Patent ID: 8255320

Claim:
A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing computer-executable program instructions which, when executed by a processor, perform a method for managing pricing information for a product, comprising the steps implemented by a computer of: displaying a table form to a user, the table form having columns and rows; accepting inputs from the user that specify attributes of the product as column identifiers; accepting inputs from the user that specify values of the product for each specified attribute in a row, wherein the values represent data from a plurality of grids including attributes that define pricing components; representing the table form, including the inputs that specify attributes and the inputs that specify values, in a tree structure that includes a plurality of tree nodes that represent each of the values in a memory of the computer; creating a data model that represents each tree node; storing, in the data model, a grid definition identifying the table form, a grid node storing the value of the tree node and containing a reference to a parent node, and a grid schema specifying a location of the grid node in the tree structure; accepting a persist command from the user; converting the tree structure to a flat tabular representation of the table; and storing the flat tabular representation of the table in a data storage device communicatively connected to the computer for later retrieval to calculate a price for the product.