Deriving Product Information

Abstract

A method and a system determine that product information acquired from an electronic catalog includes a product identifier and chemical structure information that is associated with the product identifier. A substance identifier and a quality identifier for a chemical product are derived from product information for a chemical product, and a product identifier for the chemical product is derived from the substance identifier and the quality identifier.

1 . A computer program product, residing on a computer-readable medium, for use in managing product information, the computer program product comprising instructions for causing a computer to:
 download product information from a computer-readable electronic catalog;   determine that the product information includes a product identifier and chemical structure information that is associated with the product identifier;   derive computer-readable product descriptor information from the product information, the product descriptor information comprising:
 a first information portion identifying a chemical substance corresponding to the chemical structure information; and 
 a second information portion identifying a quality description of the product identified by the product identifier; and 
   save the product descriptor information in a form permitting retrieval and presentation of information that communicates at least one product having substantially the same chemical substance and quality description as a desired product based on at least the first information portion and second information portion of the product descriptor information of the desired product.   
   
   
       2 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:
 save the product identifier and the chemical structure information in a form permitting retrieval and presentation, with the product identifier linked to the chemical structure information.   
   
   
       3 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:
 determine that the product information includes a product identifier and physical property information that is associated with the product identifier; and   save the product identifier and the physical property information in a form permitting retrieval and presentation, with the product identifier linked to the physical property information.   
   
   
       4 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:
 determine, from the product information, a quality category; and   save the product identifier and the quality category in a form permitting retrieval and presentation, with the product identifier linked to the quality category.   
   
   
       5 . The computer program product of  claim 4 , wherein the determination of the quality category comprises interpreting the quality description. 
   
   
       6 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:
 determine, from the product information, whether the product information has a purity that matches a desired purity criteria.   
   
   
       7 . The computer program product of  claim 6 , wherein the determination of whether the product information has a purity that matches a desired purity criteria comprises interpreting the quality description. 
   
   
       8 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:
 determine, from the product information, whether the product information identifies a product of a specified grade of products.   
   
   
       9 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the determination of whether the product information identifies a product of a specified grade of products comprises interpreting the quality description. 
   
   
       10 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:
 derive, from the product information, a quality value in a predetermined format.   
   
   
       11 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:
 arrange sections of the product identifier according to an order of importance to a consumer of a product.   
   
   
       12 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:
 provide the product descriptor information with a third information portion that indicates a source of a product identified by the product information.   
   
   
       13 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:
 provide the product descriptor information with a fourth information portion that indicates a package style of a product identified by the product information.   
   
   
       14 . A computer program product, residing on a computer-readable medium, for use in managing product information, the computer program product comprising instructions for causing a computer to:
 download product information for a chemical product, the product information being readable by a computer;   derive, from the product information, a substance identifier for the chemical product;   derive, from the product information, a quality identifier for the chemical product;   derive a product descriptor string from the substance identifier and the quality identifier, the product descriptor string being readable by a computer, the product descriptor string comprising:
 a first string section identifying a chemical substance corresponding to the substance identifier; and 
 a second string section having quality description information corresponding to the quality identifier; 
   save the product descriptor string in a form permitting retrieval and presentation of information that communicates at least one product having substantially the same chemical substance and quality description as a desired product based on at least the first string section and second string section of the product descriptor string of the desired product.   
   
   
       15 . The computer program product of  claim 14 , further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:
 derive, from the product information, a product identifier and chemical structure information for the chemical product; and   save the product identifier and the chemical structure information in a form permitting retrieval and presentation, with the product identifier linked to the chemical structure information.   
   
   
       16 . The computer program product of  claim 14 , further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:
 determine, from the product information, a product identifier and physical property information for the chemical product; and   save the product identifier and the physical property information in a form permitting retrieval and presentation, with the product identifier linked to the physical property information.   
   
   
       17 . The computer program product of  claim 14 , further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:
 determine, from the product information, a product identifier and a quality category; and   save the product identifier and the quality category in a form permitting retrieval and presentation, with the product identifier linked to the quality category.   
   
   
       18 . The computer program product of  claim 17 , wherein the determination of the quality category comprises interpreting the second string section. 
   
   
       19 . The computer program product of  claim 14 , further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:
 determine, from the product information, whether the chemical product has a purity that matches a desired purity criteria.   
   
   
       20 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein the determination of whether the chemical product has a purity that matches a desired purity criteria comprises interpreting the second string section. 
   
   
       21 . The computer program product of  claim 14 , further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:
 determine, from the product information, whether the chemical product is of a specified grade of products.   
   
   
       22 . The computer program product of  claim 21 , wherein the determination of whether the chemical product is of a specified grade of products comprises interpreting the second string section. 
   
   
       23 . The computer program product of  claim 14 , further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:
 derive, from the product information, a quality value in a predetermined format.   
   
   
       24 . The computer program product of  claim 14 , further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:
 arrange sections of the product descriptor string according to an order of importance to a consumer of a product.   
   
   
       25 . The computer program product of  claim 14 , further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:
 provide the product descriptor information with a third string section that indicates a source of the chemical product.   
   
   
       26 . The computer program product of  claim 25 , further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:
 provide the product descriptor information with a fourth string section that indicates a package style of the chemical product.