WO2006118572A1 - Document/form processing method and apparatus using active documents and mobilized software - Google Patents

Abstract

A server embeds typically static documents with program code enabling, for example, a form to intelligently route itself to a desired destination, to prompt a user to respond to particular questions, to perform validation operations, and to present various pull down list choices from which a user may select. Such an 'active document' preferably has the capability of presenting a questionnaire to a user and to consolidate responses to the questionnaire. The active document-based questionnaire (490) may be designed such that different questions are automatically sent to different recipients (494). A wide variety of applications are described including product sales lead generation and product marketing to enable the collection and optimal distribution of information regarding potential customer names, feedback concerning opinions about the product.

Description

TITLE OF THE INVENTION

DOCUMENT/FORM PROCESSING METHOD AND APPARATUS USING ACTIVE DOCUMENTS AND MOBILIZED SOFTWARE

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No.

10/361,853, filed on February 11, 2003, entitled "Facsimile/Machine Readable

Document Processing and Form Generation Apparatus and Method" which

application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. This application

claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 60/563,799, filed April 21, 2004,

the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in this application.

HELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The invention generally relates to document processing and

distribution systems and methodology. More particularly, the invention relates to

a system and method for enabling the electronic capture and transmission of a

wide variety of forms in many formats in a manner which streamlines

collaboration between organizations and/or between organizations and individual

users.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Portable Document Format (PDF) is widely used for the secure and

reliable distribution and exchange of electronic documents and forms around the

world. PDF is a universal file format that preserves the fonts, images, graphics,

and layout of any source document, regardless of the application and platform used to create it. Adobe® PDF files can be shared, viewed, and printed by anyone

with Adobe Reader® software.

[0004] Governments and enterprises around the world have adopted PDF to

streamline document management, increase productivity, and reduce reliance on

paper. For example, PDF is a standard format for the electronic submission of

drug approvals to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and for

electronic case filing in U.S. federal courts. It is also used by the governments of

the United Kingdom and Germany for electronic document exchange.

[0005] PDF documents are often electronically communicated between

individuals, for example, via e-mail. These PDF file format documents typically

tend to be passive documents which reflect a series of printed pages.

[0006] A recipient of a PDF file is able open such a file, read the file and

print the file to obtain a hard copy. Such files generally may be regarded as static

files, i.e., an electronic version of a printed document.

[0007] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of one aspect of the

present invention, such typically static documents are embedded with program

code enabling, for example, a form to intelligently route itself to a desired

destination, to prompt a user to respond to particular questions, to perform

validation operations, and to present various pull down list choices from which a

user may select.

[0008] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, an active document

may have associated therewith a form including an embedded questionnaire. A form should be broadly viewed as including an electronic file including

information solicitation-related information. Such a form would include a

mechanism for providing solicited information such as, for example, blank spaces

for providing requested or required information. Rather than blank spaces, other

approaches may be used to permit data entry of solicited information by a

recipient such as by clicking a mouse on one of several alternative choices. Such

an active document preferably has the capability of presenting a questionnaire to a

user and when processed at a server results in the consolidation of responses to the

questionnaire. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the active

document-based questionnaire may be designed such that the responses to

different questions are automatically sent to different recipients.

[0009] The active document controls the_. distribution of such questions and

maintains the answers thereto. For example, in a marketing campaign, a

marketing agency may receive certain general compiled statistics based upon

responses to questions relating to how well a corporation's product is doing in the

marketplace. A corporate sales manager responsible for the product may be

likewise automatically sent certain statistics pertinent to the manager's

responsibilities, together with names and addresses of individuals to be contacted

in relation to purchasing and/or marketing the product. Additionally, feedback

obtained from responses to questions regarding problems with the product may be

sent to a product manager responsible for product quality control. Thus, in accordance with an exemplary implementation, the document itself has the

embedded intelligence to perform such distribution functions.

[0010] A wide variety of applications are contemplated for the mobile

software and active document methodology described herein. For example, such

applications include product sales lead generation and product marketing to enable

the collection and optimal distribution of information regarding potential customer

names, feedback concerning opinions about the product.

[0011] The mobile software and active document methodology and

apparatus of the present invention also may be applied to a wide variety of medical

applications. For example, the mobile software and active document methodology

described herein may be used for collecting medical history information related to

new drug testing conducted by a pharmaceutical drug company.

[0012] In such a medical application, by way of example only, a doctor may

fill an active document form detailing testing results. The information on such an

intelligent document would be automatically routed to the appropriate places for

data preservation and analysis. In this fashion, a doctor in a hospital may enter

information from various patients via, for example, a tablet computer. The

gathered information may then be intelligently routed to a server if an online

connection may be immediately established. Alternatively, if an online connection

cannot be established, the gathered information will be locally stored and will

automatically be later forwarded to the server whenever the next connection is

established. [0013] The methodology described herein may be applied in wide range of

product/system service applications. For example, a technician from a hardware

vendor may be sent out to resolve a particular problem with the vendor's product.

The technician having a laptop with a wireless communication capability may

retrieve an active document form via which the technician may request a particular

replacement part. The active document and mobilized software embedded in the

form would be utilized to automatically establish a connection to the technician's

home base or automatically save answers to questions which will be automatically

forwarded to the home base once a wireless connection is established. Such

operation would occur without the technician having to perform any required

operation other than completing and submitting the intelligent form.

[0014] In this exemplary embodiment, from the user's point of view,

communication appears to be seamless since the user need not personally establish

a network connection. Thus, the technician, after submitting the document, does

not have to be concerned with whether a connection is actually established or not

since the active document will automatically ensure ultimate communication with

the home base.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] These, as well as other features of the present exemplary

embodiments will be better appreciated by reading the following description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention taken in conjunction with the

accompanying drawings of which

[0016] FIGURE 1 is a logical architecture overview of the major

hardware/software systems in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the

present invention.

[0017] FIGURE 2 is a high level block diagram showing system

components in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present

invention.

[0018] FIGURE 3 is a block diagram which shows in further detail certain

aspects of an illustrative system architecture in accordance with an exemplary

embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] FIGURE 4 is a work flow diagram delineating the sequence of

operations performed during the document conversion process in an exemplary

embodiment.

[0020] Figure 5 is a block diagram which demonstrates exemplary steps

employed by one or more of the servers in the Figure 3 system in an active

document application.

[0021] Figure 6 is an exemplary flow diagram depicting the various stages

through which an active document eFoπn may undergo from its creation to its

utilization.

[0022] Figure 7 is a block diagram showing an active document server

architecture and associated input and output receipt and distribution. [0023] Figure 8 is a block diagram that illustrates a system for applying the

active document methodology in a customer relations management application.

[0024] Figure 9 is a block diagram showing an exemplary active document eForms platform in a business application system.

[0025] Figure 10 is a block diagram depicting operations performed by the program management subsystem.

[0026] Figure 11 is a block diagram depicting operations performed by the partner management subsystem.

[0027] Figure 12 is a block diagram depicting operations performed by the questionnaire management subsystem.

[0028] Figure 13 is block diagram depicting operations performed by the template management subsystem.

[0029] Figure 14 is block diagram depicting operations performed by the active document management subsystem.

[0030] Figure 15 is block diagram depicting operations performed by the

active document distribution management subsystem.

[0031] Figure 16 is a flowchart delineating the sequence of operations

involved in creating a questionnaire.

[0032] Figure 17 is a flowchart indicating the sequence of operations

involved in modifying a questionnaire.

[0033] Figure 18 is a flowchart delineating the sequence of operations

involved in creating a template.

[0034] Figure 19 is a flowchart indicating the sequence of operations

involved in modifying a template. [0035] Figure 20 is a flowchart indicating the sequence of operations

involved in downloading software.

[0036] Figure 21 is a flowchart delineating the sequence of operations

involved in publishing an active document.

[0037]

[0038] Figure 22 is a flowchart delineating the sequence of operations

involved in track lead processing.

[0039] Figure 23 is a flowchart delineating the sequence of operations

involved in lead distribution configuration.

[0040] Figure 24 is an exemplary questionnaire of a company Port

Packaging.

[0041] Figure 25 is a screen display illustrating the selection of

questionnaire categories.

[0042] Figure 26 is an exemplary screen display showing illustrative

questionnaires that may be selected.

[0043] Figure 27 is an exemplary screen display showing the capturing of a

title, introduction and closing comments.

[0044] Figure 28 is an exemplary screen display showing illustrative survey

.presentation styles that may be selected.

[0045] Figure 29 is an exemplary screen display showing various questions

in a questionnaire which may be selected for editing. [0046] Figure 30 is an exemplary screen display illustrating the editing of a

questionnaire question.

[0047] Figure 31 shows an exemplary screen display in which a question

style may be selected.

[0048] Figure 32 shows an exemplary screen display in which a question

text and response text may be entered.

[0049] Figure 33 shows an exemplary screen display illustrating the

selection of questions from a question library.

[0050] Figure 34 is an exemplary screen display showing a displayed

template that has been created.

[0051] Figure 35 is an illustrative screen display showing a questionnaire

with questions and various editing features.

[0052] Figure 36 is an exemplary screen display showing the specification

of a template font size and color.

[0053] Figure 37 is an exemplary screen display illustrating the selection of

a template.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT AND PREFERRED

EMBODIMENTS

[0054] Figure 1 is a high level overview of an exemplary organization of

major hardware and software components in accordance with one exemplary

embodiment. Exemplary system components are described in detail in parent application Serial No. 10/361,853, which application has been incorporated herein

by reference in its entirety. As shown Figure 1, a template development and

operational monitoring system 1 operates to manage documents which are

received, and to design templates. As will be explained in detail below, in

accordance with an exemplary embodiment, active documents are created to result

in "mobile" forms that can be completed on or off line. These forms have the

ability to submit themselves directly via web services if online. These active

documents have the built-in intelligence to queue themselves and utilize, for

example, email functionality or other methods of queuing which provide a

guaranteed delivery of exactly one instance of the data .

[0055] Prior to explaining the active document and mobile software aspects

of the exemplary embodiments beginning with the description of Figure 5, various

hardware and software system components employed in an illustrative

embodiment are first described. The template development and operational

monitoring system 1 is coupled to a multi-channel server engine 2 which, for

example, in addition to active document processing tasks described below,

converts the output of the template development system 1 into a document in the

proper form such as, for example, an XML document which in turn can be

converted into a final form such as. for example, an EDI document. Additionally,

a multi-channel engine client application 3 interacts with multi-channel server

engine 2 to assist in performing error detecting/correcting activities while viewing documents being processed. Client application 3 also interacts with the template

development system 1 as will be explained further below.

[0056] It should be understood that the subsystems shown in the template

development system 1, the multi-channel server engine 2, and the client

application system 3 are shown, for illustration purposes only, to explain certain

aspects of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Certain modules

may, for example, be combined with others, performed in another portion of the

system or be left out of the system in a given implementation.

[0057] Turning back to the template development and operational

monitoring system 1, this system supports the processing and management of

received documents of any of a wide variety of types. The document management

system 4, template designer 5, and viewer management system 6 coact in the

document template development and setup process. Document management

system 4 retrieves documents from a queue and identifies the type of document,

e.g., Microsoft Word document, PDF document or image document, for further

processing.

[0058] The template designer 5 creates documents that are managed by the

document management system 4. The template designer 5 stores and retrieves

documents and applies predefined rules for generating a template document. In

designing a template document, various characteristics of an input document are

mapped to predefined portions of the template document. As part of the template

design process, a viewer management system 6 controls the display of the customer's input form and the template being generated during the template design

process. Thus, through split screen techniques, a user can see both the original

document and the resulting template created by mapping fields from the

originating document onto the template.

[0059] The trading partner management system 7 links, for example, a

customer (trading partner) who is forwarding, for example, a purchase order with

the purchase order format that is characteristic of that customer. The overall

system in Figure 1 then operates to convert the format typical of the customer to a

normalized XML based purchase order format in accordance with, for example,

EDI. Thus, for example, each corporate customer using the system, in accordance

with an exemplary embodiment, may utilize its own distinct internal purchase

order format, which may be transmitted, for example, via facsimile. Each of the

disparate purchase order formats will be converted into a common standard format

for further processing. Thus, the trading partner management system 7 links a

customer identification with the customer's document format such that appropriate

conversion rules may be applied to convert such a format to a standard format

such as EDI. Back end integration system 8 operates to deliver the document to.

the required destination.

[0060] The customer may choose to transmit documents via, for example, a

common email system. However, the overall system shown in Figure 1 supports

web services 316 as an alternative method for submitting documents. Documents

submitted via web services 316 provide for additional control and security. Besides document submission, any external data, for example trading partner

registration information, may be submitted to the overall system via web services

316.

[0061] Turning next to the multi-channel server engine 2, this engine

includes a document volume processing manager 35 which includes a listener

(document extractor/monitoring system) 9, which monitors when documents have

arrived for processing. The listener 9 detects the arrival of the documents and the

document type. A thread management system 10 performs the necessary

processing to ensure that the application is readily scalable. For example, if

documents are received every two minutes, no enhanced processing capability for

high volume is required. However, if documents are received at extremely high

volume, the system hardware should be capable of processing at speeds required

to properly handle such volume. The thread management system 10 ensures that

processing capability will scale up as necessary. For example, if the system

hardware includes multiple processors, then multiple threads may be processed in

parallel.

[0062] An event management system 11 responds to various events such as,

for example, the receipt of a document and triggers the required operation to be

performed. The event management system 1 1 also responds to the detection of an

error event.

[0063] The server engine 2 also includes a document driver management

system 36. The document driver system 36 includes distinct driver software depending upon the nature of the document. The document driver management

system 36 is used to dispatch the appropriate parser depending on the document

type submitted by the customer, for example a FAX, Word, PDF, XFORM or

some other format.

[0064] Such driver software includes fax/image document driver software

12 and machine readable document driver software 13. Thus, document

processing will differ depending upon whether the document is determined to be a

fax or image document or a machine readable document (which would include, for

example, a word document or any other type of machine readable document).

[0065] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the system

additionally includes a client application system 3 which may be embodied in a

PC and includes a viewer subsystem 14 and productivity tools 15. The viewer

subsystem 14 permits a user to view an original document and a document

undergoing conversion to a standard document format. The client application 3

provides the system user with a set of productivity tools 15 depending upon the

role of the user in the corporate environment and access capability built into the

user's password. Productivity tools may permit a user to design templates, manage

documents, correct documents, etc., based on the user's access authority. The

client application module 3 interacts with both the template development system 1

and the multi-channel server engine 2.

[0066] Figure 2 is a high level block diagram showing illustrative system

components in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As will be explained further below, various types of documents may,

for example, be received via the Internet 16. An external firewall 17 is utilized to

prevent unauthorized access to system servers. In accordance with an exemplary

embodiment of the present invention, the external firewall may run a non-

Windows operating system to confuse intruders. A conventional IIS server 18 is

used to manage web pages and web access. An exchange server 19 is utilized as

the initial repository for incoming documents. Associated with IIS 18 is a mail

send engine (MSE) 20. Associated with the exchange server 19 is a mail queue

listener (MQL) 21, which retrieves mail from a mail queue and determines, for

each retrieved e-mail, the number of attachments that are associated therewith.

The mail queue listener 21 operates to retrieve each attached document and store

the attached document in the SQL server data store 25 via the internal firewall 22

and servers 23 and 24.

[0067] Internal firewall 22 may be a conventional internal firewall within a

corporate entity. The document information, after being transported via internal

firewall 22 is processed and routed through a system including a conventional

server 23, which for example, may be Microsoft Biztalk server, and a multi¬

channel engine server 24 which is described in detail below. The SQL server data

store 25 is utilized by both servers as the system data repository.

[0068] The system shown in Figure 2 supports bidirectional

communications. Appropriate notifications to remotely located parties are sent via

the Internet to end users. [0069] Figure 3 is a block diagram, which shows in further detail certain

aspects of an illustrative system architecture in accordance with an exemplary

embodiment of the present invention. This illustrative system creates, publishes,

finds, applies, captures and processes active documents incorporating mobile

software as will be explained in detail below.

[0070] This illustrative system, which is described in further detail in

copending application Serial No. 10/361,853, receives, via a wide range of multi¬

channel inputs, any document type, such as a PDF document 50, a Word document

52 an image document 54 or an XFORMS document 55. It should be understood

that other document types are also contemplated and that the four document types

shown are for purposes of illustration only.

[0071] Documents to be submitted 50, 52, 54 and 55 via some electronic

means (as represented by Electronic Documents 56) are delivered to the Multi-

Channel Document Conversion Engine 93 by various transport technologies such

as eMail 58, eFax 60, Web services Portal 61, FTP 68. Physical media such as

mail 70 and fax 72 can also be submitted by converting them to electronic form

via, for example, a scanner 76 or a fax server 72. In an exemplary embodiment,

the input documents 56 and physical documents 70 and 72 are routed to the Mail

Server(s) 80. This allows a consistent method for submission of documents to the

Multi-Channel Document Conversion Engine 93, and acts as a buffer in the case

of extremely high volumes of input documents. The conventional e-mail message 58, the Web services Portal 61, and the FTP / File Receiver 68 could include

document attachments of a variety of identified types.

[0072] If, for example, an image document 54 is transmitted as an electronic

document 56 via a commercially available electronic facsimile service such as

eFax.com, the eFAX document is e-mailed to an eFax portion 60 of the e-mail

system. The e-mail transmission from e-Fax 60 is likewise a routed e-mail

message, but is an "eFAX" e-mail having an image (TIF) attachment, as is offered

by commercially available services. The e-mail with image attachment (60) is

coupled to mail server 80. Such commercially available systems operate to

receive a customer's fax via a telephone communication, package the fax as an e-

mail and send the e-mail as directed.

[0073] Documents received via the Internet using the http(s) protocol are

coupied via the Web services Portai 6i to one of the system http(s) receivers 62,

64, or 66. Each of the http(s) receivers 62, 64, or 66 receives the electronic

document transmitted via the http(s) protocol and packages the document as an e-

mail transmission, which is then sent to e-mail system manager 78. Multiple http

receivers are utilized under circumstances where a high volume of documents are

being received, so that the system can efficiently process in parallel and at high

speeds when required. The http(s) receivers 62, 64, 66 run, for example, on one or

more IIS servers 18 represented in Figure 2.

[0074] A document may be received via the file transfer protocol FTP. A

file receiver 68 receives such a document file and couples the document to the e- mail manager 78. The FTP protocol is a conventional protocol which operates to

send batch files to desired destinations via the Internet or via a dialup modem.

[0075] The illustrative embodiments also contemplate receipt of documents

via regular mail, which will be received at a physical mail station 70. The

documents received by mail may, for example, then be scanned via optical scanner

76 and coupled to the e-mail manager 78. Alternatively, documents may be

converted into an electronic document via a facsimile device 74 and forwarded to

a fax server 72 which couples the electronic version of the document to the e-mail

manager 78. The fax server 72 may likewise receive facsimile documents directly

from an external fax device. The received facsimile documents are then coupled

to e-mail manager 78.

[0076] In accordance with certain illustrative exemplary embodiments, via

the conversion of information received from http receivers 62, 64, or 66, FTP

receiver 68 and scanned or faxed physical mail via 76, 74 and 72, the e-mail

manager 78 ensures, along with the e-mail modules 58 and 60, that mail receiver

80 receives input from all sources in a common format, i.e., an e-mail with an

attachment. Such an attachment may, for example, be a PDF, Word or image or

any other document type. Through the use of mail servers 80, 88 which receive

documents via attachments, the system operates to convert received documents

into a desired standard document format on an "other than real time" basis. Thus,

for applications where the standard documents must be processed as of a certain

critical date, e.g., the due date for a government grant application or the due date for taxes to be submitted, the system will not be overrun by real time processing

requirements resulting from the highly CPU intensive conversion process, which

will be described below. In this fashion, the system may receive large numbers of

e-mail communications per second, and later process the attached documents at a

rate that the multi-channel engine can comfortably process. Mail server 80 may

include a variety of mail servers, such a mail server 1 (82), which may be a

Microsoft exchange server, or mail server 2 (84), which may be a Lotus Domino

mail server. Additionally, server 80 may include other mail servers 3 (86).

Additionally, mail server 80 may be replicated in the form of mail server system

88 to permit extremely high volume input processing. The mail servers 80 and 88

correspond to the Figure 2 exchange server 19 and further servers are

contemplated if needed.

[0077] The system also includes a mail queue listener/extractor 90 which is

coupled to mail servers 1, 2 and 3 (82, 84 and 86). Mail queue listener/extractor

90 retrieves the mail and determines for each retrieved e-mail, the number of

attachments that are associated therewith. The mail queue listener 90 will then

retrieve each attached document and store the attached document in the relational

database 110 associated with server 110 which may, for example, be an MS SQL

server.

[0078] Where there are multiple attachments and multiple attachment types,

each attachment type such as a Word document or an image document, is

processed to handle unique issues associated with each document type. For example, a Word document will likely result in a 100% successful conversion to a

standard format, whereas a PDF document would be slightly less than 100%, and

an image document would be converted at a still lower success rate. If an image

document is being processed such that the conversion cannot be successfully

completed without intervention, due to an unreadable field, but the PDF and Word

document could be successfully processed, the system operates to direct the image

document to error processing. For example, the image document may be

transmitted to document correction facility 128, where, using the client tools

correction utility 126, the image document may be viewed and corrected.

Documents which are required to be corrected may be appropriately stored in, for

example, data base 110.

[0079] If independent documents are received which can be presented to the

desired recipient immediately after conversion, the system will follow through on

that course. The mail queue listener/extractor 90 applies predefined setup rules for

delivering converted documents, e.g., delivering each attachment as converted or

holding until all attachments are successfully converted and appropriately storing

such attachments in the database 110.

[0080] The documents are retrieved from the database 110 and are

forwarded to one or more multi-channel engines 92, 93. One or more multi¬

channel engines 92, 93 is utilized to manage the overall core document conversion

process. In an exemplary embodiment, the multi-channel document conversion

engines 92 and 93 are implemented by a combination of a conventional Microsoft BizTalk server 23A and the multi-channel engine server 24 described in detail

herein in the above-identified copending application, which has been incorporated

herein by reference. The document router 102 shown in Figure 3 is preferably

implemented by a BizTalk server 23A.

[0081] The preferred multi-channel document conversion engines 92, 93

contemplates use of many different parsers. For example, the engines 92, 93

preferably include an image document parser, a Word document parser and a PDF

parser and other types of document parsers.

[0082] The respective parsers in the multi-channel engines recognize that,

for example, a purchase order has been received from a company A, which utilizes

its own predetermined purchase order format, and transforms that company A

purchase order format into a desired standard document form template purchase

order in Extensible Markup Language ("XML") format as represented in Figure 3

at 96. XML is a vendor neutral industry standard language for creating self

defining documents. XML lets users define and deliver data, type, and content.

This makes it easier for devices and applications to search for, gather, and

transport data. XML permits the intelligent presentation of data. With XML,

embedded tags may be used to describe data, where the tags are user defined and

identified as operational data elements. XML is transported over TCP/IP using

HTTP, it is not limited to being presented in browsers; it can be delivered to other

applications and databases for additional processing. [0083] An exemplary implementation of the Multi-Channel Document

Conversion Engine (MDCE) 92, 93 will now be described in further detail. The

MDCE receives document objects, associates them with preconfigured conversion

templates or schemas, and generates machine readable data files as output. The

MDCE is indifferent to the source document types, handling images generated by

fax transmission, Adobe pdf, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel), XFORMS or any

other rich document. The MDCE is, in an exemplary embodiment, built in a

modular fashion such that any document type can be added as a standalone

component.

[0084] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the MDCE runs in a

transactional state, guaranteeing that when a document conversion process begins,

it will either complete successfully, or be rolled back to its prior state. In the case

of an error, the MDCE will send out notification alerts to previously defined

administrators for their attention. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment,

many different types of errors will be detected by the MDCE including those

which are described in the above-identified incorporated copending application.

[0085] The MDCE is built to be scalable, supporting both a horizontal and

vertical hardware growth paradigm. Horizontal scalability entails having a farm of

servers with each server doing individual parts. Vertical scalability entails parallel

processing hardware configurations.

[0086] The system also includes a user interface for the administrator of the

process, which is represented in Figure 3 by infrastructure control 116. A server administrator is the individual responsible for monitoring the operation of the

system and for ensuring that the system operates as designed. The infrastructure

control 116 includes an administrator's console 118 for system setup and an

Infrastructure Monitor 120 which permits the administrator to discern information

about the operation of all the components of the system shown in Figure 3

including the various servers shown, such as the mail server 80, the servers

associated with the multi-channel engines 92, 93, etc. The console will indicate

whether each of the servers is up and running and whether each of the computers

required in the document conversion process are operating properly. The system

set up 118 permits the administrator to control trading partner setup operations and

other functions appropriate for a system administrator.

[0087] The system also includes, in addition to infrastructure control 116. a

template designer 123 for controlling the template design process and includes all

the tools necessary in the ongoing document conversion process. In accordance

with an exemplary embodiment, the template .designer includes a template design

module 124A, which controls a wide range of template design functions involved

in the creation of templates, a template mapper 124B, which controls the process

of transforming an original form fields to the proper zones on an appropriate

standard document template, and a template manager 124C which manages the

storage and retrieval of templates and sets up the required information for the

"trading partners" referred to above. The operator of the template designer 123

will have more or less tools to manipulate depending upon the individual's associated access authority controlled by security/user role module 122 based, for

example, on an analysis of the user's password.

[0088] A document correction facility 127 controls the viewing and

correcting of documents in which errors have been detected. The rules for

accepting or detecting a document will vary in accordance with the application.

For example, in a business purchase order context, the system operates to avoid

rejecting orders to purchase products whenever possible. The document correction

utility 127 permits on-line correction during the document conversion process

resulting, for example, from an inability to read data from an original form from a

customer. When detection of a document conversion failure occurs, documents

are forwarded to the document correction utility 127 and dependent upon the form

of a document are delivered either to a Word correction utility, a PDF correction

utility or fax/image correction utility embodied in correction utility 126. With

respect to each document type, the original document is displayed in one window

and the attempted conversion in a second window, thereby enabling a user to

identify the error and make appropriate correction where possible. The correction

utility uses available correction tools associated with each document type. For

example, a Microsoft Word document editor may be utilized for Word document

editing and a Microsoft BizTalk screen editor 244 may be utilized during the

editor/viewer association process. The Microsoft BizTalk Mapping and Microsoft

BizTalk Schema Editor may be utilized for handling errors during the document

mapping process, where, for example, a source document is converted into the XML format as described above. With respect to PDF document correction, the

Adobe Acrobat editor may be utilized. Similarly fax/image corrections may be

made using a commercially available OCR engine such as the Scansoft OCR

engine.

[0089] The system includes relational database 110 which, for example,

stores all setup information including all the trading partner definitions, the

original document transformation information, templates, the images that have

been transmitted by form submitters and the resulting XML that was generated.

The relational data base also stores meta data 112.

[0090] Figure 4 is a work flow diagram delineating the sequence of

operations performed in the multi-channel engine 92 during the document

conversion process. As shown in Figure 4, a document is retrieved by the mail

queue listener/extractor 90 shown in Figure 3, from the mail queue. A

determination is made whether the document retrieved from the queue is, for

example, a Microsoft Word document, a PDF- Adobe document or an image

document and is directed to an appropriate processing sequence depending upon

the document type detected. The document type may be identified in a variety of

ways. For example, the document may be compared to a known document type

template thereby resulting in document type identification.

[0091] If a Microsoft Word document is obtained from the queue (162), an

identification is made that the document type is a Microsoft Word type document

(164). Thereafter, the Word template that had been created in the template designer 123 is loaded (166). Based on the template received, the required data

elements are- identified, and the identified data elements are extracted from, for

example, the original purchase order form submitted by a company seeking to

purchase goods or services (168). The extracted data is then placed in a Word

XML format and is then mapped into the standard document template in XML

(170). Thereafter, the destination XML is validated to make sure all the fields

such as the date field, numeric fields, etc. are correct (172). Finally, the

notification of success/failure is generated (174), which is then delivered to the

submitter.

[0092] If a PDF/Adobe document is retrieved from the mail queue (176),

the PDF/Adobe document is identified (178). An optical scanning engine may be

used to scan the PDF document obtained via the e-mail attachment or some other

data extraction technique may be used. An OCR template appropriate for the PDF

document is then loaded (180) or the appropriate data extraction tool is loaded.

Thereafter, the OCR engine or the data extraction tool runs to extract data from the

original PDF document. A PDF-XML document is generated and mapped to a

destination standard XML document (184). Thereafter, as indicated above,

validation and notification processes are performed (172, 174).

[0093] With respect to facsimile documents, as indicated above, one mode

for receiving a faxed document is via a commercially available eFAX service.

Under such circumstances, a corporate customer service representative may

provide end user trading partners with a phone number for sending facsimile transmitted purchase orders. Under such circumstances, a retrieved image from

the queue (186) will be recognized as a facsimile purchase order (188). Thereafter,

an OCR template is loaded for eFAX transmissions (190).

[0094] The OCR engine is then run. As the document is being scanned,

known zones on the scanned facsimile are identified and data is extracted (196).

An image-XML document is generated and mapped to a destination standard

XML document (198). Thereafter, as indicated above, validation and notification

processes are performed (172, 174). If the OCR engine is scanning, for example, a

known date field, the software may be designed to generate an indication of the

probability of a successful read of an identified zone. Depending upon the

criticality of a particular field, a high probably of success, e.g.. greater than 98%

may be interpreted as a successful read. A probability below the selected value

will result in an error being detected and the erroneous field highlighted.

[0095] In case of detected errors, the document correction facility 127

(Figure 3) permits corrections to be made to correct, for example, apparent

problems, at which time the form may be resubmitted for conversion. Thereafter,

an image XML is generated which is then mapped to the destination XML (198).

[0096] Reference is made to the above-identified incorporated copending

patent application for exemplary screen displays depicting an image document in

the form of a customer's original purchase order in the process of being mapped to

a template standard document purchase order. The incorporated application

depicts a variety of screen displays showing various exemplary applications at various stages during document processing using the above-described

methodologies. For example, a screen display is shown therein which depicts the

data extracted from a customer's purchase order form and inserted into a standard

document purchase order template.

[0097] Figure 5 is a block diagram which illustrates the steps employed by

one or more of the servers in the Figure 3 system to create an active document

having mobilized software, which is at times referred to herein as an "eForm."

The eForm creating and/or processing server 201 for ease of identification has

been referenced as the Submitlt server, and may be implemented in any one of the

heretofore mentioned servers including the BizTalk server 23 and the multi¬

channel engine server 24 shown in Figure 2, which embodies the multi-channel

document conversion engines 92 and 93 shown in Figure 3.

[0098] The eForm creation process in server 201 initially involves

publishing the eForm for mobility (202). The publishing and creation of a forms

package involves defining the form in the server, which may involve selecting, for

example, a PDF file, selecting questionnaire information for placement in the file,

and identifying those places in the PDF file where, for example, an intelligent

questionnaire may be inserted. By way of example only, if the PDF file represents

a textbook, a questionnaire may be inserted at the end of each textbook chapter to

provide chapter tests for students. The questionnaire may ask questions, prompt

students for answers and then automatically route the resulting test to an

appropriate party. It should also be recognized that for this and many other applications, the answer properties can be controlled by adding some additional

validation script. The typical examples are whether the answer is mandatory, what

can be range of answers, etc.

[0099] The Eform publishing process 202 further involves adding a form ID

to the PDF form so that it may be later accessed and identified.

[00100] The creation of an active document, i.e., eFORM, results in an

exemplary embodiment adding JAVA script to the PDF document to translate the

document from being a passive PDF to an intelligent document by adding program

logic into the document. PDF files and JavaScript is one example of electronic

form type and program logic which may be combined to form an intelligent

document. Alternatively, for example, Microsoft Word documents may be

combined withMicrosoft's Virtual Basic Script (VBScript). In a similar fashion,

Microsoft Excel, or Microsoft InfoPath may be used with, for example, VBScript.

Other contemplated technologies include MacroMedia Flash, PERL script,and

XForms may be utilized.

[00101] Various users messages may also be added to the PDF fϋe. For

example, various error messages and status messages may be incorporated into the

document.- Usage rights may be established for the form user. For example, a user

may be given the right to complete an eform, add comments, save the eForm

locally, print the eForm, or digitally sign and submit an eForm.

[00102] In accordance with an illustrative embodiment, the embedding of

Java script into the PDF form results in some level of form mobility. Thus, for example, the Java script may test to determine whether the system is online. If the

system is online, the document may be immediately routed via, for example, the

Internet to a desired location. If the system is not online, the form may be routed

through e-mail or though some other store and forward mechanism, for example,

the Java Message Queue. The document may be routed, for example, via the

document router 102, shown in Figure 3.

[00103] The server 201, in creating the eForm (200), configures submission

rules (204). The submission rules for an eForm incorporate validation rules which

must be satisfied prior to allowing a document to be submitted. For example, an

eForm would not be in the proper format to be submitted if it were incomplete in

some significant respect, such as the omission of mandatory information. The

submission rules 204 may also, for example, include routing information for use in

determining the location of a destination server targeted to receive the created

eForm, and various recipient e-mail addresses. In accordance with an exemplary

embodiment, the answer to a particular question or set of questions, in a

questionnaire may be routed to one e-mail address. The answer to a different

question in, for example, a different portion of the questionnaire, may be routed

elsewhere.

[00104] The configuration of submission rules 204 may further involve the

configuration of web services to establish a connection via, for example, the

Internet or, alternatively, to configure various store and forward mechanisms, such

as e-mail or to identify another temporary local store for created eForms when an online connection is unavailable. The submission rules 204 may also, for

example, include an indication of whether a partial submission is required, or

whether a resubmission of all or a portion of the information is allowed. The

submission rules may additionally permit the configuration of an initial

submission which may later be accessed, revised, and then resubmitted, for

example, once more complete information has become available.

[00105] The server 201 additionally configures process rules 206 which

define how a form, once created, will be processed when it is received by the

server. During such processing, the server performs various validation operations

to check the basic data contained in the form. For example, if the form identified

the name of a drug being tested, a check may be made to determine that the drug

bears a name that server 201 has been previously programmed to be recognized.

If such basic data validation checks indicate that the form must be rejecced. the

end user is sent an appropriate notification. A failure of a basic data validation

check may trigger routing the form to a quality control site, where the detected

error may be corrected. An end user may also receive notification, upon the

server's receipt of the form, that the form had been received. Various post

processing checks of the eForm may also be applied after processing by the server.

An end user may subsequently be notified that the form had been processed

successfully.

[00106] The server 201 also operates to integrate the created eForm 200 with

a line of business application (208) by, for example, routing the created eForm to the appropriate line of business application shown in Figure 3. The integration at

208 involves, for example, packaging the results of the data collected via the

processed eForm, routing the form and/or the results as appropriate to a target

system/device to thereby result in the form and/or results being forwarded to a

purchase order system, a product ordering system, etc., depending upon the target

application. The eForm, during the integration process, is processed such that its

data format is converted to the format which is expected by the line of business

application (LOB 104) as explained in detail above with respect to the processing

taken place in conjunction with Figures 3 and 4. The system delivers the created

eForm to the appropriate application, placing the eForm into a database, e-mailing

the eForm or placing the created eForm into a particular file folder or by using

whatever delivery mechanism is appropriate to the particular application.

[00107] Figure 6 is an exemplary flow diagram depicting the various stages

through which an eForm (active document) may undergo from the time of its

creation through its utilization. The processing operations depicted are

exemplified as being performed within the server 201. However, it should be

understood that the operations depicted may be embodied in client code that, for

example, is added to Adobe Acrobat to perform the various functions shown (e.g.,

(in find and apply 227).

[00108] As shown in Figure 6, and as explained above in conjunction with

Figure 5, the lifecycle of an eForm begins with its creation and publishing (225).

An eForm is created using form creation guidelines in accordance with, for example, the server 201's "forms designer" utility and "forms library" (233). As

explained above in conjunction with Figure 5, the eForm creation process involves

defining and designing a form based on, for example, an input PDF document.

The creation and publishing step 225 may, in an exemplary embodiment, result in

the approval of a form by, for example, routing the form to a form approval entity.

The publishing of forms involves the process shown and described above in

conjunction with Figure 5 including selectively inserting active elements such as

Java script into, for example, a PDF file. The processed, active document-based

form may then be stored in a file which is accessible by others, for example, the

CRM Portal 300 in Figure 8, described below.

[00109] The create and publish processing operates to ensure version control

of forms to keep track of changes that have been made in a modified form. The

create and publish function also involves creating a task/forms package in which

forms are stored in a repository. The forms packaging process involves inserting

one or more forms into selected portions of a document to create the forms

package.

[00110] With respect to the "find and apply" 227 portion of an eForms

lifecycle, a user may, for example, connect to a web portal to search for and find a

particular form package. The user may then download the forms package to, for

example, the user's laptop computer, tablet computer, smart phone or PDA or

home PC. The user, after downloading the forms package, may then subsequently

fill in the form package, either upon receipt or at any subsequent time convenient to the user. It should be understood that the downloading operation may be

performed via e-mail, where the forms package will be e-mailed to a requesting

user, alternatively, the forms package may be downloadable directly from a

customer's website. The forms package may even, for example, be received by a

user by receipt of a CD through the mail.

[00111] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present

invention, under circumstances where a user does not have sufficient information

to complete all of a form, after portions of the form are filled in by the user, a form

portion is routed to a further site for collaboration in completing the form. In this

fashion, a collaborator (e.g., a business partner having different product

responsibilities than the original user) may provide information not available to

the user who downloaded the forms package. Alternatively, in other applications,

the routing and collaboration may involve the approval process for a purchase

order to enable an electronic purchase to be completed.

[00112] The find and apply processing 227 may also involve validating data

in light of rules which may, for example, be application dependent. In electronic

commerce and other applications, the eForm may be digitally signed and other

digital security measures may be incorporated to employ authorization and

verification cryptographic operations.

[00113] The routing and collaborating processing may employ the enhanced

digital signature methodology disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,214,702, which

provides for a wide range of collaborative digital signatures, including counter signatures and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Using the

methodology described in U.S. Patent No. 5,214,702, a submitted forms package

may be routed through various layers of authorization. Using this technology, the

person who signed the particular form package may be proven to have had the

authorization necessary for a given application, such as an electronic commerce

transaction, to be completed. Collaboration may also involve including a

_< notification package receipt indicating success/failure and resubmission requests.

Further, the collaboration may involve in the case of government grants, an

indication of status changes in an application as, for example, the application goes

through one of. multiple steps involved in the application processing.

[00114] The forms package is thereafter delivered in the find and apply

processing via either on-line or off-line methodologies. As an alternative, the

package may be delivered via fax to fax server 72 (Figure 3).

[00115] With respect to filling in the form package, if the form is a PDF file,

the process of filling in the form may utilize, for example, Adobe Acrobat Reader,

together with "form client" and "reference data service" utilities provided at 235.

[00116] The reference data service permits the client to utilize the SubmitIT

server 201 to retrieve reference data related to a particular forms package. For

example,- if the forms package involves ordering parts, the reference data service

and the server 201 may be used to supply a list of valid part numbers.

[00117] The capture processing 229 occurs at the server 201 after a client has

performed the find and apply processing 227. After the client has submitted a completed form, the form is received at the server side. The form will either have

been submitted via an on-line submission of the forms package via web services

or, for example, by an off-line submission via e-mail. Additionally, the form may

be printed out and faxed to the server 201. The received fax would then be

scanned and processed as explained above in conjunction with Figure 3. The

forms package is received and validated by the server and stored in a submission

queue.

[00118] The server 201, as indicated at block 237, has associated various

utilities for use in capture processing. Form client software is used during

submission processing to enable the client to submit the form. The portal services

permits the capture of the form via web services. The reference data service is

utilized during the capture processing 239 to provide access to business rules,

validation rules, and to perform field level data validation beyond that performed

in the find and apply step 227.

[00119] The design of the eForms-based system is intended to accommodate

a wide range of communications media. For example, during capture processing

229, the system supports multiple transport protocols such as web services,

HTTP(s), FTP, SMTP, WiFi (802.11), paper and fax, which may be utilized to

capture a forms package. The system is intended to support a wide range of

eForm vendors and technologies. During the capture processing, security may be

enhanced by utilizing a digital notary so that it is possible to unambiguously

establish the date and/or time of submission. [00120] The server 201 perforins a series of processing operations on the

forms package (231). The form is received and processed by, for example,

converting the form into XML (as explained above in conjunction with Figure 3

and in the above-identified co-pending incorporated application) in accordance

with the rules that were established when the form was created. Conversion

processing will involve converting the data into a target format which may, for

example, be XML, depending upon what the line of business application requires.

The forms are validated during the processing 231 to validate the data that was

filled in by the user. The validation performed will vary depending upon the

particular application. If the validation fails, alerts are generated to, for example,

indicate various error conditions. Various notifications are generated to indicate,

for example, that a forms package has been received and/or has been processed.

[00121] The server 201, in an exemplary implementation, keeps track of

form packages which have been received and maintains statistics indicative of, for

example, how many form packages have been received, how many have been

processed, etc., as has been described in conjunction wich the above-identified

incorporated application.

[00122] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the data may be

converted into a neutral format, such as XML and then further converted into a

line of business application format. The data then will be delivered to the line of

business application. [00123] During eForm processing 231, in order to properly validate a form,

data may be fetched from a common data registry to receive financial information

from, for example, a Dunn & Bradstreet data registry. The processing 231

supports the full submission of forms, a partial submission of forms, the

resubmission and the partial resubmission of such forms. An integration monitor

may be used to support multiple delivery protocols for delivering any forms

package via web services, HTTP(s), FTP, SMTP, or supporting specific client

requests.

[00124] If the line of business application is, for example, a government

application, the server 201 utilizes agency systems software (239) to complete the

processing.

[00125] Figure 7 is a block diagram showing the server architecture and

associated input and output receipt and distribution. As pictorially represented at

250, a form may initially be received as an adobe PDF format document, a Word

document or an XML-based InfoPath document. Documents of these and other

forms are input to the Submitlt server 201 and are converted to active documents

as described above.

[00126] The documents may, for example, be submitted to the server 201 via

web services 252 or via e-mail 254. Alternatively, the document may be input via

a physical media such as, for example, a floppy or a CD, which in turn is

transmitted by physically transporting the media to server 201. A document also

may be forwarded to a server via facsimile 258 or via postal mail 260. If the document is received via facsimile, then it is processed in server 201 via the

capture processing (262) which was explained in detail in conjunction with the

Figure 3 fax 74, fax server 72 and in the above-identified incorporated co-pending

application.

[00127] Whether the information is received via facsimile and processed at

262 or via some other mechanism such as web services 252, the server 201

processes a form at 264 as, for example, explained above in conjunction with the

Figure 6 processing step 231. The form is then validated in the server at 266, after

which it is routed to destinations if collaboration is required (268) and distributed

to the line of business application either via web service 274, e-mail 276, physical

media 278, fax 280, postal mail 282 or to a back end system 284. The back end

system is, for example, the line of business application.

[00128] The data which is being routed may be stored within the server

(272). Storage of the data at 272 may not occur in certain applications, where, for

example, the data need not be referenced again. Additionally, various

notifications are distributed to either the back end system 284 or the client who

submitted the input form document.

[00129] A server 201 having the above-described functionality may

be utilized in a wide variety of applications, including customer relationship

management (CRM) applications. Thus, one application of the above-described

active document methodology may be in managing customer support, responding

to customer problems and managing data related thereto. [00130] Figure 8 is a block diagram that illustrates a system for applying the

active document methodology described above in a customer relations

management application. The server 300 stores a variety of packages of eForms.

A PDA 302, PC 304, a tablet computer (not shown), smart phone (not shown) or a

laptop (not shown) may be utilized by a user to access server 300 and download a

selected form/forms package. Once downloaded, the user fills in the active form.

The active form would include the previously described active elements and, for

example, may include embedded questionnaires and associated validation

mechanisms. Thus, the program code-based intelligence including the

routing/mobilizing software is embedded in document 306. After the form is

filled out by the user, the form is submitted either via an on-line submit, for

example, via web services or an off-line submit via e-mail 308.

[00131] The received active form is processed by the Submitlt engine 310

having the eForms processing package described above in conjunction with

Figures 6 and 7. The Submitlt engine 310 produces, for example, an XML

electronic document (or other format suitable for the given line of business

application) which is coupled to an integration server 312. Integration server 312

may be, for example, a BizTalk server which then converts the data to the form

required by the given line of business. The server 312 supports multiple delivery

protocols like web services, HTTP(s), FTP, SMTP, etc.

[00132] The data is then customized to the given application for use by a

custom lead generation system 314, which is described in detail below. Alternatively, the document for example, in XML form, may be routed to an ACT

application 316, which is, for example, a contact management system for

contacting customers and includes customer names, addresses, etc. or Quickbooks

316 which is an accounting system. The information may be routed to an Oracle

database application 318. Alternatively, the information may be routed to any

number of different trading partners as represented at 320 and 322.

[00133] Thus, the active form mobile software architecture described above

permits wide flexibility in terms of connectivity. Data is permitted to enter the

system via a wide range of input mechanisms including e-mail, facsimile, Web

services, etc., and incorporates the ability to work with any document type,

including PDF, Word, InfoPath, and others. Likewise, the system's output

envisions via the same wide range of connection mechanisms.

Lead Generation Server Application

[00134] As shown in Figure 8, a custom lead generation system 314 is

contemplated as one of many potential applications for the active

document/mobile software methodology described above. The following is a

description of an illustrative lead generation server implementation.

[00135] Enterprises are spending significant sums in marketing their

products and services by conducting events and publishing white papers and

related marketing collateral on their products and services. The linkage between

this activity and lead generation is loose at best. [00136] The process of generating/capturing high-quality leads that can be

taken through the complete sales cycle is still very complex, and in many cases a

hit-or-miss effort. There is constant tension between the marketing organization,

whose primary role is to generate sales leads, and the sales organization, whose

primary role is to convert these generated leads into closed sales. Marketing

departments typically measure the degree of success in their mission by the

quantity of leads they generate, irrespective of the quality of these leads. Sales

organizations on the other hand measure their success on booked/collected

revenue, which is directly tied to high-quality, high-interest leads.

[00137] The gap between the leads that marketing is "tossing over the wall"

and the leads that sales really needs can be bridged if marketing organizations

execute marketing programs that allow them to generate, and more importantly,

identify high-quality leads.

[00138] One existing method of capturing high-quality leads is through the

process of getting feedback or inquiries from customers who read or review

marketing documents. The fact that a reader has taken the trouble of "self

selecting" themselves in responding, indicates a high degree of interest, which in

turn is a strong indicator of a high-quality lead. Many companies currently

conduct on-line surveys. The survey respondent has to login to a web site or post

an e-mail to communicate his opinion or feedback. Online surveys have not been

shown to be a very effective way to generate "publication driven" leads since most

publications are distributed in PDF format that allows offline reading while the surveys are conducted online. Because of this gap, most readers lose interest in

filling out the feedback surveys.

[00139] The marketing agencies or the marketing department within the

enterprises runs various campaigns and surveys to collect information from the

target users. These surveys may be online web based or through electronic forms

such as PDF, Word, InfoPath forms or paper based. The inventors recognize that

"lead" information needs to be captured and routed for action to people within the

enterprise or the appropriate lead Partners for action. The information needs to be

analyzed and preferably presented by charts or graphs. These lead data also need

to be integrated with multiple third party applications such as CRM, Contact

Management, Business Intelligence, Statistical Analysis and Lead Management

applications.

[00140] The marketing documents are mostly available as PDF documents.

These documents are passive documents.

[00141] The exemplary embodiments described below collect vital lead

information from the reader of these documents by way of survey forms attached

to these static marketing documents. This lead data captured and gathered from the

user may also be used as a metric to measure the success of the various marketing

campaigns and also help close the loop between marketing and sales by integrating

the lead data with the CRM applications.

[00142] Each marketing agency and enterprise in accordance with the

exemplary embodiment is able to capture the leads for multiple partners/clients or departments within an enterprise and also run multiple projects/programs for a

partner/client or department. A flexible multi-line organization structure is

provided for aggregating this lead information. The partners/clients or

departments are able to view the lead data organized by projects or programs.

[00143] An exemplary embodiment of the lead generation system provides a

comprehensive solution for the capture, analysis and processing of lead data

submitted via online/offline, electronic and paper based forms that are embedded

in marketing collateral, surveys or related documents.

[00144] The rich clients for the exemplary lead generation system will be

content generation applications such as Front Page, Adobe Acrobate Reader, and

Word where the marketing content is generated. The exemplary lead generation

system client plug-ins will be embedded within these content generation

applications to ease the process of designing and generating the appropriate survey

forms, attaching these to the marketing collateral, and mobile-enabling these

documents for distribution as Lead Generation Marketing Collateral.

[00145] This collateral or documentation can be distributed either manually,

through a lead generation system portal for download or mass distribution using

the distribution lists by email or fax through the lead generation server.

[00146] Platform Functional Overview

[00147] Figure 9 is a block diagram showing an illustrative lead generation

system^'s eForms platform, framework and business solution. The Lead Generation

Server 201 is built on the Submitlt/eForms platform which has been described above. The capture, process, collaborate and integrate operations have been

explained above in conjunction with Figures 5 through 8. The platform shown

may be utilized for lead generation and/or other active document applications such

as is represented by the vertical products/solutions 355 across a wide range of

industries (with exemplary applications in manufacturing, health care, government

and financial services and insurance applications) and horizontal

products/solutions 357 within a corporate entity (with exemplary applications in

mobilized software (e.g., for field service), CRM (lead generation, customer

satisfaction monitoring), back-office applications (human resources, purchase

orders) and indexing (document retrieval)).

[00148] The server 201 interacts with eForms subsystem 350 and document

image processing subsystem 356. The eForms subsystem 350 includes a question

or label management system 352, a template management system 354 and an

active document management system 356.

[00149] The question or label management system 352 is responsible for

creating and maintaining a set of questions used to obtain feedback from the

recipients. Questions are synonymous with the 'label' or 'prompt' accompanying a

response area. This set of questions will be maintained in a questionnaire library

for reuse. The questionnaire management subsystem 352 is operable to create a

new questionnaire or to enable a user to select one or more questionnaires as will

be explained further below. The system is operable to add, delete or modify one

or more questions and publish a questionnaire. The published questionnaire is then stored in a questionnaire storage library so that one or more questionnaires

may be selected for use.

[00150] The template management subsystem 354 relates to a survey

questionnaire that has a predefined set of questions is a specific format and style.

A list of standard templates will be available in the server 201. The template

management system will permit the selection of questionnaires from a

questionnaire library and a selection of themes from a theme library. The

subsystem will permit users to create, modify or delete templates and to publish a

generated template and store the template in a template library from which users

may select a template for use.

[00151] Active document management subsystem 356 permits a user to

manage a document that has an embedded survey form attached to it, in order to

obtain feedback from readers of the document. The reader feedback can be

captured online or offline and routed to the appropriate departments or business

partner's. The document can capture feedback from any number of users who read

the document. The active document management system will permit, for example,

selecting a marketing document, selecting a template, and selecting a marketing

program for generating an active document. The generated active document will

be published and stored in an active document library. The generation of active

documents permits the selection and updating of routing rules for the active

document, and will include mobile software for distribution as required by a given

application. The active documents will be distributed through an active document distribution management module through configured channels such as e-mail or

fax to the target audience based on a distribution list. The distribution of an active

document permits the selection of both an active document and a distribution

channel. A distribution channel may, for example, include e-mail or facsimile.

Users of the active document distribution management module will be able to

select a distribution list and update the distribution list. For each generation

system, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment, will also include an

organization management module which initially installs a default or home

organization. Users can be mapped to this home organization who can then set up

partner organizations and partner users. The home organization users can create

roles and privileges. The home organization users administer the other modules in

the system. Suborganizations or departments can be created under the home

organization. These suborganizations are not visible to one another. Each of these

suborganizations may be strategic business units inside an organization.

[00152] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, various additional

modules are used in the lead generation system which are described below. For

example, the lead generation system in accordance with such an embodiment

utilizes a partner management module. A partner is an organization that

subscribes and uses the lead generation server to publish documents related to its

products, collect feedback and generate leads. For example, a marketing company

might create a partner organization for each of the marketing companies clients.

Each such client would only be able to interact with their portion of the system. [00153] Figure 10 is a block diagram which shows the basic operations

performed by the partner management module. The partner management module

379 is operable to create, modify or delete partners. The partner management

module may be used to create or select a partner (375), and to create or update

routing rules (377). Users may be selected (381) by the partner management

module. Distribution channels may likewise be selected (383) and distribution

lists may be uploaded (385) by the partner management module.

[00154] Figure 11 is a block diagram which shows the basic operations

performed by a program management module. Programs are areas of

interest/subscription units for which a partner wants to generate leads. For

example: Intel has a number of products in its product line. In order to popularize

and market its latest chip 'Centrino' that supports mobility, it conducts a program

called 'mobility program' . All white papers published for this product will fall

under the 'mobility program'. The program management module is operable to

create or select a program (390), select a partner (392), create or update routing

rules (394), select users (398), select a distribution channel (400) and upload a

distribution list (402). The program management system is operable to create,

modify or delete a program (396).

[00155] In an illustrative embodiment, the program management module is

operable to perform the following functions.

[00156] PRM-02 1) Map Program to Partners [00157] A partner user or home user is able to map the Program to multiple

Partners. This may be the case for joint marketing program where more than one

Partner is involved.

[00158] PRM-03 2) Map Program to Partner Users

[00159] A home user or partner user with appropriate privileges is able to

map partner user or set of partner users to a Program. By default all the users of

the Partners who are mapped to the program will be displayed. The partner user

will be able to perform the following functions based on the privileges:

1. View the list of Programs associated with the Partner to which the user belongs.

2. View all the leads by Programs to which the partner user is associated

3. Add/modify/delete users to the programs

4. Map routing rules to the Programs

5. Add / Edit/ Delete routing rules 6.

[00160] PRM-04 3) Map to Program home users

[00161] A home user with the appropriate privileges will be able to map

home user or set of home users to a Program

[00162] PRM-05 4) Map Program to sub organization

[00163] A home user with appropriate privileges will be able to map

Program or set of Programs to the sub organization

[00164] Figure 12 is a block diagram depicting the operations performed by

the questionnaire management subsystem 352. As shown in Figure 12, the

questionnaire management system operates to create a new questionnaire (425) or

select one or more questionnaires (427). A questionnaire contains a set of questions used to obtain feedback from recipients. The questionnaire management

module is operable to add, delete or modify one or more questions for such

questionnaires (429). A questionnaire once created may be published (433) as will

be explained further below, and stored in a questionnaire library (431). The

questionnaire library may be accessed for selection of one or more questionnaires

for subsequent use.

[00165] In an illustrative embodiment, the above-described questionnaire

management module 352 is capable of performing the following functions:

[00166] QRM-01 1) Questionnaire Category

[00167] A home user will be able to select / add / modify / delete

Questionnaire category for easy administration and retrieval of Questionnaires.

Every Questionnaire will belong to one or more Questionnaire Category. Dunng

the process of creating a questionnaire a user will be required to specify the

category the questionnaire belongs to, as shown in the exemplary screen display

shown in Figure 25 (screen shot SS-Ol).

[00168] QRM-02 3) Define New Questions

[00169] A partner user or enterprise user with appropriate privileges will be

able to define new questions for a given questionnaire using the Questionnaire

Management module. For each question,

• Able to specify a question type along with meta data, such as,

question text and response text as applicable (see QRM- 11 to QRM-

19, etc.) • Specify listing order of question based on number of questions

currently in the questionnaire

[00170] QRM-03 3) Modify existing Questions

[00171] A partner user or enterprise user with appropriate privileges will be

able to modify the existing questions in a given questionnaire using the

Questionnaire Management module. For each question,

• Able to modify the meta data, such as, question text and response

text as applicable (see QRMl 1, etc.)

• Modify listing order of question based on number of questions

currently in the questionnaire

• A user will not be able to modify the structure of the question such

as adding one more option in a drop down menu.

• After each question is modified, the question list will be displayed to

allow user to select another question to change or conclude the

change process as shown in the exemplary Figure 30 screen display

(screen shot SS-06).

[00172] QRM-04 4) Delete existing Questions

[00173] A partner user or enterprise user with appropriate privileges will be

able to delete existing questions from an existing questionnaire as shown in the

exemplary Figure 30 screen display (screen shot SS-06)

[00174] QRM-05 5) Add routing rules to Question [00175] A partner user or a home user with appropriate privileges will be

able to add routing rules to each Question

[00176] QRJVI-06 6) Add routing rules to the Questionnaire

[00177] A partner user or home user with appropriate privileges will be able

to add routing rules to the Questionnaire

[00178] QRM-07 7) Map Questionnaire to Partner

[00179] A partner user or home user will be able to map a Questionnaire to a

Partner or set of Partners

[00180] QRM-08 8) Map Questionnaire to Program

[00181] A partner user or home user will be able to map a Questionnaire to a

Partner or set of Partners

[00182] QRM-09 9) Map Questionnaire to sub organization

[00183] A home user will be able to map a Questionnaire to a sub

organization or set of sub organizations

[00184] QRM- 10 10) Spell Check

[00185] A spell checker routine will check the spellings of the common

words based on a dictionary. The spell checker can be invoked during the process

of adding or modifying questions (QRM-02 and QRM-03)

[00186] QRM-I l Pick One

[00187] This response option will define the possible options and the reader

of this survey will be able pick and choose only one answer options as shown in

the illustrative Figure 31 screen display (screen shot SS-07). [00188] QRM-12 Check all that apply

[00189] This response option will define the possible options and the reader

of this survey will be able to select one or more of the options as shown in the

illustrative Figure 31 screen display (screen shot SS-07).

[00190] QRM- 13 Rank along scale

[00191] This is a comparative satisfaction scale used to measure the reader's

satisfaction/dissatisfaction for a given problem. This is a user-friendly reader

response in a scale of ' 1 ' to '5' for example. ' 1 ' may mean very dissatisfied and

'5' may mean very satisfied. The reader will choose any one between ' 1 ' and '5'.

The reader has an option to select only one. See Figure 31 (screen shot SS-07)

[00192] QRM- 14 Dropdown box

[00193] This is an option for the reader to select only one of the pre-defined

options from a dropdown list box. See Figure 31 (screen shot SS-07)

[00194] QRM- 15 List box

[00195] This is an option for the reader to select one or more based on the list

which can be seen all or some based on the size of the list box. The list box can be

scrolled vertically or horizontally to see all the choices available by the reader.

See Figure 31 (screen shot SS-07)

[00196] QRM-16 Single line text response

[00197] This is text box with only one line. There is no multiline capability.

The length of the characters is fixed to the display length of the text box. See

Figure 31 (screen shot SS-07) [00198] QRM- 17 Multiline text response

[00199] This is a text box with the capability to input more than one line.

This is used in the scenario where the reader needs to give a free flow response.

See Figure 31 (screen shot SS-07)

[00200] QRM- 18 Numeric allocation

[00201] This is a reader's suggested allocation of a predefined number may

be 100 or 10 or any pre-set number. There is a list of options with a numeric box

next to it. The reader will assign the appropriate number and the sum will always

add up to the pre-set number. This is used to get an idea of the allocation of time

or in case of a product feature list the weightage of each to the end user. See

Figure 31 (screen shot SS-07)

[00202] QRM- 19 Matrix

[00203] This option is used when response needs to be based on a row and

column questions. There will be only one option to be selected on each row. See

Figure 31 (screen shot SS-07) QRM-20 Must answer

[00204] This answer option ensures that the reader responds to this question

without fail. The user will not be able to submit the survey without completing this

question. See Figure 31 (screen shot SS-07)

[00205] QRM-21 Copy questions from existing Questionnaire

[00206] A new questionnaire can be developed by coping all or part of

questions from one or more than one questionnaires

[00207] QRM-22 Display horizontally [00208] This option will design the answer options to be displayed

horizontally

[00209] QRM-23 Display vertically

[00210] This option will design the answer options to be displayed

horizontally

[00211] QRM-24 Response validation

[00212] This option will be useful when the user responses need to be

validated such as date validation, numeric validation etc

[00213] QRM-25 Table

[00214] This option will be useful when the user needs to collect multiple

rowset of responses. The number of rows may be pre-defined or unlimited. The

columns are predefined and responses for each row are collected in unique cells.

The response for each cell will be mapped uniquely to a row and column. These

cell responses will be textboxes, select one, select all, combo box, etc.,.

[00215] QRM-26 Select Yes/NO

[00216] This option is used when the user needs to get yes or no response

from the reader.

[00217] QRM-27 Display Questions in Questionnaire

[00218] The Questionnaire with the added or modified questions will be

displayed to the user to verify for accuracy. The user will be able to navigate and

select the individual questions for modification or deletion. See Figure 29 (screen

shot SS-05) [00219] QRM-28 Capture Questionnaire Name

[00220] This is the user given name for the Questionnaire. The user will

change this name in future.

[00221] QRM-29 Generate and save Questionnaire

[00222] The questionnaire will be saved locally on the users system. The

Questionnaire will be saved on the default location for the questionnaire.

[00223] QRM-30 Store Questionnaire on Server

[00224] The completed questionnaire after saving locally will be stored on

the Server. The LGS Questionnaire Management web service will be invoked by

the LGS client plugin to save the Questionnaire on the Server

[00225] QRM-31

[00226] Select Questionnaire

[00227] The list of available Questionnaire will be displayed to the user for

easy selection of the Questionnaire. The LGS client plugin will invoke the LGS

Questionnaire Mgmt webservice to retrieve a list of the available Questionnaires.

See Figure 26 (screen shot SS-02)

[00228] QRM-32

[00229] Select Question

[00230] Any question on the Questionnaire will be able to be selected for

editing or deletion.

[00231] The question list will be displayed to the user. See Figure 26 (screen

shot SS-02) [00232] QRM-33

[00233] Modify Questionnaire Name

[00234] The Questionnaire Name may be changed by the user if need be.

[00235] QRM-34

[00236] Generate and Save Modified Questionnaire

[00237] The modified Questionnaire will be saved on the user's local system

in the default directory. The user should however be prompted for the location to

save the questionnaire.

[00238] QRM-35

[00239] Store Modified Questionnaire on Server

[00240] The modified Questionnaire will be stored on the Server. The LGS

client plugin will invoke the LGS Questionnaire Mgmt web service to save the

modification.

[00241] QRM-36

[00242] Delete Questionnaire

[00243] The selected Questionnaire will be deleted from LGS. The client

plugin will invoke the LGS Questionnaire Mgmt web service to delete the

Questionnaire.

[00244] For an example of an illustrative questionnaire management system,

see the website www.websurveyor.com.

[00245] Figure 13 is a block diagram illustrating the operations performed by

the template management module (354). A template is a survey questionnaire that has a predefined set of questions in a specific format and style in, for example, a

PDF document. A list of Standard templates will be available in the Lead

Generation Server. As shown in Figure 13, the template management system is

operable to access a questionnaire from a questionnaire library (450), and to select

a questionnaire contained therein (454). Additionally, the template management

module has access to a theme library (452), and is operable to select a theme

therefrom (456). The template management module is operable to create, modify

and/or delete a template (460), and to thereafter publish the template (464), as will

be described further below. The published template is then stored in a template

library (462), which is accessible for template selection (458).

[00246] In an illustrative embodiment, the template management module 354

is operable to perform the following functions:

[00247] TPM-02 Template Category

[00248] All templates will belong to a previously defined Questionnaire

category for now.

[00249] (see QRχVI-01)

[00250] TPM-03 Add New Templates

[00251] A partner user or enterprise user with appropriate privileges will be

able to define new templates using the Template Management module

[00252] TPM-04 iModify existing Templates [00253] A partner user or enterprise user with appropriate privileges will be

able to modify an existing Template using the Template Management module in

the adobe plug-in

• The existing template library can be browsed and an existing

template can be selected for updating

• The existing Questionnaire library can then be browsed and set of

questions from multiple Questionnaires can be copied to the

template

• Existing questions in template can be deleted as well

[00254] TPM-05 Delete existing Templates

[00255] A partner user or enterprise user with appropriate privileges will be

able to delete existing template using the Template Management module

[00256] TPM-06 Add routing rules to Templates

[00257] A partner user or a home user with appropriate privileges will be

able to add routing rules to the template.

[00258] TPM-07 Map Templates to Partner

[00259] A partner user or home user will be able to map a Template to a

Partner or set of Partners

[00260] TPM-08 Map Templates to Program

[00261] A partner user or home user will be able to map a Template to a

Program or set of Programs

[00262] TPM-09 Design from scratch [00263] A template can be designed from scratch.

• One of available template styles can first be selected (a style will be

a layout consisting of locations for logo, header text and footer text)

• The existing Questionnaire library can then be browsed and set of

questions from the selected Questionnaires can be copied to the

template. For this version iterating through multiple Questionnaires

is not supported.

• Existing questions in template can be deleted as well

[00264] TPM-10 Copy from existing template (this might be similar to TPM-

04)

[00265] A template can be copied from an existing template. All the

questions and design elements of the template are editable A new set of questions

can be defined. An existing set of questions can be deleted

[00266] TPM-I l Use logo

[00267] The user will be able to insert a logo in a template per the pre¬

defined location in the selected template style

[00268] TPM- 12 Header Text and Footer Text

[00269] The user will be able to insert header and footer text per the pre¬

defined locations in the selected template style

[00270] TPM- 13 Title, Introduction, Closing Comments [00271] The user will be able to insert a title, introduction and closing

comments in the template. See Figure 27 (screen shot SS-03)

[00272] TPM- 14 Use pictures

[00273] The user will be able to insert a picture in a template and be able to

position this in the desired location

[00274] TPM- 15 Specify Key Format Items for Question Section

[00275] The user will be able to specify font type, font size and font color for

the question section, header text and footer text. See Figure 36 (screen shot SS-

12)

[00276] TPM- 16 Select Template Style

[00277] Template style is a pre-defined template with place holders for logo,

header text and footer text and footer logo. The logo and text will be inserted at

the time of creation of the template.

[00278] TPM-17 Create a Pre-defined Format Set

[00279] The user can define his / her format sets. A format set is a set of font,

color, size or uniform set of design elements which gives a similar look and feel

for the templates with the same Format Set

[00280] TPM- 18 Display Template

[00281] The template will be displayed as a preview to the user. See Figure

34 (screen shot SS- IO)

[00282] TPM- 19 Capture Template Name [00283] This will be user given name to the Template. This name will be

changed by the user in future.

[00284] TPM-20 Generate and Save Template

[00285] The template will be saved locally on the user's computer. The

template will be saved in the default location on the user's computer. However the

user will be prompted with the directory location to choose for saving the

template.

[00286] TPM-21 Store Template on Server

[00287] The Template will be stored on the store. The client plugin will

access the LGS Template Management web service to save the template on the

Server

[00288] TPM-22 Pick and Choose Questions

[00289] The user will be able to pick and choose questions as the case may

be to construct the template. This may be a subset or all of the questions from the

selected Questionnaire. See Figure 29 (screen shot SS-05)

[00290] TPM-23 Select Template

[00291] The user will be able to select the Template from the list of available

templates. The list of templates will be populated by the LGS Template Mgmt

webservice in response to the LGS client plugin request. See Figure 37.

[00292] TPM-24 Specify Key Format Items for Template Style [00293] The user will be able to specify font type, font size and font color for

the Template Style, which will consist of the header text and footer text. See

Figure 36 (screen shot SS- 12)

[00294] TPM-25 Modify Template Name

[00295] The user will be able to modify the Template Name. The template

name can be modified any time in the future.

[00296] TPM-26 Generate and Save Modified Template

[00297] The modified template will be saved locally on the user's computer.

The Template will be saved in the default location. However the user will be

prompted to choose the directory location on the comptuer for saving the template.

[00298] TPM-27 Store modified Template on Server

[00299] The LGS client plugin will invoke the LGS Template Mgππ

webservicε to store the template on the server.

Figure 14 is a block diagram of the active document management

subsystem. In accordance with one lead generation server embodiment, an active

document is a document that has a survey form attached to it in order to obtain

feedback from readers of the document. The reader feedback can be captured

offline/online and routed to the partner sales force. This document can capture

feedback from any number of users who read the document.

[00300] As shown in Figure 14, the active document management subsystem

is operable to select a marketing document (475), select one or more templates

(477) and to select a program (479). Additionally, the active document management subsystem is operable to select and/or update rules for routing the

active document generated in the subsystem (483). The active document

management system, based on a selected marketing document, selected template,

selected program, selected routing rules, generates an active document (481) as

disclosed in detail below. Thereafter, the active document is published (485) and

stored in an active document library (487).

[00301] In an illustrative embodiment, the active document management

module 356 is operable to perform the following functions:

[00302] ADM-03 Open existing Document

[00303] A valid partner user in the system will be able to open an existing

pdf document using the Adobe plug-in

[00304] ADM- 12 Signon templates

[00305] The Active Document author using the Active Document

Management tool bar will access the predefined signon templates under the

template category 'Signon' . The selected signon template will be attached to the

existing document. When the active document is opened by the reader, the Active

Document will prompt the reader to provide the information in this "sign-on" form

and capture the user information and display the content only after the user

provides the requested information and submits the information to the Active

Document Server. In case of subsequent access of the Active Document the

cached information will be shown and an acceptance will be requested for sending

the user information. Only on acceptance will the content be displayed to the user. [00306] ADM- 13 Reader usage statistics

[00307] The Active Document Management Module on the client will have

this feature. The Active Document author will enable this feature. By default this

feature will be off. If this feature is turned on the Active Document will capture

the viewing time of the Active Document reader. The captured time will be cached

and sent as part of the submission or during the closure of the Active Document.

[00308] ADM- 14 Capture Comments location context

[00309] Capture comments anywhere on the document with location context

to identity what part of the content the comments were placed on. The location

context will include the relevant Page No, line no and any appropriate information

[00310] ADM-15 Context sensitive Questionnaires

[00311] The Active Document author will be able to place on the existing

static document questions or set of questions from the question library any where

on the document. The Active Document author will be prompted the routing

details for the question or set of questions. The Active Document author will be

able to select the default routing rule or add on to the routing information. This

feature will be similar to the capture comments feature in Adobe. Only a visual

cue as to the existence of the questions will be available to the reader of the Active

Document. When the mouse rests on this visual cue the relevant questions will be

popped and the reader response will be captured.

[00312] ADM- 16 Reader Response Detection [00313] This feature will help not to lose the captured reader information by

accidentally closing the Active Document. A fool proof mechanism to detect user

responses in the Active Document needs to be developed. In the event of

accidental closure the Active Document will popup a dialog to request the user for

submission of the responses. If the user acknowledges acceptance then the

captured information will be submitted to the Active Document Server. Accidental

closure will be deemed when the reader of the Active Document responds to

questions including comments but does not submit the responses using the action

buttons of the Active Document.

[00314] ADM- 17 Instant Collaboration

[00315] The Active Document will become a powerful collaborative tool

between the reader and the enterprise users who are listening for the reader

responses. The Active Document Management module will capture this feature.

This feature will be disabled by default. If enabled the Active Document will

become an instant collaborative tool enabling two-way communication between

the interested reader and the enterprise user who wants to listen to the reader. The

reader will see an icon in every page of the Active Document like the Instant

Messenger. On clicking on this link will open a live two way communication

dialog with the enterprise user. This feature is similar to live support on the web

sites

[00316] ADM- 10 Licensing [00317] The client plugin will display all the Modules. Only licensed

modules will be enabled and the others features will be grayed out. This will not

only control the functionality in terms of packaging but also will provide

significant marketing for more features.

[00318] ADM- 18 Adobe plugin environment

[00319] In an exemplary implementation, the adobe plugin needs to available

on the following versions of adobe

1. Adobe Reader 6.0

2. Adobe Designer 6.0

3. Adobe Acrobat

4. Adobe Approval

[00320] Figure 15 is a block diagram of an active document distribution

management subsystem. An active document is distributed through this

subsystem through configured channels such as email or fax to the target audience

based on a distribution list. As shown in Figure 15, the active document

distribution subsystem selects an active document (490), selects a distribution

channel (492) and selects and/or updates a distribution list (494). Thereafter, the

active document distribution management system distributes the active document

(496). In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the active document is

distributed via either e-mail (498) or via facsimile transmission (500).

[00321] In an illustrative embodiment, an active document distribution

management module is operable to perform the following functions. [00322] ADD-Ol Upload Distribution List

[00323] The partner user or home user with appropriate privilege will be able

to upload a distribution list to the Active Document.

[00324] ADD-02 Configure Distribution Channel

[00325] The partner user or home user with appropriate privilege will be able

to configure the distribution channel for distribution of Active Documents. In an

illustrative embodiment, the possible distribution channels are:

1. email

2. fax

[00326] ADD-03 Modify Distribution List

[00327] The partner user or home user with appropriate privileges will be

able to modify the distribution list. They can add, modify or delete some emails in

the list.

[00328] ADD-04 Delete Distribution List

[00329] The partner user or home user with appropriate privileges will be

able to delete the distribution list.

[00330] ADD-05 Configure Active Document Distribution

[00331] The partner user or the home user will be able to configure the

Active Document for distribution using the distribution channel specified with

date and time. This is a preset date and time for mass distribution of the Active

documents to the target recipients.

[00332] ADD-06 Manual Distribution of Active Document [00333] The user using the Active Document Distribution module may send

the Active document using the distribution list and the distribution channel by

activating this module. This will be used for repeat distribution or manual

distribution

[00334] In an illustrative embodiment, the lead capture and distribution

management module is operable to perform the following functions.

[00335] LDM-01 Distribute Lead configuration

[00336] A valid user will be able to configure the distribution frequency by

partner, program and Active Document

[00337] See use case below for details

[00338] LDM-02 Track Lead

[00339] A valid user will be able to view or download leads in Excel or

XML

[00340] See use case below for details

[00341] LDM-03 Download lead data with the template

[00342] A valid partner user will be able to download the lead data with the

template

[00343] LDM-04 Acknowledgment Notification

[00344] The system will notify the submitter based on the configuration

when the Lead data is successfully received by the LGS

[00345] In an illustrative embodiment, the lead analytics and reports module

is operable to perform the following functions. [00346] LAN-Ol Excel Template

[00347] There will be pre-defined templates with graphics for analyzing data

using Excel.

[00348] LAN-02 Partner Transaction Summary

[00349] A partner user will be able to search and display the repon. This

report will be printer friendly.

[00350] The Partner Transaction Summary report will display the data in the

following columns:

[00351] Heading : 'Partner xxxxx transaction summary for the period from

xxxx to xxxx '

[00352] If more than one partners are listed the Heading will read " Summary

transaction for the period xxxx to xxxxx'

[00353] Partner Names: List the Partner names

[00354] Column titles:

1. Program Name

2. Program start date

3. Program end date

4. Leads received

[00355] The Leads will be totaled and a total lead will be displayed at the

end of the report

[00356] The report will display the run date and time at the footer

[00357] LAN-03 Program Transaction Summary [00358] A partner user will be able to search and display the report. This

report will be printer friendly and based on search criteria specified.

[00359] The Partner Transaction Summary report will display the following

data

[00360] Heading :

[00361] Partner Name : <Partner Name>

[00362] <Partner Name>

[00363] Program Name : <Program Name>

[00364] Transaction summary for the period from XXX to XXX'

[00365] If more than one partners are listed the Heading will read ' Summary

transaction for the period xxxx to xxxxx'

[00366] Partner Names: List the Partner names

[00367] Column titles:

1. Program Name

2. Program start date

3. Program end date

4. Leads received

[00368] . The Leads will be totaled and a total lead will be displayed at the

end of the report

[00369] The report will display the run date and time at the footer

[00370] In an illustrative embodiment, the security module is operable to

perform the following functions. [00371] SEC-02 Support for https protocol

[00372] The plugin will access the LGS through web services and all the

transactions will be through https protocol

[00373] In an illustrative embodiment, the licensing module is operable to

perform the following functions.

[00374] LIC-01 License Key

[00375] The client plugin will be activated only after the license key

generated by the LGS and sent by email is entered during plugin installation. This

key will be cached and encrypted on the local system of the user

[00376] LIC-02 Client Module activation

[00377] The client plugin will display all the Modules. Only licensed

modules will be enabled and the others features will be greyed out. This will not

only control the functionality in terms of packaging but also will be a powerful

upsell for more features.

[00378] Others

[00379] The lead generation system in accordance with further exemplary

embodiments has the following capabilities:

[00380] -Grouping of documents into packages

[00381] -Portal for download of individual documents or packages as

required

[00382] -"Offline" portal for upload of individual documents or packages as

required [00383] -Partial submission and resubmission support

[00384] -Auto notification of errors or missing items to the form submitter

[00385] Figure 16 is a flowchart delineating the sequence of operations

involved in creating a questionnaire. Upon the start of the "create questionnaire"

processing (525), the plug-in lead generation system Adobe client (which is a

plug-in to Adobe Acrobat) is invoked (527). Thereafter, the questionnaire

management module is invoked from the tool bar. The questionnaire management

module (352) is the body of software responsible for managing questionnaire

processing (529).

[00386] Thereafter, as shown on the screen display in Figure 25, a

questionnaire category is selected (531). The user may then select a questionnaire

category relating, for example, to customer satisfaction, customer support, e-

commerce, demographics, HR benefits, and various other categories relating to

human resources (HR), marketing, etc.

[00387] After a questionnaire category is selected, a question style is selected

from a menu (533). Figure 31, for example, shows an exemplary screen display in

which a question style may be selected. For example, questions may be selected

to appear in a horizontal layout, in a pull down menu, or in any of the other styles

shown in Figure 31 (533). When a question style is selected and, for example, a

select only one option is chosen, program code is embedded in the questionnaire to

implement such a selection and to enforce the restriction that only one option may

be selected. [00388] Thereafter, the questionnaire creation process permits capturing the

precise question and response text and meta data (which is information/data which

is descriptive of the data) (535). Meta data may include, for example, question

style information. Figure 32 shows an exemplary screen display in which fields

for entry of a question text and responses text are presented. The information

shown with respect to, for example, field sizes is another example of meta data

which may be specified.

[00389] After the question response text is captured, a decision is made at

block 537 as to whether an additional question is to be added. If an additional

question is added, then the routine branches to 533 where a question style may be

selected. If no further questions are to be added then the routine displays the

questions in the questionnaire (539) as, for example, shown in Figure 35. The

displayed questions may be edited.

[00390] Thereafter, the routine will capture the questionnaire name (541) and

generate and save the questionnaire locally (543). The questionnaire will then be

stored on the server 201 shown in Figure 9 and the questionnaire routine

concludes (547).

[00391] Figure 17 is a flowchart indicating the sequence of operations

involved in modifying a questionnaire. Just as set forth in the description of

Figure 16, if a questionnaire is to be modified, after the routine starts (550), the

lead generation Adobe client plug-in of Adobe Acrobat is invoked (552).

Thereafter, the questionnaire management module is invoked from the toolbar (554). A category of questionnaires is thereafter selected, such as is shown in the

screen display of Figure 25 (556).

[00392] As shown in the Figure 26 screen display, a questionnaire is then

selected (558) relating, for example, to company satisfaction, product satisfaction,

service evaluation, service satisfaction or technical support, etc.

[00393] Thereafter, as shown in the exemplary screen display in Figure 29,

questions in the questionnaire are displayed (560), such as, for example, "How

satisfied are you with — you purchase from?" The user will have the opportunity

to modify this cryptic question. As can be seen from the left hand portion of

Figure 29, add, edit and delete options are available to the user.

[00394] The routine then sequences to block 562, where a decision is made

as to whether a question is to be modified. If a question is to be modified, then a

question is selected (564), such as one of the questions shown in Figure 29. The

user then is able to delete or modify the question and response text and associated

meta data as, for example, shown in the Figure 30 exemplary screen display.

[00395] The routine then branches back to 562 to determine whether any

further questions need to be modified. After all questions that need to be modified

have been modified, the routine branches to block 568, where the user has the

option to modify the questionnaire name. Thereafter, the user may generate and

save the modified questionnaire locally (570) and store the modified questionnaire

on the server (572), after which the routine ends (574). [00396] Figure 18 is a flowchart delineating the sequence of operations

involved in creating a template. Through the use of the template, the

questionnaire colors, font, graphics and other features may be created. As with the

prior processing, at the start of the routine (576), the Adobe client plug-in module

to Adobe Acrobat is invoked in the exemplary embodiment (578). Thereafter, the

template management module is invoked from the toolbar (580).

[00397] The user then has the option of selecting a template style (582). The

style is specified, for example, by capturing the logo, the header and the footer text

(584). Thereafter, the font name, font color and font size are selected, as. for

example, shown in the exemplary screen display shown in Figure 36 (586).

[00398] The template title, introduction and closing comments are then

captured (588) using, for example, the screen display shown in Figure 27. As

shown in Figure 27, the user is able to enter information into a title field and is

permitted to add introductory and closing comments.

[00399] The user is then able to select a category of questionnaires for the

template as previously described in conjunction with Figure 25 (590). Thereafter,

the user selects a particular questionnaire as previously described with respect to

Figure 26 (592). The user is also able to pick and choose questions as previously

described in conjunction with the screen display in Figure 29 (594). Thus, through

the processing represented in Figure 18, a questionnaire may become part of

template. [00400] Thereafter, the font name, font color, font size for the title,

introduction, closing comments and questions may be selected as indicated in the

screen display shown in Figure 36 (596).

[00401] The created template is then displayed (598). Figure 34 is an

exemplary screen display showing a displayed template that has been created. In

an illustrative embodiment, the template would have embedded code to ensure that

a user of a questionnaire embodying the displayed template would be required to

select, for example, one selection indicating the purchaser's level of satisfaction.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, embedded code may also insure

that a purchaser cannot submit the form unless the form is completed.

[00402] Thereafter, a template name is captured (600) and the template is

generated and saved locally (602). The template is stored on the server (604). and

the creation process is completed (606).

[00403] Figure 19 is a flowchart indicating the sequence of operations

involved in modifying a template. The template modification processing initially

involves invoking the Adobe client plug-in as previously described (608, 610).

Thereafter, the template management module is invoked (612). A category, as

shown in the screen display in Figure 25 is then selected (614). After selecting a

category,' a template is then selected (616) as shown' in the exemplary screen

display in Figure 37.

[00404] The user is then able to modify the font name, font color, font size,

for the template style (the header and footer), using, for example, the screen display such as shown in Figure 36. Thereafter, the user is able to modify the title,

introduction and closing comments (620) using the exemplary screen display

shown in Figure 27. Likewise, the user is able to modify the font name, font color,

font size for title, introduction, closing comments and questions using the screen

display such as shown in Figure 36 (622). Thereafter, the template is displayed

(624) as shown, for example, in Figure 34. The user is then able to modify the

template name (626). The modified template is then generated and saved locally

(628). The modified template is then stored on the server (630) and the routine

terminates (632).

[00405] Figure 20 is a flowchart delineating the sequence of operations

involved in downloading software from, for example, the lead generation system

server. Upon accessing the server (634), a user is prompted to either log in or self

register (638, 640). If the user self registers in the lead generation portal, an e-

mail is sent to the user (636) confirming the registration together with an

indication of the user's log in key.

[00406] If the user had previously registered, the user logs in as indicated at

block 640. Thereafter, the Adobe lead generation system plug in is downloaded

(642), after which the Adobe lead generation system plug in is installed (644).

The user is then prompted for entry of credentials which may include, for

example, the user name and organization. All necessary credential information is

stored in cache memory on the user's computer (646), after which the routine

terminates (648). The captured information about the user will be later required by the previously described Submitlt server 201 so that the system can determine

whether the user is a partner, employee, manager, etc., for use during subsequent

processing.

[00407] Figure 21 is a flowchart delineating the sequence of operations that

are involved in publishing an active document. Initially, during the publish active

document processing, the lead generation service Adobe client plug in is invoked

(652, 654). Thereafter, a marketing document is opened (656). The marketing

document would, for example, comprise a PDF document which had been

previously created.

[00408] The user's credentials are then validated (650). These credentials

determine to which system facilities the user will have access.

[00409] Depending upon the user's credentials, the user will be able to

browse the template library (658) and select a particular template to which the user

is authorized to access (660).

[00410] If desired by the user, the user may select a program such as a

particular marketing program (662). As indicated at block 664, the user is able to

page through a document and select page positions to insert templates. In this

fashion, the user is able to pick locations in the document at which, for example, a

particular questionnaire is to be inserted. As described previously, this

methodology may be utilized, for example, in a textbook application to insert

chapter tests at the end of each chapter. [00411] Thereafter, the user is able to select and update routing rules (666)

which will determine the routing rules that are specific to a selected program,

thereby permitting routing of different templates or portions of a template to

different parties through different routing mechanisms.

[00412] The active document is then generated (668), whereby code is

actually embedded in a selected document, for example, a marketing related PDF

file. The generation of the active document results in an electronic document with

a wide range of logic incorporating questionnaires, routing rules, etc. Thereafter,

the active document is published by being placed on the server (670) and/or by

distributing the document via other means, after which the routine terminates

(672). ^■

[00413] Figure 22 is a flowchart delineating the sequence of operations

involved in track lead processing. In track lead processing, once a lead is

received, the system tracks it so that it can be followed up on. After a user logs on

to the partner portal web site (674, 676), the user may download all leads by

program into either an Excel spreadsheet or an XML document (682). In this

fashion, leads may be presented in either Excel spreadsheet or XML machine

readable format, after which the routine ends (688).

[00414] Alternatively, after logging in, a user may select "program" which is

a subset of all the leads (678). Thereafter, such subset of leads may be

downloaded in, for example, an Excel spreadsheet form or XML form (684) after

which the routine terminates (690). [00415] Rather than selecting leads for downloads, a user may receive a

listing of all the leads (680) and thereafter select a particular lead (686). After

selecting a specific lead, the lead data with template may be displayed (692).

Thereafter, the lead data which was displayed may be downloaded with template

or the lead data may be downloaded in XML format after which the routine

terminates (696).

[00416] Figure 23 is a flowchart delineating the sequence of operations

involved in lead distribution configuration. Initially, a user logs on to the partner

portal (698, 700). Thereafter, the user is able to configure routing information by

adding or modifying e-mail addresses to send and specifying the routing frequency

such as on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, after which the routine terminates

(712). Alternatively, the "program" option may be selected (702). A user may

then define the routing rules for the selected program (708) as indicated above by

adding or modifying the e-mail address to send and by specifying the frequency on

either a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Similarly, the user may obtain a list of

active documents (704) and thereafter specify the routing rules by adding or

modifying e-mail addresses to send and by specifying the frequency on, for

example, either a daily, weekly or monthly basis, after which the routine

terminates (716).

[00417] Figure 24 is an exemplary questionnaire of a company port

packaging. The questionnaire depicts different styles of questions, such as, for

example, a matrix format for various questions as shown in the top portion of the questionnaire. The questionnaire also includes questions soliciting a yes/no

response and questions soliciting a multi-line text response. As shown in Figure

24, this electronic questionnaire may be submitted for processing/analysis by the

system.

[00418] A wide range of further embodiments are also contemplated. For

example, a further embodiment is contemplated in the form of an interactive

catalog. Such an illustrative embodiment may, for example, be an active

document-based electronic replacement parts catalog for an equipment

manufacturer. Such an active document-based catalog could be used by a field

service technician to order replacement parts for, for example, a photo copier. The

system would allow the selection by, for example, a technician, among all of a

company's products. After a product is selected, the system may, for example,

allow for the selection of a subassembly from a diagram of the product. After the

subassembly is selected, the system may, for example, display an exploded parts

diagram of the subassembly, allowing the required part to be selected

interactively.

[00419] If the technician was on-line, the active document would use, for

example, web services to query the availability and price of the part. The

technician would then confirm or reject the selection. If the selection was

confirmed, a parts order eForm would be generated for the selected item. Next, the

technician would be given the opportunity to make additional selections. After all

selections had been made, the technician would complete the eForm, including, for example, a customer number. Next the technician would submit the eForm. If the

technician were on-line the form would be submitted immediately, through web

services.

[00420] If the technician were off-line, the form would be submitted via, for

example, e-mail. When the eForm is processed by the Submitlt server, the

customer number would be used to retrieve the customer's email address and

shipping address. An order confirmation would be generated for the customer and

sent via email. Finally, the order would be forwarded to the order processing

system for final processing and installation scheduling.

[00421] While the invention has been described in connection with what is

presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be

understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but

on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent

arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims

WE CLAIM:

1. A method of processing a PDF file using at least one computer

comprising the steps of:

selecting a PDF file for processing,

identifying information solicitation-related information for

placement in the PDF file,

identifying at least one place in the PDF file for inserting

information solicitation-related information; and

associating at least one program instruction with said PDF file for

controlling obtaining responses to said information solicitation-related

information.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said information

solicitation-related information is a questionnaire.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein said associating step

includes the step of associating at least one program instruction for routing at least

part of a processed version of said PDF file to at least one destination.

4. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said information

solicitation-related information is a form and wherein said associating step

includes the step of associating at least one program instruction for prompting a

user to answer a question associated with the form.

5. A method according to claim 1, further including the step of

adding a form ID to the PDF form so that it may be later accessed and identified.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein said associating step

includes the step of associating at least one program instruction for adding JAVA

SCRIPT to the PDF document.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein said associating step

includes the step of associating at least one program instruction for generating at

least one user message.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein said user message is a

status message.

9. A method according to claim 7, wherein said user message is an

error message.

10. A method according to claim 1, wherein said associating step

includes the step of associating at least one program instruction for testing to

determine whether said at least one computer is online.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein said information

solicitation-related information is a form, further comprising the step of

automatically routing the form via the Internet to a desired location if the at least

one computer is determined to be online.

12. A method according to claim 10, wherein said information

solicitation-related information is a form, further comprising the step of routing the form through a store and forward mechanism if the at least one computer is not

online.

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein the store and mechanism

includes email.

14. A method according to claim 1, further including the step of

determining whether a processed version of the PDF file is valid.

15. i A method according to claim 1, further including the step of

determining whether a processed version of said PDF file is valid, and

automatically routing said processed version of said PDF file if

said processed version of said file is valid.

16. A method according to claim 1, wherein said step of identifying

information solicitation-related information includes the step of creating at least

part of a questionnaire.

17. A method according to claim 1, wherein said step of identifying

information solicitation-related information includes the step of selecting at least

part of a questionnaire from a storage library.

18. A method according to claim 1, further including the step of

processing the file so that it is in a data format compatible with a target application

format.

19. A method of processing a file having a predetermined file format

using at least one computer comprising the steps of:

accessing said file; associating at least one program instruction with said file for causing

the following operations:

soliciting information from a recipient of said file; and

automatically routing at least one response to an appropriate

destination.

20. A method according to claim 19, further including the step of

associating at least one program instruction with said file for prompting a response

to the solicited information.

21. A method according to claim 19, further including the step of

associating at least one program instruction with said file for causing testing to

determine whether said at least one computer is online.

22. A method according to claim 21, wherein the information is solicited

by presenting a form, further comprising the step of automatically routing the form

via the Internet to a desired location if the at least one computer is determined to

be online.

23. A method according to claim 21, wherein the information is solicited

by presenting a form, further including the step of associating at least one program

instruction with said file for routing the form through a store and forward

mechanism if the at least one computer is not online.

24. A method according to claim 23, wherein said store and forward

mechanism includes email.

25. A method according to claim 19, further including the step of

determining whether the file having at least one program instruction associated

therewith is valid, and

automatically routing at least a part of a processed version of said

file if said processed version of file is valid.

26. A method according to claim 19, wherein said step of associating

includes the step of embedding at least one program instruction in said file.

27. A method according to claim 19, which said at least one

programming instruction is a Java script instruction.

28. A method of accessing and processing a file comprising the steps of:

accessing a site on a computer network by a user via a user's

computer;

selecting a form having at least one program instruction associated

therewith at said site, said form including fields for data entry by a user;

downloading said form to the user's computer; and

automatically routing at least a portion of a processed version of said

form including at least data entered by said user to a destination in accordance

with at least one program instruction associated with said form and in response to

said user entering data in at least a portion of said form.

29. A method according to claim 28, wherein said step of automatically

routing occurs before the user has entered all data required for completion of the

form.

30. A method according to claim 29, further including the step of

automatically routing the form to a destination for further data entry.

31. A method according to claim 28, wherein said step of automatically

routing includes the step of sending a portion of a processed version of said form

via e-mail.

32. A server computer for communicating with at least one user's

computer comprising:

a memory for storing at least one file having fields for data entry by

a user, said file having associated therewith at least one program instruction for

soliciting information from a recipient of said file and for automatically routing at

least one response to an appropriate destination; and

a processor for accessing at least one file in response to a request

from a user's computer coupled thereto via a communications media, said

processor being operable to download said at least one file to said user's computer

in response to a user's request.

33. A server computer according to claim 32, wherein said at least one

file is embedded with a questionnaire, and further including a questionnaire

management subsystem.

34. A server computer according to claim 33, further including a

document management subsystem for embedding instructions in electronic files.

35. A server computer according to claim 32, further including a

template management subsystem for adding a predefined set of questions to said at

least one file.

36. A method of obtaining information about a product comprising the

steps of:

accessing a document relating to a product;

associating at least one computer readable instruction with

said document operable to solicit information from a recipient of a processed

version of said document;.

associating at least one computer readable instruction with

said document operable to receive at least one response from said recipient; and

associating at least one computer readable instruction with

said document operable to route a processed version of said document to at least

one next destination.

37. A method according to claim 36, wherein said document is a

marketing document.

38. A method according to claim 36, further including the step of

routing a processed version of said document to at least one next destination based

upon a distribution list.

39. A method according to claim 36, further including the step of

processing received responses to identify leads for marketing said product.

40. A method according to claim 39, further including the step of

automatically routing the product lead information to a destination for responding

to said lead information.

41. A method of obtaining information about a product comprising the

steps of:

accessing a document relating to a product;

selecting a plurality of questions related to said product;

embedding said plurality of questions related to said product

in said document;

capturing responses to said plurality of questions using at

least one instruction embedded in said document; and

automatically routing a processed version of said document

using at least one instruction embedded in said document.

42. A method according to claim 41, further including the step of

processing received responses to identify leads for marketing said product.

43. A method according to claim 42, further including the step of

automatically routing the product lead information to a destination for responding

to said lead information.

44. A method of converting a static document into an active document

comprising the steps of:

accessing said static document; identifying at least one portion of said static document for insertion of

information solicitation-related information;

embedding in said static document program code for presenting said

information solicitation-related information; and

embedding in said static document program code for automatically routing

at least one response to said information solicitation-related information to at least

one destination.

45. A method according to claim 44, wherein said information solicitation

-related information includes a plurality of questions and wherein said questions

relate to a predetermined aspect of a product further including the step of

controlling the distribution of answers to said plurality of questions to a corporate

destination responsible for said predetermined aspect of said product.

46. A method according to claim 45, wherein said predetermined aspect of

said product is the product's marketing, and wherein the corporate destination is

the corporate marketing department.

47. A method according to claim 45, wherein said predetermined aspect of

said product is the product's operation, wherein the corporate destination is the

corporate quality control department.

48. A method according to claim 44, wherein said information solicitation

-related information includes a plurality of questions and wherein said plurality of

questions relate to a product, further including the step of collecting information

regarding potential customer names.

49. A method according to claim 44, wherein said information solicitation

-related information includes a plurality of questions and wherein said plurality of

questions relate to a product, further including the step of collecting information

concerning opinions about the product.

50. A method of processing a file using at least one computer comprising

the steps of:

selecting a file for processing,

identifying form-related information for associating with the file,

identifying at least one place in the file for associating form-related

information; and

associating at least one program instruction with said file relating to

form completion by a user.

51. A method according to claim 50, wherein said form-related

information is a questionnaire.

52. A method according to claim 50 wherein said associating step

includes the step of associating at least one program instruction for routing at least

part of a processed version of said file to at least one destination.

53. A method according to claim 50, wherein said form-related

information is a form and wherein said associating step includes the step of

associating at least one program instruction for prompting a user to answer a

question associated with the form.

54. A method according to claim 53, further including the step of

associating validation code relating to an answer to a question.

55. A method according to claim 54, where said validation code is used

to determine whether an answer is acceptable.

56. A method according to claim 50, further including the step of adding

a form ID to the file so that it may be later accessed and identified.

57. A method according to claim 50, wherein said associating step

includes the step of associating at least one program instruction for adding JAVA

SCRIPT to the file.

58. A method according to claim 50, wherein said associating step

includes the step of associating at least one program instruction for generating at

least one user message.

59. A method according to claim 50, wherein said associating step

includes the step of associating at least one program instruction for testing to

determine whether said at one computer is online.

60. A method according to claim 59, further comprising the step of

automatically routing the form via the Internet to a desired location if the at least

one computer is determined to be online.

61. A method according to claim 60, further comprising the step of

routing the form through a store and forward mechanism if the at least one

computer is not online.

62. A method according to claim 61, wherein said store and forward

mechanism includes email.

63. A method according to claim 50, wherein said step of identifying

form-related information includes the step of creating at least part of a form.

64. A method according to claim 50, wherein said step of identifying

form-related information includes the step of selecting at least part of a

questionnaire from a storage library.

65. A method of processing a file with a user's computer comprising the

steps of:

receiving a form having at least one program instruction associated

therewith at said user's computer, said form including fields for data entry by a

user; and

automatically routing at least a portion of a processed version of said

form including at least data entered by said user to a destination in accordance

with at least one program instruction associated with said form and in response to

said user entering data in at least a portion of said form.

66. A method according to claim 65, wherein said step of automatically

routing occurs before the user has entered all data required for completion of the

form.

67. A method according to claim 66, further including the step of

automatically routing the form to a destination for further data entry.

68. A method according to claim 65, wherein said step of automatically

routing includes the step of sending a portion of a processed version of said form

via e-mail.

69. A method according to claim 50, further including the'&tep_, pf -

processing the file so that it is in a data format compatible with a target application

format.

70. A method according to claim 50, wherein said step of receiving

includes receiving the file by email.

71. A method according to claim 65, wherein said receiving step

includes the step of downloading said form from a server.