System and method for data format transformation

• US 20060007466A1
• Filed: 07/11/2005
• Published: 01/12/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Informatica LLC (Informatica, Inc. (California))
• Original Assignee: Itemfield, Inc. (Informatica, Inc. (California))
• Inventors: Somech, Sam, Ukelson, Jacob P., Ben-Yehuda, Shai
• Granted Patent: US 7,584,422 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/1.130
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/88 Mark-up to mark-up conversion conversion for visualization in web browsing G06F16/9577
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/154 Tree transformation for tree-structured or markup documents, e.g. XSLT, XSL-FO or stylesheets

Abstract

A method for defining a document format transformation process for documents similar to an example document includes the following steps. An example document is provided in a first format. At least one anchor point is then specified within the example document. The anchor points serve to mark out regions of data within the example document. Positions are then defined for respective regions within a central format. During the transformation process, the data extracted from each region is transferred into the respective position. The method enables transforming documents similar to the example document into the central format.

Claims

1. A method for defining a document format transformation process for documents similar to an example document, comprising:

providing an example document in a first format;

specifying at least one anchor point within said example document, said anchor point being usable to mark out regions of data within said example document; and

defining, for respective ones of said regions, a position in a central format into which data of said region is to be transferred, thereby to transform said similar documents into said central format based on said example document.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising the further step of examining a similar document to locate said anchor points, extracting data from regions indicated by said located anchor points, and inserting said extracted data into respective positions in said central format.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising converting said extracted data prior into an alternate representation to said inserting.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising specifying an order in which said anchor points are located.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein said anchor points are located in accordance with one of:

an absolute location in said similar document, a location relative to another anchor point in said similar document, according to a structure of said similar document, or a content of said similar document.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein an anchor point is associated with a respective attribute, said attribute defining an operation to be performed upon a region of data indicated by said anchor point.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said similar document is a message obtained from a messaging application.

8. A method according to claim 1, further comprising generating a transformation program or script for automatic conversion of said similar document in said first format into said central format, in accordance with said transformation process.

9. A method according to claim 1, further comprising defining a translation process for transforming said central format into a second document in a second format, by associating specified positions in said central format with respective regions of said second format.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein a type of said first document is one of a group consisting of:

Adobe®

PDF, Microsoft®

Word, a hypertext markup language (HTML) document, Microsoft®

Excel, a word processor document, a web page, and a spreadsheet document.

11. The method of claim 9, comprising the further step of obtaining a document in said central format, extracting data from said specified positions of said obtained document, and inserting said extracted data into respective regions in said second format.

12. A method according to claim 9, further comprising transforming a document in said central format into a corresponding document in said second format, in accordance with said translation process.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

obtaining a document in said first format from a source;

transforming said obtained document into said central format at said source;

transferring said transformed document as a message from said source to a destination; and

translating said transformed document into said second format at said destination.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said message is routed from said source to said destination in accordance with a content of said document.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising filtering the data in said transformed document according to at least one specified characteristic of said data.

16. A method according to claim 1, wherein said first format is for an unstructured document.

17. A method according to claim 1, wherein said first format is for a structured document.

18. A method according to claim 1, wherein said first format is for a semi-structured document, said semi-structured document having both structured and unstructured portions.

19. A method according to claim 9, wherein said second format is for an unstructured document.

20. A method according to claim 9, wherein said second format is for a structured document.

21. A method according to claim 9, wherein said second format is for a semi-structured document, said semi-structured document having both structured and unstructured portions.

22. The method of claim 9, wherein a type of said second document is one of a group consisting of:

Adobe®

PDF, Microsoft®

Word, a hypertext markup language (HTML) document, Microsoft®

Excel, a word processor document, a web page, and a spreadsheet document.

23. A method according to claim 1, wherein said example document is a specification document describing a plurality of document formats.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein said specification document is for documents in one of a group of document types, said group comprising:

Adobe®

PDF, Microsoft®

Word, a hypertext markup language (HTML) document, Microsoft®

Excel, a word processor document, a web page, and a spreadsheet document.

25. A method according to claim 23, further comprising defining, for each format described by said specification document, a respective transformation process for transforming a document from said format into said central format.

26. A method according to claim 25, further comprising:

receiving a document;

determining a format of said received document; and

transforming said received document into the central format in accordance with the respective transformation process.

27. The method of claim 1, further comprising embedding a transformation engine for transforming documents from said first format into said central format into a system for handling documents in said first format.

28. The method of claim 9, further comprising embedding a transformation engine for translating documents from said central format into said second format into a system for handling documents in said second format.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein said transformation process is content dependent.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein said central format comprises Extensible Markup Language (XML).

31. The method of claim 1, wherein said central format comprises XML Schema Definition (XSD).

32. A system for defining a document format transformation process for documents similar to an example document, comprising:

a document markup unit, for specifying at least one anchor point within an example document, said anchor point being usable to mark out regions of data within said example document; and

a transformation generator, associated with said document markup unit, for defining, for respective ones of said regions, a position in a central format into which data of said region is to be transferred, thereby to transform said similar documents into said central format based on said example document.

33. The system of claim 32, such that said transformation process is a process of examining any document in said first format to locate said anchor points, extracting data from regions indicated by said located anchor points, and inserting said extracted data into respective positions in said central format.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein an anchor point is associated with a respective attribute, said attribute defining an operation to be performed upon a region of data indicated by said anchor point.

35. The system of claim 32, further comprising a transformation engine for receiving a document in said first format, and transforming said received document into said central format, in accordance with said transformation process.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein said received document is a message obtained from a messaging application.

37. The system of claim 32, wherein said transformation generator is further operable to define a translation process for transforming a document in said central format into a second document in a second format, by associating specified positions in said central format with respective regions of said second format.

38. The system of claim 37, further comprising a transformation engine operable to receive a document in said central format, and to transform said received document into said second format, in accordance with said translation process.

39. The system of claim 38, such that said translation process is a process of obtaining a document in said central format, extracting data from said specified positions of said obtained document, and inserting said extracted data into said respective regions of said second format.

40. The system of claim 32, wherein said first format is for an unstructured document.

41. The system of claim 32, wherein said first format is for a structured document.

42. The system of claim 32, wherein said first format is for a semi-structured document, said semi-structured document having both structured and unstructured portions.

43. The system of claim 37, wherein said second format is for an unstructured document.

44. The system of claim 37, wherein said second format is for a structured document.

45. The system of claim 37, wherein said second format is for a semi-structured document, said semi-structured document having both structured and unstructured portions having both structured and unstructured portions.

46. The system of claim 32, wherein said example document is a specification document describing a plurality of document formats.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein said specification document is for documents in one of a group of document types, said group comprising:

Adobe®

PDF, Microsoft®

Word, and Microsoft®

Excel.

48. A system according to claim 46, further comprising a transformation library, for storing for each format described by said specification document, a respective transformation process for transforming a document from said format into said central format, said respective transformation processes being derived by said transformation generator from said specification document.

49. A system according to claim 48, further comprising a transformation engine operable to receive a document in an unspecified format, to determine a format of said received document, and to transform said received document into a document in said central format in accordance with a respective transformation process obtained from said transformation library.

50. The system of claim 32, wherein said central format comprises Extensible Markup Language (XML).

51. The system of claim 32, wherein said central format comprises XML Schema Definition (XSD).