Text-Based Product Database Update System
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Solution Overview
Problem
In electronic commerce environments, updating product information in large marketplaces is inefficient due to the time-consuming process of formatting and exporting data from spreadsheets, especially when product information is frequently updated.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for updating product information in an electronic marketplace using text strings containing expressions to specify updates, which parse product identifiers and actions, allowing for efficient identification and modification of product metadata through a client-server architecture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If merchants provide spreadsheets containing updated product information, then product information can be updated, but the time required to create and provide the spreadsheets renders this method inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical process of creating and exporting spreadsheets with an automated text-based update system. The server automatically parses text update instructions and executes product information updates without requiring merchants to manually create, format, and export spreadsheet files, thereby eliminating the time-consuming mechanical operations while maintaining update functionality
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a text-based update instruction format as an intermediary between the merchant's update request and the product database. This text format serves as a simplified mediator that eliminates the complex spreadsheet export process while still conveying all necessary update information to the server for automatic processing
2Adaptability or versatility
If the marketplace contains a large number of items, then product variety is increased, but it is time-consuming and cumbersome to change information relating to the products
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the cumbersome mechanical process of managing large product databases with automated text-based processing. The server automatically parses text update instructions and executes updates across numerous products without requiring manual intervention for each item, thereby maintaining ease of operation while supporting large product varieties
Solution Approach 2:
The text-based update instruction system serves as a universal interface that can handle updates for any number of products in the marketplace. The same simple text format works whether updating one product or thousands, making the system equally effective for small and large marketplaces without requiring different操作流程
Data Source
AI summary
An update server receives update instructions from a client. The update instructions comprise a text string containing an expression specifying an update to product information stored in a product database of an electronic marketplace. After parsing the update instructions into tokens, the update server interprets the tokens to obtain a product identifier and an action to perform to update the product information. The update server then performs the action on the product information, where the action may include changing the product's price or changing information for a specified date range. By using update instructions comprising a text string, a user of the client can quickly update the product information for a set of products.