Method and apparatus for mapping data sets to fields in electronic forms

摘要

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for mapping data sets to fields in electronic forms to facilitate rapid entry of data. During operation, the system receives a selection of a first field in an electronic form. In response to receiving the selection of the first field, the system retrieves a first set of data items that have previously been entered into the first field. Next, the system highlights the data items in the first set of data items such that each data item in the first set of data items has a different highlight. The system then receives a selection of a first data item from the first set of data items. In response to receiving the selection of the first data item, the system receives a selection of a second field in the electronic form. Next, the system retrieves a second set of data items that have previously been entered into the second field. The system then determines a second data item from the second set of data items that was previously submitted with the first data item. Finally, the system highlights the second data item with a same highlight as the first data item.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method for mapping data sets to fields in electronic forms to facilitate rapid entry of data, the method comprising:
receiving, by computer, a selection of a first field in an electronic form; retrieving, by computer, a first set of data items that have previously been entered into the first field; highlighting, by computer, the data items in the first set of data items such that each data item in the first set of data items has a different highlight; receiving, by computer, a selection of a first data item from the first set of data items; receiving, by computer, a selection of a second field in the electronic form; retrieving, by computer, a second set of data items that have previously been entered into the second field; determining, by computer, a second data item and a third data item from the second set of data items that were previously submitted with the first data item during different submissions of the electronic form; in response to determining that the second data item and the third data item in the second set of data items corresponds to the first data item, highlighting the second data item and the third data item with a same primary highlight as the first data item, and highlighting the second data item and the third data item with different secondary highlights, wherein highlighting data items with a secondary highlight involves changing a different visual attribute of the data items than a primary highlight; and applying, by computer, the primary highlight and the secondary highlights to additional data items from additional data sets corresponding to additional fields in the electronic form to enable a user to visualize in one view the connections between the data items from the data sets corresponding to the different fields from prior submissions of the electronic form.