US 9,311,286 B2Granted

Intelligent automatic expansion/contraction of abbreviations in text-based electronic communications

AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation

InventorsJudith H. Bank, Erik S. Bryant, Gary Denner, Patrick J. O'Sullivan

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Abstract

A method for intelligently handling abbreviations in text-based electronic communications can begin with the compilation of abbreviation usage history data by an intelligent abbreviation handler component of a text-based electronic communications system. The abbreviation usage history data can indicate a presentation preference for abbreviation elements based upon past usage by the user. An abbreviation element can be an abbreviation, an acronym, or an initialism. The abbreviation element can be presented in a condensed format or an expanded format. Abbreviation elements can be identified in a received text-based electronic communication. The presentation preference of each identified abbreviation element can be intelligently determined for each recipient from the abbreviation usage history data. An abbreviation-adjusted text-based electronic communication can be created for each recipient using the received text-based electronic communication and the determined presentation preference. The abbreviation-adjusted text-based electronic communication can be conveyed to the recipient.

Claims11

Dependent claims

A system comprising:

a processor;
a non-transitory storage medium storing program instructions that the processor executes;
a plurality of text-based electronic communications, stored in the non-transitory storage medium, having at least one abbreviation element embodied within its textual contents;
a text-based electronic communications system, comprising at least a portion of the program instructions, configured to distribute the plurality of text-based electronic communications among users of the text-based electronic communications system;
a plurality of abbreviation usage history data, stored in the non-transitory storage medium, representing a preference of a sender for abbreviation elements based upon past messages sent by that sender and the usage of the abbreviation element in text-based electronic communications by the sender of past text communications the text-based electronic communications system;
an abbreviation dictionary, stored in the non-transitory storage medium, containing a plurality of pairings that associate condensed formats of abbreviation elements with corresponding expanded formats;
an abbreviation handler, comprising at least a portion of the program instructions, configured to:
modify abbreviation elements contained in the text-based electronic communication in accordance with the presentation preference of a recipient prior to delivery to the recipient, wherein the recipient receives an abbreviation-adjusted text-based electronic communication in lieu of the text-based electronic communication, wherein each recipient's abbreviation-adjusted text that is received is consistent with that recipient's abbreviation usage history data, whereby each recipient has abbreviation adjusted text consist with abbreviation usages for when that recipient sends text-based electronic communications to others;
and
modify abbreviation elements based on the preference of the sender, for generating the abbreviation-adjusted text based electronic communication, when presentation preference of the recipient for the at least one abbreviation element is not present in the recipient's abbreviation usage history data.

7 more elements

A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising:

computer usable program code configured to compile abbreviation usage history data for a plurality of abbreviation elements contained in text-based electronic communications handled by a text-based electronic communications system, wherein said abbreviation usage history data is applicable to identified users of the text-based electronic communications system, wherein the abbreviation usage history indicates a presentation preference for an abbreviation element for a specific user based upon past usage frequency of the abbreviation element in text-based electronic communications when the specific user sent text-based electronic messages to others;
computer usable program code configured to identify at least one abbreviation element in a received text-based electronic communication that is addressed to the specific user;
computer usable program code configured to determine the presentation preference of the specific user for the at least one identified abbreviation element from the abbreviation usage history data;
and
computer usable program code configured to create an abbreviation-adjusted text based electronic communication for the specific user using the received text-based electronic communication and the determined presentation preference for the specific user for the at least one abbreviation element, whereby for any given message each recipient's abbreviation-adjusted text that is received is consistent with that recipient's abbreviation usage history data, whereby each recipient has abbreviation adjusted text consist with abbreviation usages for when that recipient sends text-based electronic communications to others, and wherein the at least one abbreviation element is modified based on the preference of a sender of the received text-based electronic communication, when presentation preference of the recipient for the at least one abbreviation element is not present in the recipient's abbreviation usage history data.

2 more elements

A computer system comprising:

one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories and one or more computer-readable, tangible storage devices;
program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to identify at least one abbreviation element in a received text-based electronic communication that is addressed to at least one recipient;
program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to determine the presentation preference of the at least one recipient for the at least one identified abbreviation element from an abbreviation usage history data, wherein the abbreviation usage history data represents a preference of a sender for the abbreviation element when sending text-based electronic communications to others;
program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to create an abbreviation-adjusted text-based electronic communication for each recipient using the received text-based electronic communication and the determined presentation preference for a recipient for the at least one abbreviation element, wherein each recipient's abbreviation-adjusted text that is received is consistent with that recipient's abbreviation usage history data, whereby each recipient has adjusted text consist with abbreviation usages for when that recipient sends text-based electronic communications to others;
and
program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to modify abbreviation elements based on the preference of the sender, for generating the abbreviation-adjusted text based electronic communication, when presentation preference of the recipient for the at least one abbreviation element is not present in the recipient's abbreviation usage history data.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.