WO2001039011A2 - Method for manipulating a live audio media stream - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for manipulating a live audio media stream. A live audio media stream is created and encoded from a news text that has been parsed into individual components, such as head line, news release text, stock symbols, and industry code. The components are stored for comparing to user inputted preferences. Upon a user computer receiving the live audio media stream, the media stream is decoded and if the industry codes and stock symbols match the users preferences, the user computer media player volume is turned on and the headline is displayed by highlighted text in a scrolling table. The headline text is also an active URL link to the full text of the press release on a web site. When the next release is received and there is no match of the preferences the volume of the player is returned to its initial state and the headline is displayed in normal text.

Description

METHOD FOR MANIPULATING A LIVE AUDIO MEDIA STREAM FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to communication systems using the Internet and in particular to a method for manipulating a live audio media stream providing an on-line real time custom tailored news source. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Every business day hundreds of millions of shares of stock representing thousands of publicly owned companies are traded by individual and institutional investors . These publicly owned companies represent a variety of industry sectors, e.g. transportation, utilities, energy, telecommunications, computer technology, retail, real estate, and health. In years past many individual investors relied on full service brokerage firms, mutual fund managers, or investment advisers for making investment decisions. But that has changed with the growing popularity of the Internet, on-line trading, and the availability of on-line investment information, many investors are choosing to become informed and make their own decisions. Since the stock market is known to be volatile, investors are well aware of the importance of knowing the latest financial and business news, and, in particular, news about their holdings or about stocks they are considering to buy. Obviously, this news is important because of its potential affect on the value of the investors holdings in these companies. Daily news on stock market activity is available through a variety of sources, such as television, radio, newspaper, newswire, the Internet, and various electronic push technologies employing computers, pagers, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) . These sources fall into the general categories of broadcast, print, and electronic media. News items may concern the market in general, an industry sector, or a corporation. The news might be statistical data on an industry sector cyclical trend, or a corporate announcement about a new product, merger, or change in executive management. The news item sometimes includes the trading price of one or more related stocks . Broadcast news reports (i.e. television and radio) are real time and occur at scheduled intervals. A viewer or listener must tune in with undivided attention in order to receive the information. Unless the investor records the broadcast, the information generally cannot be retrieved. Other problems with broadcast news are the time constraints and large target audience, which tend to result in highlight news of broad appeal. For the serious investor, real-time broadcast news does not usually provide enough detail about the stocks of interest, and therefore is not a preferred source of investment news. Print media, such as newspapers, provide the previous day' s trading prices for thousands of stocks and in-depth business reports. However, in addition to the problem of day-old information, the investor must devote full attention to manually searching for news that is of interest. Due to limited print space, business reports are selected based on relevance to many readers and do not provide 100% coverage of business news. The news wire probably provides the most recent business news that can be easily accessed through electronic means. News wire services are generally the primary source of national and world business news for the broadcast and print media. Therefore news is typically available through a news wire service before it is broadcast or printed. News items are stored in computer databases and can be easily searched. However, the investor must actively perform the search and retrieve the information, diverting time and attention from other tasks. The Internet gives the investor access to many sources of investment information. Many financially oriented web sites provide useful services to an investor. Some of these enable a user to build a customized watch list of stock symbols, showing trading information such as price of the last trade (usually delayed 15-20 minutes), day's high and low, volume, and historical price data. Also provided are automatic links to news and research for each stock on the watch list. Many of the news links are obtained from the newswire services and are specific to that stock or its industry sector. Although the information is at the user's fingertips, it still requires time and attention to review the news links periodically to see if any new items have appeared in the list. There are other services that employ push technology to deliver information directly to the investor. One service delivers customized headline news and stock data passively to a user' s computer desktop and is accessed by opening an icon. Other services provide stock market quote information via a two-way pager, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), or e- mail. With this service users can schedule quotes at a specified time for a desired list of symbols and get price alerts when the quote for a specified symbol has reached the target price. The fundamental problem common to all of these news sources is that the investor must dedicate a certain amount of time and attention to obtain the investment news of interest. For most investors, monitoring and searching for relevant investment news is not their primary occupation. While a large number of people interested in investment news have office jobs with access to a computer and the Internet, monitoring and searching for investment news detracts from their everyday occupational responsibilities and tasks. Thus, what is lacking in the art is a method for manipulating a live audio media stream providing an on-line real time custom tailored news source.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is a method for manipulating a live audio media stream such as, by way of example, a PRNewswire press release. In this example, the press release is received by a News Server computer is read until one whole press release has been received. The press release story is then sent to a PRNewswire Parser. The PRNewswire Parser parses through the press release to break apart the data into its individual components, i.e. headline, press release text, stock symbols, industry codes etc. This data is put into a press release object and sent to server software. The server software receives the press release object and stores each of the fields of the object into a record in the database. The release is also added to an editor queue. Once in the queue it is sent to the editor computer where an editor client application adds the release to a list box. The server also manages the narrator queue, ordering the releases in the queue by priority code. This queue is populated after an editor has edited and saved a press release on one of the editor computers . Another main function of the server is to keep track of the status of all the press releases as they flow through the system, updating the statuses in the database as they change. The Editor Client is the interface between an editor and the server. When an editor executes an operation (edit, skip, delete, save, or cancel) on a press release, the Editor Client makes the appropriate method call on the server software to handle the operation. When server software handles any operation on a press release it must push information to the Editor Client to inform the Editor Client when the status of a press release has changed so that the Editor Client can update its information to the editor. The Narrator Client gets the next press release to be read from the server upon the narrator "pressing" the next button on the console. Upon receiving the release from the server a call is made to the media encoder, such as a Microsoft Windows Media Encoder, to send a command and text script string through the live media stream. The data sent in the stream for the "HEADLINE" type includes the stock symbol associated with the release, the industry code associated with the release, the headline of the release and the unique ID of the record in the database for this release. There are also buttons on the console to send commands and text strings for market update, end of day and commercials. On the web server there are Active Server Pages that manage the user registration, user preferences and user sign-in. When a user visits a web site they are asked to register to gain access to the service. Once the consumer has registered they can create their preferences. In the preferred embodiment, the user is allowed to select up to 10 industry codes and 25 stock symbols to have on their "watch list". These preferences are stored in the user's record in the database and stored in "cookies" in the web browser on the user's computer. On subsequent sign-ins the preferences are retrieved from the database and stored in the "cookies". On the user's computer when the user "launches" a player the Javascript on the HTML page reads the preferences from the "cookie" and stores them in local variables; a media player is also started. When text string and command that was sent by the media encoder is received by the media player, the player calls a Javascript function that determines what type of command has been received. The commands that are currently implemented are "HEADLINE", "MRKTUPDT" (market update) , "EOD" (end of day) and "PROMO" (for commercials). When the "HEADLINE" command is received, the text is decoded to get the id, stock symbol, industry code and headline text for the headline that is about to be read by the narrator. The stock symbols and industry code of the release are compared against the preferences set by the user. If a match is found then a call is made to the media player to make sure the volume is turned on if the user has chosen to set it to mute. The stock symbol and headline are also displayed highlighted in a scrolling table. The headline text is also an active (Uniform Resource Locator) URL link to the full text of the press release on the web site. When the next release is received and there is no match of the preferences the volume of the player is returned to its previous state and the headline is displayed in normal text. When the other commands and text strings are received the volume is turned on if it is set to mute and a message is displayed to the user. The user can also adjust the volume level of the player by using the up and down arrow buttons on the player. An objective of the invention is to disclose a method for manipulating a live audio media stream. Another objective of the invention is to disclose a method for providing an on-line real time custom tailored news source. Still another objective of the invention is to provide a news source that will automatically provide an investor with critical news on selected holdings by parsing a news text feed into individual components and providing queue to determine a priority order of media releases. Another objective of the invention is to compare media releases to user preferences and, manipulate the volume of a media player based upon matching of user preferences and also highlighting the headline of said media release when matched against the user preferences. Still another objective of the invention is to provide an active URL link to the full text of a media release. Other objectives and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention. The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a data flow diagram which illustrates a communication system according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Although the invention has been described in terms of a specific embodiment, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in this art that various modifications, rearrangements and substitutions can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the claims appended hereto. As illustrated in FIG.l, a communication system in accordance with the preferred embodiment includes, but is not limited to, the following components: a server computer 10, a database 12, a plurality of editor computers 14, 16 & 18, a narrator computer 20, a media server 22, a user computer 24, and a Web site server 26. The server computer 10 includes communication means 28 with an external data provider 30. In addition, the server computer 10 is connected to the database 12, the editor computers 14, 16 & 18 and the narrator computer 20. The narrator computer 20 also includes a communication means 34 with the windows media server 22. The windows media server 22 includes a communication means 36 with the user computer 24. The user computer 24 includes a communication means 30 with the Web site server 26. The Web site server 26 includes a communication means 40 with the database 20. Within the server computer 10 are several software modules which perform processes necessary to this invention. The feed manager 42 receives a press release text transmission from an external data provider 30, reads in one complete press release story by use of the following module: FeedManager . vbp - frmTerminal . fr - modFeedManager .mod - cFeed.cls - clsNotify . els

frmTerminal . frm Option Explicit Dim filenum Dim Ret As Integer ' Scratch integer. Dim Temp As String ' Scratch string. Dim StartTime As Date ' Stores starting time for port timer Dim oNotifyParse As clsNotify Dim charactera ount As Integer

Private Sub Form_Load ( ) On Error GoTo Err_ Form Dim CommPort As String, Handshaking As String, Settings As String Picturel . ZOrder On Error Resume Next App. Title = "PRS News Feed Manager" '8/31/99 filenum = FreeFile Open "c:\check.txt" For Append As #filenum Write #filenum, "I'm in frmTerminal onLoad" Close #filenum txtTerm. SelLength = Len(txtTerm) txtTerm. SelText = flag = False Buffer = Buffer2 = Set oNotifyParse - New clsNotify numrecs = 0 characteramount = 0 sbrStatus. Panels ("Status") .Text = "Status; Disconnect " imgNotConnected. ZOrder frmTerminal .Move (Screen. Width - Width) / 2, (Screen. Height - Height) / 2 Settings = GetSetting (App. Title, "Properties", "Settings", "") ' MSComml . Settings] \ If Settings <> "" Then MSComml . Settings = Settings If Err Then MsgBox Error$, 48 Exit Sub End If End If CommPort = GetSetting (App .Title, "Properties", "CommPort", "") ' MSComml .CommPort If CommPort <> "" Then MSComml .CommPort = 2

Handshaking = GetSetting (App .Title, "Properties", "Handshaking", "") 'MSComml .Handshaking If Handshaking <> "" Then MSComml .Handshaking = Handshaking If Err Then MsgBox Error$, 48 Exit Sub End If End If 'Tim modification to make no echo 'Echo = GetSetting (App. Title, "Properties", "Echo", "") ' Echo Echo = False nuOpen Click 'Tim modification to make echo false on startup 'mnuEcho. Checked = True mnuEcho. Checked ^*= False Exit Sub Err_Form: sRetCode = "Line Number: " & Erl & " Err: " & Err. Number & " Error: " & Err . Description oServerEvent .ReportEvent strcomputername, "FeedManager", "frmTerminal" , "Form Load", sRetCode End Sub Private Sub Form Resize ( ) On Error GoTo Err Resize ' Resize the Term (display) control txtTerm.Move 0, tbrToolBar .Height, frmTerminal . ScaleWidth, frmTerminal . ScaleHeight - sbrStatus. Height-tbrToolBar. Height Framel.Left = ScaleWidth - Framel.Width * 1.5 Frame2.Left = ScaleWidth - Framel.Width * 4.5 Exit Sub Err_Resize: If Err. Number = 5 Then Resume Next End If sRetCode = "Line Number: " & Erl & " Err: " & Err. Number & " Error: " & Err . Description oServerEvent .ReportEvent strcomputername, "FeedManager", "frmTerminal" , "Form_Resize" , sRetCode End Sub

Private Sub Form Unload (Cancel As Integer) On Error GoTo Err FormUnload Dim Counter As Long Set oNotifyParse = Nothing Set oServerEvent = Nothing If MSComml . PortOpen Then MSComml . PortOpen = 0 End If End Exit Sub Err_FormUnload: sRetCode = "Line Number: " & Erl & " Err: " & Err. Number & " Error: " & Err . Description oServerEvent .ReportEvent strcomputername, "FeedManager", "frmTerminal" , "Form UnLoad" , sRetCode End Sub Private Sub imgConnected_Click ( ) ' Call the mnuOpen_Click routine to toggle connect and disconnect Call mnuOpen Click End Sub Private Sub imgNotConnected Click ( ) Call mnuOpen_Click End Sub Private Sub mnuAbout_Click ( ) frmAbout . Show vbModal End Sub

Private Sub mnuEcho_^Click ( ) mnuEcho. Checked = Not mnuEcho. Checked txtTerm = II II End Sub Private Sub mnuFileExit Click ( Unload frmTerminal End Sub

Private Sub mnuProperties Click ( ) frmProperties . Show vbModal End Sub ' Toggles the state of the port (open or closed) . Private Sub mnuOpen_Click ( ) On Error Resume Next Dim OpenFlag MSComml. PortOpen = Not MSComml . PortOpen If Err Then MsgBox Error$, 48 OpenFlag = MSComml . PortOpen mnuOpen. Checked = OpenFlag If MSComml . PortOpen Then imgConnected. ZOrder sbrStatus. Panels ("Settings") .Text = "Settings: " & MSComml. Settings sbrStatus. Panels ("Status") .Text = "Status: Connect " StartTiming Else imgNotConnected. ZOrder sbrStatus . Panels ("Settings") .Text = "Settings: sbrStatus. Panels ("Status") .Text = "Status: Disconnect " StopTiming End If End Sub

' The OnComm event is used for trapping communications events and errors. Private Static Sub MSComml_OnComm ( ) On Error GoTo Err MSComml Select Case MSComml . CommEvent ' Event messages. Case comEvReceive Buffer = MSComml . Input If Asc (StrConv (Buffer, vbUnicode) ) = SOH Then characteramount = 0 Buffer2 = "" Picture2. ZOrder flag = True End If If flag And Asc (StrConv (Buffer, vbUnicode] <> EOT Then

If characteramount > 32000 Then flag = False

Picturel . ZOrder End If

Buffer2 = Buffer2 & StrConv (Buffer, vbUnicode) characteramount = characteramount +

End If If flag And Asc (StrConv (Buffer, vbUnicode) ) = EOT Then

Picturel . ZOrder flag = False

Buffer2 = Buffer2 & StrConv (Buffer, vbUnicode)

Open "c:\check.txt" For Append As #filenum oNotifyParse . Parse StrConv (Buffer2, vbFromUnicode;

Write #filenum, "I'm sending a record"

Close #filenum End If If mnuEcho .Checked Then

ShowData txtTerm, StrConv (Buffer, vbUnicode)

End If

End Select

Exit Sub Err_MSComml: sRetCode = "Line Number: " & Erl & " Err: " & Err. Number & " Error: " & Err . Description oServerEvent . ReportEvent strcomputername, "FeedManager", "frmTerminal" , "MSComml OnComm", sRetCode MsgBox Err. Number & " " & Err . Description End Sub

Private Static Sub ShowData (Term As Control, Data As String)

On Error GoTo Handler Const MAXTERMSIZE = 16000 Dim TermSize As Long, i ' Make sure the existing text doesn't get too large. TermSize = Len (Term. Text ) If TermSize > MAXTERMSIZE Then Term. Text = Mid$ (Term. Text, 4097) TermSize = Len (Term. Text) End If ' Point to the end of Term's data. Term.SelStart = TermSize ' Filter/handle BACKSPACE characters. Do i = InStr(Data, Chr$(8) ) If i Then If i = 1 Then Term.SelStart = TermSize - 1 Term.SelLength = 1 Data = Mid$(Data, i + 1) Else Data = Left$(Data, i - 2) & Mid$(Data, i + 1) End If End If Loop While i ' Eliminate line feeds. Do i = InStr(Data, Chr$(10) ) If i Then Data = Left$(Data, i - 1) & Mid$(Data, i + 1) End If Loop While i ' Make sure all carriage returns have a line feed. i = 1 Do i = lnStr(i, Data, Chr$(13)) If i Then Data = Left$ (Data, i) & Chr$(10) & Mid$ (Data, i + 1) i = i + 1 End If Loop While i Term.SelText = Data Term.SelStart = Len (Term. Text) Exit Sub Handler: MsgBox Error$ Resume Next End Sub Private Sub Timer2_Timer ( ) sbrStatus. Panels ("Status") .Text = "Status: " Timer2. Enabled = False End Sub

Private Sub tbrToolBar ButtonClick (ByVal Button As MSComctlLib. Button) Select Case Button. Key Case "Properties" Call mnuProperties__Click End Select End Sub Private Sub Timerl Timer ( ) ' Display the Connect Time sbrStatus .Panels ("Stories") .Text = "Records Processed: " & numrecs sbrStatus . Panels ("ConnectTime") .Text = Format (Now StartTime, "hh:nn:ss") & " " sbrStatus. Panels ("Characters") .Text = characteramount End Sub ' Call this function to start the Connect Time timer Private Sub StartTiming ( ) StartTime = Now Timerl. Enabled = True End Sub Private Sub StopTiming ( ) Timerl. Enabled = False sbrStatus. Panels ("ConnectTime") .Text = "" End Sub

odFeedManager .mod ' Public variables Public Const SOH = 1 Public Const EOT = 4 Public Echo As Boolean ' Echo On/Off flag. Public CancelSend As Integer ' Flag to stop sending a text file Public numrecs As Integer Public flag As Boolean Public Buffer As Variant Public Buffer2 As Variant Public sRetCode As String Public oServerEvent As Object Public strcomputername As String * 20 Declare Sub SetWindowPos Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal hWndlnsertAfter As Long, ByVal x As Long, ByVal Y As Long, ByVal ex As Long, ByVal cy As Long, ByVal wFlags As Long) Public Declare Function GetComputerName Lib "kernel32" Alias "GetComputerNameA" (ByVal IpBuffer As String, nSize As Long) As Long Sub Main ( ) On Error GoTo Err_Main Dim re As Integer 10 re = GetComputerName (strcomputername, Len (strcomputername) ) 20 Set oServerEvent = CreateObj ect ( "NewsWireManager . cEventLog" ) 30 frmTerminal . Show Exit Sub Err_Main: MsgBox "Line Number: " & Erl & "Error Number: " & Err. Number & " " & Err . Description sRetCode = "Line Number: " & Erl & " Err: " & Err. Number & " Error: " & Err . Description oServerEvent .ReportEvent strcomputername, "FeedManager", "modFeedManager", "Sub Main", sRetCode End Sub

cFeed.cls Option Explicit Dim tBuffer As String * 1000 Dim tBufferStatus As String * 1 Public Property Get BufferStatus ( ) As String BufferStatus = tBufferStatus End Property Public Property Let BufferStatus (ByVal vNewValue As String) tBufferStatus = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get Buffer ( ) As String Buffer = tBuffer End Property Public Property Let Buffer (ByVal vNewValue As String) tBuffer = vNewValue End Property clsNotify. els Option Explicit Public WithEvents x As FeedParser . cParse Private Sub x_Notify (flag As Boolean) On Error GoTo Err_Notify If Not flag Then numrecs = numrecs + 1 End If Set x = Nothing Exit Sub Err Notify: sRetCode = "Line Number: " & Erl & " Err: " & Err. Number & " Error: " & Err . Description oServerEvent .ReportEvent strcomputername, "FeedManager", "clsNotify", "x_Notify", sRetCode Resume Next End Sub

Public Sub Parse ( strtoparse As String) On Error GoTo Err_Parse Set x = New FeedParser . cParse x. ParseString strtoparse Exit Sub Err_Parse: sRetCode = "Line Number: " & Erl & " Err: " & Err. Number & " Error: " & Err . Description oServerEvent .ReportEvent strcomputername, "FeedManager", "clsNotify", "Parse", sRetCode End Sub

Private Sub Class Terminate ( ) Set x = Nothing End Sub (Copyright 1999 VISUAL DATA CORPORATION)

The module forwards the complete story to the feed parser 44 in accordance with the following module: FeedParser .vbp - modparse.bas - cParse. els modParse.bas Option Explicit Public Const SOH = 1 Public Const STX = 2 Public Const ETX = 3 Public Const EOT = 4 Public Const LF = 10 Public Const CR = 13 Public Const CS1 = 17 Public Const DC3 = 19 Public Const US = 31 Public strcomputername As String * 20 Public oServerEvent As Object Public oFeedParser As cParse Public oStory As Newswirel . cANPA Public oServerManager As Object Public sRetCode As String Public strTest As String Public Declare Function GetComputerName Lib "kernel32" Alias "GetComputerNameA" (ByVal IpBuffer As String, nSize As Long) As Long

Public Sub Parse (ByRef oFeedParser As cParse, strtoparse As String) On Error GoTo Err Parse

10 Dim readpos As Integer, endpos As Integer 20 Dim str As String, strjunk As String 30 Dim chrstr As String 40 Dim roleresult As String Dim filenumber

45 filenumber = FreeFile

50 Set oStory = New Newswirel . cANPA 60 readpos = 2 70 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, Chr$ (US) ) 80 oStory. ServiceLevelDes = CStr (Mid$ (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos)) 90 ''MsgBox "Service Level Des=" & oStory . ServiceLevelDes 100 readpos = endpos + 1 110 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, Chr$ (LF) ) 120 oStory . FiveDigit = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 130 ''MsgBox "FiveDigit=" & oStory . FiveDigit 140 readpos = endpos + 1 150 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, " ") 160 oStory . Priority = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos

- readpos )

170 ''MsgBox "Priority-^****" & oStory. Priority 180 readpos = endpos + 1 190 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, Chr$(DC3)) 200 oStory . Category = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos

- readpos

210 'MsgBox "Category=" & oStory .Category 220 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, "be-") 230 readpos = endpos + 3 240 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, " ") 250 oStory . StoryKeyword = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 260 oStory. StoryKeyword = Replace (oStory. StoryKeyword, "'", "' ' " , , , TextCompare) 280 'MsgBox "Keyword=" & oStory . StoryKeyword 290 readpos = endpos + 1 300 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, " ") 310 oStory .Version = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 320 oStory. Version = Replace (oStory .Version, ""', ^{H I} "'. , . vbTextCompare) 340 'MsgBox "Version=" & oStory .Version 350 readpos = endpos + 1 360 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, " ") 370 oStory .Reference = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 380 oStory .Reference = Replace (oStory .Reference, II I II

I "<>^», , _f vbTextCompare) 390 'MsgBox "Reference=" & oStory .Reference 400 readpos = endpos + 1 410 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, vbCrLf) 420 oStory. TransmissionDate = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 430 'MsgBox "TDATE=" & oStory . TransmissionDate 440 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, "FROM") 450 readpos = endpos + 4 460 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, "/") 470 oStory .BureauBanner = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 480 oStory .BureauBanner = Replace (oStory. BureauBanner, " '" , '"'", , . TextCompare) 490 'MsgBox "BureauBanner=" & oStory .BureauBanner 495 endpos = InStr (endpos, strtoparse, "[STK]") 500 readpos = endpos + 5 505 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, vbCrLf) 506 oStory . StockSymbols = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, (endpos - readpos)) 507 'MsgBox "StockSymbols=" & oStory . StockSymbols 510 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, "[IN]") 512 readpos = endpos + 4 530 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, vbCrLf) 535 oStory . IndustryCode = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 540 'MsgBox "IndustryCode=" & oStory . IndustryCode 550 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, "[SU]") 560 readpos = endpos + 4 590 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, vbCrLf) 600 oStory . SubjectCode = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 610 'MsgBox "SubjectCode=" & oStory . SubjectCode 620 readpos = endpos + 2 630 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, ":") 640 oStory .Addressing = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 650 oStory .Addressing = Replace (oStory .Addressing, ..I.. _r ...... _{f f r} vbTextCompare) 660 'MsgBox "Addressing=" & oStory .Addressing 670 endpos = endpos + 5 'double space between Addressing and Headline, skip CRLF 680 readpos = endpos 690 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, vbCrLf & vbCrLf) 700 oStory. Headline = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 710 oStory. Headline = Replace (oStory .Headline, "'", "•"'. , . vbTextCompare) i * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ******* ** g 01/ 99 Under specifications Correctly 720 'MsgBox "Headline=" & oStory .Headline 730 endpos = endpos + 4 740 readpos = endpos 750 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, "SOURCE", vbBinaryCompare) 760 If endpos = 0 Then 765 Err. Raise 1, , "Ignore Error: Source does not exist in the story." 770 'Exit Sub 780 End If 790 oStory. Paragraphs = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 800 oStory. Paragraphs = Replace (oStory . Paragraphs, "'", ^•""', . , TextCompare) 810 'MsgBox "Paragraphs=" & oStory . Paragraphs 820 readpos = endpos + 6 850 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, vbCrLf) 860 oStory. Source = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 870 oStory .Source = Replace (oStory . Source, "^•". "'"',,, vbTextCompare) 880 'MsgBox "Source=" & oStory . Source ' ************************************* Q/oi /99 Correct implementation of specs up to this point 890 readpos = endpos + 9 900 endpos = endpos + 9 'changed 890 from endpos + 10 to endpos + 9 'the backup copy in Feedparser folder will have nonchanged version. 910 While Not IsNumeric (Mid (strtoparse, endpos, 1)) 920 endpos = endpos + 1 925 Wend 930 readpos = endpos 'At beginning digit of AvailabilityDate 940 chrstr = Mid (strtoparse, endpos, 1) 950 While chrstr <> " " And chrstr <> vbCr 960 endpos = endpos + 1 970 chrstr = Mid (strtoparse, endpos, 1) 980 Wend 990 oStory .AvailabilityDate = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 'AvailabilityDate 1000 If chrstr = " " Then 1010 endpos = endpos + 1 1020 readpos = endpos 1030 oStory .AvailabilityStatus = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, 1) 1032 If oStory.AvailabilityStatus = "P" Then 1034 Err. Raise 2, , "Ignore Error: P(Test) Code found in AvailabilityStatus Field." 1036 End If 1040 End If 1050 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, "CONTACT", vbBinaryCompare) 1060 readpos = endpos + 9 1070 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, "/") 1080 oStory .Contact = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 1090 oStory. Contact = Replace (oStory . Contact, "'", "••", _{f f} vbTextCompare) 1100 'MsgBox "Contact=" & oStory .Contact ' 9/01/99 Everything is good with the specifications up to this point 1110 readpos = endpos + 3 1120 If Mid$ (strtoparse, readpos, 1) <> Chr$ (CR) And Mid$ (strtoparse, readpos, 1) <> " " Then 1130 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, "/") 1140 readpos = endpos + 1 1150 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, "/") 'Changed If... to While because we don't know how many http:// are between /and/ in a link. 1160 While Mid (strtoparse, endpos, 2) = "//" 1170 endpos = endpos + 2 1180 endpos = InStr (endpos, strtoparse, "/") 1190 Wend 1200 oStory .LinkedURL = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 1210 oStory. LinkedURL = Replace (oStory .LinkedURL, "'", ^«'"'_{f r} , vbTextCompare) 1220 'MsgBox "LinkedURL=" & oStory . LinkedURL 1230 End If 'look good up to here 1240 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, "CO:") 1250 readpos = endpos + 3 1260 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, vbCrLf) 1270 oStory . SignificantCompany = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 1280 oStory. SignificantCo pany = Replace (oStory. SignificantCompany, "'" , " ' '" , , , vbTextCompare) 1290 'MsgBox "SigCo=" & oStory. SignificantCompany endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, "ST:") 1300 readpos = endpos + 3 1310 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, vbCrLf) 1320 oStory. SignificantState ^*= Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 1330 oStory . SignificantState = Replace (oStory. SignificantState, "' " , ^•"'", , , vbTextCompare) 1340 'MsgBox "SigStory=" & oStory . SignificantState 1350 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, "IN:") 1355 readpos = endpos + 3 1360 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, vbCrLf) 1370 oStory . SignificantlndustryCode = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 1380 'MsgBox "Siglndustry=" & oStory. SignificantlndustryCode 1385 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, "SU:") 1390 readpos = endpos + 3 1400 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, vbCrLf) 1410 oStory . SignificantSubjectCode = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 1420 'MsgBox "SigSubCode=" & oStory . SignificantSubjectCode 1430 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, Chr$ (ETX) ) 1440 endpos = endpos + 3 1450 readpos = endpos 1460 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, vbCrLf) 1470 oStory. VDCEditorlnitials = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 1480 'MsgBox "Initials=" & oStory .VDCEditorlnitials 1490 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, "--") 1500 readpos = endpos + 3 1510 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, " —") 1520 oStory . PRSFileNumber = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 1530 'MsgBox "PRSFileNumber=" & oStory . PRSFileNumber 1540 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, vbCrLf) 1550 endpos = endpos + 2 1560 readpos = endpos 1570 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, " ") 1580 readpos = endpos + 1 1590 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, " ") 1600 oStory . PRSDate = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 1610 'MsgBox "PRSDate=" & oStory . PRSDate 1620 readpos = endpos + 1 1630 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, " ") 1640 oStory. PRSTime = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 1650 'MsgBox "PRSTime=" & oStory . PRSTime 1670 readpos = endpos + 1 1680 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, " ") 1690 oStory . PRSTimeZone = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 1700 'MsgBox "TimeZone=" & oStory . PRSTimeZone 1710 readpos = endpos + 1 1720 endpos = InStr (readpos, strtoparse, Chr$ (ETX) ) 1730 oStory . PRSURL = Mid (strtoparse, readpos, endpos - readpos) 1740 'MsgBox "PRSURL=" & oStory . PRSURL 1750 'MsgBox "Before Call" 1755 TrimStory oStory

Open "c:\debuganpa.txt" For Append As

#filenumber

Write #filenumber, oStory .AvailabilityStatus Write #filenumber, oStory .VDCEditorlnitials Write #filenumber, oStory .Mod dt Close #filenumber

1760 Set oServerManager = CreateObject ( "NewswireManager . cDBANPA" ) 1770 strjunk = oServerManager . createANPA (oStory) 1780 'MsgBox strjunk 1790 Set oStory = Nothing 1800 'MsgBox "After return" 1810 Set oServerManager = Nothing 1820 oFeedParser .NotifyMe (False)

Exit_Parse :

Exit Sub Err Parse :

If Erl = 990 Then sRetCode = "Line Number: " & Erl & " Err: " & Err. Number & " Ignore Error: " & "An Advanced Story Reminder . " oServerEvent .ReportEvent strcomputername, "FeedParser", "modParse", "Parse", sRetCode

Resume Exit Parse End If Open "C:\story.txt" For Append As #filenumber

Write #filenumber, strtoparse

Write #filenumber, vbCrLf Close #filenumber sRetCode = "Line Number: " & Erl & " Err: " & Err. Number & " Error: " & Err . Description oServerEvent . ReportEvent strcomputername, "FeedParser", "modParse", "Parse", sRetCode

Set oStory = Nothing oFeedParser .NotifyMe (True) Resume Exit Parse End Sub

Public Sub TrimStory (ByRef oANPA) On Error GoTo Err_TrimStory 20 If IsNull (oANPA.Addressing) Or Len (Trim (oANPA.Addressing) ) = 0 Then 30 Else 40 oANPA. Addressing = Trim (oANPA. Addressing) 50 End If 60 If IsNull (oANPA.AvailabilityDate) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. AvailabilityDate) ) = 0 Then 70 Else 80 oANPA. vailabilityDate = Trim (oANPA. AvailabilityDate) 90 End If 100 'If IsNull (oANPA. AvailabilityStatus) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. AvailabilityStatus ) ) = 0 Then 110 oANPA.AvailabilityStatus = "U" 120 'Else 130 ' oANPA.AvailabilityStatus = Trim (oANPA.AvailabilityStatus) 140 'End If 150 'If IsNull (oANPA.ENQStatus) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. ENQStatus ) ) = 0 Then 160 oANPA.ENQStatus = "R" 170 'Else 180 ' oANPA.ENQStatus = Trim (oANPA.ENQStatus ] 190 'End If 200 If IsNull (oANPA. BureauBanner) Or Len (Tri (oANPA. BureauBanner) ) = 0 Then 210 Else 220 oANPA. BureauBanner = Trim (oANPA. BureauBanner) 230 End If 240 If IsNull (oANPA. Category) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. Category) ) = 0 Then 250 Else 260 oANPA. Category = Trim (oANPA. Category) 270 End If 280 If IsNull (oANPA. Contact) Or Len (Trim(oANPA. Contact) ) = 0 Then 290 Else 300 oANPA. Contact = Trim (oANPA. Contact ) 310 End If 320 If IsNull (oANPA. FiveDigit) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. FiveDigit) ) = 0 Then 330 Else 340 oANPA. FiveDigit = Trim (oANPA. FiveDigit ) 350 End If 360 If IsNull (oANPA. Headline) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. Headline ) ) = 0 Then 370 Else 380 oANPA. Headline = Trim (oANPA. Headline) 390 End If 400 If IsNull (oANPA. IndustryCode) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. IndustryCode) ) = 0 Then 410 Else 420 oANPA. IndustryCode = Trim (oANPA. IndustryCode) 430 End If 440 If IsNull (oANPA. LinkedURL) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. LinkedURL) ) = 0 Then 450 Else 460 oANPA. LinkedURL = Tri (oANPA. LinkedURL) 470 End If 471 oANPA.Add_dt = Now '8/2/99 Tim added line. oANPA.Add_^dt = "" 480 oANPA.Mod_^dt = "" 490 If IsNull (oANPA. Priority) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. Priority) ) = 0 Then 'Set in table default value of priority to 3 or read from ini file and assign here. 500 Else 510 oANPA. Priority = Trim (oANPA. Priority) 520 End If 530 If IsNull (oANPA.PRSEditorlnitials) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. PRSEditorlnitials) ) = 0 Then 540 Else 550 oANPA.PRSEditorlnitials = Tri (oANPA.PRSEditorlnitials) 560 End If 570 If IsNull (oANPA. PRSFileNumber) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. PRSFileNumber) ) = 0 Then 580 Else 590 oANPA. PRSFileNumber = Trim (oANPA. PRSFileNumber) 600 End If 610 If IsNull (oANPA. PRSTime) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. PRSTime) ) = 0 Then 620 Else 630 oANPA. PRSTime = Trim (oANPA. PRSTime) 640 End If 650 If IsNull (oANPA. PRSTimeZone) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. PRSTimeZone) ) = 0 Then 660 Else 670 oANPA. PRSTimeZone = Trim (oANPA. PRSTimeZone) 680 End If 690 If IsNull (oANPA. PRSURL) Or Len (Trim(oANPA. PRSURL) ) = 0 Then 700 Else 710 oANPA. PRSURL = Trim (oANPA. PRSURL) 720 End If 730 If IsNull (oANPA. Reference) Or Len (Trim(oANPA. Reference) ) = 0 Then 740 Else 750 oANPA. Reference = Trim (oANPA. Reference) 760 End If 770 If IsNull (oANPA.ServiceLevelDes) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. ServiceLevelDes ) ) = 0 Then 780 Else 790 oANPA.ServiceLevelDes = Trim (oANPA.ServiceLevelDes) 800 End If 810 If IsNull (oANPA. SignificantCompany) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. SignificantCompany) ) = 0 Then 820 Else 830 oANPA. SignificantCompany = Trim (oANPA. SignificantCompany) 840 End If 850 If IsNull (oANPA. SignificantlndustryCode) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. SignificantlndustryCode) ) = 0 Then 860 Else 870 oANPA. SignificantlndustryCode = Tri (oANPA. SignificantlndustryCode) 880 End If 890 If IsNull (oANPA. SignificantState) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. SignificantState) ) = 0 Then 900 Else 910 oANPA. SignificantState = Trim (oANPA. SignificantState) 920 End If 930 If IsNull (oANPA. SignificantSubjectCode) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. SignificantSubjectCode) ) = 0 Then 940 Else 950 oANPA. SignificantSubjectCode = Trim(oANPA. SignificantSubjectCode) 960 End If 970 If IsNull (oANPA. Source) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. Source) ) = 0 Then 980 Else 990 oANPA. Source = Trim (oANPA. Source) 1010 End If 1020 If IsNull (oANPA. StockSymbols) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. StockSymbols ) ) = 0 Then 1030 Else 1040 oANPA. StockSymbols = Tri (oANPA. StockSymbols) 1050 End If 1060 If IsNull (oANPA. StoryKeyword) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. StoryKeyword) ) = 0 Then 1070 Else 1080 oANPA. StoryKeyword = Trim (oANPA. StoryKeyword) 1090 End If 1100 If IsNull (oANPA. SubjectCode) Or Len (Trim (oANPA. SubjectCode ) ) = 0 Then 1110 Else 1120 oANPA. SubjectCode = Tri (oANPA. SubjectCode) 1130 End If 1140 oANPA. TransmissionDate = Date 1150 oANPA.VDCEditorlnitials = "" 1160 If IsNull (oANPA. Version) Or Len (Trim (oANPA.Version) ) = 0 Then 1170 Else 1180 oANPA. Version = Trim(oANPA. Version) 1190 End If Exit Sub Err_TrimStory : sRetCode = "Line Number: " & Erl & " Err: " & Err. Number & " Error: " & Err . Description oServerEvent .ReportEvent strcomputername, "FeedParser", "modParse", "Parse", sRetCode Resume Next End Sub

cParse . els

Option Explicit Event Notify (flag As Boolean) Public Sub NotifyMe (flag As Boolean) On Error GoTo Err_NotifyMe RaiseEvent Notify (flag) Exit Sub Err SlotifyMe : sRetCode = "Line Number: " & Erl & " Err: Err. Number & " Error: " & Err . Description oServerEvent . ReportEvent strcomputername, "FeedParser", "cParse", "NotifyMe", sRetCode End Sub Public Sub ParseString (strtoparse As String) On Error GoTo Err ParseString Call Parse (Me, strtoparse) Exit Sub Err ParseString: sRetCode = "Line Number: " & Erl & " Err: " & Err.Number & " Error: " & Err . Description oServerEvent .ReportEvent strcomputername, "FeedParser", "cParse", "ParseString", sRetCode End Sub Public Sub SendObjectO Call SendObjects End Sub Private Sub Class_Initialize ( ) Dim re As Integer Set oServerEvent = CreateObj ect ( "NewswireManager . cEventLog" ) re = GetComputerName (strcomputername, Len (strcomputername) ) End Sub Private Sub Class__Terminate ( ) Set oServerEvent = Nothing End Sub (Copyright 1999 VISUAL DATA CORPORATION) The feed parser 44 parses through the complete press release story to identify individual data elements, such as headline text, story text, stock symbol text, industry code text, etc., assigns these data elements to data fields in the press release object 46, and sends the press release object 46 to the server 50. The server 50 stores each of the fields of the press release object 46 into a record in the database 12 and adds the release to the editor queue 52. In addition, the server 50 keeps track of the status of all the press releases as they flow through the system, updating the statuses, e.g. unedited or edited, in the database 12 as they change. Once a press release enters the editor queue 52 it is sent by the server 50 to each of the editor computers 14, 16, & 18. Newswirel.dll cANPA.cls cPermission. els Option Explicit Private tANPAID As Integer Private tEditedType As String Private tServiceLevelDes As String

Private tVDCEditorlnitials As String

Private tFiveDigit As String

Private tPriority As String

Private tCategory As String

Private tStoryKeyword As String

Private tVersion As String

Private tReference As String

Private tTransmissionDate As String

Private tBureauBanner As String

Private tStockSymbols As String

Private tlndustryCode As String

Private tSubjectCode As String

Private tAddressing As String

Private tHeadline As String

Private tParagraphs As String

Private tSource As String

Private tAvailabilityDate As Date

Private tAvailabilityStatus As String

Private tContact As String

Private tLinkedURL As String

Private tSignificantCompany As String

Private tSignificantState As String

Private tSignificantlndustryCode As String

Private tSignificantSubjectCode As String

Private tPRSEditorlnitials As String

Private tPRSFileNumber As String

Private tPRSDate As Date

Private tPRSTime As String

Private tPRSTimeZone As String

Private tPRSURL As String

Private tEditedMod_dt As String

Private tAdd_dt As String

Private tMod_dt As String

Private tLockStatus As String

Private tENQStatus As String

Private tComputerName As String

Private tPreview As Boolean Public Property Get ServiceLevelDes ( ) As String ServiceLevelDes = tServiceLevelDes End Property Public Property Let ServiceLevelDes (ByVal vNewValue As String) tServiceLevelDes = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get ANPAIDO As Integer ANPAID = tANPAID End Property Public Property Let ANPAID (ByVal vNewValue As Integer) tANPAID = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get FiveDigit ( ) As Variant FiveDigit = tFiveDigit End Property Public Property Let FiveDigit (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tFiveDigit = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get Priority ( ) As Variant Priority = tPriority End Property Public Property Get EditedType ( ) As Variant EditedType = tEditedType End Property Public Property Let Priority (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tPriority = vNewValue End Property Public Property Let EditedType (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tEditedType = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get Category ( ) As Variant Category = tCategory End Property Public Property Let Category (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tCategory = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get StoryKeyword ( ) As Variant StoryKeyword = tStoryKeyword End Property Public Property Let StoryKeyword (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tStoryKeyword = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get Version () As Variant Version = tVersion End Property Public Property Let Version (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tVersion = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get Reference () As Variant Reference = tReference End Property Public Property Let Reference (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tReference = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get TransmissionDate ( ) As Variant TransmissionDate = tTransmissionDate End Property Public Property Let TransmissionDate (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tTransmissionDate = vNewValue End Property

Public Property Get BureauBanner ( ) As Variant BureauBanner = tBureauBanner End Property Public Property Let BureauBanner (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tBureauBanner = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get LockStatus ( ) As Variant LockStatus = tLockStatus End Property Public Property Let LockStatus (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tLockStatus = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get ENQStatus ( ) As Variant ENQStatus = tENQStatus End Property Public Property Let ENQStatus (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tENQStatus = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get ComputerName ( ) As Variant ComputerName = tComputerName End Property Public Property Let ComputerName (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tComputerName = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get StockSymbols ( ) As Variant StockSymbols = tStockSymbols End Property Public Property Let StockSymbols (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tStockSymbols = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get IndustryCode ( ) As Variant IndustryCode = tlndustryCode End Property Public Property Let IndustryCode (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tlndustryCode = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get SubjectCode ( ) As Variant SubjectCode = tSubjectCode End Property Public Property Let SubjectCode (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tSubjectCode = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get Addressing () As Variant Addressing = tAddressing End Property Public Property Let Addressing (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tAddressing = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get Headline () As Variant Headline = tHeadline End Property Public Property Let Headline (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tHeadline = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get Paragraphs ( ) As Variant Paragraphs = tParagraphs End Property Public Property Let Paragraphs (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tParagraphs = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get Source ( ) As Variant Source = tSource End Property Public Property Let Source (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tSource = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get AvailabilityDate ( ) As Variant AvailabilityDate = tAvailabilityDate End Property Public Property Let AvailabilityDate (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tAvailabilityDate = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get AvailabilityStatus ( ) As Variant AvailabilityStatus = tAvailabilityStatus End Property Public Property Let AvailabilityStatus (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tAvailabilityStatus = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get Contact ( ) As Variant Contact = tContact End Property Public Property Let Contact (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tContact = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get LinkedURL ( ) As Variant LinkedURL = tLinkedURL End Property Public Property Let LinkedURL (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tLinkedURL = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get SignificantCompany ( ) As Variant SignificantCompany = tSignificantCompany End Property Public Property Let SignificantCompany (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tSignificantCompany = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get SignificantState ( ) As Variant SignificantState = tSignificantState End Property Public Property Let SignificantState (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tSignificantState = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get SignificantlndustryCode ( ) As Variant SignificantlndustryCode = tSignificantlndustryCode End Property Public Property Let SignificantlndustryCode (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tSignificantlndustryCode = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get SignificantSubjectCode ( ) As Variant SignificantSubjectCode = tSignificantSubjectCode End Property Public Property Let SignificantSubjectCode (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tSignificantSubjectCode = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get PRSEditorlnitials ( ) As Variant PRSEditorlnitials = tPRSEditorlnitials End Property Public Property Let PRSEditorlnitials (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tPRSEditorlnitials = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get PRSFileNumber ( ) As Variant PRSFileNumber = tPRSFileNumber End Property Public Property Let PRSFileNumber (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tPRSFileNumber = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get PRSDate ( ) As Variant PRSDate = tPRSDate End Property Public Property Let PRSDate (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tPRSDate = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get PRSTime ( ) As Variant PRSTime = tPRSTime End Property Public Property Let PRSTime (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tPRSTime = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get PRSTimeZone ( ) As Variant PRSTimeZone = tPRSTimeZone End Property Public Property Let PRSTimeZone (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tPRSTimeZone = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get PRSURL ( ) As Variant PRSURL = tPRSURL End Property Public Property Let PRSURL (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tPRSURL = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get EditedMod dt ( ) As String EditedMod dt = tEditedMod^dt End Property Public Property Let EditedMod_dt (ByVal vNewValue As String) tEditedMod_dt = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get Mod dt ( ) As String Mod_dt = tMod__dt End Property Public Property Let Mod dt (ByVal vNewValue As String) tMod dt = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get Add dt ( ) As String Add dt = tAdd dt End Property Public Property Let Add_dt (ByVal vNewValue As String) tAdd_dt = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get VDCEditorlnitials ( ) As Variant VDCEditorlnitials = tVDCEditorlnitials End Property Public Property Let VDCEditorlnitials (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tVDCEditorlnitials = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get Preview ( ) As Variant Preview = tPreview End Property Public Property Let Previe (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) tPreview = vNewValue End Property

cPermission.cls

Private iEMPID As Integer Private sUserlD As String Private sPassword As String Private sSysRole As String Private sEditorRole As String Private sNarratorRole As String Private sViewerRole As String Private dModdt As Date Private sVDCUserlnitials As String Public Property Get UserlDO As Variant UserlD = sUserlD End Property Public Property Let UserlD (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) sUserlD = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get Password () As Variant Password = sPassword End Property Public Property Let Password (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) sPassword = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get SysRole ( ) As Variant SysRole = sSysRole End Property Public Property Let SysRole (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) sSysRole = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get EditorRole ( ) As Variant EditorRole = sEditorRole End Property Public Property Let EditorRole (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) sEditorRole = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get NarratorRole ( ) As Variant NarratorRole = sNarratorRole End Property Public Property Let NarratorRole (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) sNarratorRole = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get ViewerRole ( ) As Variant ViewerRole = sViewerRole End Property Public Property Let ViewerRole (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) sViewerRole = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get Moddt ( ) As Variant Moddt = dModdt End Property Public Property Let Moddt (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) dModdt = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get EMPID () As Variant EMPID = iEMPID End Property Public Property Let EMPID (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) iEMPID = vNewValue End Property Public Property Get VDCUserlnitials ( ) As Variant VDCUserlnitials = sVDCUserlnitials End Property Public Property Let VDCUserlnitials (ByVal vNewValue As Variant) sVDCUserlnitials = vNewValue End Property (Copyright 1999 VISUAL DATA CORPORATION) Within each editor computer 14, 16, & 18 is an editor client 56, 58, & 60 software module, which is the interface between a user, i.e. editor, and the server 50. Upon receipt of the press release from the server 50, the editor client 56 adds the press release to a list box which is displayed on the editor computer 14, 16 & 18. The list box displays all of the press releases which are currently in the editor queue 52. The list box enables the user to select a press release and execute one or more operations, such as edit, assign priority, save, delete, skip, or cancel. When the user executes an operation, the editor client 56, 58, & 60 makes the appropriate method call to the server 50 to perform the operation. When the operation is completed, the server 50 informs the editor clients 56, 58, & 60 so that it can update the information displayed to the user. The user may edit the content of a press release narrative and may assign a priority code and preview flag that will allow important stories to be read by the narrator in a timely manner. The narrator queue 54 is managed by the server 50. After a press release has been edited and saved by a user on one of the editor computers 14, 16, or 18, the server 50 adds the press release to the narrator queue 54, ordering the press releases in the queue according to the priority codes assigned by the editor. Within the narrator computer 20 is the narrator client 62 software module and the media encoder 64. The narrator client 62 is the interface between the user, i.e. narrator, the server 50 and the media server 22. The narrator requests the next press release When the narrator is ready to read the next press release, the narrator enters the request at the narrator computer 20 interface by such means as a keystroke, button push, or by clicking on an icon. The narrator client 62 responds by instructing the server 50 to send the next press release to the display of the narrator computer 20 and instructing the media encoder 64 to send a command and text string through the live media stream. The live media stream is the audio data that is generated by the narrator computer 20 as the narrator reads the press release into an audio input device. The content of the text string command depends on the command type, such as HEADLINE, MARKET UPDATE, END OF DAY, and PROMO. For the HEADLINE command type the text includes the stock symbol, industry code, the headline, and the unique id of the press release record in the database 12. The live media stream with the encoded text string is sent to the media server 22. On the web server 26 there are Active Server Pages 66, which is the software that manages user registration, user preferences, and user sign-in. Registration is required to gain access to the service. Once registered and signed in, the user can create their preferences by selecting up to ten industry codes and twenty-five stock symbols to have on their watch list. These preferences are stored in the user's record in the database 12 and stored in "cookies" on the user computer 24. A "cookie" is a text file that contains the user's preferences. On subsequent sign-ins the preferences are retrieved from the database and stored in the "cookies", thus enabling the user to sign in at different times from different computers. After successfully signing in to TheFirstNews web site, the user is provide buttons to start the TheFirstNews Player. The TheFirstNews Player 68 software with embedded media player 70 is downloaded to the user computer 24. When the user starts the TheFirstNews Player 68, the software reads the preferences from the "cookies", stores them in local variables on the user computer 24, starts the media player 70, and establishes a communication link with the live media stream from the media server 22. When the script command and text string that was encoded into the live media stream is received by the media player 70, the player calls a function that determines what type of command has been received, such as HEADLINE, MARKET UPDATE, END OF DAY, or PROMO. When the HEADLINE command is received the text string is decoded to get the id, stock symbol, industry code, and headline text for the live media stream that is about to be played by the media player 70. The stock symbol and industry code are compared to the preferences set by the user. If there is a match, then an instruction is sent to the media player 70 to insure that the volume is turned on if the user has it muted. The stock symbol and headline are also displayed highlighted in a scrolling table. The headline text is also an active URL (Uniform Resource Locator) link to the full text of the press release stored in the database 12. if (document . images) { var aa = new Image ( ) aa.src = " .. /images/aa . gif" var az = new Image ( ) az.src = " .. /images/az .gif" var pa = new Image ( ) pa.src = ".. /images/pa . gif" var pz = new Image ( ) pz.src = " .. /images/pz .gif" var ra = new Image ( ) ra.src = " .. /images/ra .gif" var rz = new Image ( ) rz.src = " .. /images/rz .gif" var ua = new Image ( ) ua.src = " .. /images/ua .gif" var uz = new Image ( ) uz.src = " .. /images/uz . gif" var ba = new Image ( ) ba.src = " .. /images/ba.gif" var bz = new Image ( ) bz.src = " .. /images/bz . gif" var ca = new Image ( ) ca.src = " .. /images/ca . gif" var cz = new Image ( ) cz.src = " .. /images/cz . gif" var da = new Image ( ) da.src = ".. /images/da . gi " var dz = new Image ( ) dz.src = " .. /images/dz .gif" var ea = new Image ( ) ea.src = " .. /images/ea.gif" var ez = new Image ( ) ez.src = " .. /images/ez . gif" var fa = new Image ( ) fa.src = ".. /images/fa. gif" var fz = new Image ( ) fz.src = " .. /images/fz . gif" var ga = new Image ( ) ga.src = " .. /images/ga . gif" var gz = new Image ( ) gz.src - " .. /images/gz . gif" var ha = new Image ( ) ha.src = ".. /images/ha . gif" var hz = new Image ( ) hz.src = " .. /images/hz .gif" var qa = new Image ( ) qa.src = " .. /images/qa . gif" var qz = new Image ( ) qz.src = " .. /images/qz . gif" function act(imgName) { if (document . images) document [imgName] .src eval (imgName + 'z.src')

} function inact (imgName) { if (document . images) document [imgName] .src eval (imgName + 'a. src') } function GetCookieValue (cookieName) { var pos = cookieStr . indexOf (cookieName + "-="); if (pos != -1)

{ var start = pos + cookieName . length + 1; var end = cookieStr . indexOf (";" , start); if (end == -1) end = cookieStr . length; var value = cookieStr . substring (start, end); value = unescape (value) ; return value; } else return 0; } function myVoid ( ) {;} //do nothing var winl; function launch ( ) { // if (typeof (winl) == 'undefined') // { winl=window. open ( ' ' , ' client ' , ' width=470, height=400, location= no,menubar=no, resizable=yes, scrollbars=no, status=no, titlebar =no, toolbar^*-=no, screenX=0, screenY=0, top=0, left=0 ' ) ; winl . location. href = "/player/indexl . asp" ; if (winl. opener == null) winl. opener = self; // } // else // winl . focus () ; } var win2; function launchdemoO { // if (typeof (win2) == 'undefined') // { win2=window.open ( ' ' , ' client ' , * width=470, height=400, location= no,menubar=no, resizable=yes, scrollbars=no, status=no, titlebar =no, toolbar=no, screenX=0, screenY=0, top=0, left=0 ' ) ; win2. location. href = "/demo/indexl . asp"; if (win2. opener == null) win2. opener = self; // } // else // win2. focus () ; (Copyright 1999 VISUAL DATA CORPORATION) If there is no match with the user' s preferences the volume of the player is maintained at the user's setting and the headline is displayed in normal text. When the other commands and text strings are received an instruction is sent to the media player 70 to insure that the volume is turned on if the user has it muted and a message is displayed to the user. The user can adjust the volume level of the media player 70 by using the up and down arrows on the player. It is to be understood that while I have illustrated and described certain forms of my invention, it is not to be limited to the specific forms or arrangement of parts herein described and shown. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention and the invention is not to be considered limited to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A method for manipulating a live audio media stream from a global computer network by an end user having a terminal coupled to said global computer network, comprising: accessing a text feed by a computer network and parsing said text feed into individual components; storing said individual components on said computer network and at least one server computer, providing an editor queue and a narrator queue; sending said individual components to an editor computer and enabling an editor to assign priority codes; managing said narrator queue and ordering media releases by priority codes; maintaining a record of all said media releases and updating said computer network upon change of status; receiving and maintaining a record of user preferences related to said individual components; sending the next said media release as ordered in the narrator queue to a narrator computer, enabling release to be read by a narrator and generating a live audio media stream of said release; calling a media encoder by narrator client software to send a command text string through the said live audio media stream; launching a media player and receiving said media stream; decoding said text string and comparing to said preferences set by the user, upon matching of said preferences and turning up the volume of said medial player;

displaying of individual components meeting user preferences from said media release.

Claim 2. The method for manipulating a live audio media stream according to Claim 1 including the step of providing an active URL link to the full text of said media release.

Claim 3. The method for manipulating a live audio media stream according to Claim 1 including the step of returning of said volume to an initial state if user preference are not matched.

Claim 4. The method for manipulating a live audio media stream according to Claim 1 wherein said commands are head lines, market updates, end of day, and commercials.

Claim 5. The method for manipulating a live audio media stream according to Claim 1 wherein said components are stock symbols, industry codes, and headline text.

Claim 6. The method for manipulating a live audio media stream according to Claim 1 wherein said display of said individual components are in a scrolling table.

Claim 7. The method for manipulating a live audio media stream according to Claim 1 including the step of populating said narrator queue after an editor has edited and saved a media release to said editor computer.

Claim 8. The method for manipulating a live audio media stream according to Claim 1 including a data base for recording of user preferences.

Claim 9. The method for manipulating a live audio media stream according to Claim 8 wherein said user preferences are up to about 10 industry codes and up to about 25 stock symbols.

Claim 10. The method for manipulating a live audio media stream according to Claim 1 wherein said display is highlighted.

Claim 11. A method for manipulating a live audio media stream from a global computer network by an end user having a terminal coupled to said global computer network, comprising: accessing a news wire text feed by a computer network and parsing said news wire text feed into individual components; storing said individual components on said computer network and at least one server computer, providing an editor queue and a narrator queue; sending said individual components to an editor computer and enabling an editor to assign priority codes; managing said narrator queue and ordering media releases by priority codes; maintaining a record of all said media releases and updating said computer network upon change of status; receiving and maintaining a record of user preferences related to said individual components; sending the next said media release as ordered in the narrator queue to a narrator computer, enabling release to be read by a narrator and generating a live audio media stream of said release; calling a media encoder by narrator client software to send a command and text string through the said live audio media stream; launching a media player and receiving said media stream; decoding said text string and comparing to said preferences set by the user, upon matching of said preferences and turning up the volume of said medial player; providing a highlight and scrolling display of individual components meeting user preferences from said media release; and returning of said volume to an initial state if user preference are not matched.

Claim 12. The method for manipulating a live audio media stream according to Claim 11 wherein said commands are head lines, market updates, end of day, and commercials.

Claim 13. The method for manipulating a live audio media stream according to Claim 11 wherein said components are stock symbols, industry codes, and headline text.

Claim 14. The method for manipulating a live audio media stream according to Claim 11 including the step of populating said narrator queue after an editor has edited and saved a media release to said editor computer.

Claim 15. The method for manipulating a live audio media stream according to Claim 11 including a web server for recording of user preferences.

Claim 16. The method for manipulating a live audio media stream according to Claim 15 wherein said user preferences are up to about 10 industry codes and up to about 25 stock symbols.

Claim 17. The method for manipulating a live audio media stream according to Claim 10 including the step displaying said individual components in normal text in said display if user preference are not matched.