Document indexing

• US 8,954,470 B2
• Filed: 12/18/2012
• Issued: 02/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Indxit Systems Incorporated, Indxlogic Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Indxit Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Ebaugh, Michael J., Morvant, Matthew J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ortiz Ditren, Belix M
• Application Number:
  US13/718,822
• Publication Number:
  US 20130110844A1
• Time in Patent Office: 784 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/780
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2228 Indexing structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/31 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/313 Selection or weighting of terms for indexing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3331 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/414 Extracting the geometrical structure, e.g. layout tree; Block segmentation, e.g. bounding boxes for graphics or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/418 Document matching, e.g. of document images
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 90/10 Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed that allow for indexing, processing, or both of information from physical media or electronic media, which may be received from a plurality of sources. In embodiments, a document file may be matched using pattern matching methods and may include comparisons with a comparison reference database to improve or accelerate the indexing process. In embodiments, information may be presented to a user as potential matches thereby improving manual indexing processes. In embodiments, one or more additional actions may occur as part of the processing, including without limitation, association additional data with a document file, making observations from the document file, notifying individuals, creating composite messages, and billing events. In an embodiment, data from a document file may be associated with a key word, key phrase, or word frequency value that enables adaptive learning so that unindexed data may be automatically indexed based on user interaction history.

Claims

1. A processor-implemented method for indexing a document file comprising:

receiving a document file, wherein the document file comprises a plurality of unstructured characters;

organizing the plurality of unstructured characters into an array of strings;

receiving at least a portion of a reference database from a client, wherein the reference database comprise a plurality of records wherein each record comprises at least one data field element;

comparing a first set of strings from the array of strings against a comparison reference database obtained from the reference database; and

responsive to at least a portion of the first set of strings exceeding a threshold match with at least a portion of a record in the comparison reference database, generating a structured message that associates the document file with the record.

2. The processor-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

using a set of strings selected from the array of strings to filter the reference database to obtain the comparison reference database.

3. The processor-implemented method of claim 2 wherein the step of using a set of strings selected from the array of strings to filter the reference database to obtain the comparison reference database comprises:

identifying, within the array of strings, a set of date strings comprising strings from the array of strings that could represent dates;

selecting a date-of-birth string from the set of date strings, the date-of-birth string representing the earliest date within the set of date strings; and

forming a comparison reference database comprising records in the reference database that have a date-of-birth field element that matches the date-of-birth string.

4. The processor-implemented method of claim 2 wherein the step of using a set of strings selected from the array of strings to filter the reference database to obtain the comparison reference database comprises:

selecting, as a first set of strings, strings in the array of strings that are within a first distance of a date-of-birth string; and

comparing the first set of strings selected from the array of strings against the comparison reference database.

5. The processor-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

initiating an action based upon an observation made within the document file.

6. The processor-implemented method of claim 5 further comprising:

forming the observation based upon identifying a set of characters within the document file.

7. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium or media comprising one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes steps to be performed comprising;

receiving a document file, wherein the document file comprises a plurality of unstructured characters;

organizing the plurality of unstructured characters into an array of strings;

receiving at least a portion of a reference database from a client, wherein the reference database comprise a plurality of records wherein each record comprises at least one data field element;

comparing a first set of strings from the array of strings against a comparison reference database obtained from the reference database; and

responsive to at least a portion of the first set of strings exceeding a threshold match with at least a portion of a record in the comparison reference database, generating a structured message that associates the document file with the record.

8. The system of claim 7 further comprising the step of:

using a set of strings selected from the array of strings to filter the reference database to obtain the comparison reference database.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the step of using a set of strings selected from the array of strings to filter the reference database to obtain the comparison reference database comprises:

identifying, within the array of strings, a set of date strings comprising strings from the array of strings that could represent dates;

selecting a date-of-birth string from the set of date strings, the date-of-birth string representing the earliest date within the set of date strings; and

forming a comparison reference database comprising records in the reference database that have a date-of-birth field element that matches the date-of-birth string.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein the step of using a set of strings selected from the array of strings to filter the reference database to obtain the comparison reference database comprises:

selecting, as a first set of strings, strings in the array of strings that are within a first distance of a date-of-birth string; and

comparing the first set of strings selected from the array of strings against the comparison reference database.

11. The system of claim 7 further comprising:

initiating an action based upon an observation made within the document file.

12. The system of claim 11 further comprising:

forming the observation based upon identifying a set of characters within the document file.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium or media comprising one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes steps to be performed comprising:

receiving a document file, wherein the document file comprises a plurality of unstructured characters;

organizing the plurality of unstructured characters into an array of strings;

receiving at least a portion of a reference database from a client, wherein the reference database comprise a plurality of records wherein each record comprises at least one data field element;

comparing a first set of strings from the array of strings against a comparison reference database obtained from the reference database; and

responsive to at least a portion of the first set of strings exceeding a threshold match with at least a portion of a record in the comparison reference database, generating a structured message that associates the document file with the record.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium or media of claim 13 further comprising the step of:

using a set of strings selected from the array of strings to filter the reference database to obtain the comparison reference database.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium or media of claim 14 wherein the step of using a set of strings selected from the array of strings to filter the reference database to obtain the comparison reference database comprises:

identifying, within the array of strings, a set of date strings comprising strings from the array of strings that could represent dates;

selecting a date-of-birth string from the set of date strings, the date-of-birth string representing the earliest date within the set of date strings; and

forming a comparison reference database comprising records in the reference database that have a date-of-birth field element that matches the date-of-birth string.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium or media of claim 14 wherein the step of using a set of strings selected from the array of strings to filter the reference database to obtain the comparison reference database comprises:

selecting, as a first set of strings, strings in the array of strings that are within a first distance of a date-of-birth string; and

comparing the first set of strings selected from the array of strings against the comparison reference database.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium or media of claim 13 further comprising:

initiating an action based upon an observation made within the document file.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium or media of claim 17 further comprising:

forming the observation based upon identifying a set of characters within the document file.