Intelligent identification of form field elements

• US 8,214,362 B1
• Filed: 09/05/2008
• Issued: 07/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Djabarov, Gueorgui
• Primary Examiner(s): Vo, Tim T
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gortayo, Dangelino
• Application Number:
  US12/205,376
• Time in Patent Office: 1,397 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1, 707/3, 707/6, 707/104.1, 707/708, 707/713, 707/736, 707/758, 707/767, 707/782
• US Class Current: 707/736
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/174 Form filling; Merging

Abstract

A system and method may assist in accurately inserting user data into a form document. An attribute may be received from a user, where the attribute is associated with an attribute name. A document may be presented including a form field element having an identifier. User information may be received into the form field element. It may be determined whether the user information matches the attribute. If so, the identifier associated with the form field element is mapped to the attribute name and the mapping is stored. Upon subsequent display of the form document, user data associated with the mapped attributed name may be inserted into the form field element based on the mapping.

Claims

1. A method performed by a server device, the method comprising:

receiving, by the server device, an attribute entry from a user, where the attribute entry is associated with an attribute identifier;

receiving, by the server device, a form element entry entered, by the user, into a form element, associated with a form element identifier;

determining, by the server device, that the form element entry matches the received attribute entry;

mapping, by the server device, the form element identifier to the attribute identifier when the form element entry matches the received attribute entry;

determining, by the server device, a confidence value for the mapping based on previously received mappings of the form element identifier to other form element entries received from a plurality of users;

comparing, by the server device, the confidence value to a threshold value, where the threshold value comprises a minimum acceptable confidence value;

storing the mapping in association with a form filling function, when the confidence value is at least equal to the threshold value; and

inserting the attribute entry into a document form element associated with the form element identifier when the user accesses a document that includes the form element identifier and when the mapping has been stored in association with the form filling function.

2. The method of claim 1, where the form element is provided to the user in a web document.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the mapping to a server, and

where the storing the mapping further comprises;

storing the mapping on the server.

4. The method of claim 3, where the form element is presented in a document identified by a uniform resource locator (URL), and where storing the mapping on the server further comprises:

associating the mapping with the URL associated with the document.

5. The method of claim 4, where the form element is associated with a target URL, and where storing the mapping on the server further comprises:

associating the mapping with the target URL.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the user is accessing a document that includes another form element associated with the form element identifier;

retrieving the mapping that associates the form element identifier with the attribute identifier; and

automatically filling in the received attribute entry into the other form element.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

transmitting the mapping to a server,

where the storing the mapping further comprises;

storing the mapping on the server; and

where the retrieving the mapping further comprises;

retrieving the mapping from the server.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a second user is accessing another document that includes the form element associated with the form element identifier; and

automatically filling in a second attribute entry, associated with the attribute identifier and received from the second user, into the form element of the other document.

9. The method of claim 1, where a plurality of different attribute identifiers are mapped to a plurality of different form element identifiers.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a second attribute entry from the user, where the second attribute entry is associated with a second attribute identifier;

determining that the form element entry matches the received attribute entry and the received second attribute entry; and

mapping the form element identifier to the attribute identifier and to the second attribute identifier.

11. A system, comprising:

means for receiving an attribute entry from a user, where the attribute entry is associated with an attribute identifier;

means for storing the received attribute entry;

means for receiving, from the user, a form element entry associated with a form element identifier;

means for determining whether the received form element entry matches the stored attribute entry;

means for mapping the form element identifier to the attribute identifier when the received form element entry matches the stored attribute entry;

means for determining a confidence value for the mapping based on previously received mappings of the form element identifier to other form element entries received from a plurality of users;

means for comparing the confidence value to a threshold value, where the threshold value comprises a minimum acceptable confidence value;

means for storing the mapping in association with a form filling function when the confidence value is at least equal to the threshold value; and

means for inserting the attribute entry into a document form element associated with the form element identifier when the user accesses a document that includes the form element identifier and when the mapping has been stored in association with the form filling function.

12. The system of claim 11, where the stored mappings are maintained on a server device remote from a client device used by the user to access the document.

13. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

means for receiving a second attribute entry from the user, where the second attribute entry is associated with a second attribute identifier;

means for determining that the form element entry matches the received attribute entry and the received second attribute entry; and

means for mapping the form element identifier to the attribute identifier and to the second attribute identifier.

14. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

means for determining that the user is accessing a document that includes another form element associated with the form element identifier;

means for retrieving the mapping that associates the form element identifier with the attribute identifier; and

means for automatically filling in the received attribute entry into the other form element.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores instructions executable by a client device, comprising:

one or more instructions to receive an attribute entry from a user, where the attribute entry is associated with an attribute identifier;

one or more instructions to receive a form element entry from the user, where the form element entry is associated with a form element identifier;

one or more instructions to determine that the form element entry matches the attribute entry;

one or more instructions to map the form element identifier to the attribute identifier when the form element entry matches the attribute entry;

one or more instructions to determine a confidence value associated with mapping the form element identifier to the attribute identifier based on previously received mappings of the form element identifier to other form element entries received from a plurality of users;

one or more instructions to compare the confidence value to a threshold value, where the threshold value comprises a minimum acceptable confidence value;

one or more instructions to associate the form element identifier with the attribute identifier when the confidence value is equal to or greater than the threshold value;

one or more instructions to receive a request for a mapping of attribute identifiers to form element identifiers from a client device associated with a particular user; and

one or more instructions to cause the client device to insert attribute entries, associated with the particular user, into the form elements associated with a document accessed by the particular user, in response to the received request,

where the one or more instructions to cause the client device to insert the attribute entries include one or more instructions to insert a particular attribute entry, associated with the particular user and associated with the received attribute identifier, into a particular form element, associated with the form element identifier mapped to the received attribute identifier.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, further comprising:

one or more instructions to receive a second attribute entry from the user, where the second attribute entry is associated with a second attribute identifier;

one or more instructions to determine that the form element entry matches the received attribute entry and the received second attribute entry; and

one or more instructions to map the form element identifier to the attribute identifier and to the second attribute identifier.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, further comprising:

one or more instructions to determine that the user is accessing a document that includes another form element associated with the form element identifier;

one or more instructions to retrieve the mapping that associates the form element identifier with the attribute identifier; and

one or more instructions to automatically fill in the received attribute entry into the other form element.