# US 10,120,862 B2 · Dynamic management of relative time references in documents > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,120,862 B2 - Document ID: US10120862B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/480,758 - Filed: 2017-04-06 - Published: 2018-10-11 - Granted: 2018-11-06 - Earliest claimed: 2017-04-06 - Assignees: International Business Machines Corporation - Applicants: International Business Machines Corporation - Inventors: Alessandro Baroni; Emanuela Fionchetti; Alessandro Ghezzi; Antonio M. Sgro; Marta Usai - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10120862B2 ## CPC - G06F 40/30: Semantic analysis - G06F 8/315: {Object-oriented languages} - G06F 16/3344: {using natural language analysis} - G06F 16/93: Document management systems - G06F 40/103: Formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents (automatic justification G06F40/189; automatic line break hyphenation G06F40/191) - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract A method, computer system, and computer program product for accessing documents is provided. The method includes providing a document having one or more original time references having corresponding meanings depending on one or more time bases, identifying the original time references in the document, generating corresponding time artifacts for the original time references, the time artifacts including corresponding time values being calculated from the corresponding original time references according to the time bases and/or corresponding calculation instructions for calculating the corresponding time values from the corresponding original time references according to the time bases, and associating the corresponding time artifacts with the original time references for outputting the corresponding time values. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for accessing documents, the method comprising: providing, by a processor of a computing system, a document comprising one or more original time references having corresponding meanings depending on one or more time bases; identifying, by the processor, at least one original time reference in the document; generating, by the processor, a corresponding time artifact for the at least one original time reference, the corresponding time artifact comprising corresponding time values being calculated from the corresponding original time references according to the one or more time bases and/or corresponding calculation instructions for calculating the corresponding time values from the corresponding original time references according to the one or more time bases; associating, by the processor, the corresponding time artifacts with the at least one original time reference for outputting the corresponding time values; generating, by the processor, the corresponding time artifacts to comprise corresponding translated time references, each translated time reference comprising the corresponding time values and a text corresponding to the meaning of the corresponding at least one original time reference, which changes the meaning of the at least one original time reference to a user accessing the document, independently of a time at which the document is accessed; generating, by the processor, a translated document from the document by replacing the at least one original time reference with the corresponding translated time references; and outputting, by the processor, the translated document in place of the document. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one original time reference is identified by a semantic analysis of a text of the document written in natural language. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, further comprising: outputting, by the processor, the document; and outputting, by the processor, the corresponding translated time references of one or more of the at least one original time references in response to a translation request thereof. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the generating corresponding time artifacts comprises, for one or more fixed original time references of the original time references depending on one or more fixed time bases of the time bases: determining, by the processor, the fixed time bases; and calculating, by the processor, the corresponding time values from the fixed original time references according to the fixed time bases. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method according to claim 4, wherein the determining the fixed time bases comprises: retrieving, by the processor, a creation date of the document from metadata thereof. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein for one or more variable original time references of the at least one original time reference depending on one or more variable time bases of the time bases, the method comprises: determining, by the processor, the variable time bases; and calculating, by the processor, the corresponding time values by applying the corresponding calculation instructions to the variable time bases. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method according to claim 6, wherein the determining the variable time bases comprises: retrieving, by the processor, a current date. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, further comprising: storing, by the processor, an association result of the associating the corresponding time artifacts with the at least one original time reference; and retrieving, by the processor, the document and the association result in response to an access request to the document. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method according to claim 8, wherein the storing an association result comprises: replacing, by the processor, the at least one original time reference with the corresponding time artifacts in the document. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The method according to claim 8, wherein the storing an association result comprises: storing, by the processor, the association result in a mapping structure distinct from a content of the document. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, further comprising: injecting, by the processor, program code for calculating the corresponding time values by applying the calculation instructions into the document. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, further comprising: injecting, by the processor, program code for outputting the time values on request into the document. ### Claim 13 A computer program product, comprising a computer readable hardware storage device storing a computer readable program code, the computer readable program code comprising an algorithm that when executed by a computer processor of a computing system implements a method for accessing documents, the method comprising: providing, by the processor, a document comprising one or more original time references having corresponding meanings depending on one or more time bases; identifying, by the processor, at least one original time reference in the document: generating, by the processor, a corresponding time artifact for the at least one original time reference, the corresponding time artifact comprising corresponding time values being calculated from the corresponding original time references according to the one or more time bases and/or corresponding calculation instructions for calculating the corresponding time values from the corresponding original time references according to the one or more time bases; associating, by the processor, the corresponding time artifacts with the at least one original time reference for outputting the corresponding time values; generating by the processor, the corresponding time artifacts to comprise corresponding translated time references, each translated time reference comprising the corresponding time values and a possible text corresponding to the meaning of the corresponding at least one original time reference, which changes the meaning of the at least one original time reference to a user accessing the document, independently of a time at which the document is accessed; generating, by the processor, a translated document from the document by replacing the at least one original time reference with the corresponding translated time references; and outputting, by the processor, the translated document in place of the document. ### Claim 14 A computer system comprising: a processor; a memory device coupled to the processor; and a computer readable storage device coupled to the processor, wherein the storage device contains program code executable by the processor via the memory device to implement a method of accessing documents, the method comprising: providing, by the processor, a document comprising one or more original time references having corresponding meanings depending on one or more time bases; identifying, by the processor, at least one original time reference in the document; generating, by the processor, a corresponding time artifact for the at least one original time reference, the corresponding time artifact comprising corresponding time values being calculated from the corresponding original time references according to the one or more time bases and/or corresponding calculation instructions for calculating the corresponding time values from the corresponding original time references according to the one or more time bases; associating, by the processor, the corresponding time artifacts with the at least one original time reference for outputting the corresponding time values; generating, by the processor, the corresponding time artifacts to comprise corresponding translated time references, each translated time reference comprising the corresponding time values and a possible text corresponding to the meaning of the corresponding at least one original time reference, which changes the meaning of the at least one original time reference to a user accessing the document, independently of a time at which the document is accessed; generating, by the processor, a translated document from the document by replacing the at least one original time reference with the corresponding translated time references; and outputting by the processor, the translated document in place of the document.