Business method for determining required product configurations to meet varied performance requirements

A business method comprising the steps of:

• (A) providing an up-to-date database organized by columns having meta-data which reflects the current structure of the database and accessible by product sizing attributes wherein an access to any given product sizing attribute returns attribute associated data and wherein the structure of the database is subject to constant change via the addition and deletion of database columns representing database design components;
• (B) accessing a second database which provides data for deriving at least one of the attribute associated data;
• (C) associating a predetermined set of customer requirements to a set of underlying basics;
• and
• (D) executing an access program effective in:
• (1) querying the database for the meta-data and generating a requirements dialog for customer input as a function of the meta-data which reflects the current structure of the database;
• (2) accepting customer input data indicating customer requirements;
• (3) generating a query string based upon the customer input data and the meta-data which reflects the current structure of the database;
• and
• (4) accessing the database based on the execution of the query string and generating based upon the underlying basics a recommendation for customer presentation containing at least one configured product which meets the customer requirements;
• wherein the access program remains unchanged while the requirements dialog changes in concert with the changes to the structure of the database via the addition and deletion of database columns representing database design components and in concert with the meta-data which reflects the current structure of the database.

A program product comprising:

• a computer readable medium;
• a computer executable program stored on said computer readable medium, said computer executable program being effective in executing the steps of:
• (A) providing an up-to-date relational database having meta-data which reflects the current structure of the relational database and accessible by product attributes wherein an access to any given product attribute returns attribute associated data;
• (B) querying the relational database for the meta-data and generating a requirements dialog for customer input as a function of the meta-data which reflects the current structure of the relational database;
• (C) accepting customer input data indicating customer requirements;
• (D) associating the customer requirements to a set of underlying basics;
• and
• (E) accessing the relational database based on the underlying basics and generating a recommendation for customer presentation containing at least one configured product which meets the customer requirements.

A program product comprising:

• a computer readable medium;
• a computer executable program stored on said computer readable medium, said computer executable program being effective in executing the steps of:
• (A) providing an up-to-date database organized by columns having meta-data which reflects the current structure of the database and accessible by product sizing attributes wherein an access to any given product sizing attribute returns attribute associated data and wherein the structure of the database is subject to constant change via the addition and deletion of database columns representing database design components;
• (B) accessing a second database which provides data for deriving at least one of the attribute associated data;
• (C) associating a predetermined set of customer requirements to a set of underlying basics;
• and
• (D) executing an access program effective in:
• (1) querying the database for the meta-data and generating a requirements dialog for customer input as a function of the meta-data which reflects the current structure of the database;
• (2) accepting customer input data indicating customer requirements;
• (3) generating a query string based upon the customer input data and the meta-data which reflects the current structure of the database;
• and
• (4) accessing the database based on the execution of the query string and generating based upon the underlying basics a recommendation for customer presentation containing at least one configured product which meets the customer requirements;
• wherein the access program remains unchanged while the requirements dialog changes in concert with the changes to the structure of the database via the addition and deletion of database columns representing database design components and in concert with the meta-data which reflects the current structure of the database.

An apparatus comprising:

• a first module which provides data stored in an up-to-date relational database having meta-data which reflects the current structure of the relational database wherein the data is accessible by product attributes wherein an access to any given product attribute returns attribute associated data;
• a second module which accesses data stored in a second database which provides data for deriving at least one of the attribute associated data;
• a third module which queries the relational database for the meta-data and generates a requirements dialog for customer input as a function of the meta-data which reflects the current structure of the relational database;
• a fourth module which accepts customer input data indicating customer requirements;
• a fifth module which associates the customer requirements to a set of underlying basics;
• and
• a sixth module which accesses the relational database based on the underlying basics and generates a recommendation for customer presentation containing at least one configured product which meets the customer requirements.