Document automation systems

摘要

The present invention relates to document automation/assembly systems, and more particularly to document automation systems distributed over a network such as the Internet, and/or other communication networks. In addition, the present invention relates to methods, especially computer-implemented methods, to computer programs, and to recording media storing such programs for use in such systems.

主权项

1. An electronic-document generation system comprising hardware and/or one or more processors configured to function as:
(a) a generation unit operable to employ a content source comprising document content and a logic source comprising logic to automatically generate a target document by evaluating said logic in dependence upon user-elicited data, the user-elicited data being data elicited from a user of said system; (b) a user interface operable to cause the target document or another electronic document generated therefrom to be displayed to the user, said user interface being further operable to permit the user to make amendments to the displayed document including a change to said user-elicited data and an amendment other than a change to said user-elicited data, the displayed document being the target document or said other electronic document generated therefrom, said user interface being operable to permit the user to make said amendment other than a change to said user-elicited data directly to the displayed document, whereby said amendment other than a change to said user-elicited data is also made to said target document or said other electronic document generated therefrom; and (c) a source-amending unit operable, when such an amendment other than a change to said user-elicited data is made directly to the displayed document by the user, to automatically effect an equivalent amendment to a corresponding portion of the content source and/or the logic source, wherein the generation unit of the system further comprises:
an interpreter which, during generation of said target document, interprets at least one instruction of a predetermined type, the at least one instruction referring to said user-elicited data and identifying a content item for use in generating said target document;a first includer which, for the at least one instruction, includes the identified content item or content derived therefrom in a portion of said target document even when a value of the data that the instruction refers to indicates that the content item or the content derived therefrom is to be excluded from the target document;an assigner which assigns a first status, indicating that the content item concerned or the content derived therefrom is to be included in the target document, or a second status, indicating that the content item concerned or the content derived therefrom is to be excluded from the target document, to said portion of the target document in dependence upon the data that the instruction concerned refers to; anda second includer which, for said portion of the target document, includes additional information in said target document indicative of whether the portion concerned has been assigned said first status or said second status.