Programmable use of data extracted from common presentation files
View Patent ↗A system and method of retrieving a target set of data from a presentation file. The system comprises: an extractor that extracts data elements from the presentation file, associates a unique identifier to each data element, and stores each data element and associated identifier in an extraction object; and a formatter that selects the target set of the data from the extraction object based on a set of references in a target object. Each reference conforms to a predefined set of rules that allow, for instance, data elements to be addressed by page, object, row and column.
1. A method of generating a target set of data from a presentation file, comprising:
extracting a plurality of data elements from the presentation file;
associating a unique identifier to each data element;
storing each data element and the unique identifier associated with the data element in an extraction object;
storing references in a target object that refer to targeted data elements;
generating a target set of data using a formatter by matching the references in the target object with data elements in the extraction object; and
outputting the matched data elements.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein each unique identifier identifies a page, a data object, a row, and a column.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein each reference conforms to a predetermined set of rules.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined set of rules allows a reference to refer to a data element with a page number, object number, row number and column number.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the predetermined set of rules allows a reference to comprise an addressing mechanism selected from the group consisting of: a page title, an object title, a row title, a column title, and a positional equivalent.
6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the predetermined set of rules allows a reference to comprise a mathematical operator.
7. A program product stored on a recordable medium for generating a targeted set of data from a presentation file, comprising:
means for extracting a plurality of data elements from the presentation file, associating a unique identifier to each data element, and storing each data element and the unique identifier associated with the data element in an extraction object;
means for storing references in a target object, wherein each reference refers to a targeted data element;
means for generating a target set of data by matching the references in the target object with data elements in the extraction object; and
means for outputting the matched data elements in a predetermined format.
8. The program product of claim 7 , wherein the each unique identifier identifies a page, a data object, a row, and a column.
9. The program product of claim 7 , wherein each reference conforms to a predetermined set of rules.
10. The program product of claim 9 , wherein the predetermined set of rules allows a reference to refer to a data element wit a page number, object number, row number and column number.
11. The program product of claim 9 , wherein the predetermined set of rules allows a reference to comprise an addressing mechanism selected from the group consisting of: a page title, an object title, a row title, a column title, and a positional equivalent.
12. The program product of claim 9 , wherein the predetermined set of rules allows a reference to comprise a mathematical operator.