System and method to automatically complete electronic forms

• US 20040205530A1
• Filed: 06/28/2001
• Published: 10/14/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Borg, Michael J.
• Application Number:
  US09/892,701
• Publication Number:
  US 20040205530A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/507
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/174 Form filling; Merging

Abstract

The invention is a method, a computer readable medium, and a system for automated form completion for a user of a computer. In this regard, the method comprises the steps of identifying one or more fields in a form and automatically supplying information corresponding to the one or more identified fields without intervention by the user. The computer readable medium is capable of being embedded with a computer software configured to perform the above mentioned method. The system comprises a field identifier module capable of identifying one or more fields in a form and a field completer module capable of supplying information corresponding to the one or more identified fields without intervention by the user.

Claims

1. A method for automated form completion for a user of a computer, the method comprising the steps of:

identifying one or more fields in a form; and

automatically supplying information corresponding to the one or more identified fields without intervention by the user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

determining the correct spelling of one or more words associated with the one or more fields; and

determining a synonym for one or more words associated with the one or more fields.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of:

determining the identity of the one or more fields based on the respective similarity of each field to a previously stored field.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the form is a Web page and the method further comprises:

reading a source code of the Web page; and

determining fields based on associated mark-up tags.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the form is a Web page and the method further comprises:

capturing an image of the Web page;

identifying text by performing OCR on the image;

identifying field entry box(es) by performing edge analyses on the image; and

determining coordinates of the identified fields entry box(es).

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

prompting the user to accept the automatically supplied information.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

enabling the user to enter information for fields unidentified in the form.

8. A computer readable medium on which is embedded computer software capable of automatically completing a form for a user of a computer, the software comprising:

identifying one or more fields in the form; and

automatically supplying information corresponding to the one or more identified fields without intervention by the user.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 8, further comprising the step of:

determining the correct spelling of one or more words associated with the one or more fields; and

determining a synonym for one or more words associated with the one or more fields.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 9, further comprising the step of:

determining the identity of the one or more fields based on the respective similarity of each field to a previously stored field.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 10, where in the form is a Web page and the method further comprises:

reading a source code of the Web page; and

determining fields based on associated mark-up tags.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the form is a Web page and the method further comprises:

capturing an image of the Web page;

identifying text by performing OCR on the image;

identifying field entry box(es) by performing edge analyses on the image; and

determining coordinates of the identified fields entry box(es).

13. The computer readable medium of claim 8, further comprising the step of:

prompting the user to accept the automatically supplied information.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 8, further comprising the step of:

enabling the user to enter information for fields unidentified in the form.

15. A system for automated form completion for a user of a computer comprising:

a field identifier module capable of identifying one or more fields in a form; and

a field completer module capable of supplying information corresponding to the one or more identified fields without intervention by the user.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the field identifier module comprises:

a parser configured to generate a table of fields;

a spell checker configured to store alternative spellings of fields;

a thesaurus configured to store synonyms of fields; and

a comparison algorithm connected to the parser, the spell checker and the thesaurus, the comparison algorithm configured to determine the identity of each field based on the respective similarity of each field to one or more fields in the database.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

a data collector module configured to read the form; and

an information checker comprising;

a user interface configured to display an unidentified field and user selectable options to the user;

associated logic configured to determine the identity of the unidentified field in response to a selection; and

the information checker is further configured to store the determined identity of the unidentified field to the database.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the form is an e-form readable in a Web browser.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the data collector module is configured to access the source code of the e-form.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the data collector module is configured to OCR a captured image of the e-form.