ACLs. This does not involve use of any of DB2&#39;s role tables and grants, but rather a single web ID  434  known to the Notes code to access the DB2 data. 
   Referring to  FIG. 19 , role table  420  includes for each of a plurality of user WEB ID&#39;s  422 , the associated role  424  and level  426  of granularity at which the user is associated with the role. Example: for a role  424  of country administrator, the level  426  is the country id, and user with web ID  422  of 02 can update contract profiles for that country. 
   Any person at a browser  100  attempting to access a row in a DB2 table  390  must pass the role table  420  check. Further, for accessing a supplier table in DB2  390 , anyone can view the list of suppliers in the application that applies to the requesters country, but only the country administrator can update them. 
   User  422  identifies a user profile  430 , which specifies the user name  432 , web identifier  434 , charge information  436 , including country, company, work location) and delivery information  438  (including street, office, and building). 
   Thus, in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, the web ID  434  for the browser user is used to control access to the Notes databases and to the DB2 databases. The Notes databases have code and documents which the user must access (including contract profiles, cost center profiles) and also tables in the DB2 database. A user must access both Notes databases and DB2 databases, and access to all of these databases is controlled based on the user web ID  434  through the use of role table  420 . 
   In order to make and use the preferred embodiment of the invention, an implementer and user would do the following:
     1. Determine what levels of granularity are relevant to the application. (For example, the company that the user belongs to, the country, etc.)   2. Populate the DB2 table  420  with Web IDs  434  and associated roles  424  and levels  426 .   3. Write procedures to locate a user  422  in table  420  and pull out associated roles  424  and levels  426 .   4. Provide code routines or functions using these procedures which are authorized for execution by users with specific roles and levels.
 
Code using these routines would then compare the roles and levels to the specific role and level that is required based on the function. For example, a user could be defined as a country administrator for France and a company administrator for a small company in the US. A routine that updates accounting information for the small company would not care about the country-level authority, so would look in role table  420  for company administrator role  424  for this user web ID  422 . The level  426  of the role  424  would further restrict this user  422  from updating the accounting information for any company in the US other than the one corresponding to the level  426  to which he is assigned.
   

   The invention allows a person&#39;s access to DB2 tables to be limited by the contents of a second db2 table rather than the grants issued by the DBA. In the Notes environment of the preferred embodiment of the invention, the ID which is actually granted the authority to the table is the Notes Server machine since the server accessing the db2 tables is the Notes server. Since the user web id is once removed, this provides a mechanism for applying a level of authority to the user to then apply to the db2 table. That mechanism is the role table. 
   Table 4 lists and describes the Req/Cat Web tables of the preferred embodiment of the invention. 
   
     
       
             
           
             
             
             
           
         
             
               TABLE 4 
             
           
           
             
                 
             
             
               REC/CAT WEB ADMINISTRATION TABLES 
             
           
        
         
             
               ADMINISTRATION 
                 
                 
             
             
               FUNCTION 
               TABLE 
               DESCRIPTION 
             
             
                 
             
             
               Access Authority 
               REQCAT.TROLE — AUTHORITY 
               Maps a user to a role 
             
             
                 
                 
               and the qualifier for 
             
             
                 
                 
               that role (i.e., what level) 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TROLE — CODE 
               Defines the list of 
             
             
                 
                 
               valid roles - Global 
             
             
                 
                 
               Admin, Country Admin, etc 
             
             
               Account numbers 
               REQCAT.TACCOUNT — PROFILE 
               Holds account codes to 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TLACCOUNT — PROFILE 
               be validated against 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TACCT — PROF — DETAIL 
               Provides details about 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TLACCT — PROF — DETAIL 
               the account codes 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TACCT VALIDATION1 
               Holds account codes to 
             
             
                 
                 
               be validated against, 
             
             
                 
                 
               as well as what type of 
             
             
                 
                 
               validation is occurring 
             
             
                 
                 
               (i.e., against BMS, 
             
             
                 
                 
               Remind, Project numbers, 
             
             
                 
                 
               Customer numbers, etc) 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TACCT — VALID — TYPE 
               Defines the list of 
             
             
                 
                 
               validation types 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TCOMP — COA 
               Defines the GL account 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TLCOMP — COA 
               numbers that are 
             
             
                 
                 
               available for each 
             
             
                 
                 
               company code, and 
             
             
                 
                 
               provides a translated description 
             
             
               Approver routing 
               REQCAT.TAPPROVER — ASSIGN 
               Links an approver to a 
             
             
                 
                 
               type and a code (i.e. I/T 0001) 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TAPPROVER — PROFILE 
               Defines the approver&#39;s name, 
             
             
                 
                 
               Web ID, etc. 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TAPPRV — TYPE — PROF 
               Defines the types of 
             
             
                 
                 
               approvers available to 
             
             
                 
                 
               the application 
             
             
                 
                 
               (capital, financial, 
             
             
                 
                 
               I/T, chemical, safety, tax) 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TCATLG — APPROVAL 
               Allows a catalog administrator 
             
             
                 
                 
               to flag a catalog item as 
             
             
                 
                 
               requiring chemical or safety 
             
             
                 
                 
               approval in specific locations. 
             
             
                 
                 
               For example, toner is not considered a 
             
             
                 
                 
               chemical item except in Vermont, 
             
             
                 
                 
               because of special environmental 
             
             
                 
                 
               laws in that state. 
             
             
               Buyer routing 
               REQCAT.TBUYER — PROFILE 
               Defines the owner of a buyer 
             
             
                 
                 
               code and contact information 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TBUYER — ROUTING 
               Links a buyer to a commodity 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TBUYER SUPPLIER 
               Links a buyer to a supplier 
             
             
               Catalog profiles 
               RC.CATALOG 
               Defines the characteristics of a 
             
             
                 
                 
               catalog - supplier, expiration date, 
             
             
                 
                 
               currency, etc. 
             
             
                 
               RC.CATPLREL 
               Defines the plants which are allowed 
             
             
                 
                 
               to access this catalog 
             
             
               Commodity families 
               NC.CATEGORY 
               Defines the global list 
             
             
                 
                 
               of commodity groupings 
             
             
               Commodity codes 
               RC.COMMOCODE 
               Defines the global list of 
             
             
                 
                 
               commodities and identifies which 
             
             
                 
                 
               family each belongs to 
             
             
               Company commodities 
               RC.COMMCOMP 
               Not all commodities may be valid 
             
             
                 
                 
               for all companies. This table 
             
             
                 
                 
               identifies which commodity codes the 
             
             
                 
                 
               company wants to use. 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TCOMMCOMP — BUYER 
               Some commodities require that the 
             
             
                 
                 
               user select a buyer from a 
             
             
                 
                 
               predefined list. 
             
             
                 
                 
               This is the predefined list. 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TCOMM — COMP — COA 
               This associates GL account codes 
             
             
                 
                 
               with the commodity code. 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TCOMM — WLOC — RCV 
               This defines for which work 
             
             
                 
                 
               locations this commodity is 
             
             
                 
                 
               ‘receivable’. This flag is forwarded 
             
             
                 
                 
               to SAP for further use in 
             
             
                 
                 
               receiving locations 
             
             
                 
               RC.SUBCOMMODITY 
               Some commodities are too broad and 
             
             
                 
                 
               the need exists for sub-dividing 
             
             
                 
                 
               the goods under this commodity so 
             
             
                 
                 
               that different suppliers and 
             
             
                 
                 
               different purchase processes can 
             
             
                 
                 
               be used. 
             
             
                 
               RC.SUPPSUBCOMM 
               This links a supplier to a specific 
             
             
                 
                 
               subcommodity. 
             
             
               Companies 
               RC.COMPANY 
               Associates SAP company codes with 
             
             
                 
                 
               associated country. For example, 
             
             
                 
                 
               IBM US contains three company codes 
             
             
                 
                 
               for IBM, Lotus, and Tivoli. 
             
             
               Countries 
               RC.COUNTRY 
               Holds the list of ISO country codes, 
             
             
                 
                 
               i.e., US, FR, DE, etc 
             
             
               Company groups 
               REQCAT.TCOMPGRP — TYP — PROF 
               Defines the list of valid grouping 
             
             
                 
                 
               types, such as ACCOUNT, UPROF 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TCOMPGRP — PROFILE 
               Defines the list of group names and 
             
             
                 
                 
               links them to their types, such as 
             
             
                 
                 
               IBMUS - ACCOUNT and IBMUS - UPROF 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TCOMPANY — GROUPING 
               Lists the company codes that belong to the 
             
             
                 
                 
               specified grouping 
             
             
               Plants 
               RC.PLANT 
               Associates plant codes with company 
             
             
                 
                 
               and country. A company can have many 
             
             
                 
                 
               plants, a plant may belong to only one 
             
             
                 
                 
               company. 
             
             
               Suppliers 
               RC.SUPPLIER 
               Defines the characteristics of a 
             
             
                 
                 
               supplier - name, code, contact 
             
             
                 
                 
               information, location 
             
             
                 
               RC.SUPPCOMP 
               Defines which company 
             
             
                 
                 
               codes may reference 
             
             
                 
                 
               this supplier for 
             
             
                 
                 
               purchasing 
             
             
               Work locations 
               REQCAT.TWORK — LOCATION 
               Associates work locations with plant, 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TLWORK — LOCATION 
               company, and country. 
             
             
                 
                 
               A plant can have one or more work 
             
             
                 
                 
               locations, a work location may 
             
             
                 
                 
               belong to only one plant. 
             
             
                 
               REQCAT.TWORKLOC — DELTOADDR 
               For those work locations which have a 
             
             
                 
                 
               predefined CDC 
             
             
                 
                 
               (Chemical Delivery Center) address 
             
             
               User profiles 
               REQCAT.TEMPLOYEE — PROFILE 
               Holds employee information 
             
             
               Catalog parts 
               see FIG. 18, DB2 NCF 
               Hold part information, 
             
             
                 
               tables 368 
               category/subcategory information, etc. 
             
             
                 
             
           
        
       
     
   
   6. Relational DB Agents 
   In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, in a Notes/DB2 hybrid environment, a Notes agent reads data from a DB2 table, and then dynamically populates that data to an HTML page. In this manner, an the existing infrastructure (including Notes, Domino Go, and DB2) is used to combine HTML and Java script web presentation with DB2 data. 
   Referring to  FIG. 20 , Notes agents  440  are used as intermediaries. Each such agent  440  reads DB2 tables  390 , collects data using SQL select statements, and builds web page  442  dynamically, writing out the Java script and HTML to present the page on a Web browser, such as Web browser  100 . The results of the DB2 searches also helps to determine which HTML needs to be written, something which standard HTML cannot handle. Thus, conditional logic may be used. 
   A plurality of agents  440  are provided. The premise is the same in all: figure out who is asking, and then tailor what is shown by what they are authorized to see. The example of Table 5 is the supplier profile agent. 
   This process makes use of the Notes connection function lsx:lc. This Lotus Script connection is a built in API for connectivity to relational databases. The lsx:lc connector is a Lotus provided API which allows connection to DB2. 
   For example, to display a list of supplier profiles, two DB2 tables  390  must be read: one provides a list of suppliers and the other is role table  420  ( FIG. 19 ). When role table  420  is read, the code tests the users ability to edit (country admin for country of supplier), and may display the web page differently depending thereon. A dynamic feature of the invention is that straight text may be displayed, or with text with hyperlinks to open a supplier profile, as an example. 
   To make and use this preferred embodiment of the invention, the following is done:
     1. Use the Lotus Script lsx:lc connector connect to DB2.   2. Depending on the DB2 table being read and the functions required, write functions to Create, Read, Update, and Delete with respect to the DB2 table.   3. Write the HTML to display the page, and then have the Notes agent  440  Print these HTML commands to the browser so that they appear in a meaningful presentation to the end user.   4. Use conditional logic to change the look of the page  442  based on the results of the DB2  390  lookups.   

   Inputs to the method of this embodiment of the invention include the DB2 table to be read or updated, and the output includes HTML conditionally generated based on results of the DB2 table reads. 
   The HTML page being populated may, for example, provide a list of suppliers. Such pages may also be used in the requisition or configuration area of the application, displaying commodity codes, suppliers, and so forth. 
   
     
       
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
         
             
               TABLE 5 
             
             
                 
             
             
               EXAMPLE AGENT 440 
             
             
                 
             
           
           
             
                 
             
           
        
         
             
               1 
               This agent is invoked from the administration tab for ‘supplier’. 
             
             
               2 
               It is presenting the user with a view of suppliers that have been 
             
             
               3 
               configured on the system. Based on the access authority of the 
             
             
               4 
               user, this list will be presented either as just text, for the 
             
             
               5 
               general user, or as hotlinks for an administrator to then open an 
             
             
               6 
               individual supplier profile and update it. 
             
             
               7 
               Sub Initialize 
             
             
               8 
               //setting up variables 
             
           
        
         
             
               9 
                 
               Dim src As New LCConnection (“db2”) 
             
             
               10 
                 
               Dim fldLst As New LCFieldList (100) 
             
             
               11 
                 
               Dim suppname As LCField 
             
             
               12 
                 
               Dim suppcode As LCField 
             
             
               13 
                 
               Dim InfoView As AllInfoView 
             
             
               14 
                 
               Dim session As New NotesSession 
             
             
               15 
                 
               Dim doc As NotesDocument 
             
             
               16 
                 
               Dim sqlQueryString As String 
             
             
               17 
                 
               Dim flag As Variant 
             
             
               18 
                 
               Dim admin As Integer 
             
             
               19 
                 
               Admin=True 
             
             
               20 
                 
               Dim lclsxSession As LCSession 
             
             
               21 
                 
               Dim supplierdb As notesdatabase 
             
             
               22 
                 
               Dim configview As notesview 
             
             
               23 
                 
               Dim configdoc As notesdocument 
             
             
               24 
                 
               Dim lookuptype As String 
             
             
               25 
             
             
               26 
                 
               On Error Goto errHandler 
             
             
               27 
             
             
               28 
                 
               Set supplierdb=session.currentdatabase 
             
             
               29 
                 
               Set configview = supplierdb.getview(“APPVIEW”) 
             
             
               30 
                 
               Set configdoc = configview.getfirstdocument 
             
             
               31 
                 
               lookuptype = configdoc.HRFormat(0) 
             
             
               32 
             
             
               33 
                 
               Set doc=session.DocumentContext 
             
             
               34 
                 
               Set InfoView=New AllInfoView 
             
             
               35 
             
           
        
         
             
               36 
               //connect to DB2 
             
           
        
         
             
               37 
                 
               InfoView.ConnectToDB2 
             
           
        
         
             
               38 
               //Query the role table for users roles and authority levels 
             
           
        
         
             
               39 
                 
               If Not InfoView.CheckAdminPrivilegesOK (doc.CurrentUserName (0)) Then 
             
           
        
         
             
               40 
                 
               Admin = False 
             
           
        
         
             
               41 
                 
               End If 
             
             
               42 
                 
               InfoView.DisconnectDB2 
             
             
               43 
             
             
               44 
                 
               If (Admin = False) And (lookuptype = “DON”)Then 
             
           
        
         
             
               45 
                 
               Print“&lt;script&gt;alert(‘You are not authorized to view Supplier 
             
           
        
         
             
               46 
               documents Please contact your procurement administrator if you have 
             
             
               47 
               questions’);” 
             
           
        
         
             
               48 
                 
               Print “history.go(−3)&lt;/script&gt;” 
             
             
               49 
                 
               Exit Sub 
             
           
        
         
             
               50 
                 
               End If 
             
             
               51 
             
           
        
         
             
               52 
               //Begin printing out HTML from the agent 
             
           
        
         
             
               53 
                 
               Print “&lt;link rel=stylesheet type=” “text/css” “href=” “/transform 
             
           
        
         
             
               54 
                /reqcat/css/default — styles.css” “&gt;” 
             
             
               55 
             
           
        
         
             
               56 
                 
               Dim db2c As New db2config(session) 
             
           
        
         
             
               57 
               //Connect to DB2 
             
           
        
         
             
               58 
                 
               src.database = db2c.getDB2DatabaseName( ) ′ “reqcat41” 
             
             
               59 
                 
               src.Connect 
             
             
               60 
             
           
        
         
             
               61 
               //build the SQL Query 
             
           
        
         
             
               62 
                 
               sqlQuerystring = “select SUNAME, SUID from RC.SUPPLIER” 
             
             
               63 
                 
               sqlQueryString = sqlQueryString &amp; “ order by SUNAME” 
             
             
               64 
             
             
               65 
                 
               If (src.execute(sqlQueryString, fldLst) = 0) Then 
             
           
        
         
             
               66 
                 
               Print “You do not have any supplier profiles to view.” 
             
             
               67 
                 
               End 
             
           
        
         
             
               68 
                 
               End If 
             
             
               69 
             
             
               70 
                 
               Set suppname = fldLst.Lookup (“SUNAME”) 
             
             
               71 
                 
               Set suppcode = fldLst.Lookup (“SUID”) 
             
             
               72 
             
           
        
         
             
               73 
               //Print more HTML 
             
             
               74 
               Print “&lt;TABLE width=‘100%’ cellpadding=‘0’ cellspacing=‘0’ &gt;” 
             
           
        
         
             
               75 
                 
               Print “&lt;BR&gt;&lt;TR&gt;&lt;TD class=” “banner” “ bgcolor=” 
             
           
        
         
             
               76 
               “3366cc” “align=” “center” “&gt; Suppliers&lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;” 
             
             
               77 
             
           
        
         
             
               78 
                 
               Print “&lt;/TABLE&gt;” 
             
             
               79 
             
           
        
         
             
               80 
               //If the user is an admin, then provide a button for adding new 
             
             
               81 
               suppliers 
             
           
        
         
             
               82 
                 
               If Admin Then 
             
           
        
         
             
               83 
                 
               Print “&lt;form&gt;” 
             
             
               84 
                 
               Print “&lt;input type=‘button’ name=‘mybutton’ value=‘Add 
             
           
        
         
             
               85 
               Supplier Profile’ onClick=” “javascript: document.location.href= 
             
             
               86 
               ‘./SUPPLIER?OpenForm’;” “&gt;” 
             
           
        
         
             
               87 
                 
               Print “&lt;/form&gt;” 
             
           
        
         
             
               88 
                 
               Else 
             
           
        
         
             
               89 
                 
               Print “&lt;BR&gt;” 
             
           
        
         
             
               90 
                 
               End If 
             
             
               91 
             
             
               92 
                 
               Print “(table cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 border=0&gt;” 
             
             
               93 
                 
               Print “&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class=” “bannersublevel” “ &gt;&lt;B&gt; Supplier&lt;/B&gt;&lt;/td&gt;” 
             
             
               94 
                 
               Print “&lt;/tr&gt;” 
             
             
               95 
             
           
        
         
             
               96 
               //Toggling background color on alternate rows 
             
           
        
         
             
               97 
                 
               flag = True 
             
             
               98 
             
             
               99 
                 
               While (src.Fetch (fldLst) &gt; 0) 
             
           
        
         
             
               100 
                 
               If (flag) Then 
             
           
        
         
             
               101 
                 
               Print “&lt;tr bgcolor=#CCCCCC&gt;” 
             
             
               102 
                 
               flag = False 
             
           
        
         
             
               103 
                 
               Else 
             
           
        
         
             
               104 
                 
               Print “&lt;tr bgcolor=#FFFFFF&gt;” 
             
             
               105 
                 
               flag = True 
             
           
        
         
             
               106 
                 
               End If 
             
             
               107 
             
           
        
         
             
               108 
               //If user is an admin, then print the supplier name as a hotlink 
             
           
        
         
             
               109 
                 
               If Admin Then 
             
           
        
         
             
               110 
                 
               Print“&lt;td class=” “field” “&gt; &lt;a href=./SUPPLIER?OpenForm&amp;” 
             
           
        
         
             
               111 
               &amp; suppcode.text(0) &amp; “&gt;”&amp;suppname.text(0)&amp;“&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/td&gt;” 
             
           
        
         
             
               112 
                 
               Else 
             
           
        
         
             
               113 
               //otherwise just print it as text 
             
           
        
         
             
               114 
                 
               Print“&lt;td class=” “field” “&gt;” &amp;suppname.text(0) &amp;“&lt;/td&gt;” 
             
           
        
         
             
               115 
                 
               End If 
             
             
               116 
                 
               Print“&lt;td class=” “field” “&gt;” &amp;suppcode.text(0) &amp;“&lt;/td&gt;” 
             
             
               117 
                 
               Print “&lt;/tr&gt;” 
             
           
        
         
             
               118 
                 
               Wend 
             
             
               119 
                 
               Print “&lt;/table&gt;” 
             
             
               120 
                 
               End 
             
             
               121 
             
           
        
         
             
               122 
               errHandler: 
             
             
               123 
             
           
        
         
             
               124 
                 
               Print “&lt;br&gt;” &amp; session.currentagent.name &amp; “ - Line # ” &amp;Str(Erl) 
             
           
        
         
             
               125 
               &amp; “ // Error ” &amp; Str(Err) &amp; “: ” &amp; Error$ 
             
           
        
         
             
               126 
                 
               If (lclsxSession.Status &lt; &gt;LCSUCCESS) Then 
             
           
        
         
             
               127 
                 
               Dim text As String 
             
             
               128 
                 
               Dim extcode As Long 
             
             
               129 
                 
               Dim exttext As String 
             
             
               130 
             
             
               131 
                 
               Call lclsxSession.GetStatus (text, extcode, exttext) 
             
             
               132 
                 
               If (lclsxSession.Status = LCFAIL — EXTERNAL)Then 
             
           
        
         
             
               133 
                 
               Print “&lt;br&gt;DB2 message: ” &amp; exttext &amp; “ code #” &amp; 
             
           
        
         
             
               134 
               Cstr(extcode) 
             
           
        
         
             
               135 
                 
               Else 
             
           
        
         
             
               136 
                 
               Print “&lt;br&gt;Connector message: ” &amp; text 
             
           
        
         
             
               137 
                 
               End If 
             
           
        
         
             
               138 
                 
               Else 
             
           
        
         
             
               139 
                 
               Print Error$ 
             
           
        
         
             
               140 
                 
               End If 
             
             
               141 
             
             
               142 
             
           
        
         
             
               143 
               End Sub 
             
             
                 
             
           
        
       
     
   
   7. Data Transfer 
   In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, a system and method is provided for transferring to a Req/Cat Web (RCW) application in a timely manner large quantities of data from web sites that exist outside of a firewall, or internal applications within the firewall but outside of the Req/Cat Web application. 
   For the purpose of the description of this embodiment, RCW exists in a frame set in a browser. A frame set divides a screen into logical and user-friendly sections called frames. As part of security for browser  100 , Netscape and Internet Explorer (IE) establish ownership of the frames: each frame is a window under control of browser  100 . Browser  100  can open up a session in any frame desired. However, if all of the frames open on a browser are not owned by same session, then these frames cannot see the contents of each other. 
   Consequently, the problem is presented: if RCW needs to access an outside supplier site  300  for information to get back through one its own the frames, as soon as data is written by that other site into one of the frame at browser  100 , RCW no longer owns the frame and cannot access the information. So this aspect of the invention is concerned with data passing. 
   In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, the supplier  300  opens a new window through normal Java script commands and writes its data into it, along with the name of the agent to run in RCW application server  114 . That new window then calls one of the RCW processes, which is able to see the data because it is not in a frame and is therefore available for RCW to access. That process causes an agent to runs (in RCW) that can see that data and write it to a frame on the RCW side, resulting in RCW owning both the data and the frame. This allows RCW to reach NOTES information, and write that information to other frames. RCW owns the data and the frame. Ownership is established in the RCW application. 
   Consequently, by carefully tracking and controlling the sequence of opening windows, RCW can establish the origin from which data is coming, where the data is going, and which process owns it. 
   Those are the high points. Review: two sites are talking to each other using an intermediate window, doing a handoff of data and of ownership of both data and frame such that when it is time to supply information to the RCW application, RCW owns the data, frame and process. 
   Referring to  FIG. 21 , a system and method are provided for data transfer from a externally owned site to an application owned frame set which operates as follows. The RCW application opens a supplier site URL in a temporary frame  456 . Upon user selection of go to supplier  451 , as is represented by step  458 , frame  456  opens the supplier window  460  as a separate browser session. Two windows are now open: the original application  450  with its window underlying, and a supplier window  460  over it with the supplier URL. The reason for doing this is that the supplier requires that the browser be full frame, not in a small frame set. The primary RCW application in window  450  is quiesced to a wait state. As is represented by steps  462 , the user can now select from window  460  items to buy, search, or whatever the supplier deems is appropriate for a user to order his data. The user then issues the command to submit the order. In step  444 , the supplier site then gathers content from order data entered at window  460 , in step  446  formats the page, and in step  448  issues a call to Req/Cat Web to open third window  464  with first agent  480 . The supplier uses an enterprise specified agent name for first agent  480  when opening third window  464 . Third window  464  is a window, but not a frame, and thus the Req/Cat Web can get access to it even though it is opened by the supplier. First agent  480  includes an html form command  488  which defines the processing to be done on the contents  466  of the form now displayed in third window  464 , and the supplier site writes into this third window  464  unique order identifying information. Once written, the browser activates the form. Once activated, it is a program in its own right, the html  488  that was written and any java script in it will execute. One of first things it does is look at the action in the form command and determine that this is the program that will run to deal with the contents of this form. That action program, or first agent  480 , is a RCW action program on the RCW server that can see contents of third window  464  because it is not in a frame, and thus ownership is not critical. In step  482 , first RCW agent  480  executes a program or process that writes the contents  466  of window  464  back into its frame set (temporary frame)  456 , and then calls second agent  484  which references Java script code  454  and, as is represented by step  486 , access Notes data on the Notes server, add content to the requisition, and issue the commands that send the order to be stored in the requisition. This is key, Req/Cat Web has used its own process  480  to write into its own window  450 , and knows who owns the data. First agent  480  process opened window  464  and writes the data to temporary frame  456  and then kicks off another process, second agent  484 , that can read that data, can read and write to all of the frames  452  in the application, can access information from Lotus notes, and write all the information into the requisition. 
   Window  460  is provided by a supplier site from outside the application, and possibly also outside a firewall. Window  460  is an external application that allows execution of code  462  for performing search, select, submit (call enterprise server, which may be inside firewall), and order data, including gather content  444 , formatting the page  446 , and calling RCW  448  with the first agent  480  as an action form. 
   Window  464  is a window opened by the supplier to include a Req/Cat Web agent, first agent  480 . First agent  480  posts document contents to temporary data frame  456 . As a variation, for skills matching, calls are made to the agents  480 ,  484  with a parameter after placing the data to retrieve in a Notes database. The second agent  484  retrieves the data, can look up and add supporting data from yet another Notes database. 
   The key consideration here is, “who owns the frame”. The server that owns the agent that last wrote a frame owns it, and can see its content, but cannot see any other frame&#39;s contents if they were written by another server&#39;s programs or agents. 
   Window  464  and first agent  480  act as an intermediary. Content  466  is owned by the supplier server  300 , but the first agent  480  is owned by the Req/Cat Web server  114 . That first agent  480  then kicks off the rest of the process, passing the data and ownership to the RCW server  114  and the second agent  484 . The second agent  484  can now can access Notes data on the Notes server  112 , and issue the commands that send the order to be stored in the requisition. 
   8. Customizable Side Bar 
   In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, a customizable side bar is provided. Dynamic HTML is used by the navigator responsive to user input to change data presented at the screen without having to communicate with a remote server. 
   Referring to  FIG. 4 , navigation frame or menu bar appears, typically, on the left of a display window, to display a plurality of menu boxes, including headers  491 – 494  and items  495 – 500 . As a cursor is moved over the headers, each individual header is highlighted or some symbol  481 ,  483 ,  485 ,  487 , respectively, rotated by, say, 45 degrees, so as to point either down or to the right, to indicate to the user the header which will, upon being clicked, toggled to either a collapsed or expanded state from its current expanded or collapsed state, respectively. As illustrated, headers  481  and  483  are in a collapsed state, and headers  485  and  487  are in an expanded state. When expanded, header  485  is expanded to show items  495 – 498 , and header  487  to show items  499 – 500 . The user may move the cursor to one of items  495 – 500 , and select the item to update the data displayed in content frame  480 . 
   Heretofore, when the user selects (clicks on) a menu header  491 , there is generally a pause as the request is made to the server to obtain a new page including an expanded menu bar  472  including a display of the included items. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, when server loads the window to a client, all of the information required to load the menu bar  472  is provided, including information for the expanded menu items (but not the content frame associated with them). If a menu header  485  is clicked when in the collapsed state, the menu items  496 – 498  are shown or made visible and the following menu headers and items are moved relative to the expanded menu bar. If a menu item  496  is clicked, then communication with the server is required to load the content frame  480 . 
   Upon initial load, all headers  491 – 494  are collapsed and all menu items are hidden. Menu headers  491 – 494  are displayed below each other with no gaps between them. Clicking on a last menu header merely shows all the menu items and moves nothing below it. Clicking on the first menu header would show all of its items and move every header and item a constant amount without changing its visibility state. (The display area  472  may be off of the window, but is available via the scroll bar  490 .) In accordance with this embodiment of the invention, the result of selecting a header  491 – 494  is an instantaneous response from the client browser either expanding or collapsing the selected header and respectively displaying or removing from display the included items. 
   This is done using dynamic html (dhtml), which allows creation of divisions within a document. These divisions are equivalent to tab items, menu items  495 – 500 , or headers  491 – 494 . In Netscape, these divisions are called layers. In Explorer, the layers are called divisions. These divisions can be hidden or shown, and moved relative distances on the screen. The current state of the art is to use these divisions for moving or flashing graphics, but not for business applications such as menu bars. In accordance with the present invention dhtml at the client creates subtle changes, business like, in the menu bar  472  without requiring server communications. The use of dhtml is described at developer.netscape.com. 
   Java script code, executable at a client for inserting, showing, moving and updating a menu bar  472 , is illustrated in Table 6. 
   
     
       
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
         
             
               TABLE 6 
             
             
                 
             
             
               MENU BAR CODE 
             
             
                 
             
           
           
             
                 
             
           
        
         
             
               1 
               ----JavaScript (appNav.js) -------- 
             
             
               2 
               // appNav Class Constructor 
             
             
               3 
               ---------------------------------------------------- 
             
             
               4 
               // This class implements a JavaScript Object intended to represent 
             
             
               5 
               the Navigator function appNav(menuVar) { 
             
           
        
         
             
               6 
                 
               //methods 
             
             
               7 
                 
               this.init = appNavInit; 
             
             
               8 
                 
               this.sizeit = appNavSizeit; 
             
             
               9 
                 
               this.toggletext = appNavToggleText; 
             
             
               10 
                 
               this.isItem = appNavIsItem; 
             
             
               11 
                 
               this.reverse = appNavReverse; 
             
             
               12 
                 
               // properties 
             
             
               13 
                 
               this.ns = document.layers; 
             
             
               14 
                 
               this.ie = document.all; 
             
             
               15 
                 
               this.loaded = 0; 
             
             
               16 
                 
               this.whichone = 0; 
             
             
               17 
                 
               this.whichgroup = 0; 
             
             
               18 
                 
               if ( this.ns ) { 
             
           
        
         
             
               19 
                 
               this.show = ‘show’; 
             
             
               20 
                 
               this.hide = ‘hide’; 
             
           
        
         
             
               21 
                 
               } else { 
             
           
        
         
             
               22 
                 
               this.show = ‘visible’; 
             
             
               23 
                 
               this.hide = ‘hidden’; 
             
           
        
         
             
               24 
                 
               } 
             
             
               25 
                 
               this.menus = menuVar; 
             
             
               26 
                 
               this.max = menuVar.length; 
             
             
               27 
                 
               this.images = new Array(this.max); 
             
             
               28 
                 
               this.menuMove = new Array(this.max); 
             
             
               29 
                 
               for (i=0;i &lt; this.max; i++) this.menuMove[i] = 20 * 
             
           
        
         
             
               30 
               (menuVar[i] −1); 
             
           
        
         
             
               31 
                 
               this.tabShow = [false, false, false, false, false, false, false, 
             
           
        
         
             
               32 
               false]; 
             
             
               33 
               } 
             
             
               34 
               function appNavInit( ) { 
             
           
        
         
             
               35 
                 
               var k=0; 
             
             
               36 
                 
               if (this.loaded == 0) { 
             
           
        
         
             
               37 
                 
               for (i=0; i &lt; this.menuMove.length; i++) { 
             
           
        
         
             
               38 
                 
               this.images[i] = new Array(this.menus[i]); 
             
             
               39 
                 
               for (j=0; j &lt; this.menus[i]; j++) { 
             
           
        
         
             
               40 
                 
               this.images[i] [j] = new Image ( ); 
             
             
               41 
                 
               pos = (“0”+i).slice(i&gt;9,2) + (“0”+j).slice(j&gt;9); 
             
             
               42 
                 
               this.images[i] [j].src = “. ./images/men” + 
             
           
        
         
             
               43 
               pos+“.gif” 
             
           
        
         
             
               44 
                 
               if (this.ie) { 
             
           
        
         
             
               45 
                 
               document.images[k].src=this.images[i] [j]. 
             
           
        
         
             
               46 
               src; 
             
           
        
         
             
               47 
                 
               k++; 
             
           
        
         
             
               48 
                 
               } else 
             
           
        
         
             
               49 
                 
               document.layers [“D”+pos].document. 
             
           
        
         
             
               50 
               images[0].src=this.images[i] [j].src; 
             
           
        
         
             
               51 
                 
               } 
             
           
        
         
             
               52 
                 
               } 
             
             
               53 
                 
               this.loaded=1; 
             
           
        
         
             
               54 
                 
               } 
             
           
        
         
             
               55 
               }; 
             
             
               56 
               function appNavSizeit( ) { 
             
           
        
         
             
               57 
                 
               if (this.loaded==1) {this.loaded = 0; this.init( ); } 
             
           
        
         
             
               58 
               }; 
             
             
               59 
               function appNavToggleText(z) { 
             
           
        
         
             
               60 
                 
               if (this.loaded==1) { 
             
           
        
         
             
               61 
                 
               this.tabShow[z] = !this.tabShow[z] 
             
             
               62 
                 
               for (j=1; j&lt;this.menus[z]; j++) { 
             
           
        
         
             
               63 
                 
               pos = (“0”+z).slice(z&gt;9) + (“0”+j).slice(j&gt;9); 
             
             
               64 
                 
               if (this.ie) 
             
           
        
         
             
               65 
                 
               text = document.all(“D”+pos).style 
             
           
        
         
             
               66 
                 
               else 
             
           
        
         
             
               67 
                 
               text = document.layers[“D”+pos] 
             
           
        
         
             
               68 
                 
               if (this.tabShow[z]) 
             
           
        
         
             
               69 
                 
               text.visibility = this.show; 
             
           
        
         
             
               70 
                 
               else 
             
           
        
         
             
               71 
                 
               text.visibility = this.hide; 
             
           
        
         
             
               72 
                 
               } 
             
             
               73 
                 
               for (i=z+1; i&lt;this.max; i++) { 
             
           
        
         
             
               74 
                 
               for (j=0; j&lt;this.menus[i]; j++) { 
             
           
        
         
             
               75 
                 
               pos = (“0”+i).slice(i&gt;9) + (“0”+j).slice(j&gt;9); 
             
             
               76 
                 
               if (this.ie) { 
             
           
        
         
             
               77 
                 
               text = document.all(“D”+pos).style 
             
             
               78 
                 
               if (this.tabShow[z]) 
             
           
        
         
             
               79 
                 
               text.pixelTop += this.menuMove[z] 
             
           
        
         
             
               80 
                 
               else 
             
           
        
         
             
               81 
                 
               text.pixelTop −= this.menuMove[z] 
             
           
        
         
             
               82 
                 
               } else { 
             
           
        
         
             
               83 
                 
               text = document.layers(“D”+pos] 
             
             
               84 
                 
               if (this.tabShow[z]) 
             
           
        
         
             
               85 
                 
               text.top += this.menuMove[z] 
             
           
        
         
             
               86 
                 
               else 
             
           
        
         
             
               87 
                 
               text.top −= this.menuMove[z] 
             
           
        
         
             
               88 
                 
               } 
             
           
        
         
             
               89 
                 
               } 
             
           
        
         
             
               90 
                 
               } 
             
           
        
         
             
               91 
                 
               } 
             
           
        
         
             
               92 
               }; 
             
             
                 
             
           
        
       
     
   
   9. Populating HTML Pages from a Relational Database 
   In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, LotusScript is used to generate HTML via ‘print’ statements and lclsx is used within a LotusScript agent to build SQL queries. There are variables in LotusScript which affect the result set from the query. In addition, not only is the data to be presented dynamic, but how to present it is also dynamic. That is, a general user and an administrator can query DB2 and receive back the same list of suppliers. However, the HTML generated for the general user will be only static text. The HTML generated for the administrator will be the same content, the same list of suppliers, but the supplier name will be rendered as a hyperlink to invoke another URL which will then open up the supplier profile for editing. 
   10. Open Catalog File 
   Table 7 presents a pseudo code description of the procedure for loading a catalog file. 
   
     
       
             
           
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
           
         
             
               TABLE 7 
             
             
                 
             
             
               LOAD CATALOG FILE 
             
             
                 
             
           
           
             
                 
             
           
        
         
             
               1 
               Open catalog file 
             
             
               2 
               Insert new Catalog Header into RC.catalog — s with a version 
             
             
               3 
               number of 0 
             
             
               4 
               while more catalog file records loop 
             
           
        
         
             
               5 
                 
               if PRODUCT record 
             
           
        
         
             
               6 
                 
               insert a product — s record 
             
           
        
         
             
               7 
                 
               if RECORD — COUNT record 
             
           
        
         
             
               8 
                 
               save expected record count 
             
           
        
         
             
               9 
                 
               if START — DATE record 
             
           
        
         
             
               10 
                 
               update catalog — s with the date 
             
           
        
         
             
               11 
                 
               if STOP — DATE record 
             
           
        
         
             
               12 
                 
               update catalog — s with the date 
             
           
        
         
             
               13 
                 
               if VENDOR — SERIAL record 
             
           
        
         
             
               14 
                 
               update catalog — s with the serial 
             
           
        
         
             
               15 
                 
               if CATALOG — ID record 
             
           
        
         
             
               16 
                 
               if we have Supplier — ID then 
             
           
        
         
             
               17 
                 
               Make sure the supplier, catalog pair are same as in 
             
           
        
         
             
               18 
                 
               Database 
             
           
        
         
             
               19 
                 
               update new Catalog Header with catalog ID 
             
             
               20 
                 
               update existing version 0 catalog to be max(version)+1 
             
           
        
         
             
               21 
                 
               (this pushes what used to be “current”, ie version 0, 
             
           
        
         
             
               22 
                 
               to the top of the history stack) 
             
           
        
         
             
               23 
                 
               if SUPPLIER — ID record 
             
           
        
         
             
               24 
                 
               if we have Catalog — ID then 
             
           
        
         
             
               25 
                 
               Make sure the supplier, catalog pair are same as in 
             
           
        
         
             
               26 
                 
               Database 
             
           
        
         
             
               27 
               end while 
             
             
               28 
               Error if actual record count doesn&#39;t match expected record 
             
             
               29 
               count 
             
             
               30 
               Call Validate stored procedure to validate catalog 
             
             
                 
             
           
        
       
     
   
   ADVANTAGES OVER THE PRIOR ART 
   It is an advantage of the invention that there is provided a scalable database system in a web environment with optimal access performance characteristics for an expanding number of clients and a growing database. 
   It is an advantage of the invention that there is provided a system and method for enabling a requester to select the correct general ledger account when doing financial validation on a requisition. 
   It is an advantage of the invention that there is provided a system and method for utilizing Lotus script extensions in combination with a relational database to provide high capacity storage without performance degradation. 
   It is an advantage of the invention that there is provided a system and method for enabling a buyer a means for editing catalog content before externalizing it to production for access by requesters. 
   It is an advantage of the invention that there is provided a system and method for providing very flexible access to DB2 tables without requiring database administrator (DBA) involvement to issue grants against the tables, and bypassing the problem caused by Notes agents all coming from the same user (the Notes server ID). 
   It is an advantage of the invention that there is provided a system and method utilizing an existing infrastructure including Lotus Notes, Domino Go, and DB2 to combine HTML and Java script web presentation with DB2 data. 
   It is an advantage of the invention that there is provided a system and method for enabling transfer of data from a supplier site to a RCW application which does not entail frame spoofing. 
   It is an advantage of the invention that there is provided a system and method for dramatically increasing the speed of operation of a navigation frame of a GUI. 
   ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENTS 
   It will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In particular, it is within the scope of the invention to provide a computer program product or program element, or a program storage or memory device such as a solid or fluid transmission medium, magnetic or optical wire, tape or disc, or the like, for storing signals readable by a machine, for controlling the operation of a computer according to the method of the invention and/or to structure its components in accordance with the system of the invention. 
   Further, each step of the method may be executed on any general computer, such as an IBM System  390 , AS/400, PC or the like and pursuant to one or more, or a part of one or more, program elements, modules or objects generated from any programming language, such as C++, Java, Pl/1, Fortran or the like. And still further, each said step, or a file or object or the like implementing each said step, may be executed by special purpose hardware or a circuit module designed for that purpose. 
   Accordingly, the scope of protection of this invention is limited only by the following claims and their equivalents.