Method of assisting a user

• US 8,140,952 B2
• Filed: 10/28/2004
• Issued: 03/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Gale, Martin J., Merrick, Roland A., Stanford-Clark, Andrew J., Bravery, Andrew J. F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hutton, Doug
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mercado, Ariel
• Application Number:
  US10/976,262
• Publication Number:
  US 20050138539A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,700 Days
• Field of Search: 715/505, 715/507, 715221-227, 715/200, 709/227
• US Class Current: 715/200
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/174 Form filling; Merging

Abstract

A method of assisting a user, for use in an environment comprising: a user session, an external entity session and a forms engine for generating a form. The method comprises the steps of: registering with the user session, wherein a first session is established between the user session and the forms engine; receiving a request for assistance from a user; in response to receiving the request, de-registering with the user session, wherein the first session is un-established; registering with the external entity session, wherein a second session is established between the external entity session and the forms engine; receiving input from the external entity session; and populating the form with the received input.

Claims

1. A method of assisting a user, for use in an environment comprising:

a user session, an external entity session and a forms engine for generating a form;

the method comprising computer-implemented steps of;

registering a control component with the user session, wherein a first session is established between the user session and the forms engine;

receiving a request for assistance from the user, wherein the request for assistance is with respect to particular information that the forms engine is requesting from the user session;

in response to receiving the request, de-registering the control component with the user session, wherein the first session is un-established;

registering the control component with the external entity session, wherein a second session is established between the external entity session and the forms engine;

receiving input from the external entity session;

populating the form with the received input;

wherein the environment further comprises a broker data processing system and the external entity session is a subscriber session and wherein the subscriber session is associated with the broker, and wherein the broker maintains a plurality of profiles for different subscribers that are each operable to provide assistance to the user, and one of the plurality of profiles comprises a first piece of information;

wherein the form has an associated second piece of information;

in response to receiving the request, retrieving, by the forms engine, the second piece of information;

communicating the second piece of information to the broker;

in response to receiving the second piece of information, comparing, by the broker, the second piece of information to the first piece of information in the one of the plurality of profiles to determine whether the second piece of information matches the first piece of information; and

in response to a successful determination that the second piece of information matches the first piece of information, registering a subscriber that is associated with the one of the plurality of profiles with the subscriber session, wherein the different subscribers are individuals and the subscriber is one of the individuals, and wherein after being registered the subscriber is presented with an additional piece of information previously provided by the user in the user session.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the request comprises a unique identifier associated with the external entity session, the unique identifier being specified by the user in the request for assistance.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the user session is associated with a unique identifier and wherein the populating the form step further comprises the step of:

using the unique identifier in order to populate the form with the received input.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the de-registering step further comprises the step of maintaining a pointer to the user session that the control component is de-registered with.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step of:

in response to populating the form with the received input, determining whether further input is to be received from the external entity session.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5, further comprising the step of:

in response to a negative determining step, re-registering the control component with the user session, wherein the first session is re-established.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second piece of information represents at least one of:

a topic associated with the form, a topic associated with a first form prompt associated with the form, and a topic associated with a second form prompt associated with the first form prompt.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the comparing step is performed according to a pre-defined counter value.

9. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first piece of information represents at least one of:

a unique identifier associated with the form, and a unique identifier associated with a form prompt.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step of:

determining, by the forms engine, according to a pre-defined time value, whether the user requires assistance.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user session is associated with a unique identifier and wherein the populating the form step further comprises the step of:

using the unique identifier in order to populate the form with the received input and wherein the communicating step further comprises the step of;

communicating the unique identifier associated with the user session to the broker.

12. A method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step of:

in response to de-registering with the user session, disabling controls associated with the form.

14. A non-transitory computer readable tangible storage medium encoded with a computer program comprising program code means adapted to perform the steps of claim 1, when said program is run on a computer.

13. A data processing system including a memory for assisting a user, for use in an environment comprising:

a user session, an external entity session and a forms engine for generating a form;

the data processing system apparatus comprising;

means for registering a control component with the user session, wherein a first session is established between the user session and the forms engine;

means for receiving a request for assistance from the user;

means, responsive to the receiving means, for de-registering the control component with the user session, wherein the first session is un-established;

means for registering the control component with the external entity session, wherein a second session is established between the external entity session and the forms engine;

means for receiving input from the external entity session;

means for populating the form with the received input;

wherein the environment further comprises a broker data processing system and the external entity session is a subscriber session and wherein the subscriber session is associated with the broker, and wherein the broker maintains a plurality of profiles for different subscribers that are each operable to provide assistance to the user, and one of the plurality of profiles comprises a first piece of information;

wherein the form has an associated second piece of information;

means, in response to receiving the request, for retrieving, by the forms engine, the second piece of information;

means for communicating the second piece of information to the broker;

means, in response to receiving the second piece of information, for comparing, by the broker, the second piece of information to the first piece of information in the one of the plurality of profiles to determine whether the second piece of information matches the first piece of information; and

means, in response to a successful determination that the second piece of information matches the first piece of information, for registering a subscriber that is associated with the one of the plurality of profiles with the subscriber session.