Patent ID: 6901441

Claim:
A data processing system adapted to run on a client apparatus connectable with a server across a network, said server adapted to simultaneously share information maintained therein with a plurality of heterogeneous clients, wherein said information comprises a plurality of ideas, said apparatus comprising: means for retrieving said ideas from said server; means for defining a new idea in a manner dependent on the client apparatus platform, wherein the means for defining the new idea comprises: means for creating at least one element declaration tuple that defines a element type and at least one attribute, wherein the element type is one of a thought, an image, a group, a relationship and a hierarchy: means for creating at least one attribute declaration tuple that describes the at least one attribute associated with the element declaration tuple, wherein the at least one attribute defines an individual characteristic of the element type; and means for creating at least one element tuple that describes the instance of the element declaration tuple; and means for transmitting said new idea to said server for maintenance in a platform-independent manner.