SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THE STRUCTURED CAPTURE OF INFORMATION AND THE GENERATION OF SEMANTICALLY RICH REPORTS
First Claim
1. A method for generating a grammatically appropriate natural-language text document based in part on information input by a user via at least one workstation configured for structured data entry, comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing at least one workstation for presenting information to a user and for receiving data input by the user via an associated data entry device;
(b) providing a findings repository for storing information input by the user;
(c) providing a template repository for storing at least one natural-language sentence template preformatted in a grammatically appropriate structure having a plurality of predetermined word locations populated with predetermined words for a sentence and at least one variable data capture field for receiving information provided by the user in a data entry operation;
(d) providing a document repository for storing text documents generated in the method;
(e) on the workstation, displaying a user interface comprising at least one first data capture field in association with prompting information for prompting the user as to what information should be provided in the first data capture field;
(f) in response to input by the user of particular first information in the first data capture field, storing the particular first information in a data record in the findings repository and associating the particular first information with a corresponding variable data capture field in a natural-language sentence template;
(g) in further response to input by the user of particular first information in the first data capture field, determining whether to obtain additional information from the user by displaying at least one second data capture field in association with prompting information for prompting the user as to what information should be provided in the second data capture field;
(h) in response to input by the user of particular second information in the second data capture field, storing the particular second information in a data record in the findings repository and associating the particular second information with a corresponding variable data field in a natural-language sentence template;
(i) generating a text document by retrieving data records of information input by a user and inserting retrieved data into a plurality of grammatically appropriate sentences arranged in a predetermined format;
(j) storing the text document in the document repository; and
(k) providing the text document as a report output.
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Abstract
The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for the customization of structured data entry screen templates. The systems and methods include the hierarchical organization of data capture fields, the defining of macro-embedded sentences at each hierarchical level in addition to a set of rules for generating and aggregating sentences. Lastly, the raw captured data and macro-embedded sentences are stored and then merged together with style sheets to generate semantically rich, natural-language documents.
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Citations
65 Claims
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1. A method for generating a grammatically appropriate natural-language text document based in part on information input by a user via at least one workstation configured for structured data entry, comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing at least one workstation for presenting information to a user and for receiving data input by the user via an associated data entry device;
(b) providing a findings repository for storing information input by the user;
(c) providing a template repository for storing at least one natural-language sentence template preformatted in a grammatically appropriate structure having a plurality of predetermined word locations populated with predetermined words for a sentence and at least one variable data capture field for receiving information provided by the user in a data entry operation;
(d) providing a document repository for storing text documents generated in the method;
(e) on the workstation, displaying a user interface comprising at least one first data capture field in association with prompting information for prompting the user as to what information should be provided in the first data capture field;
(f) in response to input by the user of particular first information in the first data capture field, storing the particular first information in a data record in the findings repository and associating the particular first information with a corresponding variable data capture field in a natural-language sentence template;
(g) in further response to input by the user of particular first information in the first data capture field, determining whether to obtain additional information from the user by displaying at least one second data capture field in association with prompting information for prompting the user as to what information should be provided in the second data capture field;
(h) in response to input by the user of particular second information in the second data capture field, storing the particular second information in a data record in the findings repository and associating the particular second information with a corresponding variable data field in a natural-language sentence template;
(i) generating a text document by retrieving data records of information input by a user and inserting retrieved data into a plurality of grammatically appropriate sentences arranged in a predetermined format;
(j) storing the text document in the document repository; and
(k) providing the text document as a report output. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A computer-implemented method for generating a natural-language, written document based on information input by a user in response to computer-assisted querying, comprising the steps of:
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(a) storing a hierarchical arrangement of information queries arranged in a logical tree having non-terminal nodes and terminal nodes;
(b) displaying an information query comprising prompting information for prompting user input of particular information;
(c) in response to user input of particular information, determining that a related additional information query is applicable or that a terminal node has been reached;
(d) repeating the above steps (b) and (c) until a terminal node is reached;
(e) in response to a terminal node, storing data from user input of information in a findings repository; and
(f) upon reaching a final terminal node of the logical tree, generating a document by the steps of;
(i) retrieving a predetermined sentence template containing predetermined portions of a natural-language sentence or other grammatical structure, having embedded macros for receiving particular information stored in the findings repository and populating data fields in the template;
(ii) retrieving information corresponding to the embedded macros from the findings repository;
(iii) structuring the retrieved information into a list or concatenating the information into a phrase with proper separators and conjunctions for inclusion in a sentence;
(iv) populating the data fields in the template so as to provide a grammatically appropriate structure for a sentence; and
(v) storing a plurality of completed natural-language sentences as a part of a document in a document repository. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65)
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Specification