Method and system to provide portable database functionality in an electronic form
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computer-implemented system, comprising:
- at least one processor and at least one machine-readable medium comprising instructions that configure the at least one processor to implement;
a communications module to receive a request to preload an electronic form with preloaded database information from a source database, the electronic form comprising a plurality of form fields;
a portability module to respond to the request by storing the preloaded database information comprising form field values and selection choices into the electronic form as state data, the storing pre-populating a selection control associated with a form field of the electronic form with the selection choices such that the selection choices are configured to be presented to a user in a viewer application when filling in the form field based on a client computer hosting the viewer application being unable to connect to a remote database, wherein the electronic form is embodied as an application packaged as a document that uses a template-based grammar defining presentation, calculations and interaction rules for filling out the electronic form, and wherein a template associated with the electronic form includes one or more identification (ID) tags, the one or more ID tags generated based on a database schema associated with the source database, and the storing of the preloaded database information uses the ID tags from the template to extract matching entries from the source database and store the matching entries as the state data in the document; and
a distribution module configured to;
transmit the document comprising the preloaded database information stored therein to the client computer; and
in response to receiving a request from the client computer that is based on detection of loading the transmitted electronic form in response to the user opening the transmitted document in the viewer application, transmit, from the remote database to the client computer, new selection choices and new form field values in association with the form field such that the selection choices and the form field values populating the selection control are automatically replaced with the new selection choices and new form field values for the filing in of the form field in the electronic form.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system to provide portable database functionality in an electronic form is described. The system may include a communications module and a portability module. The communications module may be configured to receive a request to generate an electronic form, the electronic form to include preloaded database information. The portability module may be configured to respond to the request by configuring the electronic form to include the preloaded database information obtained from a source database. The preloaded database information may be used for a variety of purposes at fill time, when one or more electronic form field values are being filled in by a user.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented system, comprising:
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at least one processor and at least one machine-readable medium comprising instructions that configure the at least one processor to implement; a communications module to receive a request to preload an electronic form with preloaded database information from a source database, the electronic form comprising a plurality of form fields; a portability module to respond to the request by storing the preloaded database information comprising form field values and selection choices into the electronic form as state data, the storing pre-populating a selection control associated with a form field of the electronic form with the selection choices such that the selection choices are configured to be presented to a user in a viewer application when filling in the form field based on a client computer hosting the viewer application being unable to connect to a remote database, wherein the electronic form is embodied as an application packaged as a document that uses a template-based grammar defining presentation, calculations and interaction rules for filling out the electronic form, and wherein a template associated with the electronic form includes one or more identification (ID) tags, the one or more ID tags generated based on a database schema associated with the source database, and the storing of the preloaded database information uses the ID tags from the template to extract matching entries from the source database and store the matching entries as the state data in the document; and a distribution module configured to; transmit the document comprising the preloaded database information stored therein to the client computer; and in response to receiving a request from the client computer that is based on detection of loading the transmitted electronic form in response to the user opening the transmitted document in the viewer application, transmit, from the remote database to the client computer, new selection choices and new form field values in association with the form field such that the selection choices and the form field values populating the selection control are automatically replaced with the new selection choices and new form field values for the filing in of the form field in the electronic form. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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receiving a request to preload an electronic form with preloaded database information from a source database, the electronic form comprising a plurality of form fields; responding to the request by storing the preloaded database information comprising form field values and selection choices into the electronic form as state data, the storing pre-populating a selection control associated with a form field of the electronic form with the selection choices such that the selection choices are configured to be presented to a user in a viewer application when filling in the form field based on a client computer hosting the viewer application being unable to connect to a remote database, wherein the electronic form is embodied as an application packaged as a document that uses a template-based grammar defining presentation, calculations and interaction rules for filling out the electronic form, and wherein a template associated with the electronic form includes one or more identification (ID) tags, the one or more ID tags generated based on a database schema associated with the source database, and the storing of the preloaded database information uses the ID tags from the template to extract matching entries from the source database and store the matching entries as the state data in the document; transmitting the document comprising the preloaded database information stored therein to the client computer; and in response to receiving a request from the client computer that is based on detection of loading the transmitted electronic form in response to the user opening the transmitted document in the viewer application, transmitting, from the remote database to the client computer, new selection choices and new form field values in association with the form field such that the selection choices and the form field values populating the selection control are automatically replaced with the new selection choices and new form field values for the filing in of the form field in the electronic form. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instruction data to cause a machine to perform a method comprising:
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receiving at a client computer, one or more network communications comprising an electronic form embodied as an application packaged as a document that uses a template-based grammar defining presentation, calculations and interaction rules for filling out the electronic form the electronic form having contained therein as state data a plurality of form fields, form field values, selection choices, and a selection control associated with a form field, wherein the selection control is pre-populated with the selection choices such that the selection choices are configured to be presented to a user in a viewer application when filling in the form field based on the client computer hosting the viewer application being unable to connect to a remote database, each of the selection choices corresponding to at least one of the form field values and being selectable by the user to enter the at least one of the form field values into the form field during the filling in of the form field, and wherein a template associated with the electronic form includes one or more identification (ID) tags, the one or more ID tags generated based on a database schema associated with a source database used to preload the electronic form with preloaded database information from the source database using the ID tags from the template to extract matching entries from the source database and store the matching entries as the state data in the document; in response to detecting loading of the received electronic form in the viewer application, determining the client computer hosting the viewer application is connected to the remote database and determining the remote database stores data relevant to filling out the electronic form, wherein the loading is in response to the user opening the received electronic form in the viewer application; in response to the determining the client computer is connected to the remote database and the determining the remote database stores data relevant to the filing out of the electronic form, automatically; receiving from the remote database new selection choices and new form field values in association with the form field; and replacing the selection choices and the form field values populating the control with the new selection choices and new form field values for the filing in of the form field.
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Specification