Electronic catalog system and method

摘要

An electronic catalog system and apparatus is provided for producing information related to a selected product on a remote computer. The system and method performs the steps of storing and maintaining variable data and constant data related to a plurality of products in a memory of a main computer and storing constant data related to a plurality of products in a memory of a remote computer. A product is then selected from the remote computer memory for which product information is desired. A constant data revision status in the memory of the main computer is then compared with a constant data revision status in the memory of the remote computer, and constant data in the memory of the remote computer is updated with constant data stored in the memory of the main computer, if necessary. Variable data related to the selected product is then transmitted from the main computer to the remote computer and integrated with constant data stored in the memory of the remote computer associated with the selected product to provide product information related to the selected product including both constant and variable data. The electronic catalog system can detect pirated copies of the data or program stored in the remote computer and prevent the original copy and all pirated copies from accessing data in the main computer.