Patent US 6,282,539

A method for direct connection between a data server, such as a database compliant with Open Database Connectivity and Structured Query Language, and a formatting engine using a hierarchical structure of target objects, token manager objects, and pattern objects to query data records from the database and to create an output document for a formatting engine, wherein the target objects contain the contents of the document, the token manager objects manage the insertion of data and their logical location in the document, the pattern objects perform queries on the data source, and wherein the token manager objects reflect the structure of the actual output document and the target objects reflect the logical structure of the desired output based upon the structure of the database, whereby the target objects manipulate the document through the token manager objects and the two structures are decoupled.