Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC FORM FILLING
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.
60/107,791,
filed November 10, 1998.
s BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field graphical user interfaces and more
particularly to a method for entering information into a form on a screen
display associated
with an electronic device.
to Description of the Related Art
Many a site on the Internet's World Wide Web (hereafter "web site". "web
page'' or
simply "site") require the entry of various information in order to gain full
access to the site
and the services offered by the site. For example, many commercial sites
require a user to set
up an account and, in doing so, to provide various levels of personal
information. Typically,
15 the information is relatively repetitive from site to site--e.g., name,
address, telephone
number, electronic mail (email) address, credit card number, etc. In some
cases, the
information must be entered each time the user attempts to use the site. In
other cases, an
account is actually set up for the user and maintained -- the user needs only
to enter the full
information the first time the site is accessed.
2o An example of an account set up screen is provided in Figure 1. The figure
illustrates
a screen shot 100 of a web site accessed via, for example, web:browser
software executing on
computing device such as a personal computer. The web site provides for online
ordering, in
this particular instance, of cookies. As can be seen, the user is invited to
complete the
shipping and billing information by visiting each data field and entering the
appropriate
25 information (e.g., name 101, address 102, phone number 103, email address
104, etc.).
Alternatively. at some web sites. the user may click on a button. hvnerlink.
etc.. to loa in and
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fill in ordering information automatically (presuming the user has a
previously set up
account.)
One method of addressing the inconvenience of repetitive data entry of account
information is the so-called "wallet" technology. Using "wallets", a user may
enter certain
s information (name, address, billing/credit card information) once and sites
that run the
particular wallet technology will be able to receive the information without
requiring the user
to reenter the data. Unfortunately, this technology requires sites to execute
the wallet
technology in order to allow a user to benefit from it. A diagram 200
illustrating a particular
embodiment of the wallet technology is shown in Figure 2.
to One other method of addressing the inconvenience of repetitive data entry
is the so-
called "type-ahead" technology in which the user's computing system attempts
to
"remember" certain information and, if a user starts to type a sequence of
characters using,
for example, a keyboard or other character input device, the system attempts
to recognize the
character sequence and complete the sequence. For example, if the user named
John Smith
15 starts to type his name in a name field, the system may recognize the user
is typing "John
Smith" after the user has only typed "Joh" and automatically fill in the
remaining "n Smith".
Unfortunately, the type ahead technology is limited in that it may or may not
correctly
recognize the phrase being typed and implementations are typically browser
software
dependent. Moreover, the type ahead technology requires the user to
independently visit
2o each field in a form, rather than filling in multiple fields with a single
click.
Thus, it would be useful to provide a method and apparatus which reduces the
inconvenience of repetitive data entry. It would be particularly useful to
provide a method
and apparatus which was not browser dependent and which did not require
implementation
by each individual web site in order to allow a user to benefit from it.
2s BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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A method and apparatus providing for improved automation for entry of data in
forms
displayed on a screen via a web browser.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is an exemplary form displayed by a web browser.
Fig. 2 illustrated a prior art wallet technology.
Fig. 3 illustrates a network as may utilize an embodiment of the invention.
Fig. 4 illustrates a form helper window as may be utilized by an embodiment of
the
present invention.
Fig. 5 illustrates a form helper window as may be utilized by an embodiment of
the
to present invention.
Fig. 6 illustrates a form helper window as may be utilized by an embodiment of
the
present invention.
Fig. 7 illustrates a form helper window as may be utilized by an embodiment of
the
present invention.
Fig. 8 illustrates a login helper window as may be utilized by an embodiment
of the
present invention.
Fig. 9 illustrates a login helper window as may be utilized by an embodiment
of the
present invention.
For ease of reference, reference numerals in the accompanying drawings
typically are
2o in the form "drawing number" followed by two digits, xx; for example,
reference numerals
may be numbered 3xx. In certain cases, a reference numeral may be introduced
on one
drawing and the same reference numeral may be utilized on other drawings to
refer to the
same item.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
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Figure 3 provides a diagram illustrating an overall system implementing an
embodiment of the present invention. In the described embodiment, a user
computing device,
such as user computer 301, is automated with browser automation software 302.
The
browser automation software interfaces with any of a number of web browsers
303 such as
Netscape Navigator available from Netscape Corporation of Mountain View,
California or
Internet Explorer available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Washington.
As a user
moves between web pages in the World Wide Web using browser 303, the browser
automation program 302 communicates with the browser and determines the
Universal
Resource Locator (URL) of the web site 306 being browsed. In certain
embodiments,
to functionality of the browser automation program 302 may be added to the
browser program
303 rather than executing the automation program 302 as a separate executable
program.
In the described embodiment, the browser automation program 302 may gain
knowledge of the format of a form encountered on any number of web sites. For
purposes of
this invention, a web site for which the format of the form has been learned
by the browser
15 automation program 302 is termed a "scripted" site. One method for the
browser automation
program to gain this knowledge is for the user to have previously filled out
the same form.
The browser automation program 302 then associates the content and order of
the fields for
the form with the content of personal data in the user database 304 (e.g., the
program 302
learns that the field named "Name" on a particular form should be associated
with the user's
2o name in the user database 304.)
A second method for the browser automation program to gain this knowledge is
for
the form to have been analyzed and information stored regarding the fields and
expected
contents. This may be done, for example, for popular or well known web sites
that utilize
forms. The information may be stored locally on each user's computer 301 or
may be stored
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at a central location accessible to the user via network 307, such as the
browser automation
home site 305.
In an embodiment that stores this information at the home site 305, when a new
URL
is encountered, the home site 305 is contacted over the network 307. (It
should be noted that
s the network could be the Internet or an intranet). In certain embodiments,
information may
be stored on the user's computer allowing local identification of which forms
are stored at the
home site 305. For example, a hash code may be developed to allow local (at
the user's
computer) determination of whether the form is scripted, i.e., whether
information regarding
the format of the form is stored, at the home site.
1o In addition, when encountering a form, whether for the first or a
subsequent time, the
browser automation program 302 may analyze the underlying structure of the
form to
determine if there are fields for which data is available from the user
database 304.
Typically, this process may involve analyzing the HyperText Markup Language
(HTML),
eXtensible Markup Language (XML), or other underlying code received from the
visited web
site 306.
Regardless of the method, if a script is available for the form, a pop up
dialog window
401 is displayed in conjunction with the visited web site. An example in
Figure 4 shows pop
up window 401 overlaying a portion of a visited web site, for which a partial
screen shot 100
is illustrated. The pop up window 401 allows the user to automatically place
the information
2o displayed in the fields of the pop up window into the corresponding fields
of the form
provided at the web page that is displayed on the screen of the user's
computer. The user
may supply all of the listed information in pop up window 401 or may modify
some or all of
it before supplying it to the form. Fig. 7 illustrates a web page form 100
filled in
automatically by selecting the ''fill in" button.
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The pop up window 401 is better viewed with reference to Fig. 5. The user may
supply the necessary information for the form provided at the scripted site by
selecting the
"fill in" button 402 of pop up window 401 (assuming a script exists for the
form or
alternatively the program 302 can gain sufficient knowledge of the form from
analyzing the
underlying HTML). The "fill in" button may be selected, for example, by
performing a
single click of a user input device such as a mouse. Alternatively, if the
browser automation
program 302 is unfamiliar with the form, the user is provided with the pop up
window 601
shown in Fig. 6. (Fig. 6 does not illustrate the form for which information
displayed in pop
up window 601 may be supplied). Pop up window 601 generally is utilized the
first time a
1o form is encountered, so that the user may select each of the individual
fields in the window.
The user may double click on any one particular field in pop up window 601 to
supply only
that field of information to the form. That information is supplied, in
particular, to the
currently focused field in the form displayed by the browser. The browser
automation
software then causes the browser to automatically advance the focus to the
next field in the
form, in a step wise fashion. For example, if the user double clicks on the
name field 602,
only the name field is supplied from the pop up window to the name field 101
in the form
displayed on screen 100. Alternatively, the user may "drag and drop" the
contents of a field
in pop up window 601 to the corresponding field in the form displayed on
screen 100.
It should be further noted that the pop up windows illustrated in Figs 5 and 6
provide
2o for multiuser support. For example, if multiple individuals share the same
computer or web
browser software, information about each user may be stored and subsequently
accessed by
supplying a uniquely identifying user name as input to the browser automation
program 302.
A user can select their data by specifying their name at field 403 in pop up
window 401. In
one embodiment, field 403 is set up as a pull down list providing for the
ability to select one
2s of multiple users or to add a new user.
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Moreover, for each user, any one of a number of profiles 404 may be provided
from
which to select to fill in the form. For example, the user may click on
different profiles for
home, work, or other. The multiple profiles allow for different sets of data
to be input into
the form, e.g., shipping address, phone, fax, and email address. For instance,
depending on
whether the user desires to communicate with the provider of the web site from
home, work,
or some other logical or physical designation, the user can select a desired
profile to provide
the appropriate information necessary for the web site provider to communicate
or transact
with the user accordingly. Fig. 4 illustrates the user's home profile is
selected.
Yet further flexibility is provided by the browser automation program in
utilizing pull
1o down lists 405 for many of the fields of personal information accessible
via pop up window
401. The user may specify one of multiple shipping addresses, phone numbers,
email
addresses, etc, for each profile. Thus, if a user maintains multiple offices
and wishes to
register or otherwise communicate personal contact information to a particular
web site, the
user may specify one particular office address. The user may then register at
another web site
using a different office address, by selecting a different office address via
the pull down list
associated with the shipping address field in the pop up window 401.
The information displayed in the pop up window 401 may have been initially
supplied
directly by the user or may have been learned as the user entered data in the
normal course of
filling out forms on web pages. The data is stored, typically in an encrypted
format, on the
z0 user's computer 301 as user data in database 304. When the browser
automation program
302 is executed, the user is asked for a password in order to access the
encrypted data. In one
embodiment, the data is stored in a separate file which may be copied by the
user and
transported from computer to computer. In one embodiment, the data within the
file 304 is
retained with time stamp information. Using the timestamp information, the
browser
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automation program 302 may merge two user data files, keeping the most recent
information
from both files.
In addition to assisting in completing relatively long forms as was shown in
Figs, 4-7,
the browser automation program 302 can assist with other types of forms 800.
An example is
provided in Figure 8 in which a "login helper" pop up dialog window 801 is
displayed
overlaying login screen 800. For ease of reference, dialog window 801 is shown
separately
in Fig. 9 as well. The browser automation program 302 has learned the user's
login names
and passwords for given web sites (in this case, the Microsoft msn Hotmail web
site). One
problem increasingly facing web users is the need to remember not only many
passwords but
1o also many user identifications, or "member names". The browser automation
program stores
in the user data file 304 the login member names and passwords (in an
encrypted format) for
sites for which the user has registered. When the user accesses the URL for a
site, the user is
presented with the login helper 801. Login helper 801 allows the user to
select the
appropriate member name and automatically then enters the correct password for
the user.
15 Of course, the user may have multiple member names for a particular site
and the browser
automation programs 302 store each of the various member names. The user may
select the
desired member name from a pull down list 802 in pop up window 801. Note also
that, as in
the case of pop up window 401, login helper window 801 provides for multiuser
support, by
allowing a user to select from one of multiple users via pull down list 803.
2o The user may be provided with the option of having the form filled in by
selecting the
login button 804, for example, via a single click of a mouse pointer device.
Thus, for
example, when a login form is encountered, the browser automation program 302
may fill in
the form with a minimum number of keystrokes or input from the user to log in
to the site.
In one embodiment, changes to the information stored in the user database 304
causes
25 notifications to be automatically sent to web sites which have been
supplied with this data.
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Thus, for example, if the user changes the home address information,
information may be
sent to those web sites which have been previously supplied with the user's
home address
information notifying the web sites of the change. The appropriate scripts for
updating this
information may be stored, for example, at the home site 305.
ALTERNATIVES TO THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE PRESENT
INVENTION
There are, of course, alternatives to the described embodiment which are
within the
reach of one of ordinary skill in the relevant art. The present invention is
intended to be
limited only by the claims presented below.
1o Thus, what has been disclosed is a method and apparatus for entry of form
data in a
web browser.
