System for describing the overlaying of electronic data onto an electronic image
In an environment in which some forms are received in paper form and some in electronic form or an environment in which in which workers prefer using paper forms, the invention provides a method of producing a template for the purpose of producing paper forms from electronic forms, the paper forms produced from the electronic forms being similar in appearance to forms that were completed in hard copy. Variable information is extracted from one or more electronic forms that are to be mapped to the paper form. A template is created by placing the variables from the electronic form onto an image of the paper form. The template may include position coordinate information, variable name information, text, and logic. After the template is completed, the system uses the template to print paper forms from instances of electronic forms. In some cases, multiple electronic forms can be mapped to a single paper form, and a preferred system can create a template, even if questions presented in electronic forms vary, depending on answers of previous questions.
1. A method of producing a template for producing a printout of a paper form from an electronic form, comprising:
a. displaying an image of the paper form in a window on a computer screen;
b. providing an electronic form including xml code;
c. iterating through the xml code to extract a list of variables;
d. storing the extracted variables;
e. displaying the extracted variables;
f. selecting a variable from the displayed extracted variables and positioning a representation of the selected variable onto the image of the paper form;
g. identifying corresponding variables storing the same information as the selected variable;
h. marking the selected variable and the corresponding displayed variables to indicate that the information associated with these variables has been added to the image;
i. storing in a template file identification information about the selected variable and position information describing where the variable was added, the template file being available for automatically converting completed instances of the electronic form into paper forms;
j. retrieving multiple completed instances of the electronic form, said completed forms having information associated with the variables on the electronic form;
k. merging the information from each completed electronic form with the template file to create a printable form corresponding to each electronic form; and
l. printing the forms.
2. The method of claim 1 in which storing the variables includes storing multiple representations of at least some of the variables.
3. The method of claim 2 in which in storing multiple representations of at least some of the variables includes storing at least some of the variables in an xml file and in an sql searchable database.
4. The method of claim 3 in which identifying corresponding variables storing the same information as the selected variable includes searching the database using a structured query language to identify the corresponding variables.
5. The method of claim 1 in which displaying the variables includes displaying the variables in a hierarchical arrangement.
6. The method of claim 1 in which storing in a template file identification information about the selected variable and position information describing where the variable was added includes storing the identification and position information in an XML file.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing a second electronic form including xml code and in which iterating though the xml code to extract a list of variables includes extracting a list of variables corresponding to the variables in both electronic forms.
8. The method of claim 1 in which selecting a variable from the displayed variables and adding it to the image of the paper form includes defining logic that changes the appearance of the paper forms depending on the value of one or more of the variables.
9. The method of claim 1 in which storing in a template file identification information about the selected variable and position information describing where the variable was added includes embedding logic in the template, the logic describing how sections of the paper forms should be adaptively displayed based on the values of the variables.
10. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by a computer, implement the method of claim 1 .
11. A method of producing a template for producing a printout of a paper form from an electronic form, comprising:
displaying an image of the paper form in a window on a computer screen;
extracting a list of variables from one or more electronic forms and displaying the list of variables in a window on the computer screen;
selecting variables from the list of variables and positioning a representation of the selected variables onto the image of the paper form; and
producing a template file including the selected variable names and positions of selected variable names on the image of the paper form, the template file including information for automated processing of multiple data sets corresponding to one or more electronic forms by printing images of the paper form with the data from the data set placed in accordance with the information in the template file.
12. The method of claim 11 in which extracting a list of variables from an electronic form includes assigning hierarchical information about the variable and in which displaying the list of variables includes displaying the variables in a hierarchy.
13. The method of claim 11 in which displaying an image of a paper form includes converting a multi-page PDF form into multiple single page PDF forms and converting each of the multiple single page PDF forms into an image format for displaying on the computer screen.
14. The method of claim 11 in which extracting a list of variables includes storing the variables in a database and in which displaying a list of variables includes searching the database to locate a variable that was placed on the paper form image and other variables storing the same information and indicating on the display that that variable and the other variables have been placed.
15. The method of claim 11 in which extracting a list of variables from one or more electronic forms includes extracting a list of variables from multiple electronic forms that are directed to different areas within a single institution.
16. The method of claim 11 further comprising embedding logic in the template, the logic describing how sections of the paper forms should be adaptively displayed based on the values of the variables.
17. The method of claim 16 in which the values of variables displayed in first sections of the paper forms determine how second sections of the paper forms should be displayed.
18. The method of claim 11 in which in extracting a list of variables includes storing multiple representations of at least some of the extracted variables.
19. The method of claim 18 in which multiple representations of at least some of the extracted variables includes storing at least some of the variables in an xml file and in an sql searchable database.
20. The method of claim 11 in which storing the variables includes storing multiple representations of at least some of the variables.