Smart form

• US 9,947,043 B2
• Filed: 07/13/2009
• Issued: 04/17/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/13/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Neale, Michael D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hamilton, Lalita M
• Application Number:
  US12/501,978
• Publication Number:
  US 20110010202A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,200 Days
• Field of Search: 705 35, 705 711, 705 729
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/025 Extracting rules from data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0203 Market surveys; Market polls
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/26 Government or public services business processes related to the transportation industry G06Q50/40

Abstract

Some embodiments of a system and a method to dynamically create a smart form have been presented. In one embodiment, a graphical user interface (GUI) module, running on a server, creates a GUI to present a questionnaire having at least one question to an end-user. A rule engine, running on the server, receives an answer to the at least one question via the GUI from the end-user. Using truth maintenance, the rule engine may determine what follow-up questions to ask the end-user based on the answer received. The GUI module may dynamically modify the GUI to present the follow-up questions to the end-user.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

creating, by a processing device, a graphical user interface (GUI) to present a questionnaire comprising a set of questions and a user interface, wherein the user interface provides an input interface for a user to input one or more answers for the set of questions;

displaying a first question in the set of questions via the GUI;

receiving, by the processing device, a first response to the first question via the user interface;

generating, by a rule engine of the processing device, a logic tree comprising nodes and branches, each of the nodes representing a question in the set of questions and each of the branches representing a response to a question in the set of questions;

storing, by the rule engine, the logic tree in a working memory of the rule engine;

identifying a node of the nodes in the logic tree correlating to the first response, the node comprising a follow-up question;

removing a portion of the logic tree stored in the working memory corresponding to a second node in the logic tree connected to a branch of the branches representing a second response that is not received via the GUI, wherein the removing the portion of the logic tree from the working memory increases available memory space of the working memory;

modifying, by the processing device, the GUI to present the follow-up question within the questionnaire;

modifying, by the processing device, the user interface to receive an answer from the user in view of the follow-up question; and

displaying the GUI and the user interface, as modified, via a display device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

modifying the GUI to present a different follow-up question in response to changing the response to the question.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the follow-up question is logically related to the response received.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving one or more rules associated with the questionnaire and a plurality of potential follow-up questions;

asserting the response as a fact in the working memory of the rule engine; and

applying the one or more rules associated with the questionnaire to the fact to select the follow-up question from the plurality of potential follow-up questions.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the rule engine constructs the logic tree to accumulate evidence.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the questionnaire is a life insurance application form.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a client processor is communicably coupled via a network to a server device on which a GUI module and the rule engine are executed, the client processor comprising the display device to render the GUI.

8. An apparatus comprising:

a memory; and

a processing device operatively coupled to the memory, the processing device to;

create a graphical user interface (GUI) to present a questionnaire comprising a set of questions and a user interface, wherein the user interface provides an input interface for a user to input one or more answers for the set of questions;

display a first question in the set of questions via the GUI;

receive a first response to the first question via the user interface;

generate, by a rule engine, a logic tree comprising nodes and branches, each of the nodes representing a question in the set of questions and each of the branches representing a response to a question in the set of questions;

store, by the rule engine, the logic tree in a working memory of the rule engine;

identify a node of the nodes in the logic tree correlating to the first response, the node comprising a follow-up question;

remove a portion of the logic tree stored in the working memory corresponding to a second node in the logic tree connected to a branch of the branches representing a second response that is not received via the GUI, wherein the processing device is further to remove the portion of the logic tree from the working memory to increase available memory space of the working memory;

modify the GUI to present the follow-up question within the questionnaire;

modify the user interface to receive an answer from the user in view of the follow-up question; and

display the GUI and the user interface, as modified, via a display device.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processing device is further to modify the GUI to present a different follow-up question in response to changing the answer to the question.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the follow-up question is logically related to the response received.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processing device is further to:

receive one or more rules associated with the questionnaire and a plurality of potential follow-up questions;

assert the response as a fact in a working memory of a rule engine; and

apply the one or more rules associated with the questionnaire to the fact to select the follow-up question from the plurality of potential follow-up questions.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processing device is further to construct the logic tree in order to accumulate evidence.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the questionnaire is a life insurance application form.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein a client processor is communicably coupled via a network to a server on which a rule engine is executed, the client processor comprising the display device to render the GUI.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to:

create, by the processing device, a graphical user interface (GUI) to present a questionnaire comprising a set of questions and a user interface, wherein the user interface provides an input interface for a user to input one or more answers for the set of questions;

display a first question in the set of questions via the GUI;

receive, by the processing device, a first response to the first question via the user interface;

generate, by a rule engine, a logic tree comprising nodes and branches, each of the nodes representing a question in the set of questions and each of the branches representing a response to a question in the set of questions;

store the logic tree in a working memory of the rule engine;

identify a node of the nodes in the logic tree correlating to the first response, the node comprising a follow-up question;

remove a portion of the logic tree corresponding to a second node in the logic tree stored in the working memory connected to a branch of the branches representing a second response that is not received via the GUI, wherein the processing device is further to remove the portion of the logic tree from the working memory to increase available memory space of the working memory;

modify, by the processing device, the GUI to present the follow-up question;

modify the user interface to receive an answer from the user in view of the follow-up question; and

display the GUI and the user interface, as modified, via a display device.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the processing device further to modify the GUI to present a different follow-up question in response to changing the answer to the question.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the follow-up questions are logically related to the response received.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the processing device further to:

receive one or more rules associated with the questionnaire and a plurality of potential follow-up questions;

assert the response as a fact in the working memory of the rule engine; and

apply the one or more rules associated with the questionnaire to the fact to select the follow-up question from the plurality of potential follow-up questions.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the processing device constructs the logic tree to accumulate evidence.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the questionnaire is a life insurance application form.