System and method for processing document

• US 10,572,578 B2
• Filed: 07/11/2012
• Issued: 02/25/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Paper Software LLC
• Original Assignee: Paper Software LLC
• Inventors: Whetsell, Nathan Alexander, Whetsell, Benjamin Stuart
• Primary Examiner(s): Huynh, Cong-Lac
• Application Number:
  US13/546,516
• Publication Number:
  US 20130019165A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,785 Days
• Field of Search: 715200, 715255, 715234, 715249, 715270
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/137 Hierarchical processing, e.g. outlines
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting

Abstract

A method and computing system are provided for processing a document to associate a plurality of items within the document with a group. A first item included within the group may be modified. All other items in the group may also be modified based on the modified first item.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

processing, on a processor, a document to associate a plurality of items within the document with a modifiable hierarchical group that is based upon, at least in part, a structure of the document, processing the document including;

parsing text from at least a portion of a document, wherein the document does not include meta-data indicating a hierarchical structure within the document;

identifying a plurality of hierarchical indicators from the text parsed from the at least a portion of the document, wherein each hierarchical indicator is associated with one or more of the plurality of items within the document and includes one or more portions, the one or more portions including a prefix, a stem, or a suffix;

analyzing the one or more portions of each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators to determine an alphanumerical value associated with each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators;

analyzing the one or more portions of each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators to determine an alphanumerical numbering style associated with each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators;

determining a hierarchical level for each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators based upon, at least in part, one or more of the alphanumerical value and the alphanumerical numbering style associated with each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators, wherein the hierarchical level indicates a respective position within the hierarchical structure of the document and is determined for a respective hierarchical indicator prior to determining the hierarchical level associated with a following hierarchical indicator;

determining a modifiable hierarchical group for each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators based upon, at least in part, the determined hierarchical level for each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators; and

associating one or more of the plurality of items within the document with a modifiable hierarchical group based upon, at least in part, the plurality of hierarchical indicators, wherein associating the one or more of the plurality of items within the document with the modifiable hierarchical group includes associating meta-data with the one or more of the plurality of items within the document, wherein the meta-data indicates the modifiable hierarchical group;

modifying, on the processor, a first item included within the modifiable hierarchical group; and

modifying, on the processor, all other items in the modifiable hierarchical group based on the modified first item.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein processing the document includes processing the document to associate each of the plurality of items with one of a plurality of modifiable hierarchical groups.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the document includes a legal agreement.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the modifiable hierarchical group includes defined terms within the legal agreement.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request to modify the first item included within the modifiable hierarchical group; and

wherein modifying the first item included within the modifiable hierarchical group is based on, at least in part, the received request.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein modifying the first item includes changing a formatting characteristic associated with the first item.

7. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having a plurality of instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

processing a document to associate a plurality of items within the document with a modifiable hierarchical group that is based upon, at least in part, a structure of the document, processing the document including;

parsing text from at least a portion of a document, wherein the document does not include meta-data indicating a hierarchical structure within the document;

identifying a plurality of hierarchical indicators from the text parsed from the at least a portion of the document, wherein each hierarchical indicator is associated with one or more of the plurality of items within the document and includes one or more portions, the one or more portions including a prefix, a stem, or a suffix;

analyzing the one or more portions of each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators to determine an alphanumerical value associated with each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators;

analyzing the one or more portions of each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators to determine an alphanumerical numbering style associated with each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators;

determining a hierarchical level for each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators based upon, at least in part, one or more of the alphanumerical value and the alphanumerical numbering style associated with each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators, wherein the hierarchical level indicates a respective position within the hierarchical structure of the document and is determined for a respective hierarchical indicator prior to determining the hierarchical level associated with a following hierarchical indicator;

determining a modifiable hierarchical group for each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators based upon, at least in part, the determined hierarchical level for each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators; and

associating one or more of the plurality of items within the document with a modifiable hierarchical group based upon, at least in part, the plurality of hierarchical indicators, wherein associating the one or more of the plurality of items within the document with the modifiable hierarchical group includes associating meta-data with the one or more of the plurality of items within the document, wherein the meta-data indicates the modifiable hierarchical group;

modifying a first item included within the modifiable hierarchical group; and

modifying all other items in the modifiable hierarchical group based on the modified first item.

8. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the instructions for processing the document include instructions for processing the document to associate each of the plurality of items with one of a plurality of modifiable hierarchical groups.

9. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the document includes a legal agreement.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the modifiable hierarchical group includes defined terms within the legal agreement.

11. The computer program product of claim 7, further comprising:

instructions for receiving a request to modify the first item included within the modifiable hierarchical group; and

wherein modifying the first item included within the modifiable hierarchical group is based on, at least in part, the received request.

12. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the instructions for modifying the first item include instructions for changing a formatting characteristic associated with the first item.

13. A computing system comprising at least one processor configured to:

process a document to associate a plurality of items within the document with a modifiable hierarchical group that is based upon, at least in part, a structure of the document, processing the document including;

parse text from at least a portion of a document, wherein the document does not include meta-data indicating a hierarchical structure within the document;

identify a plurality of hierarchical indicators from the text parsed from the at least a portion of the document, wherein each hierarchical indicator is associated with one or more of the plurality of items within the document and includes one or more portions, the one or more portions including a prefix, a stem, or a suffix;

analyze the one or more portions of each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators to determine an alphanumerical value associated with each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators;

analyze the one or more portions of each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators to determine an alphanumerical numbering style associated with each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators;

determine a hierarchical level for each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators based upon, at least in part, one or more of the alphanumerical value and the alphanumerical numbering style associated with each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators, wherein the hierarchical level indicates a respective position within the hierarchical structure of the document and is determined for a respective hierarchical indicator prior to determining the hierarchical level associated with a following hierarchical indicator;

determine a modifiable hierarchical group for each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators based upon, at least in part, the determined hierarchical level for each of the plurality of hierarchical indicators; and

associate one or more of the plurality of items within the document with a modifiable hierarchical group based upon, at least in part, the plurality of hierarchical indicators, wherein associating the one or more of the plurality of items within the document with the modifiable hierarchical group includes associating meta-data with the one or more of the plurality of items within the document, wherein the meta-data indicates the modifiable hierarchical group;

modify a first item included within the modifiable hierarchical group; and

modify all other items in the modifiable hierarchical group based on the modified first item.

14. The computing system of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors configured to process the document are configured to process the document to associate each of the plurality of items with one of a plurality of modifiable hierarchical groups.

15. The computing system of claim 13, wherein the document includes a legal agreement.

16. The computing system of claim 15, wherein the modifiable hierarchical group includes defined terms within the legal agreement.

17. The computing system of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

receive a request to modify the first item included within the modifiable hierarchical group; and

wherein the one or more processors are configured to modify the first item included within the modifiable hierarchical group is based on, at least in part, the received request.

18. The computing system of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors configured to modify the first item are configured to change a formatting characteristic associated with the first item.