Word checking tool for controlling the language content in documents using dictionaries with modifyable status fields

• US 6,782,510 B1
• Filed: 01/27/1998
• Issued: 08/24/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: J Nicholas and Kristin Gross Trust U/A/D APR 13 2010
• Original Assignee: Anthony A. Gross, John N. Gross
• Inventors: Gross, Anthony A., Gross, John N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Paula, Cesar B
• Application Number:
  US09/014,414
• Time in Patent Office: 2,401 Days
• Field of Search: 707/530, 707/531, 707/532, 707/533, 704/9-10
• US Class Current: 715/257
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/232 Orthographic correction, e.g. spell checking or vowelisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/253 Grammatical analysis; Style critique
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding

Abstract

A word processing tool is disclosed for checking the substance and not merely the spelling of words provided by a user. The word checker is capable of identifying potentially inappropriate word choices so that unintentional errors are not introduced into electronic text documents. The word checker can be implemented as a stand-alone procedure, or integrated into a conventional spell-checking program.

Claims

1. An article of manufacture comprising:

an electronic dictionary including a set of words and a plurality of associated status fields for said set of words, each status field identifying an appropriateness rating for a corresponding audience for individual words in said set of words, such that an individual word can have a plurality of corresponding appropriateness ratings;

a word checking routine executable by a computing device and for checking whether words in text of an unpublished electronic document should be included in a communication to a particular audience, and which routine is configured to perform the following operations;

(a) retrieving a word to be word checked from an electronic file containing said text of said unpublished electronic document, and

(b) accessing the electronic dictionary to determine whether an appropriateness rating of said word identified in a status field for said particular audience exceeds a threshold value specified for such unpublished electronic document; and

(c) controlling an initial dissemination of such unpublished electronic document based on checking said word;

(d) repeating steps (a) through (c) with said word checking routine for other unpublished electronic documents in accordance with said plurality of associated status fields to analyze text intended for other corresponding audiences on a document by document basis;

wherein the electronic dictionary and word checking routine are embodied in a computer readable media;

wherein said word checking routine is also configured to permit a user of such routine to change said appropriateness rating value of a status field for words in said electronic dictionary.

2. The article of claim 1, further including a spell checking routine for determining whether said word has been spelled correctly.

3. The article of claim 2, wherein said spell checking routine also presents a first list of alternative words as replacements for said word when it is misspelled, and permits a first replacement word to be substituted for said word.

4. The article of claim 3, wherein said word checking routine is also configured to determine whether said first replacement word has an appropriateness rating that exceeds said threshold value for such unpublished electronic document.

5. The article of claim 1, wherein said word checking routine is also configured to check words substantially immediate in time after they are input into said electronic document by a user, and to allow said user to correct or ignore any words that exceed said appropriateness rating value.

6. The article of claim 1, wherein said computer readable media includes any of the following:

a floppy disk, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, or a non-volatile semiconductor memory.

7. A system for permitting a user to check the meaning of words in an electronic document, said system including:

a computer readable storage structure for storing a word checking software module, such module being incorporated as part of a word processing program that can be executed by a computer processing device;

wherein the word checking software module is configured such that when it is executed by the computer processing device it can perform the following operations;

(i) retrieving said words to be checked from an electronic file for the electronic docum

(ii) determining whether any particular word is inadvertentiy included and has a particular meaning that has been designated as potentially inappropriate use in said document, based on the identity of an intended recipient; and

(iii) alerting a user to the presence of said particular word when it is designated as poten

(iv) allowing a user to modify said particular word in said document when it is designated as potentially inappropriate before transmitting said document to a third party; and

(v) allowing a user of said word checking software module to specify a threshold level of sensitivity to be used in determining whether a word in the electronic document is potentially inappropriate;

further including an electronic dictionary for storing said words, and wherein said word checking software module designates words that have a meaning that is potentially inappropriate by changing said rating value in a status field for such words and/or by storing potentially inappropriate words in one or more separate dictionaries.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein said status field for each of said words can have one of N rating values, where N>

2.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein said word checking software module is configured such that it can perform the additional operation of verifying the spelling of said words.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said word checking software module is configured such that it can perform the additional operation of generating a list of substitute words in the event such word is misspelled, and if a one of the substitute words is selected in lieu of such word, determining whether the substituted word has a meaning that is potentially inappropriate for use in said document.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein said word checking software module is configured such that it can perform the additional operation of checking all text contained in a set of documents stored as files on a computer system, and generating a list of potentially inappropriate words in such documents.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein said word checking software module is further configured to check words substantially immediate in time after they are input into said document by a user.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein said particular word has a first meaning in a first context identified as a first rating in a first electronic dictionary file, and a second meaning in a second context identified as a second rating in a second electronic dictionary file, and wherein said word checking software module is configured such that it can perform the additional operation of determining whether said particular word has a particular meaning that has been designated as potentially inappropriate for use in either of the first or second contexts by examining said first and second ratings.

14. The system of claim 7, wherein said threshold level of sensitivity is a numerical value which a particular word rating value must exceed in order for said particular word to be identified as potentially inappropriate.

15. A method of controlling language content of an electronic document, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) defining a word as offensive by specifying a first rating value for a first status field associated with said word in an electronic dictionary; and

(b) defining a word as potentially inappropriate for communication with an intended recipient of the electronic document by specifying a second rating value for a second status field associated with said word in said electronic dictionary, said second rating value being based in part on a consideration of a gender, language use and/or ethnicity of said particular recipient; and

(c) entering language content for the electronic document to generate an electronic file including a plurality of text words associated with the electronic document; and

(d) selecting whether said first status field and/or said second status field in said electronic dictionary should be used for examining said plurality of text words; and

wherein said selection can be varied for the electronic document depending on an identity of said particular recipient;

(e) reviewing each text word from said plurality of text words in'"'"'said electronic file in accordance with step (d) to determine if any context restricted words are contained in the electronic document, said context restricted words including text words that are offensive and/or potentially inappropriate as defined in steps (a) and (b); and

(f) identifying any context restricted words in the electronic document before said electronic file is transmitted to said intended recipient so that said context restricted words can be modified or eliminated.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein steps (a) and (b) are controllable by an author of the electronic document to customize a set of offensive and/or potentially inappropriate words.

17. The method of claim 15 further including a step (b)′

;

defining a word as potentially inappropriate for communication with a second intended recipient of the electronic document by specifying a third rating value for a third status field associated with said word in said electronic dictionary, said third rating value being based on a consideration of a gender, language use and/or ethnicity of said second intended recipient.

18. A system for checking the word content of an unpublished

electronic document, the system including:

a computer readable storage structure for storing a word checking software module that

can be executed by a computer processing device;

an electronic dictionary for storing dictionary words that can be used in the electronic document, said electronic dictionary being set up such that one or more status fields can be associated with such dictionary words, said status fields containing a rating for an offensiveness and/or inappropriateness of such dictionary word for a corresponding audience;

wherein the word checking software module is configured such that when it is executed by the computer processing device it can perform the following operations;

(i) selecting one or more language filters including at least one non-English language filter by changing a value of said one or more status fields for said electronic dictionary words for checking words in an electronic file for the document;

(ii) using said one or more language filters to check words in said electronic file against corresponding dictionary words by examining said rating in said status field(s);

(iii) generating an alert when said one or more language filters detects a word that has a corresponding audience;

wherein publication of electronic documents can be controlled on an individual electronic document basis so that when disseminated an electronic document only includes words that do not have a rating that indicates that such word is offensive and/or inappropriate for a corresponding audience.

19. A system for checking the word content of an unpublished electronic document, the system including:

a computer readable storage structure for storing a word checking software module that can be executed by a computer processing device;

an electronic dictionary for storing dictionary words that can be used in the electronic document, said electronic dictionary being set up such that one or more status fields can be associated with such dictionary words, said status fields containing a rating for an offensiveness and/or inappropriateness of such dictionary word for a corresponding audience;

wherein the word checking software module is configured such that when it is executed by the computer processing device it can perform the following operations;

(i) selecting one or more language filters including at least one non-English language filter for checking words in an electronic file for the document;

(ii) using said one or more language filters to check words in said electronic file against corresponding dictionary words by examining said rating in said status field(s);

(iii) generating an alert when said one or more language filters detects a word that has a rating that indicates it is offensive and/or inappropriate for a corresponding audience;

wherein publication of electronic documents can be controlled on an individual electronic document basis so that when disseminated an electronic document only includes words that do not have a rating that indicates that such word is offensive and/or inappropriate for a corresponding audience.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein a rating in all of said status fields for a dictionary word is examined.

21. The system of claim 19 wherein said word checking software indicates which of said one or more language filters has detected a word that has a rating indicating that it is offensive and/or inappropriate for a corresponding audience.

22. The system of claim 19 wherein said rating can be varied to have a value from a scale of 1 to N, and where a higher value indicates a higher level of offensiveness of such word for said corresponding audience.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein a threshold value can be specified for determining when an alert should be generated, based on comparing said rating in said status field to said threshold value.

24. The system of claim 19 wherein an author of said electronic document can control which language filters are used for checking said document.

25. A method of checking the meaning of a word in an electronic document, which electronic document has not been published, the method comprising the steps of:

designating filter words by changing a value of a filter status field for words in one or more electronic dictionaries;

retrieving said word to be checked from an electronic file including said document;

selecting a set of filter words from said one or more electronic dictionaries to be used for checking said word, said set of filter words being based in part on considering an identity of an intended recipient of said electronic document;

determining whether said word has a particular meaning that is (1) designated as offensive in said set of filter words; and

/or (2) is designated as potentially inappropriate in said set of filter words for communication to said intended recipient;

wherein the electronic document is checked so as to control initial distribution of such electronic document to said intended recipient;

further wherein said set of filter words can be changed for a subsequent electronic document to be distributed to a different intended recipient.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the filter status field for each of the words can have one of N values, where N >

2, and where N designates whether each of said words is offensive or potentially inappropriate.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein said set of filter words can be selected without input from an author of the document.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein an identification of said set of filter words can take place at or about the time said one or more electronic dictionaries are first generated.

29. The method of claim 25, further including a step of generating an alert indicating that such word is offensive and/or potentially inappropriate.

30. The method of claim 27, further including a step of permitting a user to remove said word from said set of filter words.

31. The method of claim 25, further including a step of specifying a threshold value which the filter status field must exceed in order for said word to be identified as belonging to said set of filter words.

32. A method of checking the meaning of a word in an electronic document, which electronic document has not been published the method comprising the steps of:

providing one or more electronic dictionaries, including a first dictionary file to be used for electronic documents sent to a first audience, and a second dictionary file to be used for electronic documents sent to a second audience;

retrieving the word to be checked from an electronic file for the document, wherein the word has a first meaning in a first context identified as a first rating in said first dictionary file and a second meaning in a second context identified as a second rating in said second dictionary file;

using a set of filter words from said one or more electronic dictionaries to check said word, said set of filter words being based in part on considering an identity of an intended recipient of said electronic document and such that either or both of said first dictionary file and said second dictionary file are used for said set of filter words;

determining whether said word has a particular meaning that is (1) designated as offensive in said set of filter words; and

/or (2) is designated as potentially inappropriate for communication to said intended recipient in either of the first or second contexts by examining said first and second ratings in said set of filter words;

wherein the electronic document is checked so as to control initial distribution of such electronic document to said intended recipient;

further wherein said set of filter words are changed for a subsequent electronic document to be distributed to a different intended recipient by changing a value of a status field for words in said electronic dictionaries.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein said first context and said second context are based on word meanings of two different languages.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein said first context and said second context are based on gender distinctions.

35. The method of claim 32, wherein said first context and said second context are based on cultural characteristics of two different groups.

36. A method of permitting an author of an electronic document to simultaneously check both the spelling and meaning of words in such document comprising the steps of:

(a) retrieving a word to be spell checked and word checked from an electronic file for said document; and

(b) determining whether said word has been spelled correctly; and

(c) when said word has been spelled incorrectly, presenting a first list of alternative words to said user as replacements for said word, and permitting said author to select a first replacement word for said word; and

(d) designating those words that have a meaning that is offensive and/or potentially inappropriate by changing a value of a status field for such words in an electronic dictionary, wherein said designation is modifiable by the author;

(e) determining whether the meaning of said word or replacement word has a designation as offensive and/or potentially inappropriate for use in a text document; and

(f) when said word has been designated as offensive and/or potentially inappropriate, presenting a second list of alternative words to said author as replacements for said word, and permitting said author to select a second replacement word for said word.

37. The method of claim 36, further including a step (g):

permitting said author to select said word, the first replacement word, or the second replacement word.

38. The method of claim 36, further including a step (g):

repeating steps and as necessary so that a word is selected that is not designated as potentially inappropriate, or said author is permitted to select a word by manual override.

39. The method of claim 36, wherein those words that have and offensive and/or a potentially inappropriate meaning can be identified initially without input from a user of such electronic dictionary.

40. The method of claim 36, wherein an identification of potentially inappropriate words can take place at or about the time the electronic dictionary is first generated.

41. The method of claim 36, further including a step of generating an alert indicating that such word is potentially inappropriate.

42. A method of permitting an author of an electronic document to simultaneously check both the spelling and meaning of words in such document comprising the steps of:

(a) retrieving a word to be spell checked and word checked from an electronic

(b) determining whether said word has been spelled correctly; and

(c) when said word has been spelled incorrectly, presenting a first list of

(d) designating those words that have a meaning that is offensive and/or the author based on an identity of a recipient of the document;

(e) when said word has been designated as offensive and/or potentially

(f) permitting an author to change the value of a status flag for such word to change said designation.

43. A method of word checking an electronic document generated by a word processing program under control of a user of said program, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) storing word-checking status information for said document, including a table identifying offensive and/or potentially inappropriate words used in an electronic file for said document;

(b) monitoring interaction between said user and said word processing program to identify idle editing periods;

(c) locating offensive and/or potentially inappropriate words in said electronic file for said document during the idle editing periods, and updating the word checking status information in response thereto as needed; and

(d) modifying a word filter electronic dictionary containing said offensive and/or potentially inappropriate words based on input from the user by changing a value of a status field for words in electronic dictionaries, so that the user can control which words in said document are to be identified in said table; and

(e) permitting a user to specify a rating threshold which must be exceeded in order for said word to be identified as offensive and/or potentially inappropriate.

44. A method of automatically word checking an electronic document as it is generated by an author of the electronic document and before such electronic document is published, comprising the steps of:

(a) allowing the author to specify one or more word filter dictionaries to be used for filtering text content of the document by changing a value of a status field for words in the word filter dictionaries, where at least one of said one or more word filter dictionaries is selected based on, an intended audience for the electronic document; and

(b) permitting the author to specify a rating threshold which must be exceeded in order for said text content to be identified as potentially inappropriate;

(c) monitoring data input by the author during a data input period that is intended to be included as a word in said document; and

(d) determining whether the word is offensive and/or potentially inappropriate for use in said document by comparing the word against words contained in said one or more word filter dictionaries; and

(e) when the word is determined to be offensive and/or potentially inappropriate, alerting the author; and

wherein a result of said word checking is communicated to the author while the author is still entering said text content of the document so that the electronic document is checked before it is disseminated to said intended audience and so as to control initial distribution of such electronic document.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein said result is communicated before the author has completed data input during a subsequent data input period intended for a subsequent word to be included in said document.

46. The method of claim 44, wherein when the word is determined to be potentially inappropriate the author is precluded from inputting additional words in said document until corrective action has been taken for such word.

47. The method of claim 44, wherein a check of the spelling of such word is also performed, and wherein the result of this spelling check is communicated to the author while the author is still entering said text content of the document.

48. The method of claim 44, further including a step of generating a list of substitute words in the event such word is misspelled, and if a substitute word is selected in lieu of such word, determining whether said substitute word has a meaning that is offensive and/or potentially inappropriate for use in a text document by comparing said substitute word against words contained in said one or more word filter dictionaries.

49. A method of automatically word checking an electronic document as it is generated by an author and before such electronic document is published to an intended recipient, comprising the steps of:

(a) allowing the author to specify one or more word filter dictionaries to be used for filtering text content of the document by changing a value of a status field for words in said word filter dictionaries, where at least one of said one or more word filter dictionaries is selected based on an intended audience for the electronic document; and

(b) monitoring data input by the author during a data input period that is intended to be included as a word in said document, wherein said word has a first meaning in a first context identified as a first rating in a first dictionary file from said one or more word filter dictionaries, and a second meaning in a second context identified as a second rating in a second dictionary file from said one or more word filter dictionaries; and

(c) determining whether the word is offensive and/or potentially inappropriate for use in said document by comparing the word against;

words contained in said one or more word filter dictionaries, including said first dictionary file and said second dictionary file such that said word is analyzed iii both the first and second contexts by examining said first and second ratings; and

(d) when the word is determined to be offensive and/or potentially inappropriate, alerting the author; and

wherein a result of said word checking is communicated to the author while the author is still entering said text content of the document so that;

the electronic document is checked before it is disseminated to the intended recipient and so as to control initial distribution of such electronic document.

50. An electronic system for permitting a user to control which words are allowed in an electronic document before the electronic document is published, said system including:

a system memory for storing a word checking software module;

a processing device for executing the word checking software module;

an electronic dictionary for identifying a set of filter words to be filtered from the electronic documents, said set of filter words including both offensive words and/or potentially inappropriate words, and which potentially inappropriate words are determined by considering an identity of an audience intended to receive the electronic document; and

wherein the word checking software module is configured such that it can perform the following operations;

(i) retrieving words to be checked from an electronic file for the document; and

(ii) designating said set of filter words by changing a value of a status field for such words in said electronic dictionary and/or by storing said set of filter words as one or more separate electronic dictionaries; and

(iii) determining whether said words from the document include any from said set of filter words; and

(iv) controlling initial distribution of such electronic document based on steps (i) and (ii).

51. The system of claim 50, wherein the status field for each of the words in said electronic dictionary can have one of N values, where N>

2.

52. The system of claim 50, wherein said set of filter words can be identified without input from said user, and said set of filter words includes non-English words.

53. The system of claim 50, wherein an identification of said offensive and/or potentially inappropriate words can take place at or about the time the electronic dictionary is first generated.

54. The system of claim 50, wherein the word checking software module is configured such that it can perform the additional operation of generating an alert indicating that a word in the document is in said set of filter words.

55. The system of claim 50, wherein the word checking software module is configured such that it can perform the additional operation of permitting said user to change the value of a status flag for words in said electronic dictionary.

56. The system of claim 50, wherein the word checking software module is configured such that it can perform the additional operation of verifying the spelling of words.

57. The system of claim 56, wherein the word checking software module is configured such that it can perform the additional operation of generating a list of substitute words in the event any word is misspelled, and if a one of the substitute words is selected in lieu of such word, determining whether the substituted word includes any word from said set of filter words.

58. The system of claim 50, wherein the word checking software module is configured such that it can perform the additional operation of checking a set of electronic files corresponding to a set of documents, and generating a list of words in such documents that are in said set of filter words.

59. The system of claim 50, wherein said words are checked substantially immediate in time after they are input into said document by a user to allow said user to correct or ignore any filter words found in said document.

60. The system of claim 50, wherein the word checking software module is configured such that it can perform the additional operation of specifying a threshold value which the status field must exceed in order for words to be identified as part of said set of filter words.

61. An electronic system for permitting a user to control which words are allowed in an electronic document before the electronic document is published, said system including:

a system memory for storing a word checking software module;

a processing device for executing the word checking software module;

an electronic dictionary for identifying a set of filter words to be filtered from the electronic documents by changing a value of a status field for words in said electronic dictionary, said set of filter words including both offensive words and/or potentially inappropriate words, and which potentially inappropriate words are determined by considering an identity of an audience intended to receive the electronic document, and such that said word has a first meaning in a first context identified as a first rating in a first dictionary file forming part of said electronic dictionary, and a second meaning in a second context identified as a second rating in a second dictionary file forming part of said electronic dictionary; and

wherein the word checking software module is configured such that it can perform the following operations;

(i) retrieving words to be checked from an electronic file for the document; and

(ii) determining whether said words from the document include any from said set of filter words, including by examining said first and second ratings to determine whether said word has a particular meaning that has been designated as potentially inappropriate for use in either of the first or second contexts; and

(iii) controlling initial distribution of such electronic document based on steps (i) and (ii);

(iv) repeating steps (i) through (iii) for a different electronic document using a different set of filter words.

62. A method of checking the meaning of a word m an electronic document comprising the steps of:

(a) retrieving a word to be checked from an electronic file for the document; and

(b) determining with a first electronic language filter whether said word has a particular meaning that is likely to be offensive to persons intended to read such document; and

(c) determining with a second electronic language filter whether said word is potentially inappropriate for use in communications to said persons, based in part on considering an identity of said persons; and

(d) configuring said first and second language filters by setting up said language filters in one or m wherein said first and second language filters can be changed on a document by document basis depending on an intended audience for the document.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein said status fields for each of the words can have one of N values, where N>

2.

64. The method of claim 62, further including a step of generating an alert indicating at a word is within said first and/or second electronic language filter.

65. The method of claim 62, further including a step of verifying the spelling of such word.

66. The method of claim 65, further including a step of generating a list of substitute words in the event such word is misspelled, and if a one of the substitute words is selected in lieu of such word, determining whether the substituted word has a meaning that is likely to be offensive.

67. The method of claim 62, wherein said word is checked by said first and second language filters substantially immediate in time after it is input into said document by a user.

68. The method of claim 62, wherein the document is an e-mail message, an electronic spreadsheet, an electronic database, or an electronic word processing document.

70. The method of claim 68, wherein said rating value is specified as a status field value in an electronic dictionary used as part of said language filter.

69. A method of checking content of an unpublished electronic document comprising the steps of:

(a) specifying a language filter to be used for inspecting words of an electronic file for the electronic document to determine if it contains potentially inappropriate content by changing a value of a status field for words in electronic dictionaries, said language filter being based in part on an identity of an intended recipient of the electronic document and including at least a set of English words and a separate set of non-English words as part of said potentially inappropriate content; and

(b) specifying a language sensitivity threshold level to be used when evaluating the electronic document, such that a rating value for each word in the electronic document is compared against said language sensitivity threshold level to determine if such word should be identified as potentially inappropriate; and

(c) providing an output indicating when said language sensitivity threshold is exceeded based on words in the electronic document so as to control initial distribution of such electronic document to said intended recipient.

71. A system for checking content of an unpublished electronic document comprising:

a computer readable storage structure for storing a word checking software module that can be executed by a computer processing device; and

a language filter, which language filter is adjustable for each document and which is associated with a set of words that are potentially inappropriate for use with a corresponding recipient of the electronic document; and

wherein the word checking software module is configured such that when it is executed by the computer processing device it can perform the following operations;

(i) specifying said language filter for checking the electronic document;

(ii) specifying a language sensitivity threshold level to be used when evaluating the electronic document;

(iii) providing an output indicating when said language sensitivity threshold is exceeded based on words in an electronic file for the electronic document so as to control initial distribution of such electronic document to said intended recipient;

wherein a rating value for each word in the electronic document is compared against said language sensitivity threshold level to determine if such word should be identified as potentially inappropriate.

72. A system for checking content of an unpublished electronic document comprising:

a computer readable storage structure for storing a word checking software module that can be executed by a computer processing device; and

a language filter, which language filter is adjustable for each document and which is associated with a set of words that are potentially inappropriate for use with a corresponding recipient of the electronic document; and

wherein the word checking software module is configured such that when it is executed by the computer processing device it can perform the following operations;

(i) specifying said language filter for checking the electronic document;

(ii) specifying a language sensitivity threshold level to be used when evaluating the electronic document;

(iii) providing an output indicating when said language sensitivity threshold is exceeded based on words in an electronic file for the electronic document so as to control initial distribution of such electronic document to said intended recipient;

wherein a rating value, for each word in the electronic document is compared against said language sensitivity threshold level to determine if such word should be identified as potentially inappropriate

wherein said rating value and said language sensitivity threshold level are adjustable;

wherein said rating value is specified as a status field value in an electronic dictionary used as part of said language filter.

73. A method of controlling distribution of an electronic document to prevent dissemination of embarrassing and/or harmful content in such electronic document, the method comprising the steps of:

a) identifying offensive words that should not be included in an electronic document;

to be distributed to an intended third party recipient; and

b) identifying potentially inappropriate words that should not be included in an electronic document to be distributed to said intended third party recipient, said potentially inappropriate words being based in part on a consideration of an identity of said intended third party recipient; and

c) inspecting an electronic file for the document before it is distributed to said intended third party recipient to see if it contains any of said offensive and/or potentially inappropriate words, so that a corrective action can be taken to eliminate said offensive and/or potentially inappropriate words and/or to prevent distribution of the document;

wherein a status field rating for said offensive words and said potentially inappropriate words are changed by an author of the electronic document as part of an electronic language filter.

74. The method of claim 73, wherein an author of the electronic document also sets a threshold value which must be exceeded by said status field rating in order for a word to be considered as one of said offensive and/or potentially inappropriate words.

75. A method of checking content of an electronic document which has not been published comprising the steps of:

(a) configuring a language filter to be used for inspecting content of the electronic document to determine if it contains potentially inappropriate text, said language filter being configured based in part on an identity of intended recipients of the electronic document; and

(b) detecting whether an electronic file for said electronic document includes words specified within said language filter; and

(c) generating an output indicating the presence of any words detected during step (b) so that the electronic document is checked before it is disseminated to said intended recipients and so as to control initial publication of such electronic document;

wherein said language filter can be adjusted during step (a) as needed according to said identity of said intended recipients, and is configured by setting status field values for words within said electronic file and/or by setting a threshold level of sensitivity to be used when considering words within said electronic document.

76. The method of claim 75, further including a step of setting up said language filter by specifying a first language filter intended for a first audience for the electronic document, and a second language filter intended for a second audience for the electronic document, each of said first and second language filters containing words that are potentially inappropriate for use with said first and second audiences respectively.

77. A system for checking content of an electronic document, which electronic document has not been published, the system including:

a computer readable storage structure for storing a word checking software module that can be executed by a computer processing device;

a configurable language filter, which language filter contains words to be used for checking the content of the electronic document;

wherein the word checking software module is configured such that when it is executed by the computer processing device it can perform the following operations;

(i) configuring said configurable language filter based in part on an identity of an intended recipient of the electronic document;

wherein said configurable language filter includes a first language filter and a second language filter as part of an electronic dictionary file, and said first language filter is identified by a first value specified in a first status field in said electronic dictionary file, and said second language filter is identified by a second value specified in a second status field in said electronic dictionary file;

(ii) using said configurable language filter to check words used in an electronic file for the document;

(iii) generating an alert when said configurable language filter is triggered;

wherein initial dissemination of the electronic document can be controlled based on whether the content is appropriate for an intended audience of such electronic document.

78. A system for checking content of an electronic document, which electronic document has not been published, the system including:

a computer readable storage structure for storing a word checking software module that can be executed by a computer processing device;

a configurable language filter, which language filter contains words to be used for checking the content of the electronic document;

wherein the word checking software module is configured such that when it is executed by the computer processing device it can perform the following operations;

(i) configuring said configurable language filter based in part on an identity of an intended recipient of the electronic document by changing a value of a language filter status field for words in an electronic dictionary file;

wherein said configurable language filter includes a first language filter and a second language filter as part;

of an electronic dictionary file, and said first language filter is identified by a first value specified in a first status field in said electronic dictionary file, and said second language filter is identified by a second value specified in a second status field in said electronic dictionary file;

(ii) using said configurable language filter to check words used in an electronic file for the document;

(iii) generating an alert when said configurable language filter is triggered;

wherein initial dissemination of the electronic document can be controlled based on whether the content is appropriate for an intended audience of such electronic document.

79. A system for checking content of an electronic document including:

a computer readable storage structure for storing a word checking software module that can be executed by a computer processing device;

a language filter consisting of a first language filter and a second language filter, said first language filter being associated with words that are potentially inappropriate for use in connection with a first group of persons, and said second language filter being associated with words that are potentially inappropriate for use in connection with a second group of persons;

wherein said first language filter and second language filter are part of an electronic dictionary file, and said first language filter is identified by a first set of words in said electronic dictionary file, and said second language filter is identified by a second set of words in said electronic dictionary file;

wherein the word checking software module is configured such that when it is executed by the computer processing device it can perform the following operations;

(i) selecting either or both of said first and second language filters for checking words in the document based in part on an identity of an intended recipient of the electronic document;

(ii) using either or both of said first and/or second language filters to check words used in an electronic file for the document;

(iii) generating an indicator when either or both of said first and/or second language filters is triggered;

wherein dissemination of the electronic document can be controlled based on whether words contained therein are appropriate for an intended audience.

80. A system for checking content of an electronic document including:

a computer readable storage structure for storing a word checking software module that can be executed by a computer processing device;

a language filter consisting of a first language filter and a second language filter, said first language filter being associated with words that are potentially inappropriate for use in connection with a first group of persons, and said second language filter being associated with words that are potentially inappropriate for use in connection with a second group of persons;

wherein said first language filter and second language filter are part of an electronic dictionary file, and said first language filter is identified by a first set of words in said electronic dictionary file, and said second language filter is identified by a second set of words in said electronic dictionary file;

wherein the word checking software module is configured such that when it is executed by the computer processing device it can perform the following operations;

(i) selecting either or both of said first and second language filters for checking words in the document based in part on an identity of an intended recipient of the electronic document by changing a value of status fields for words in said first and second language filters in said electronic dictionary file;

(ii) using either or both of said first arid/or second language filters to check words used in an electronic file for the document;

(iii) generating an indicator when either or both of said first and/or second language filters is triggered;

wherein dissemination of the electronic document can be controlled based on whether words contained therein are appropriate for an intended audience.

81. A method of checking content of electronic documents comprising the steps of:

(a) retrieving a word from an electronic file for a first electronic document; and

(b) inspecting said word with a language filter selected for the first electronic document, said language filter consisting of either or both of a first language filter and/or a second language filter, said first language filter being associated with words that are potentially inappropriate for use in connection with a first group of persons, and said second language filter being associated with words that are potentially inappropriate for use in connection with a second group of persons; and

(c) identifying whether said word falls within said first language filter and/or said second language filter; and

(d) repeating steps (a) through (c) for said first electronic document until all words in said electronic file for said first electronic document are inspected; and

(e) repeating steps (a) through (d) for a second electronic document, wherein a language filter selected for the second electronic document can be varied from that used for said first electronic document;

wherein said first language filter and second language filter are part of an electronic dictionary file, and said first language filter is identified by a first set of words in said electronic dictionary file, and said second language filter is identified by a second set of words in said electronic dictionary file.

82. A method of checking content of electronic documents comprising the steps of:

(a) retrieving a word from an electronic file for a first electronic document; and

(b) inspecting said word with a language filter selected for the first electronic document, said language filter consisting of either or both of a first language filter and/or a second language filter, said first language filter being associated with words that are potentially inappropriate for use in connection with a first group of persons, and said second language filter being associated with words that are potentially inappropriate for use in connection with a second group of persons; and

(c) identifying whether said word falls within said first language filter and/or said second language filter by changing a value of status fields for words in said first and second language filters, based in part on an identity of the first and/or second group of persons; and

(d) repeating steps (a) through (c) for said first electronic document until all words in said electronic file for said first electronic document are inspected; and

(e) repeating steps (a) through (d) for a second electronic document, wherein a language filter selected for the second electronic document can be varied from that used for said first electronic document;

wherein said first language filter and second language filter are part of an electronic dictionary file, and said first language filter is identified by a first in said electronic dictionary file, and said second language filter is identified by a second set of words in said electronic dictionary file.

83. A system for checking content of electronic documents including:

a computer readable storage structure for storing a word checking software module that can be executed by a computer processing device;

a language filter comprised of a first language filter and a second language filter, said first language filter being associated with words that are potentially inappropriate for use in connection with a first group of persons, and said second language filter being associated with words that are potentially inappropriate for use in connection with a second group of persons;

wherein the word checking software module is configured such that when it is executed by the computer processing device it can perform the following operations;

(i) selecting either or both of said first and second language filters as said language filter for checking content of electronic files containing data for said electronic documents such that said first language filter can be used when said electronic document is a first type of document to be disseminated to said first group of persons, while said second language filter can be used when said electronic document is a second type of document to be disseminated to said second group of persons;

(ii) using said language filter to check words used in said electronic files containing data for said electronic documents;

(iii) generating an alert when said language filter is triggered;

wherein dissemination of said electronic documents, including both said first type of documents and said second type of documents, can be controlled based on whether the content therein is appropriate for an intended audience, including said first and second groups of persons;

and further wherein said first language filter and second language filter are part of an electronic dictionary file, and said first language filter is identified by a first value specified in a first status field in said electronic dictionary file, and said second language filter is identified by a second value specified in a second status field in said electronic dictionary file.

85. The system of claim 83, wherein said first language filter contains words that are offensive, and said second language filter contains words that are likely to cause harm and/or embarrassment by their inclusion in the document.

84. A system for checking content of electronic documents including:

a computer readable storage structure for storing a word checking software module that can be executed by a computer processing device;

a language filter comprised of a first language filter and a second language filter, said first language filter being associated with words that are potentially inappropriate for use in connection with a first group of persons, arid said second language filter being associated with words that are potentially inappropriate for use in connection with a second group of persons;

wherein the word checking software module is configured such that when it is executed by the computer processing device it can perform the following operations;

(i) selecting either or both of said first and second language filters as said language filter for checking content of electronic files containing data for said electronic documents such that said first language filter can be used when said electronic document is a first type of document to be disseminated to said first group of persons, while said second language filter can be used when said electronic document is a second type of document to be disseminated to said second group of persons;

(ii) using said language filter to check words used in said electronic files containing data for said electronic documents;

(iii) generating an alert when said language filter is triggered;

wherein dissemination of said electronic documents, including both said first type of documents and said second type of documents, can be controlled based on whether the content therein is appropriate for an intended audience, including said first and second groups of persons;

and further wherein said first language filter and second language filter are part of an electronic dictionary file, and said first language filter is identified by changing a first value specified in a first status field in said electronic dictionary file, and said second language filter is identified by changing a second value specified in a second status field in said electronic dictionary file based on an identity of the first and second group of persons.