Information gathering command generator

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 for generating a sequence of commands to gather information, the method comprising:
• providing, by a processor of a computing system, a plurality of goals using a command generation engine coupled to the processor and stored in the memory device of the computing system, the command generation engine including the plurality of goals, each goal of the plurality of goals having a weighting associated with the goal, and providing a set of commands that, when executed;
• lead to a completion of the plurality of goals, the set of commands being generated by the command generation engine;
• constructing, by the processor, a directed tree graph, the directed tree graph comprising a root node, a respective plurality of leaf nodes associated with each goal of the plurality of goals, and one or more parent nodes, each node being associated with one command of the set of commands, the associated command of the set of commands having a potential, when executed to complete any goals associated with the node and all of the plurality of goals associated with any nodes subordinate to the node;
• determining, by the processor, a priority of each command of the set of commands using a command priority determiner coupled to the processor and stored in the memory device, based on a sum of the weightings associated with the goals associated with leaf nodes subordinate to the node associated with the command of the set of commands;
• and
• executing, by the processor, one or more of the set of commands using a command execution module coupled to the processor and stored in the memory device of the computing system, a command having a higher priority being executed before a command having a lower priority, any goal being satisfied by a response from a user to the command having the weighting associated with the goal changed to zero, the command being marked as completed, the determining the priority of each command of the set of commands being repeated after executing each the command, thereby reducing an amount of commands needed to be executed using the directed tree graph to identify the product for the use;
• wherein the computing system is implemented in a distributed cloud computing environment where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network, and program modules are located in both local and remote computer system storage media including memory storage devices.

A non-transitory 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 generating a sequence of commands to gather information using a directed tree graph, the method comprising:

• providing, by a processor of a computing system, a plurality of goals using a command generation engine coupled to the processor and stored in a system memory of the computing system, the command generation engine including the plurality of goals, each goal of the plurality of goals having a weighting associated with the goal, and providing a set of commands that, when executed, lead to a completion of the plurality of goals, the set of commands being generated by the command generation engine;
• constructing, by the processor, a directed tree graph, the directed tree graph comprising a root node, a respective plurality of leaf nodes associated with each goal of the plurality of goals, and one or more parent nodes, each node being associated with one command of the set of commands, the associated command of the set of commands having a potential, when executed to complete any goals associated with the node and all of the plurality of goals associated with any nodes subordinate to the node;
• determining, by the processor, a priority of each command of the set of commands using a command priority determiner coupled to the processor and stored in the system memory, based on a sum of the weightings associated with the goals associated with leaf nodes subordinate to the node associated with the command of the set of commands;
• and
• executing, by the processor, one or more of the set of commands using a command execution module coupled to the processor and stored in the system memory of the computing system, a command having a higher priority being executed before a command having a lower priority, any goal being satisfied by a response from a user to the command having the weighting associated with the goal changed to zero, the command being marked as completed, the determining the priority of each command of the set of commands being repeated after executing each the command, thereby reducing an amount of commands needed to be executed using the directed tree graph to identify the product for the user;
• wherein the computing system is implemented in a distributed cloud computing environment where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network, and program modules are located in both local and remote computer system storage media including memory storage devices.