Automated assembly of a complex document based on production constraints
First Claim
1. A method of assembling a document comprising:
- generating a set of candidate content items by selecting a plurality of content items from a computer-readable storage medium based on one or more content rules, wherein each of the content items has an associated financial cost;
selecting a set of production criteria for printing the candidate content items, wherein each of the production criteria has an associated financial cost;
automatically applying an inclusion constraint to the set of production criteria, wherein the inclusion constraint comprises a maximum total cost, and wherein applying the inclusion constraint comprises;
summing the financial costs associated with each candidate content item and each production criteria to yield a total cost, andcomparing the total cost to the maximum total cost;
if the set of production criteria does not satisfy the inclusion constraint, resolving a conflict by;
identifying one or more production criteria in the set that may be modified,receiving a user selection of one or more of the production criteria that may be modified, andmodifying the identified production criteria according to the user selection;
identifying a plurality of non-selected content items from the computer-readable storage medium;
automatically applying an exclusion constraint to the plurality of non-selected content items to identify one or more of the non-selected content items that satisfy the exclusion constraint;
creating a document that includes the modified production criteria, the candidate content items, and the non-selected content items that were not identified as satisfying the exclusion constraint; and
publishing the document.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for assembling a document generates a set of candidate content items for inclusion in the document. The content items may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. A set of production criteria for printing the candidate content items as a document may be selected. An inclusion constraint is automatically applied to the set of production criteria. If the set of production criteria does not satisfy the inclusion constraint, a conflict may be resolved. One or more production criteria in the set may be identified that may be modified. A user selection of at least one production criteria that may be modified may be received. The identified production criteria may be modified according to the user selection. A document may be created that includes the modified production criteria and the candidate content items. The document may be published.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of assembling a document comprising:
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generating a set of candidate content items by selecting a plurality of content items from a computer-readable storage medium based on one or more content rules, wherein each of the content items has an associated financial cost; selecting a set of production criteria for printing the candidate content items, wherein each of the production criteria has an associated financial cost; automatically applying an inclusion constraint to the set of production criteria, wherein the inclusion constraint comprises a maximum total cost, and wherein applying the inclusion constraint comprises; summing the financial costs associated with each candidate content item and each production criteria to yield a total cost, and comparing the total cost to the maximum total cost; if the set of production criteria does not satisfy the inclusion constraint, resolving a conflict by; identifying one or more production criteria in the set that may be modified, receiving a user selection of one or more of the production criteria that may be modified, and modifying the identified production criteria according to the user selection; identifying a plurality of non-selected content items from the computer-readable storage medium; automatically applying an exclusion constraint to the plurality of non-selected content items to identify one or more of the non-selected content items that satisfy the exclusion constraint; creating a document that includes the modified production criteria, the candidate content items, and the non-selected content items that were not identified as satisfying the exclusion constraint; and publishing the document. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of assembling a document comprising:
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generating a set of candidate content items by selecting a plurality of content items, wherein each of the candidate content items have an associated financial cost; selecting a set of production criteria for printing the candidate content items, wherein each of the production criteria have an associated financial cost; if the production criteria in the set and the candidate content items in the set do not satisfy an inclusion constraint that comprises a maximum total cost, resolving a conflict, by a computing device, by; identifying one or more candidate content items in the set to be removed, removing the identified candidate content items from the set, identifying one or more production criteria in the set to be modified, and modifying the identified production criteria; identifying a plurality of non-selected content items; automatically applying, by the computing device, an exclusion constraint to the plurality of non-selected content items to identify one or more of the non-selected content items that satisfy the exclusion constraint; creating a document that includes the candidate content items that were not removed and the identified non-selected content items; and publishing the document in accordance with modified production criteria. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An automatic document creation system, comprising:
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a computing device; a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium in communication with the computing device, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprises one or more programming instructions for; selecting a set of candidate content items from the content items in the storage media based on one or more content rules, wherein each candidate content item is associated with a content cost, determining whether a cost constraint is satisfied by the content cost associated with at least a portion of candidate content items in the set of candidate content items, in response to the cost constraint not being satisfied; ranking each candidate content item in the set of candidate content items based on a similarity between the candidate content item and the one or more content rules, and generating an updated set of candidate content items by removing one or more of the candidate content items based on its associated rank, in response to a cost associated with creating a document that includes the updated set of candidate content items not exceeding a minimum cost, identifying one or more advertisements for inclusion in the document, and creating a document that includes the updated set of candidate content items and the identified advertisements; and a printing device in communication with the computer-readable storage medium, wherein the printing device is configured to publish the document. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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Specification