MXPA03002987A - System and method for hierarchical administration of complex item structures for on-line auction environments. - Google Patents

Abstract

A system implemented on a computer network for auctioning complex items to bidders. The system supports the definition and presentation of a complex item and its subassemblies in a distributed computing environment that facilitates the administration of an auction. An auction author defines the complex item to be auctioned by inputting information about the complex item and the subassemblies of which the complex item is comprised. The complex item and subassemblies can be presented to on-line bidders in a hierarchy format enabling bidding on individual subassemblies or an entire complex item. The system can evaluate competing bids from various bidders and select winning bids.

Description

SYSTEM. AND METHOD FOR THE HIERARCHICAL ADMINISTRATION OF COMPLEX ARTICLES STRUCTURES FOR ENVIRONMENTS OF ONLINE AUCTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed in general to the auctioning of articles in a distributed computing environment. More specifically, the present invention provides a system and method for users of a distributed computing environment to easily create the auction of complex items consisting of multiple submontaj.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The feasibility of online auction systems conducted over computer networks such as the Internet has been proven through the increase of consumers and commercial acceptance and participation in those systems. Online auction systems can provide a mechanism to order the auction process, including activities to define the items to be auctioned, send the description of the item to be reviewed by all potential bidders, manage the bidding process via evaluation algorithms Offer well established, select a winner based on the auction algorithm defined and notify the winner of the auction. The success of an auction usually requires that all participants have a consistent understanding of the items that are being auctioned. A consistent understanding allows the participants to place a value on the articles with the same understanding of the requirements and characteristics of the product. This is easily accomplished by those items that are common or simple. If an article is composed of a single element or a few easily defined components, the probability of a successful auction is greatly increased. The bid evaluation for an auction varies based on the selected algorithm. There are several types of offer evaluation algorithms currently in use. These common algorithms are English, Reverse, Dutch, Fixed-price and Sealed-bid. An English auction is an ascending price auction where offers must be higher in price than existing offers to win. A Reverse auction is the same as an English auction except that the auction is a descending price auction where the lowest price wins. A Dutch auction is technically an open auction, of descending price, of multiple units where the offers are placed by partial quantity and the price decreases for the amount remaining in the auction until all the units are sold. A Fixed-price auction is one in which there is no increase in the offer. The price remains the same through the auction. A Sealed-bid auction is an English or Reverse auction in which all offers are hidden or confidential. The application of these common offer evaluation algorithms directs the auction process and is central to the winner selection process. The evaluation of the offer is simple for structures of simple articles. The price evaluation for these structures typically involves a simple price-price and time-time evaluation. There is no associative information that must be evaluated during the evaluation process. Existing online auction systems do not support the auctioning of complex items consisting of interrelated sub-assemblies. The conventional method is one of simple price and time comparisons suitable for individual items such as lumber or aluminum powder. However, contemporary business activities often involve complex items that comprise multiple sub-assemblies, such as manufacturing equipment. In addition, there are often complex relationships between sub-assemblies that comprise an article. A complex item structure has price information associated with each sub-subassembly and sub-item or item, which may or may not be important for the price evaluation process. This additional information complicates the auction and increases the potential for misinterpretations that frustrate a successful auction. In view of the above, there is a need in the art for a system that supports the auction of complex items. Specifically, there is a need in the art for a system that allows to collect and organize information about a complex article and its sub-assemblies to be auctioned. There is also the need to follow the associative information with each sub-assembly comprising a complex article, so that sub-subassemblies can be auctioned appropriately. There is also a need to present the information related to the complex article and the subassemblies of the bidders in such a way that a successful auction is facilitated. Finally, there is an additional need to be able to receive and evaluate offers on sub-assemblies that comprise a complex article so that the winning offers can be determined.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The existing online auction methods are not capable of supporting the auction of complex items. The conventional method is one of simple price and time comparisons for each offer on an item. In contrast, the present invention may receive a variety of data describing sub-assemblies of a larger complex article, and present this information in a format that supports a successful online auction. In response to the presentation of the article and sub-assemblies, the invention can receive and evaluate offers to determine a winner. The present invention is directed in general to the administration of online auctions for complex articles. Specifically, the present invention can receive information about a complex article and sub-assemblies comprising that complex article. The information may include information describing the individual sub-assemblies, as well as data that identifies how the sub-assemblies are interrelated and how they are arranged in larger complex items. The program module and auction programming systems of the present invention are capable of taking the information provided and creating a hierarchy that organizes the complex article and sub-assemblies in a format conducive to offer by online bidders. Offers for individual sub-assemblies or all complex items are placed by bidding clients. The module of programs and systems of auction programming receives the competent offers, evaluates them, and selects the winning offers. The hierarchy that can be created to organize complex items and sub-assemblies can be viewed similarly to a family tree with many levels of generations. At the highest level, the most complex item can be marked as a first parent. The sub-assemblies that comprise the first parent can be called descendants of the first level. ??? the simplest sub-assemblies comprising the descendants of the first level can be called descendants of the second level, so that the pattern continues until all sub-assemblies are identified. The module of programs and systems of auction programming can also verify the accuracy of the hierarchy, ensuring that no article is ancestor or descendant by itself. The present invention provides a method for organizing a complex article and its sub-assemblies.

The auction method comprises presenting each complex article and its sub-assemblies in an interface or graphic interconnection, so that they can be auctioned to bidders. The graphical interface or interconnection illustrates the relationships between sub-assemblies and the complex article. For example, the graphic interface or interconnect may present the complex article and sub-assemblies in an off-line format with an indentation to identify each level of sub-assemblies. The graphical interface then allows bidders to submit bids on the complex article and submontages. The present invention provides a method for a program module and auction programming systems to present a complex article and its sub-assemblies to bidders. The module of programs and systems of auction programming presents the complex article and sub-assemblies to the bidders in a hierarchical format, so that the relations between the complex article and the sub-assemblies are evident. This hierarchy is stored in a server computer in a distributed computing environment, so that bidders can access the hierarchy and place bids.

The present invention operates in a distributed computing environment. The invention allows the auction of a complex article, first receiving data about the complex article of an author client. The module of programs and systems of auction programming processes the data and creates a hierarchy that describes the complex article and the sub-assemblies to be auctioned. The bidding clients in the distributed computing environment can access the hierarchy of complex items and place offers on the complex item and its sub-assemblies. The auction programming programs and systems module processes these offers and selects a winner according to the type of auction desired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1A is a block diagram illustrating the operating environment for an online, hierarchical, exemplary auction system. FIGURE IB is a functional block diagram illustrating the components of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIGURE 2 is a logical flow diagram illustrating the operations of a complex article management process showing the method for defining and managing a complex article structure. FIGURE 3 is a block diagram comparing the structure of a simple article, composite article, and complex article structure. FIGURE 4 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of highly complex articles, comprising simple articles, composite articles and complex articles. FIGURE 5A shows a database structure for handling a structure of highly complex articles according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIGURE 5B shows a database structure for handling offer data and relating it again to the article data structure according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIGURE 6 is a logical flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process for constructing a highly complex article structure. FIGURE 7 is an illustration of a display screen describing a hierarchical article builder for an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIGURE 8 is an illustration of a display screen describing a subarticle editor that allows a user to order quantities of a sub-article in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIGURE 9 is an illustration of a display screen describing a hierarchy of articles for a structure of complex articles in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIGURE 10 is a logical flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process for generating a hierarchy of items. FIGURE 11 is an illustration of a display screen describing a hierarchical bid page for entering quantity and price bids for an article in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIGURE 12 is a logical flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process for calculating sub-assembly and total prices for a complex item to evaluate competing offers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY MODALITIES The present invention supports the auctioning of complex items in a distributed computer network. Specifically, the present invention allows an auctioneer connected to a server in a distributed computing environment to create an auction for a complex article comprising multiple sub-assemblies. The bidding clients, also connected to the server, can present bids for the complex article and sub-assemblies. The invention provides a format for receiving information about the item to be auctioned and its sub-assemblies. The information is used to assemble a hierarchy that explains the relationship between the article and sub-assemblies. In addition, the invention presents the article and its sub-assemblies to bidders in a graphical user interface in such a way that it facilitates the offers and selection of winners. Although the exemplary embodiments will be described, generally, in the context of program modules and programming systems operating in a distributed computing environment, those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention can also be implemented in conjunction with other modules. of program for other types of computers. In a distributed computing environment, the program modules can be physically located in a different location away from the memory storage devices. The execution of the program modules can occur locally autonomously or remotely as a client / server. Examples of those distributed computing environments include local area networks of an office, computer networks across a company and the global Internet. The following detailed description is represented to a large extent in terms of processes and symbolic representations of operations in a computing environment distributed by conventional computer components, including remote file servers, remote computer servers, remote memory storage devices, one or more processing units, memory storage devices, visual representation devices and input devices. Each of these conventional distributed computing components is accessible through a processing unit via a communications network. The processes and operations performed by the computer include the manipulation of signals by a processing unit or remote server, and the maintenance of those signals within data structures resident in one or more local or remote memory storage devices. These data structures impose a physical organization on the collection of data stored within a memory storage device and represent specific electrical or magnetic elements. These symbolic representations are the means used by those skilled in the art of computer programming and computer construction to more effectively transfer the teachings and discoveries to other experts in the art. Referring now to the drawings, in which similar numbers represent similar elements through the different figures, the aspects of the present invention and the preferred operating environment will be described. FIGURE 1A illustrates several aspects of an exemplary distributed computing environment, in which the present invention is designed to operate. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that FIGURE 1A and the associated discussion are intended to provide a brief, general description of the resources of the computer network in a representative computer network that supports an online auction. FIGURE 1A illustrates an architecture of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Author client 140, allows an auctioneer to connect to a distributed computer network 105 such as the Internet. A server computer 110, on which resides a program module and auction programming systems 115, is also connected to the network 105. The program module and auction programming systems 115 contains the instructions for conducting an auction of an article. complex. Coupled to the server computer 110, there is a database 120, which stores information provided by the authors about complex items to be auctioned. In alternative embodiments of the invention, the database 120 may be part of the server computer 110. The bidders may participate in an auction of a complex article through the bidding clients 125, 130 and 135 also connected to the network 105. The bidding clients 125, 130 and 135 receive information about complex items from, and transmit offers to, the server computer 110 via the network 105. Although FIGURE 1A only presents an author 140 and three bidders 125, 130 and 135, the present invention can support multiple clients and simultaneously lead to multiple auctions.

Referring now to Figure IB, the exemplary functions of the program module and auction programming systems 115 are illustrated. Figure IB describes the functions of the program module and auction programming systems that provide a system for defining, presenting, evaluating and store complex item structures in an online auction environment. The hierarchical article builder 150 provides the tools to create each article. The hierarchical article builder 150 supports the collection, from the author 140, of the basic information and attributes that define an article in the system. The hierarchical article editor 155 is used to handle the relationship between the complex article and its sub-assemblies. A complex article is generally referred to as a parent, while sub-assemblies that comprise a complex article are generally called children. The term brother is used to describe sub-assemblies of equivalent complexity that comprise the same larger complex article. This scheme of parents, children and siblings can be extended to many levels to describe the complex article that comprises many sub-assemblies. The hierarchical offer collector 160 provides the functionality to accept offers that conform to the hierarchical article structure. This function manages the association of the information of the offer (price) with each article within the article hierarchy. Hierarchical data storage components 165 store data for hierarchical structures. The storage of hierarchical article structures supports the maintenance of the information that relates one article to another. The hierarchical item representation function 170 controls how the auction information will be taken to each offering client 125, 130 and 135. The hierarchical item representation 170 provides the formatting technology that presents the structure of the article in a easy to understand format that illustrates the relationship between each article (father, brother, son). The hierarchical offer evaluator 175 provides validation of business rules for bids submitted according to the relationships implemented by the hierarchical structure. The functions illustrated in Figure IB for the auction programming program and program module 115 act in concert to achieve the desired goal of selecting a winning bid in an online auction environment.

Figure 2 is a general view of the hierarchical item auction process, which shows an exemplary method for defining and auctioning a hierarchical article structure. The exemplary process begins with the definition of each article 205. The articles are defined by the author 140, using the hierarchical article builder 150, introducing basic descriptive information such as the name, number, description, manufacturer and unit of measurement. Each of these article definitions can be saved by the hierarchical data storage function 165 for later retrieval during the hierarchical visual representation process of articles 170 and the bid evaluation process 175. Once the articles are defined, the construction process of the hierarchy of articles 210 is carried out. This implies identifying the relationships between the articles parents, siblings and children. When the relationship identification process is performed, the article data structure is formed. To use those item hierarchies in an auction, certain parameters are defined, in step 215, including the desired quantity for each item. Once the article hierarchy with the desired parameters for each article is constructed, the article hierarchy is presented 220 to the bidding clients 125, 130 and 135. In step 225, the bidding clients 125, 130 and 135 present bids for the article complex or its sub-assemblies to the server computer 110. Providing a common function to present the hierarchical structure and collect price information with a common structure, there is a favorable environment to evaluate competent offers in step 230. Finally, in step 235 the hierarchical offer evaluator 175 selects the winning offer or offers according to the bid evaluation method that is being used for the auction. The hierarchical method of the present invention can support the auctioning of a wide range of possible structures. Using block diagrams, Figure 3 and Figure 4 illustrate exemplary assembly structures of articles that can be auctioned with the hierarchical architecture of the present invention. A simple article is a simple article 305 without a child or siblings. Simple article 305 does not require relationships to be defined. A composite article 310 is a simple article assembly having child items. A complex item 315 is an article assembly having child items and assemblies of child items, also called sub-assemblies. A highly complex article 405 is an article assembly with multiple levels of complete children items (sub-assemblies). Figure 4 depicts a complex article 405 with 4 levels of sub-assemblies. The assembly of article 1 has a sub-assembly ID, which has a sub-assembly 1D2, which has a sub-assembly 1D2A, which has a sub-assembly 1D2A2. Referring to Figure 5A and Figure 5B, the storage of hierarchical information typically requires a relational database management system sas the Microsoft SQL server. This structure allows the hierarchical information to be presented in tables that have relational keys that allow the parent / child relationship to be reinforced. Figure 5A shows an exemplary table structure for defining complex article data structures. The table tArticle 505 provides the store for descriptive information about each item while the table tArticleSet 510 provides the store for information that relates to items together. The parent article ID field of the tArticleArticle table and the IDArticle field of the tableArticleArticle each relate to the tArticle table and thus provide the mechanism for relating items together in a parent / child relationship. The table tSetArticle 510 contains information to define the quantity and present the order of the type. This information is specific for an individual relationship between articles. If article 1A is related to article 1 as a child, then the quantity of article 1A is related to article 1, which is information that must be maintained. In addition, for presentation purposes, it is important to allow the user to control the presentation sequence of siblings that are related together. The field of presentation of the type order is where this information is maintained. Once the item hierarchy is presented to the bidding client 125, the hierarchical bid evaluator 175 will process the bidding data. The hierarchical data storage function 165 may record the offer data in a table sas the table tOfert 515 and the tableTDataOffice 520 shown in Figure 5B. The table tOferta 515 comprises fields that identify each and every one of the different offers in a summary format. This includes information that identifies the specific auction (IDoferta), the offer is for, the identity of the bidder (IDofertante), the time presented (TiempoPresentado), the total price of the offer (PricePresentado), the status of the offer if it is winning or loser (TypeEstadoOferta), and the price assigned to the offer by the system if the evaluation algorithm alerts the offer (PriceAssigned), an indicator that indicates whether this offer was placed via proxy (IsProxy), an optional comment introduced by the bidder (Comment) a store of objects for the record tDatosOferta that represents all the details of the offer. { DataOffer), the date / time of expiration for the offer (Expiration Time), and the time of update of the offer (TimeUpdate). The offer data comprises the details of the offer and they are represented in Figure 5B as the table tDatosOferta 520. These provide the necessary information to relate the price and quantity information with the specific article for which it was introduced. This is done through the fields IDarticulo and IDarticulooferta. These provide specific identities for each of the items within the complex article structure. The itemarticle identifies the item at the top level (parent) for which the offer is placed, while the item identifies the item (child) for which the offer was introduced. The QuantityArticle field is the original quantity defined by the subarticle, while the QuantityOffer field comprises the quantity entered by the bidder. The bid amount can be equal to or less than the value of CantidArticle. The PriceOffice field contains the price entered by the user for the subarticle. The PriceAscendant field includes a value for the calculated price of the total of all the sub-items and is usually only presented for complex assemblies. The Son and SonYield fields are used in the visualization construction process, as discussed below with reference to Figure 10. The hierarchical article builder 150 and the hierarchical article editor 155 support the grouping of articles together to form sub-assemblies and the grouping of sub-assemblies to form complex assemblies. The grouping of articles and sub-assemblies into complex assemblies is how the hierarchies that are presented to the bidders are created. Two sub-items attached to a father are both sons of the father as well as brothers to each other. During the construction of the hierarchy, additional information is collected that is relevant only to the specific relationship, such as the amount of the joined sub-article and representation of the order of the sub-article type. The information defined by the articles and the article hierarchy is handled by the hierarchical data storage function 165, so that it can be retrieved for presentation.

Articles may exist more than once within the article structure. The same article may exist multiple times at the same level or at different levels. However, an article may not exist as a descendant of itself. This creates a recursion problem. Consequently, the process of creating the article structure includes the appropriate verification of the structure of articles. When an article is added to the article hierarchy, the verification process checks to ensure that the new article will not cause a recursion problem within the article hierarchy. Figure 6 is a logical flow diagram of an exemplary verification process. The exemplary verification process involves moving through the entire article structure, examining each article with a consistent set of evidence as follows: 1) Is there an article as a descendant of it? This test implies "walking down" the structure. 2) Is there an article as ancestor of itself ?. This implies "walking up" the structure. This test is basically the same as the previous test but they are necessarily within the context of the process to ensure that the entire structure is evaluated. Referring to Figure 6, the following steps are taken to eliminate recursion problems. The first step is to determine if there are identical children and parents. In step 605, the item to be added is compared to a parent item. If the two are the same, the article is rejected in step 608. If they are not the same, the "No" branch is followed until step 610. In step 610, the item to be added becomes the parent and the auction programming programs and systems module 115 retrieves a list of child items for the article to be added. In step 615, the auction programming program and systems module 115 consults the data structure tArticle 505 to see if the child article is the same as the parent article. If this is the case, the branch of "Yes" is followed and the article is rejected in step 620. If this is not the case, the branch of "No" is followed up to step 625 and the examination of the continuous structure with any existing child of the son article. If there are children, the branch of "Yes" is followed again until step 610 and the test is repeated. The verification process continues until the basis of the structure of the complex article is reached.

If there are no children, the "walk down" process of the structure is completed and the "No" branch is followed until step 630 where the evaluation continues to determine whether the item is a child and an ancestor itself. This begins by retrieving a parent list of the parent article in step 630. The parent items are examined to determine if the parent is the same as the child in step 635. If there is similarity, the branch of "Yes" is followed until step 640 and the article is rejected. If the father is not the same as the child, the branch of "No" is followed until step 645 and the process continues with the examination of any parents of the parent article. If there are parents, the branch of "Yes" is followed until step 630 and the process is repeated. If there are no additional parents, the branch of "No" is followed until step 650 and the article is added. The process of defining this structure in an online environment presents many challenges, the main goal is to provide a user interface or interconnection that is easy to use and understand, while providing enough information and flexibility to allow a user to build the structures of necessary items. The integral steps to conduct an online auction are to define each article and link the articles together in the appropriate relationship. These steps can be supported by the use of visual representation screens to define the articles and to relate the articles together. Figure 7 describes an exemplary user graphical interface or interconnect 705 to define an article. Separate fields are shown for the entry of the article name, item number, description, additional information, manufacturer, manufacturer's item number, and unit of measurement. This screen shows a list of exemplary sub-articulations that have been related to this article. It shows the article 1A, the sub-assembly IB, the sub-assembly 1C and the sub-assembly ID as sub-items. The auction author can add additional sub-items by selecting the add new sub-article button or can edit the sub-article's attributes (that is, the quantity and order of the presentation type) by selecting the update sub-items button. In addition, the author of the auction can access the hierarchy of complex items by selecting the button to see article hierarchy. When sub-items are added, they are presented in the list of sub-items in the order defined by their presentation type order. The assigned amounts are presented in the quantity column. The auction author can delete an subarticle by selecting the delete button in the Action column. The deletion of an article will not remove the subarticle from the system but will simply suppress the relation of the subarticle to the parent article. Figure 8 depicts an exemplary graphical user interface or interconnect screen 805 for updating information about each subarticle associated with the parent article. This implies the entry of the order of the type of presentation and number of items. This screen presents each sibling item that is associated with the parent and provides fields to enter the order of the type of presentation and quantity. The name of the article, the article number and its units of measurement are provided as information. A deletion button is also provided that allows the auction author to remove an subarticle from the list. Once the author of the auction has made all changes to the order of the type and quantity, select the button to update sub-items to record the changes. Figure 9 illustrates an exemplary screen of a 905 graphical user interface for displaying the hierarchy of items in the hierarchical presentation format. This format allows the author of the auction to inhibit brothers or children accordingly. In Figure 9 there are buttons to add a new subarticle and to update the sub-items, which can be done in a presentation screen like the one shown in Figure 8. Figure 9 shows within presentation 905 the fully expanded hierarchy of the structure of the representative complex article called the assembly of article 1. This shows that the assembly of article 1 has 4 related children that are article 1A, sub-assembly IB, sub-assembly 1C and sub-assembly ID. The sub-assembly IB is represented as an article composed of 2 children, which are article 1B1 and article 1B2. Sub-assembly 1C is represented by an article composed of 5 children, which are Article 1C1, Article 1C2, Article 1C3, Article 1C4, and Article 1C5. The sub-assembly ID is represented by a complex article structure with 2 children that are sub-assembly 1D2A and article 1D2B. Sub-assembly 1D2A is represented by a complex article structure with 2 children, which are article 1D2A1 and sub-assembly 1D2A2. Sub-assembly 1D2A2 is represented by a composite article with 2 children, which are article 1D2A2A and article 1D2A2B. The invention also supports additional levels of sub-assemblies.

As described in Figure 2, once the auctioneer defines the items to be auctioned in step 205, the program module and auction schedule systems 115 build the item hierarchy in step 210. ün diagram Flow Logic that illustrates, in more detail, an exemplary process for construction in the article hierarchy is represented in Figure 10. An exemplary process of Figure 10 employs a schema using indentation icons and graphs to represent a complex article. Alternative embodiments of the present invention may employ other graphic arrangements, such as two-dimensional charts, circular charts, and three-dimensional charts, to represent a complex article. The process defined in Figure 10 begins by retrieving the hierarchical record set in step 1005. Each row of the record set contains three columns used to produce the user interface. Those columns are Sons, Nivellndentation, and SonState. The children represent the number of children in a row.

The indentation level is a range of numbers from 1 to n for the indentation level of the line. The Son State is 1 for the first child, 0 for the middle child, 2 for the last child, and 3 if the item is a child only. In step 1010, the program module and auction schedule systems 115 determines the indentation level of the line for an article. If the level of indentation is different from the last level of identification in step 1015, the branch of "Yes" is followed up to step 1020 where the level of indentation is corrected. If the indentation level is not different from the last level of indentation, the flowchart proceeds directly to step 1025 where the program module and auction schedule systems 115 identifies whether the current row is a root row. A root is the highest level of complexity of an article and has the indentation level of 1. If the row is not a root row, the row contains a child and the "No" branch is followed until step 1030, where the indentation and appropriate symbols are inserted in the hierarchy to represent a child line. If the row is a root row, the row does not need to be indented and the branch of "Yes" is followed until step 1035 where the appropriate symbol is inserted for a root row in the hierarchy. In step 1040 the name of and the number of items in the row in the hierarchy are inserted. The module of programs and systems of programming of auction is now easy to move towards the following article which will be inserted in the next line in the hierarchy. In step 1045, the auction programming programs and systems module 115 consults the data structure in article 505 to determine if the line that was just completed has children. If the row does not have children, the branch of Si is followed until step 1050 where the hierarchy is adjusted to create the next row of children descendants of the newly completed row If the row has no children, the branch of "No "and the flow chart proceeds directly to step 1055 where the indentation level is saved as the last level of indentation.The last indentation level is saved so that it can be used as a reference point to start the next line. step 1060, the auction programming program and systems module 115 queries to see if there is another line to create, if so, the branch of "Yes" is followed and it returns to step 1010 where the indentation level is determined for If there are no remaining lines to be created, the hierarchy is complete.With the complete article structure and stored in the database 120, it is á available for use in an online auction environment. The online auction environment implies that many bidding customers 125, 130 and 135 enter price information for each element within the article structure. This involves the process of presenting the hierarchical structure of items to the bidder in a format that shows a relationship between all the items and allows the bidder to enter the quantity bid and information of the bid price for each item in the structure. Figure 11 depicts a screen of an exemplary graphical user interface 1105 to present the item hierarchy and collect quantity and price information for each item. This screen provides the relevant information related to the specific auction that is being conducted at the top of the screen. This includes information that the bidder will require to place an appropriate offer such as the initial price, bid increase, low bid price, reserve price, remaining time, status and offer accounting. The offer information presents the items within the hierarchy. The information of the offer presents constructs of the hierarchy of articles according to the process described in Figure 10. The bidder introduces the price and quantity information associated with each item in the structure. In one embodiment of the present invention, the price and the quantity can not be entered for submontage when this information is calculated automatically from offers for larger assemblies. In another embodiment of the present invention, offers can be made directly on submontage. The price and quantity information can be processed to calculate the subtotal of each and every submontaj is in the structure. A total offer can also be calculated by adding the total price for each of the children for the parent article. FIGURE 12 shows the process to calculate the price of each subassembly and the total price of the offer, so that competent offers can be evaluated. This begins by retrieving the offer data from the data table tOfert 515 in step 1205. The page is initialized with rung data arrays based on the item hierarchical structure. All subtotals are assigned zero initial values in step 1210. In step 1215, the auction programming programs and systems module 115 inquires whether the current row corresponds to the correct indentation level. If there is no correspondence, the branch of "No" is followed up to step 1220 where the programming module and auction programming systems 115 searches for the next line to determine a similarity. This step is repeated until a similarity is found and, in step 1225, the auction programming programs and systems module 115 checks whether the entry of the offer is valid. If the bidder has entered data in the wrong line or the price and quantity data are not in the correct format, a validation error will be presented in step 1230 and the program module and auction programming systems will start moving to the next line in step 1220. Once the bidder's entry is validated, the auction programming program and systems module 115 calculates the subtotal of the item in step 1235. In step 1240, the program and programming systems module consults for children. If there are children in this line, those prices will be added to the subtotal of the line in step 1245. Otherwise, in step 1250, the program module and auction programming systems 115 look to see if the line is a child. If the row is a child, the subtotal must be added to a preceding parent row in step 1225. The auction programming program and systems module 115 then proceeds to step 1260, to examine any remaining rows. If there are remaining lines, the auction programming programs and systems module 115 returns to step 1215 to start working on another line. If there are no remaining lines, subtotals and totals are presented, as shown in FIGURE 11, for this particular offering client in step 1265. In step 1270, the auction programming and programming system module 115 repeats the entire process for any other clients auctioneers. Once the subtotals and totals have been calculated for all the bidding clients, the program module and auction programming systems can compare the totals and select the winning offers. Winning bids will be determined by several factors including the particular auction type and the separate bid level by sub-installment allowed. These factors may vary from auction to auction. In summary, the present invention allows and supports the auctioning of complex items in a distributed computing environment. The invention allows an auctioneer to present information about a complex article and its sub-assemblies, so that they are auctioned to multiple bidders. The invention also presents information about the complex article and its sub-assemblies in a form suitable for an online auction. Finally, the invention can accept offers on the complex article and its sub-assemblies of multiple bidders and determines the offer or winning offers. It will be appreciated that the present invention meets the needs of the prior art described herein and satisfies the objects set forth above. Although the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as set forth in the appended claims and equivalents of the invention. the same. For example, the present invention can support the auctioning of different items to complex items such as complex services or contract options. The invention can also be used in the commercial context regarding an auction such as the sale of inventories or offers on contracts where there are multiple components. It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known to the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is that which is clear from the present description of the invention.

Claims (20)

1. Having described the invention as above, the content of the following claims is claimed as property. 1. A method for managing complex article structures for auctions in a distributed computing environment, comprising: defining a complex article and its subassemblies to be auctioned to bidders, where a complex article comprises several levels of sub-assemblies; build a hierarchy for the complex article and its sub-assemblies based on relationships between the article and its sub-assemblies; have access to the hierarchy of the complex article and its sub-assemblies in a server computer by bidders coupled to the server computer to see the relationship between the complex article and its submontaj es; send competent bids for the complex article and its sub-assemblies from the bidders to the server computer; and select the winning offers for the complex article and its sub-assemblies.
2. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the step of defining a complex article and its sub-assemblies further comprises: entering descriptive information for each article and sub-assembly. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the step of constructing a hierarchy for the article and its submontajs comprises: identifying a first article and representing it as a first parent; identify a sub-assembly of the first parent, if any, and represent this as a first-level descendant; identify a sub-assembly of the first-level descendant, if there is one, and represent this as the descendant of the second level; identify another sub-assembly of the first parent, if any, and represent this as the sibling of the descendant of the first level; and repeat the previous step until there are no articles and sub-assemblies remaining to be identified. 4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the step of having a hierarchy for a complex article and its sub-assemblies further comprises: comparing each article and its sub-assemblies with their respective descendants; and if one of its descendants is the same as one of the ancestors, then suppress the descendant of the hierarchy. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the step of accessing the hierarchy of the complex article and its sub-assemblies by bidders connected to the server computer comprises: seeing a graphical interface that operates to present the hierarchy of the complex article and its sub-assemblies to show relationships between the complex article and its sub-assemblies; accept an offer on the item and its sub-assemblies; and present the remaining time to bid and the status of the offers. 6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the step of sending competent offers to the complex article and its sub-assemblies from the bidders to the server computer comprises: entering a bid amount and entering a bid price. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the step of selecting winning offers for the article and its subassemblies on the server computer also comprises: calculating a bid price for each submontage; calculate a total offer price; record a total offer price, an identity of the bidder, and a time to bid; and valuing the total price of the bid to determine a winner of the auction. 8. A computer-readable medium, characterized in that it has computer executable instructions for performing the step according to claim 1. 9. A method for organizing a complex article and its sub-assemblies in an auction format, characterized in that it comprises: presenting a complex article to be auctioned in a graphical interface; present sub-assemblies of the complex article to be auctioned in the graphic interface; and present the relationship between the complex article and the sub-assemblies in the graphic interface. 10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the relationship between the complex article and the sub-assemblies are identified by presenting each level of descendants in an off-line format, each descending level designated by an indented level. 11. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the graphic interface operates to: allow bidders to bid on the complex article and its subassemblies showing the relationship between the complex article and its sub-assemblies, accept offers on the complex article and its sub-assemblies, and present the remaining time to bid and the status of offers. 12. A computer-readable medium, characterized in that it has computer executable instructions for performing the steps according to claim 9. 1
3. 3. A computer system capable of supporting an auction of a complex article and its sub-assemblies, where a complex article comprises several sub-assemblies, characterized in that it comprises: a server computer connected logically to two or more clients; a program module and programming systems that reside in the server computer and is capable of receiving and providing information about a complex article and its sub-assemblies in a format to support an auction; an author client logically connected to the server computer that provides information to the program module and programming systems about the complex article and its sub-assemblies; and one or more bidding clients logically connected to the server computer and capable of receiving information from the program module and programming systems about the complex article and subassemblies that are being auctioned and provide offers on the complex article and sub-assemblies. 1
4. 4. The article according to claim 13, characterized in that the program module and programming systems that reside on the server also operate to: receive information from the authoring client describing the complex article and its sub-assemblies; group the sub-assemblies of the complex article in a format, so that the bidding clients can make offers about them; receive offers from one or more bidding clients for the complex article and sub-assemblies; and select the winning offers for the complex article and its sub-assemblies. The system according to claim 13, characterized in that the program module and programming systems residing in the server also operate to build a hierarchy for the complex article and its sub-assemblies identifying a complex first article and representing this as a first father; identify a first sub-assembly of the first parent, if any, and represent this as a first-level descendant; identify a second sub-assembly of the first-level descendant, if any, and represent this as a second-level descendant; identify a third sub-assembly of the first parent, if any, and represent this as a sibling of the first-level descendant; and repeat the previous steps until there are no remaining articles and sub-assemblies to be identified. The system according to claim 13, characterized in that the program module and programming systems residing on the server also operate to compare each complex article and its sub-assemblies with their respective descendants, and if one of the descendants is the same than one of the ancestors, then suppress the descendant of the hierarchy. The system according to claim 13, characterized in that the program module and programming systems that reside in the server also operate to present a graphical interface that operates to present the hierarchy of the complex article and its sub-assemblies to show the relationships between the complex article and its sub-assemblies; accept an offer on the complex article and its sub-assemblies; and present the remaining time to bid and the status of the offers. 18. The system according to claim 13, characterized in that the program module and programming system that resides on the server also operates to calculate a bid price for each sub-stack; calculate a total offer price; record a total offer price, the identity of a bidder, and a time to bid; and evaluate the total price of the bid to determine a winner of the auction. 19. A method to present a complex article and its submontaj is to bidders in an auction, characterized because it comprises: presenting a hierarchy of a complex article and its submontaj is showing the relations between the complex article and its submontaj is; accept offers from bidders about the complex article and its submontaj is; present the remaining time to bid and the status of the offers. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that it also comprises presenting the hierarchy with a graphical user interface created by a server computer; and accept the offers of clients that operate suppliers coupled to the server computer.