Automated report service tracking system and method

• US 8,843,814 B2
• Filed: 02/25/2011
• Issued: 09/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Content Catalyst Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Content Catalyst Ltd.
• Inventors: Lord, Daniel J.
• Primary Examiner(s): DYER, ANDREW R
• Application Number:
  US13/035,356
• Publication Number:
  US 20110295945A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,306 Days
• Field of Search: 715/200, 715/273, 715/277
• US Class Current: 715/200
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/34 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

A computer implemented system and method in a client-server environment, is provided for document research, aggregation, and compilation. The system and method includes a server having a search module configured to generate a search interface displayable to a client communicably coupled to the server, and responsive to instructions received via the search interface, to search and sort selections of interest within a plurality of source documents. A customized report module is configured to generate a custom report interface displayable to the client, and responsive to user selection instructions received via the custom report interface, to extract and aggregate the selections of interest into a customized report. Format modules are configured to respectively enable source documents in mutually distinct formats such as the PDF, PPT, and XLS formats, to be searched, sorted, and aggregated by the search module and customized report module. A service tracking module is configured to automatically track client requests and service provider activity to facilitate billing for services rendered.

Claims

1. A computer implemented system in a client-server environment, for document research, aggregation, and compilation, the system comprising:

a server computer including;

a search module configured to generate a search interface displayable to a client communicably coupled to the server, and responsive to instructions received via the search interface, to search and sort selections of interest within a plurality of source documents;

a customized report module configured to generate a custom report interface displayable to the client, and responsive to user selection instructions received via the custom report interface, to extract and aggregate the selections of interest into a customized report configured to simultaneously display a plurality of the selections of interest;

a portable document module configured to enable source documents in the portable document format to be searched, sorted, and aggregated by the search module and customized report module;

a presentation module configured to enable source documents in the presentation format to be searched, sorted, and aggregated by the search module and customized report module;

a spread sheet module configured to enable source documents in the spread sheet format to be searched, sorted, and aggregated by the search module and customized report module;

a version control module in operative engagement with the customized report module, the version control module configured to retain the user selection instructions and location information for the selections of interest within the plurality of source documents;

a source document module which is separate from a customized report, configured to store and index a plurality of source documents in a plurality of native formats including text, portable document, presentation, and spread sheet, wherein the results of said storing and indexing are in said plurality of native formats;

the source document module being configured to store each of the plurality of source documents in a plurality of sub-document portions populated to one or more tables; and

a tool module configured to generate a tool interface displayable to the client, and responsive to instructions received from the client, link user comments to an of the sub-document portions;

wherein the customized report module is configured to extract and aggregate the sub-document portions of the selections of interest, along with any of said linked user comments, into the customized report while maintaining the original native formats of the selections of interest; and

a service tracking module, configured to automatically track client requests and service provider activity to facilitate billing for services rendered.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the service tracking module is configured to enable communications between a service provider and the client inline with the customized report using the customized report module.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the service tracking module is configured to at least one of link and selectively display said communications with one or more individual portions of the customized report.

4. The system of claim 3 configured to enable the service provider to grant selective access to other source documents including access-restricted source documents, wherein the service tracking module is configured to track said selective access.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the service tracking module is configured to perform at least one of:

identify any of said communications from the client authorizing the service provider to proceed with a particular service; and

track any of said communications from the client authorizing the service provider to proceed with a particular service.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the search, customized report, portable document, presentation, and spread sheet modules are all disposed on computer readable media.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the customized report module is configured to extract and aggregate selections of interest disposed in one or more text formats.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the version control module is configured to track the version of the custom report generated by the customized report module, and, responsive to instructions received from the client, output a desired version of the custom report to the client.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the source document module is configured to store source information for each of the plurality of sub-document portions.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the source information is selected from the group consisting of author, publisher, publication date, copyright notice, and terms of use.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the source document module is configured to store the plurality of source documents in one or more tables populated with the sub-document portions, source information, and with coordinate information for location of the sub-document portions within its source document.

12. The system of claim 11, comprising a figure handler configured to generate a figure interface displayable to the client, and responsive to instructions received via the figure interface to search and sort selections of interest in the form of figures within the plurality of source documents.

13. The system of claim 11, comprising a portable document handler configured to generate a portable document interface displayable to the client, and responsive to instructions received via the portable document interface to search and sort selections of interest in the portable document format within the plurality of source documents.

14. The system of claim 11, comprising a presentation handler configured to generate a presentation interface displayable to the client, and responsive to instructions received via the presentation interface to search and sort selections of interest in the presentation format within the plurality of source documents.

15. The system of claim 11, comprising an spread sheet handler configured to generate an spread sheet interface displayable to the client, and responsive to instructions received via the spread sheet interface to search and sort selections of interest in the spread sheet format within the plurality of source documents.

16. The system of claim 11, comprising a translation handler configured to generate a translation interface displayable to the client, and responsive to instructions received via the translation interface to provide language translation for selections of interest within the plurality of source documents.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the customized report module is configured to output the custom report in any of a plurality of formats.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the plurality of formats is selected from the group consisting of XML, text, portable document, presentation, spread sheet, and combinations thereof.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the tool module is configured to permit the custom report to be displayed to, and comments to be added by, a plurality of clients.

20. A method for automated document research, aggregation, and compilation, in a client-server environment, the method comprising:

(a) generating, with a server computer, a search interface displayable to a client communicably coupled to the server;

(b) searching and sorting, with the server computer in response to instructions received via the search interface, selections of interest within a plurality of source documents;

(c) generating, with the server computer, a custom report interface displayable to the client;

(d) extracting and aggregating, with the server computer in response to user selection instructions received via the custom report interface, the selections of interest into a customized report configured to simultaneously display a plurality of the selections of interest;

(e) enabling, with the server computer in response to user selection instructions, documents in portable document format to be searched, sorted, extracted and aggregated into the customized report;

(f) enabling, with the server computer in response to user selection instructions, documents in presentation format to be searched, sorted, extracted and aggregated into the customized report;

(g) enabling, with the server computer in response to user selection instructions, documents in spread sheet format to be searched, sorted, extracted and aggregated into the customized report;

(h) retaining, with the server computer, the user selection instructions and location information for the selections of interest within the plurality of source documents;

and

(i) automatically tracking, with the server computer, client requests and service provider activity to facilitate billing for services rendered;

(j) storing and indexing, with the server computer, the plurality of source documents in a plurality of native formats including XML, text, portable document, presentation, and spreadsheet, wherein the results of said storing and indexing are in said plurality of native formats, and storing each of the plurality of source documents in a plurality of sub-document portions populated to one or more tables; and

(k) generating, with the server computer, a tool interface displayable to the client for capturing at least one of user comments and messages to be linked to individual sub-document portions;

wherein said extracting and aggregating (d) includes extracting and aggregating the sub-document portions of the selections of interest, along with any of the linked user comments and messages into the customized report while maintaining the original native formats of the selections of interest.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein said automatically tracking (i) further comprises enabling communications between a service provider and the client inline with the customized report.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein said automatically tracking (i) further comprises at least one of linking and selectively displaying the communications with one or more individual portions of the customized report.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein said automatically tracking (i) further comprises enabling and tracking selective user access to other source documents including access-restricted source documents.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein said automatically tracking (i) further comprises at least one of:

identifying any of said communications from the client authorizing the service provider to proceed with a particular service; and

tracking any of the communications from the client authorizing the service provider to proceed with a particular service.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein said retaining (h) comprises tracking, with the server computer, versions of the custom report, and outputting, in response to instructions received from the client, a desired version of the custom report.

26. The method of claim 20, wherein said extracting and aggregating (d) comprises extracting and aggregating selections of interest disposed in one or more text formats.

27. The method of claim 20, comprising translating, with the server computer, in response to instructions received from the client, a plurality of the sub-document portions.

28. The method of claim 20, comprising storing, with the server computer, source information for each of the plurality of sub-document portions.

29. The method of claim 28, comprising storing, with the server computer, source information selected from the group consisting of author, publisher, publication date, copyright notice, and terms of use.

30. The method of claim 28, comprising storing, with the server computer, the plurality of source documents in one or more tables populated with the sub-document portions, source information, and with coordinate information for location of the sub-document portions within its source document.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein said storing comprises storing figures as sub-document portions of the source document.

32. The method of claim 30, comprising generating, with the server computer, a portable document interface displayable to the client for capturing user selection instructions associated with searching and sorting selections of interest in the portable document format within the plurality of source documents.

33. The method of claim 30, comprising generating, with the server computer, a presentation interface displayable to the client for capturing user selection instructions associated with searching and sorting selections of interest in the presentation format within the plurality of source documents.

34. The method of claim 30, comprising generating, with the server computer, a spread sheet interface displayable to the client for capturing user selection instructions associated with searching and sorting selections of interest in the spread sheet format within the plurality of source documents.

35. The method of claim 30, comprising generating, with the server computer, a translation interface displayable to the client for capturing user selection instructions associated with language translation of selections of interest within the plurality of source documents.

36. The method of claim 30, comprising outputting, with the server computer, the custom report in any of a plurality of formats.

37. The method of claim 36, comprising outputting, with the server computer, the custom report in a plurality of formats selected from the group consisting of XML, text, portable document, presentation, spread sheet, and combinations thereof.

38. The method of claim 20, comprising permitting, with the server computer via the tool interface, a plurality of users to add at least one of comments and messages to the custom report.

39. An article of manufacture for automated document research, aggregation, and compilation, in a client-server environment, said article of manufacture comprising:

a non-transitory computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer usable medium having computer readable program code for;

generating, with a server computer, a search interface displayable to a client communicably coupled to the server;

searching and sorting, with the server computer in response to instructions received via the search interface, selections of interest within a plurality of source documents;

generating, with the server computer, a custom report interface displayable to the client;

extracting and aggregating, with the server computer in response to user selection instructions received via the custom report interface, the selections of interest into a customized report configured to simultaneously display a plurality of the selections of interest;

enabling, with the server computer in response to user selection instructions, documents in portable document format to be searched, sorted, extracted and aggregated into the customized report;

enabling, with the server computer in response to user selection instructions, documents in presentation format to be searched, sorted, extracted and aggregated into the customized report;

enabling, with the server computer in response to user selection instructions, documents in spread sheet format to be searched, sorted, extracted and aggregated into the customized report;

retaining, with the server computer, the user selection instructions and location information for the selections of interest within the plurality of source documents; and

automatically tracking, with the server computer, client requests and service provider activity to facilitate billing for services rendered;

storing and indexing, with the server computer, the plurality of source documents in a plurality of native formats including XML, text, portable document, presentation, and spreadsheet, wherein the results of said storing and indexing are in said plurality of native formats, and storing each of the plurality of source documents in a plurality of sub-document portions populated to one or more tables; and

generating, with the server computer, a tool interface displayable to the client for capturing at least one of user comments and messages to be linked to individual sub-document portions;

wherein said extracting and aggregating includes extracting and aggregating the sub-document portions of the selections of interest, along with any of the linked user comments and messages, into the customized report while maintaining the original native formats of the selections of interest.

40. The article of manufacture of claim 39, further comprising computer readable program code for enabling communications between a service provider and the client inline with the customized report.

41. The article of manufacture of claim 40, further comprising computer readable program code for at least one of linking and selectively displaying the communications with one or more individual portions of the customized report.

42. The article of manufacture of claim 41, further comprising computer readable program code for enabling and tracking selective user access to other source documents including access-restricted source documents.

43. The article of manufacture of claim 41, further comprising computer readable program code for at least one of:

identifying any of said communications from the client authorizing the service provider to proceed with a particular service; and

tracking any of the communications from the client authorizing the service provider to proceed with a particular service.