Method, system and apparatus for dynamic staging of client computing devices

1. A method of dynamic staging in a client device, comprising:

receiving, at the client device, a staging profile identifier definition including a string of characters;

generating a staging profile identifier corresponding to one of a plurality of staging data files stored at a server, by:

detecting a bounding character in the string of characters, the bounding character indicating a dynamic field including a subset of the characters in the staging profile identifier definition;

retrieving a set of prompt definitions according to the subset of characters of the dynamic field, wherein the set of prompt definitions comprises user-selectable parameters configured to be inserted in the string of characters to generate the staging profile identifier;

presenting prompts via an output assembly of the client device according to the set of prompt definitions;

receiving input data corresponding to the prompts via an input assembly of the client device;

retrieving a selected parameter corresponding to the input data; and

replacing the subset of characters of the dynamic field with the selected parameter to generate the staging profile identifier; and

receiving network configuration data with the staging profile identifier definition, the network configuration data configured for establishing a connection between the client device and a network;

transmitting a request to the server including the staging profile identifier requesting the one of the plurality of staging data files stored in the server; and

retrieving the one of the plurality of staging data files from the server in response to transmitting the request to the server.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the staging profile identifier definition comprises at least one of:

capturing an indicium and decoding the staging profile identifier definition from the indicium;

recording an audio signal and extracting the staging profile identifier definition from the audio signal; and

receiving data from a radio-frequency tag containing the staging profile identifier definition.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the string includes:

a static server identifier portion; and

a filename portion containing the dynamic field.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dynamic field contains an identifier of a storage location for the set of prompt definitions.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the storage location corresponds to the server, and wherein retrieving the set of prompt definitions comprises:

sending a definitions request for the set of prompt definitions to the server according to the dynamic field; and

receiving the set of prompt definitions from the server in response to sending the definitions request.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the network configuration data further comprises:

detecting a further dynamic field in the staging profile identifier definition; and

generating the network configuration data based on the further dynamic field.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, responsive to transmitting the request:

receiving the one of the plurality of staging data files; and

executing the received staging data file at the client device.

8. A client computing device, comprising:

a communications interface;

a memory; and

a processor interconnected with the communications interface and the memory, the processor configured to:

receive a staging profile identifier definition including a string of characters;

generate a staging profile identifier corresponding to one of a plurality of staging data files stored at a server, by:

detecting a bounding character in the string of characters, the bounding character indicating a dynamic field including a subset of the characters in the staging profile identifier definition;

retrieving a set of prompt definitions according to the subset of characters of the dynamic field, wherein the set of prompt definitions comprises user-selectable parameters to be inserted in the string of characters to generate the staging profile identifier;

presenting prompts via an output assembly of the client device according to the set of prompt definitions;

receiving input data corresponding to the prompts via an input assembly of the client device;

retrieving a selected parameter corresponding to the input data; and

replacing the subset of characters of the dynamic field with the selected parameter to generate the staging profile identifier; and

receive network configuration data with the staging profile identifier definition, the network configuration data configured for establishing a connection between the client device and a network;

transmit a request to the server including the staging profile identifier requesting the one of the plurality of staging data files stored in the server; and

retrieve the one of the plurality of staging data files from the server in response to transmitting the request to the server.

9. The client computing device of claim 8 , wherein the processor is configured to receive the staging profile identifier definition by at least one of:

capturing an indicium and decoding the staging profile identifier definition from the indicium;

recording an audio signal and extracting the staging profile identifier definition from the audio signal; and

receiving data from a radio-frequency tag containing the staging profile identifier definition.

10. The client computing device of claim 8 , wherein the string includes:

a static server identifier portion; and

a filename portion containing the dynamic field.

11. The client computing device of claim 8 , wherein the dynamic field contains an identifier of a storage location for the set of prompt definitions.

12. The client computing device of claim 11 , wherein the storage location corresponds to the server, and wherein retrieving the set of prompt definitions comprises:

sending a definitions request for the set of prompt definitions to the server according to the dynamic field; and

receiving the set of prompt definitions from the server in response to sending the definitions request.

13. The client computing device of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive the network configuration by:

detecting a further dynamic field in the staging profile identifier definition; and

generating the network configuration data based on the further dynamic field.

14. The client computing device of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured, responsive to transmitting the request, to:

receive the one of the plurality of staging data files for storage in the memory; and

execute the received staging data file.

15. A method of dynamic staging in a server, comprising:

storing, in a memory of the server, (i) a plurality of staging data files, each staging data file containing client device configuration data, and (ii) a plurality of sets of prompt definitions, wherein each one of the plurality of sets of prompt definitions comprises user-selectable parameters to be inserted in a string of characters of a staging profile identifier definition, to generate a staging profile identifier;

receiving, from a client device, a request for one of the sets of prompt definitions, the request including an identifier of a storage location of the one of the sets of prompt definitions;

retrieving and sending, based on the storage location, the one of the sets of prompt definitions to the client device;

receiving, from the client device, a request for network configuration data, the request including the staging profile identifier, wherein the staging profile identifier includes a selected parameter inserted by the client device into the string of characters of the staging profile identifier definition to replace a dynamic field of the staging profile identifier definition and thereby generate the staging profile identifier, responsive to receipt of input data corresponding to the prompts at the client device;

in response to receiving the request, retrieving one of the staging data files from the memory that corresponds to the staging profile identifier; and

transmitting the retrieved staging data file to the client device.