Universal claims formatter

摘要

An inventive method and computer system convert known or unknown input file formats to a common file format with a reduced amount of human intervention and greater speed, in comparison to prior-art methods and products. The conversion involves the viewing, by an operator, of a given input file; the determination as to whether or not the format of the input file matches a known format; the specification of data coordinates within each record in the input file; and the conversion of the input file to the common file format. Newly created file formats may be stored and used as existing file formats. A "garbage collection" module automatically removes extraneous unprintable characters and helps to standardize the control character formats, prior to matching.