  This is the first of two articles devoted to a exposition of the
generating-function method for computing fusion rules in affine Lie algebras.
The present paper is entirely devoted to the study of the tensor-product
(infinite-level) limit of fusions rules.
  We start by reviewing Sharp's character method. An alternative approach to
the construction of tensor-product generating functions is then presented which
overcomes most of the technical difficulties associated with the character
method. It is based on the reformulation of the problem of calculating tensor
products in terms of the solution of a set of linear and homogeneous
Diophantine equations whose elementary solutions represent ``elementary
couplings''. Grobner bases provide a tool for generating the complete set of
relations between elementary couplings and, most importantly, as an algorithm
for specifying a complete, compatible set of ``forbidden couplings''.
