Method for automatically completing an incomplete address entry

• US 7,475,113 B2
• Filed: 12/09/2003
• Issued: 01/06/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Stolze, Markus
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel; Haresh N
• Application Number:
  US10/730,774
• Publication Number:
  US 20040153519A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,855 Days
• Field of Search: 709200-206, 709217-224
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access

Abstract

A method for completing an address, e.g., a mail address, an e-mail address, or a phone number. For that the method comprises the steps of detecting an incomplete user input of the address, deriving a completion offer to the incomplete user input in dependence on a derivable score, and offering the derived completion offer for completing the address. This allows to design more effective support systems, which help the user to find more quickly addresses that have not been entered in full. The derivable score approximates the probability of the address to be the one intended by a user. The derivable score can be influenced by several factors which can be given but as well as can be chosen or influenced by the user.

Claims

1. A method executed in a computer system for completing an address, the method comprising the steps of:

detecting an incomplete input of the address;

deriving a completion string to said input based on a determined score; and

offering the derived completion string for completing the address;

wherein said score is determined as a combination of base score and context dependent address score said base score is updated as a linear combination of the sum of each record changed, multiplied by a number assigned by a user to each such record, which is further multiplied by a base score prior to such change;

wherein said base score is determined from the content of one or more of;

a user'"'"'s organizational context records, a user'"'"'s address book, a user'"'"'s incoming or outgoing mail records, and a user'"'"'s address records and, wherein the context dependent address score is derived from the base score and from one or more of;

a user user address fragments, recently opened addresses, addresses used in recent communications, and recent completion corrections.

2. The method according to claim 1,wherein the completion string comprises a list of address completions, the list is ordered in accordance with the determined score.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the step of offering comprises presenting the list of address completions.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determined score is a context dependent address score.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of deriving comprises defining at least one possible address based on the incomplete user input.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the step of deriving further comprises assigning one context dependent address score to each possible address, and including each possible address in the completion string sorted in accordance with the assigned context dependent address score.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the base score decreases over time and thereby influences the derivable score.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the address is one of a mail address, an e-mail address, or a phone number.