Granted Patent B1

US 9,201,854 · App. 11/552,862 · Granted Dec 1, 2015

Abstract

Claims (48)

1. A method for processing an interactive document, the method comprising:

providing an interactive document via encapsulating operative components in a predetermined electronic file format, the format including a compressed portion for storing predetermined portions of selected operative components;

deploying the operative components via:

representing document contents of the interactive document in one or more content components comprising information selected from at least one of text, graphics, controls, or sounds,

orchestrating, from among an array of orchestration components, display of at least some of the orchestration components as a user document interaction interface within the interactive document, including arranging each orchestration component to provide variability in a type, a quantity, and a source of the content components controlling, as a function of user characteristics including at least one of an identity, a title, or a role, user access to predetermined content of the interactive document and user access regarding which, if any, of the respective displayable orchestration components within the interactive document are accessible by a user; and

providing instance data within the interactive document, the instance data comprising predetermined information obtained during one or more of the following:

interaction between a user and operations of the orchestrated display;

data retrieval from an enterprise database controlled by the orchestrated display of the user document interaction interface;

data retrieved from an external database as a function of predetermined data retrieval; and

data retrieved from an asynchronous information source.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the representing document contents further comprises representing customers, variables and resources.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the representing customers further comprises representing one or more documents.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the representing resources further comprises representing one or more print resources.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the representing print resources further comprises representing one or more print formats.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the representing print formats further comprises representing fonts, images and overlays.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the controlling user access includes rules, edit content and area, edit and selection controls, and resource restrictions.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the orchestrating further comprises one or more of the following:

conducting, via an interview subcomponent, an interview within the user document interaction interface via an interview pane to implement user design of a structure of the interactive document via selection of appearance format options and content options;

providing, via a guide fill subcomponent, a menu-based user selection of content for at least some data fields; and

providing, via an interaction history subcomponent, information to the user regarding prior user interactions with the interactive document.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein conducting the interview via the interaction history subcomponent further comprises providing a user edit history and a workflow history.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing instance data further comprises specific information obtained from user interaction with the interactive document during a document interaction session with a user.

11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a computer-executable container, the container comprising:

a container for encapsulating operative components in a predetermined electronic file format to define an interactive document, the container including a compressed portion for storing predetermined portions of selected operative components;

the operative components comprising:

one or more content components of the interactive document for representing document contents including text, graphics, controls, sounds;

an interaction orchestration component operative to display, from among an array of orchestration subcomponents, at least some of the orchestration subcomponents as a user document interaction interface within the interactive document, each orchestration subcomponent being configured to provide variability in a type, a quantity, and a source of the content components;

a control component for controlling, as a function of user characteristics including at least one of an identity, a title, or a role, user access to predetermined content components of the interactive document and user access regarding which, if any, of predetermined interaction orchestration component subcomponents within the interactive document are accessible to a user; and

instance data within the interactive document, the instance data comprising predetermined information obtained during one or more of the following:

interaction between a user and operations of the interaction orchestration component;

data retrieval from an enterprise database controlled by the interaction orchestration component;

data retrieved from an external database as a function of a predetermined data retrieval component; and

data retrieved from an asynchronous information source.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the one or more respective content components comprise one or more customer specific subcomponents, variables, and one or more resource subcomponents.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein each resource subcomponent comprises edit resources and one or more print resource subcomponents.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein each print resource subcomponent comprises a print format subcomponent.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the print format subcomponent comprises fonts, images, and overlays.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein each customer specific subcomponent comprises one or more document specific subcomponents.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein each document specific subcomponent comprises one or more page specific subcomponents.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein each page specific subcomponent comprises one or more content objects.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the control component includes information for controlling user access to other components in the interactive document.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19 , wherein the information for controlling user access includes rules, edit content and area, edit and selection controls, and resource restrictions.

21. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instance data component comprises specific information obtained from user interaction with the interactive document during a document interaction session with a user.

22. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the orchestration subcomponents comprise one or more of the following:

an interview subcomponent configured to conduct an interview within the user document interaction interface via an interview pane to implement user design of a structure the interactive document via selection of appearance format options and content options;

a guide fill subcomponent configured to provide a menu-based user selection of content for at least some data fields; and

an interaction history subcomponent configured to inform the user regarding prior user interactions with the interactive document.

23. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein the interaction history subcomponent comprises a user edit history subcomponent and a workflow history.

Assignments (14)