METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CODED EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION

摘要

Information/web page content is provided to a client and tailored to specific users by including user or session-specific identity data in the initial query. The identity data are obtained from reading a code from a physical object, combining the code with information stored within the client, and embedding the result in the initial query. Before transmitting the query, the data can be compressed using a technique that resists inadvertent expansion caused by URL encoding. A server receiving the query operates on the identity data using, for example, a scoring algorithm and maps the query to a target URL specifying the location of the tailored information. If the file associated with the target URL cannot be located, the server accesses an error handling system to provide the user with alternative content. The server logs the query, including the associated target URL, providing a data warehouse capability.