Confirming compliance with a configuration

1. A method comprising:

sending by a server computing system (server) to a mobile computing device, information representing a floorplan, the information includes information about a fixture corresponding to a specified configuration of items on the fixture;

receiving by the server from the mobile computing device, electronic data corresponding to an image of an actual configuration of the fixture, the image of the actual configuration is associated with metadata that distinguishes the fixture in the image of the actual configuration from at least some other fixtures of a like fixture type;

executing by the server image recognition code that compares the image of the actual configuration with information derived from the specified configuration to produce a result determination that indicates whether the actual configuration of the fixture is substantially similar to the specified configuration of the fixture, and compares the metadata of the actual configuration and the determined configuration to determine whether the actual configuration matches the specified configuration; and

storing by the server electronic data corresponding to the image of the actual configuration, the metadata, and the result determination from executing the image recognition code.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the information representing the floorplan includes at least one icon corresponding to the fixture, the icon has an associated hyperlink that when selected renders on a graphics system of the mobile device the specified configuration of the fixture.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving by the server from a third party system that is different from the mobile computing device, a search request for the actual configuration;

searching by the server in response to the search request using the metadata to identify an image showing the actual configuration of the fixture; and

sending by the server to the third party system the image of the actual configuration in response to the search request.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining by the server whether there is a match of the specified configuration to the actual configuration by comparing metadata of the identified image of the actual configuration to metadata associated with the specified configuration; and

associating metadata for the specified configuration with the image of the actual configuration, with the metadata being searchable data to enable search of the database in compliance server to search for and identify, the image.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the result determination of substantially similar occurs when the metadata indicate that items and locations of items in the specified configuration substantially match within a predefined percentage, the actual configuration of items and locations of items in the image of the actual configuration.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the result determination is not substantially similar when the metadata indicate that items and locations of items in the specified configuration do not substantially match within a predefined percentage, the actual configuration of items and locations of items in the image of the actual configuration.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the metadata comprises data identifying at least one of a type of the fixture, items on the fixture, and a physical location of the fixture.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving by the server a message from the mobile computing device, with the message instructing the server to send the metadata to a compliance server along with a fixture-specific identifier;

retrieving by the server the metadata; and

sending the metadata to the mobile computing device.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the message received by the server has the fixture-specific identifier appended to the image; and the method further comprising:

associating by the server the image with the metadata using the fixture-specific identifier.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the image recognition code that executes on the server is configured to recognize the fixture and the items displayed on the fixture in the actual configuration.

11. A computer program product tangibly stored on one or more non-transitory machine-readable media, the computer program product including instructions executable by one or more processing devices to:

send to a mobile computing device information representing a floorplan, the information includes information about a fixture corresponding to a specified configuration of items on the fixture;

receive from the mobile computing device, electronic data corresponding to an image of an actual configuration of the fixture, the image of the actual configuration is associated with metadata that distinguishes the fixture in the image of the actual configuration from at least some other fixtures of a like type;

execute image recognition code to compare the image of the actual configuration with information derived from the specified configuration to produce a result determination based on whether the actual configuration of the fixture is substantially similar to the specified configuration of the fixture, and to compare the metadata of the actual configuration and the determined configuration to determine whether the actual configuration matches the specified configuration; and

store in a networked storage system electronic data corresponding to the image of the actual configuration, the metadata, and the result determination.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 wherein the sent information representing the floorplan includes at least one icon corresponding to the fixture, the icon has an associated hyperlink that when selected, renders on a graphics system of the mobile device the specified configuration of the fixture.

13. The computer program product of claim 11 further comprising instructions to:

receive from a third party system that is different from the mobile computing device, a search request;

retrieve the actual configuration based at least in part on using the metadata to identify an image showing the actual configuration of the fixture; and

send to the third party system the retrieved image of the actual configuration in response to the search request.

14. The computer program product of claim 11 further comprising instructions to:

determine whether there is a match of the specified configuration to the actual configuration by comparing metadata of the identified image of the actual configuration to metadata associated with the specified configuration; and

associate metadata for the specified configuration with the image of the actual configuration, with the metadata being searchable data to enable search of the database in compliance server to search for and identify, the image.

15. The computer program product of claim 14 wherein the result determination of substantially similar is when the metadata indicate that items and locations of items in the specified configuration substantially match within a predefined percentage, the actual configuration of items and locations of items in the image of the actual configuration.

16. The computer program product of claim 14 wherein the result determination is not substantially similar when the metadata indicate that items and locations of items in the specified configuration do not substantially match within a predefined percentage, the actual configuration of items and locations of items in the image of the actual configuration.

17. The computer program product of claim 16 wherein the metadata comprises data identifying at least one of a type of the fixture, items on the fixture, and a location of the fixture.

18. The computer program product of claim 16 further comprising instructions to:

receive from the mobile computing device a message to send the metadata to a compliance server along with a fixture-specific identifier; and

send the metadata and the fixture-specific identifier to the compliance server.

19. The computer program product of claim 18 wherein the message received from the mobile computing device has the fixture-specific identifier appended to the image; and further comprises instructions to:

associate the image with the metadata using the fixture-specific identifier.

20. The computer program product of claim 16 wherein the image recognition code that executes on the server is configured to recognize in the image of the actual configuration, the fixture and the items displayed on the fixture.

21. A server computer system comprising:

one or more computer processor devices;

memory coupled to the one or more processor devices configurable to store executable computer instructions

storage media configured to store the executable computer instructions that when executed configure the server computing system (server) to:

send to a mobile computing device information representing a floorplan, the information includes information about a fixture corresponding to a specified configuration of items on the fixture;

receive from the mobile computing device, electronic data corresponding to an image of an actual configuration of the fixture, the image is associated with metadata that distinguishes the fixture from at least some other fixtures of a like type;

execute image recognition code to compare the image of the actual configuration with information derived from the specified configuration to produce a result determination based on whether the actual configuration of the fixture is substantially similar to the specified configuration of the fixture, and to compare the metadata of the actual configuration and the determined configuration to determine whether the actual configuration matches the specified configuration; and

store in a networked storage system electronic data corresponding to the image of the actual configuration, the metadata, and the result determination.

22. The server of claim 21 wherein the generated information representing the floorplan includes at least one icon corresponding to the fixture, the icon has an associated hyperlink that when selected, renders on a graphics system of the mobile device the specified configuration of the fixture.

23. The server of claim 21 further comprising instructions to configure the server to:

receive from a third party system that is different from the mobile computing device, a search request;

retrieve the actual configuration based at least in part on using the metadata to identify an image showing the actual configuration of the fixture; and

send to the third party system the retrieved image of the actual configuration in response to the search request.

24. The server of claim 21 further comprising instructions to configure the server to:

determine whether there is a match of the specified configuration to the actual configuration by comparing metadata of the identified image of the actual configuration to metadata associated with the specified configuration; and

associate metadata for the specified configuration with the image of the actual configuration, with the metadata being searchable data to enable search of the database in compliance server to search for and identify, the image.

25. The server of claim 24 wherein the result determination of substantially similar is when the metadata indicate that items and locations of items in the specified configuration substantially match within a predefined percentage, the actual configuration of items and locations of items in the image of the actual configuration.

26. The server of claim 24 wherein the result determination is not substantially similar when the metadata indicate that items and locations of items in the specified configuration do not substantially match within a predefined percentage the actual configuration of items and locations of items in the image of the actual configuration.

27. The server of claim 21 wherein the metadata comprises data identifying at least one of a type of the fixture, items on the fixture, and a location of the fixture.

28. The server of claim 21 further comprising instructions to configure the server to:

receive from the mobile computing device a message to send the metadata to a compliance server along with a fixture-specific identifier; and

send the metadata and the fixture-specific identifier to the compliance server.

29. The server of claim 28 wherein the message received from the mobile computing device has the fixture-specific identifier appended to the image; and further comprises instructions to:

associate the image with the metadata using the fixture-specific identifier.

30. The server of claim 21 wherein the image recognition code that executes on the server is configured to recognize in the image of the actual configuration, the fixture and the items displayed on the fixture.