Dynamic questionnaire generation

A computer-implemented method of generating an information capture document using external data and received information, the method comprising the steps of:

• accessing a template comprising content elements selected by rules operating on input information, wherein at least one content element comprises at least a first variable;
• prior to gathering information from a user for evaluating the rules, determining the number and type of occurrences of the first variable within the template based on a set of rules including at least one second variable, wherein the set of rules determine whether the first variable occurs in the template with unconditional text, conditional text or a usage statement;
• prior to gathering information from the user for evaluating the rules, determining the relevance of the first variable, in terms of the second variable, based on the number and type of occurrences of the first variable, wherein the relevance of a variable indicates whether or not a question associated with the variable is to be included in an information capture document or not;
• and
• prior to gathering information from the user for evaluating the rules, generating a web form questionnaire for obtaining input information from the user, based upon at least the determined relevance of the first variable, including disabling a first question associated with the first variable if the second variable is determined to be irrelevant.

A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having stored thereon program instructions which when run on a computer causes the computer to perform the steps of:

• accessing a template comprising content elements selected by rules operating on input information, wherein at least one content element comprises at least a first variable;
• prior to gathering information from a user for evaluating the rules, determining the number and type of occurrences of the first variable within the template based on a set of rules including at least one second variable;
• wherein the set of rules determine whether the first variable occurs in the template within unconditional text, conditional text or a usage statement;
• prior to gathering information from the user for evaluating the rules, determining the relevance of the first variable, in terms of the second variable, based on the number and type of occurrences of the first variable, wherein the relevance of a variable indicates whether or not a question associated with the variable is to be included in an information capture document or not;
• and
• prior to gathering information from the user for evaluating the rules, generating a web form questionnaire for obtaining input information from the user, based upon at least the determined relevance of the first variable, including disabling a first question associated with the first variable if the second variable is determined to be irrelevant.

A system for generating a customised document having a template comprising content elements selected by rules operating on input information captured by means of a web form, wherein at least one content element comprises at least a first variable, the system further comprising:

• a) a document generation program installed on a computer to generate a fully or a partially customised document by evaluating the rules to select some of the content elements;
• b) means to evaluate a set of further rules, the rules including at least one second variable, to determine the number and type of the currencies of the first variable, within the template, wherein the further rules determine whether the first variable occurs in the template within unconditional text, conditional text or a usage statement, wherein the further set of rules is evaluated before gathering information from the user for evaluating the rules;
• c) means to aggregate the further set of rules with one another to determine the relevance of the first variable in terms of the at least second variable wherein the relevance of a variable indicates whether or not a question associated with the variable is to be included in an information capture document or not, wherein the relevance of the first variable in terms of the at least second variable is determined before gathering information from the user for evaluating the rules;
• and
• d) means to generate a web form for obtaining input information from a user, based upon at least the determined relevance of the first variable, wherein the web form comprises at least a first question associated with the first variable and a second question associated with the at least one second variable, and wherein a first question associated with the first variable is disabled if the second variable is determined to be irrelevant, wherein the web form is generated before gathering information from the user for evaluating the rules.