Claims
- 1. A data management system, comprising:
a source image data (SID) database containing at least one SID set; a processing engine adapted to apply a sequence of one or more computationally deterministic transformations to the SID set, producing at least one derivative image data (DID) set; a first process whereby an identifier is produced and associated with each DID set; a derivative image data (DID) database containing a record of each of the transformations so that (i) a pointer to the SID set, (ii) a sequence of transformations, and (iii) all parameters describing each of the transformations are stored with the associated identifier; and a second process adapted to use the identifier to retrieve the transformation sequence stored in the DID database and reinitiate the first process to generate additional DID for the DID set.
- 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the second process comprises an instruction to direct the first process to regenerate the DID set originally produced in the first process and associated with each of the SID sets.
- 3. The system of claim 1 wherein the second process comprises an instruction to initiate the first process using a modified transformation sequence to produce a new image data set, wherein the second process uses alternate parameters for any element of the transformation sequence originally used in the first process.
- 4. The system of claim 1 wherein the SID database maintains multiple revisions of each of the SID sets, wherein the specific revision of each of the SID sets used in the first process is recorded in the DID database.
- 5. The system of claim 4 wherein the second process is adapted to reproduce the DID set exactly from the old revision of one of the SID sets, using the unique identifier generated from the first process.
- 6. The system of claim 4 wherein the second process is adapted to produce a new and unique DID set using the same sequence of transformations recorded in the DID database applied to a new current SID set.
- 7. The system of claim 1 wherein the DID database is adapted to record additional data concerning the SID sets.
- 8. The system of claim 7 wherein the additional data is the intended usage of the DID sets.
- 9. The system of claim 7 wherein the additional data is an alternate SID set combined with a corresponding transformation sequence for the first process that can be adapted to be used in place of the DID set associated with the identifier generated by the first process.
- 10. The system of claim 1 wherein the SID set is adapted to be inserted into a common image file format and the DID set can be exported to the common image file format.
- 11. The system of claim 1 further comprising:
at least one networked computer wherein each identifier produced by the first process is adapted to be combined with a name associated with the networked computer to generate a tag associated with each of the DID sets; and an independent networked computer, connected to a common network, that obtains the DID sets along with the associated tags and can communicate with each of the networked computers and request information concerning the DID sets, and request that a replica DID set be produced and delivered over the network.
- 12. The system of claim 11 wherein each of the DID sets, exported in common image file formats, contain the tag embedded in the DID set.
- 13. The system of claim 11 whereby the tag exists within a document which references the associated DID set in the form of a universal resource locator (URL).
- 14. The system of claim 11 further comprising a process having instructions to:
search through the contents of one or more standard web sites looking for standard image files; examine each image that it finds looking for embedded tags; and record information concerning the location of each tagged derivative image in a database.
- 15. The system of claim 15 adapted to determine the location of each DID set that was derived from a particular SID set, wherein all associated derivative images of the corresponding DID set produced from old revisions of a recently updated SID set are automatically and transparently generated and stored in the DID database.
- 16. A data management system, comprising:
a process that contains a source image data (SID) set; a first server associated with the process, the server including a processing engine, wherein the engine is adapted to process the SID set to form a derivative image data (DID) set; a storage medium adapted to receive the DID set; a second server adapted to distribute the DID set; a first database having at least one data structure associated with the SID set; and a second database having at least one data structure associated with the DID set and having data that identifies the second data set as a derivative of the SID set.
- 17. A method for managing data, comprising:
providing a source image data (SID) repository having SID sets; providing access to at least one user to the SID repository; forming one additional data repository having a subset of the SID sets from the SID repository, wherein the subset of the SID sets is provided from the user; receiving requests from the user in the additional data repository to form derivative image data (DID) sets from the subset of the SID sets; selectively processing the requests; and forming DID sets in response to the requests.
- 18. The method of claim 17 wherein selectively processing the requests comprises:
determining whether the user is authorized to access the additional data repository; allowing the user access to the additional data repository if it is determined that the user has authorization; and alternatively allowing the user to access the data repository.
- 19. The method of claim 17 further comprising:
determining whether the SID set in the data repository that corresponds to the subset of SID set can be accessed by the user.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/651,594, filed Aug. 30, 2000, now abandoned, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/151,508, filed Aug. 30, 1999, each of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60151508 |
Aug 1999 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09651594 |
Aug 2000 |
US |
Child |
10438798 |
May 2003 |
US |