SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR POPULATING USER INFORMATION ON ELECTRONIC FORMS
Systems and methods are provided for populating user information onto an electronic form such as a word processing document, template, application-specific form or web page. Fields are identified on the electronic form and matched with fields stored in a continuously-updated user profile before the content of the matching fields are populated onto the electronic form. The electronic form may be stored within a central forms library and selected by the user for completion, while a third-party form presented as a word processing document, template, application-specific form or web page may be populated using an application extension which communicates with an application, browser or third-party service to identify and populate the form fields. Additionally, a mobile application provides for physical forms to be captured by a camera on a smartphone or tablet, after which the fields are identified and populated onto the captured image of the form.
1 . A system for populating user information on an electronic form, comprising:
a profile creation unit which creates a user profile of user information including a plurality of fields and a plurality of values for the plurality of fields which stores the user information; and
an information populating unit which is configured to:
identify at least one field on the electronic form;
match the identified at least one field on the electronic form with at least one corresponding field in the user profile; and
populate the identified at least one field on the electronic form with the value of the matched corresponding field in the user profile.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic form is stored in a central forms library of a server.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic form is stored in a remote database.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic form is provided by one of: an application, an internet browser and a third-party service.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the information populating unit interfaces with the application, internet browser or third-party service via an application programming interface (API), browser extension or plugin.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic form is selected from at least one of: a word processing document, a template, an application-specific form and a webpage.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the matched corresponding field in the user profile contains a plurality of values, and wherein the information populating unit selects one of the plurality of values to populate into the matching at least one field based on other fields in the electronic form.
8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic form is created by capturing an image of a physical form from a portable electronic device and identifying the at least one field based on an optical character recognition.
9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic form populated with the value of the matched corresponding field, a name of the electronic form and a date the electronic form was populated is stored in a user profile archive.
10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the information populating unit provides a form completion indicator which displays a visual indication of a number of the at least one field which can be populated on the electronic form.
11 . A method of populating user information on an electronic form, comprising the steps of:
creating a user profile of user information including a plurality of fields and a plurality of values for the plurality of fields which stores the user information;
identifying at least one field on the electronic form;
matching the identified at least one field on the electronic form with at least one corresponding field in the user profile; and
populating the identified at least one field on the electronic form with the value of the matched corresponding field in the user profile.
12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising storing the electronic form in a central forms library of a server.
13 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising storing the electronic form in a remote database.
14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the electronic form is provided by one of: an application, an internet browser and a third-party service.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the information populating unit interfaces with the application, internet browser or third-party service via an application programming interface (API), browser extension or plugin.
16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the electronic form is selected from at least one of:
a word processing document, a template, an application-specific form and a webpage.
17 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the matched corresponding field in the user profile contains a plurality of values, and wherein one of the plurality of values is selected to populate into the matching at least one field based on other fields in the electronic form.
18 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising capturing an image of a physical form from a portable electronic device to create the electronic form and identifying the at least one field based on an optical character recognition.
19 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising storing the electronic form populated with the value of the matched corresponding field in a user profile archive along with a name of the electronic form and a date the electronic form was populated.
20 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the information populating unit displays a form completion indicator which displays a visual indication of a number of the at least one field which can be populated on the electronic form.