Patent ID: 8489644

Claim:
A method for processing a request to display data, comprising: receiving, at a server, a request to display data stored in a database as a graphical representation of a virtual tree structure, the data being associated with at least one selected node of a virtual tree structure, the virtual tree structure comprising a hierarchy of nodes and subnodes, the graphical representation of the virtual tree structure comprising a graphical representation of expandable nodes and subnodes; loading at the server node definition data in response to the request, the node definition data defining the selected node of the virtual tree structure, how the selected node expands, and how the selected node is populated with data and subnodes; creating, using the node definition data, a tree page image of a portion of the virtual tree structure to be displayed, the tree page image comprising the graphical representation including the selected node; saving the tree page image in a page file at the server, the page file including a hidden field; saving tree context information in the hidden field in order to facilitate retrieval of the page file, the tree context information indicating a configuration of the portion of the virtual tree structure saved in the page file, wherein the configuration comprises an expansion indicator that indicates whether the page file represents the selected node as expanded or contracted; and transmitting, to a client, the saved page file.