US 2004/0205452 A1 · Apparatus, method and system for transforming data

Abstract

An apparatus, method and system to automatically associate page elements, and convert and transform between disparate data and device format types. This allows for the ability to transform a single data source into multiple output composites suitable for deployment in disparate media outlets and on disparate output devices. Such automatic generation of disparate composites allows for the ability to take content written once in any given format and have said content automatically regenerated for any desired output outlet. The present disclosure further provides the ability to create and edit templates and data, and save edited changes affecting a single or a collection of templates. The invention teaches how to create associations from a piece of data and any of its page elements. Such associations facilitate the automatic transformation of the data into various output formats.

Claims104

Dependent claims

A method for using a computer system to transform information, comprising:

creating a target document in a desired output format for a desired output device;
creating page elements in the target document that correspond to page elements from a source document;
extracting information from the page elements from the source document and populating the target's page elements with the extracted information;
transforming the page elements in the target document based on a transformation table with formatting appropriate to the desired output format and desired output device.

1 more element

A method for using a computer to transform information, comprising:

identifying a source of data;
identifying a source device format type from the source data, if possible;
identifying the source device format type, if not already identified;
identifying a target device format type;
instantiating a source device format document based on the source device format type, if not already instantiated;
instantiating a target device format document based on the target device format type, if not already instantiated;
converting the source data for use in the source device format document, if necessary;
identifying potential page elements from the source data;
generating source page elements with identifying source tags within the source device format document, if source data is un-referenced by source page elements;
populating source page elements with associated source data;
applying attributes associated with the source page elements to the populated source data;
identifying page elements in the target device format type;
generating target page elements with identifying target tags corresponding to source page elements, if the source page elements have no corresponding target page elements;
transforming attributes associated with the generated target page elements according to attributes associated with the target device format document, if available, otherwise,
identifying transformation parameters for transforming target page elements based on the differences between the source device format type and target device format type, and
transforming attributes associated with the generated target page elements according to a the transformation parameters;
populating target page elements corresponding to source page elements with source data;
and
applying attributes associated with the target page elements to the populated source data.

16 more elements

A system for using a computer to transform information, comprising:

means to identify a source of data;
means to identify a source device format type from the source data, if possible;
means to identify the source device format type, if not already identified;
means to identify a target device format type;
means to instantiate a source device format document based on the source device format type, if not already instantiated;
means to instantiate a target device format document based on the target device format type, if not already instantiated;
means to convert the source data for use in the source device format document, if necessary;
means to identify potential page elements from the source data;
means to generate source page elements with identifying source tags within the source device format document, if source data is un-referenced by source page elements;
means to populate source page elements with associated source data;
means to apply attributes associated with the source page elements to the populated source data;
means to identify page elements in the target device format type;
means to generate target page elements with identifying target tags corresponding to source page elements, if the source page elements have no corresponding target page elements;
means to transform attributes associated with the generated target page elements according to attributes associated with the target device format document, if available, otherwise using,
means to identify transformation parameters for transforming target page elements based on the differences between the source device format type and target device format type, and
means to transform attributes associated with the generated target page elements according to a the transformation parameters;
means to populate target page elements corresponding to source page elements with source data;
and
means to apply attributes associated with the target page elements to the populated source data.

16 more elements

A computer program stored on a computer readable medium, the program, comprising:

a module to identify a source of data;
a module to identify a source device format type from the source data, if possible;
a module to identify the source device format type, if not already identified;
a module to identify a target device format type;
a module to instantiate a source device format document based on the source device format type, if not already instantiated;
a module to instantiate a target device format document based on the target device format type, if not already instantiated;
a module to convert the source data for use in the source device format document, if necessary;
a module to identify potential page elements from the source data;
a module to generate source page elements with identifying source tags within the source device format document, if source data is un-referenced by source page elements;
a module to populate source page elements with associated source data;
a module to apply attributes associated with the source page elements to the populated source data;
a module to identify page elements in the target device format type;
a module to generate target page elements with identifying target tags corresponding to source page elements, if the source page elements have no corresponding target page elements;
a module to transform attributes associated with the generated target page elements according to attributes associated with the target device format document, if available, otherwise using,
a module to identify transformation parameters for transforming target page elements based on the differences between the source device format type and target device format type, and
a module to transform attributes associated with the generated target page elements according to a the transformation parameters;
a module to populate target page elements corresponding to source page elements with source data;
and
a module to apply attributes associated with the target page elements to the populated source data.

16 more elements

An information transformation apparatus, comprising:

a processor;
a memory, communicatively connected to the processor;
a program, stored in the memory, including,
a module to identify a source of data;
a module to identify a source device format type from the source data, if possible;
a module to identify the source device format type, if not already identified;
a module to identify a target device format type;
a module to instantiate a source device format document based on the source device format type, if not already instantiated;
a module to instantiate a target device format document based on the target device format type, if not already instantiated;
a module to convert the source data for use in the source device format document, if necessary;
a module to identify potential page elements from the source data;
a module to generate source page elements with identifying source tags within the source device format document, if source data is un-referenced by source page elements;
a module to populate source page elements with associated source data;
a module to apply attributes associated with the source page elements to the populated source data;
a module to identify page elements in the target device format type;
a module to generate target page elements with identifying target tags corresponding to source page elements, if the source page elements have no corresponding target page elements;
a module to transform attributes associated with the generated target page elements according to attributes associated with the target device format document, if available, otherwise using,
a module to identify transformation parameters for transforming target page elements based on the differences between the source device format type and target device format type, and
a module to transform attributes associated with the generated target page elements according to a the transformation parameters;
a module to populate target page elements corresponding to source page elements with source data;
and
a module to apply attributes associated with the target page elements to the populated source data.

19 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Apparatus, method and system for transforming data

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Apparatus, method and system for transforming data

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims104