Data file and rule driven synchronous or asynchronous document generation

Abstract

A data file describes a document to be generated and stores an instruction to provide constituent data of the document via a network. The data file is accessed at a local computer, and the document is generated based on the data file. The generated document is communicated via the network to a remote computer. At the local computer, the instruction to provide constituent data is processed using a processor of the local computer. The constituent data is provided via the network to the remote computer as an update of the generated document.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of providing a refreshed portion of a webpage, the method comprising:
 at a server computer, accessing a data file describing the webpage as including a plurality of portions, each of the plurality of portions being independently refreshable, the data file storing an instruction to provide the refreshed portion of the webpage via a network;   processing the instruction using a processor of the server computer;   generating a first portion of the webpage, the first portion being less than an entirety of the webpage; and   providing the first portion of the webpage as the refreshed portion of the webpage via the network to a client computer.