U.S. patent application number 10/259219 was filed with the patent office on 2003-07-31 for universal forms engine.
Invention is credited to Hertz, Andree J., Hitchcock, Michael D., Price, Raymond L., Stedman, John W., Wolfston,, James H. JR..
Application Number | 20030145018 10/259219 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 22209488 |
Filed Date | 2003-07-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030145018 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hitchcock, Michael D. ; et
al. |
July 31, 2003 |
Universal forms engine
Abstract
A forms engine allows data sharing between customizable on-line
forms, such as college admissions applications. Before applying, an
applicant opens an account with a third party application servicer.
After the applicant completes an application for one institution,
the data is saved in a data base and automatically populates fields
in subsequent application forms. The form for each institution is
created from a form description file. Each form is branded for its
institution and forms for different institutions differ in
appearance and content so that the presence of the third party
servicer is transparent to the applicant. The system is extensible
without programming, allowing new applicant attributes to be
readily incorporated into the system and allowing the content and
appearance of the application to be readily changed by changing the
description file. The use of aliases for applicant attributes
permits data to be readily shared between forms even though labeled
and arranged differently on different forms. Information stored
about each attribute allows the specification of data validation
rules and data sharing and grouping rules, as well as dependency
rules that permit application page content to depend on applicant's
responses on a previous page.
Inventors: |
Hitchcock, Michael D.;
(Portland, OR) ; Wolfston,, James H. JR.;
(Portland, OR) ; Stedman, John W.; (Portland,
OR) ; Hertz, Andree J.; (Beaverton, OR) ;
Price, Raymond L.; (Tualatin, OR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
MICHAEL O. SCHEINBERG
P.O. BOX 164140
AUSTIN
TX
78716-4140
US
|
Family ID: |
22209488 |
Appl. No.: |
10/259219 |
Filed: |
September 27, 2002 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10259219 |
Sep 27, 2002 |
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09991434 |
Nov 9, 2001 |
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6460042 |
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09991434 |
Nov 9, 2001 |
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09325533 |
Jun 3, 1999 |
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6345278 |
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60088123 |
Jun 4, 1998 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 ;
707/999.107 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 40/174 20200101;
Y10S 707/99945 20130101; Y10S 707/99943 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
707/104.1 |
International
Class: |
G06F 007/00 |
Claims
1. A method of creating and processing over a computer network
forms representing applications for admission to different
institutions, comprising creating in response to a request from an
applicant for an application to a first institution a first
application form customized in accordance with the preferences of
the first institution, the first application form including data
fields for entering applicant information; providing to the
applicant over a computer network the first application form;
entering the applicant information in the data fields; posting the
first application form to a server; storing the applicant
information in a data storage; creating in response to a request
from the applicant for an application to a second institution a
second application form customized in accordance with the
preferences of the second institution, the second application form
including data fields for entering applicant information; inserting
into some of the data fields of the second application applicant
information from the data storage; providing to the applicant over
a computer network the second application form; entering applicant
information into the data fields for entering applicant data into
which information was not inserted from the data storage or into
which the data inserted from the data storage is to be changed;
posting the second application form to the server, whereby
customized applications to different institutions share data
through common data storage.
2. The method of claim 1 in which creating a first application form
customized in accordance with the preferences of the first
institution includes generating a first application in accordance
with stored application description information and in which the
first application can be modified by modifying the application
description information without rewriting the computer program that
creates the application.
3. The method of claim 1 in which posting the first application
includes verifying that pre-specified application information is
present and meets pre-specified criteria.
4. The method of claim 1 in which posting the first application and
posting the second application each includes the steps of posting a
single page of the application and of posting the completed
application, and in which posting a single page includes verifying
that some specific information is present and meets pre-specified
criteria and in which posting the complete application includes
verifying that the information meets criteria specified by the
corresponding institution
5. The method of claim 1 in which creating an application to a
first institution includes creating an application identified with
the brand of the first institution and in which creating an
application to a second institution a second application includes
creating an application identified with the brand of the
second.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising transmitting the
applicant information to the first institution in a format
specified by the first institution and transmitting the applicant
information to the second institution in a format specified by the
second institution.
7. The method of claim 6 further comprising making multiple
applications to the first institution from different applicants
available on line to the first institution for analysis after
transmitting the applicant information to the first
institution.
8. The method of claim 7 in which making multiple applications
available to the first institution includes making application
information selectively available to various personnel at the
institution.
9. The method of claim 1 in which storing the applicant information
is performed by a third party application servicer.
10. The method of claim 9 in which posting the first application
and posting the second application includes paying application fees
for the applications and in which the third party servicer
processes the application fee.
11. The method of claim 1 in which storing the information includes
parsing the information into elements, the data elements being
separately stored and identified, thereby allowing the elements to
be separately retrieved and rearranged in subsequent
applications.
12. The method of claim 11 in which inserting information from the
data storage includes inserting information representing combined
elements into a single field.
13. The method of claim 1 in which the fields for entering
applicant information include labels and in which at least some of
the fields in the second application use different labels different
from those in the corresponding fields in the first application,
and in which storing the applicant information and inserting
applicant information from the data storage is independent of the
labels used in the application, thereby allowing each institution
to customize the appearance of its corresponding application, while
still permitting information to be shared across applications.
14. The method of claim 1 in which the fields for entering
applicant information are formatted and in which at least some of
the fields in the second application are formatted differently from
those in the corresponding fields in the first application, and in
which storing the applicant information and inserting applicant
information from the data storage is independent of the format used
in the application, thereby allowing each institution to customize
the appearance of its corresponding application, while still
permitting information to be shared across applications.
15. The method of claim 1 in which providing the first application
form comprises providing multiple pages and in which posting the
first application to a server includes posting multiple pages to
the server.
16. The method of claim 15 in which the content of a page of the
provided application depends upon information posted in a previous
page.
17. The method of claim 1 in which the data storage includes a
relational database or XML files.
18. The method of claim 1 in which the data storage includes stores
metadata describing the data.
19. The method of claim 17 in which the metadata includes
validation rules for the data.
20. The method of claim 17 in which the metadata specifies the
sharing between applications or the accessibility of the data.
21. A system for creating and processing customized forms for
unrelated institutions using a common third party data storage over
a computer network, the system including: a server computer
operated by the third party and in data communication over a data
network with a client computer for requesting a form and for
entering information onto the form; first data storage in
communication with the server computer and including form
description information specifying the content and appearance of
each customized form; second data storage in communication with the
server computer and including in a user information posted from the
client computer; and a forms engine program operating on the server
computer for generating a form from the form description
information in response to a request for the form transmitted from
the client computer over the computer network, the form including
fields for user information, the forms engine program populating
the fields for user information with user information available
from the second data storage, accepting information entered on the
form by the user, and storing the newly entered information in the
second data storage for use on subsequent forms.
22. The system of claim 20 in which generating a form includes
generating a form including branding information identifying the
particular institution to which the form is directed.
23. The system of claim 20 in which the customized forms include
labels for data entry fields and in which labels are different for
the same user information on different ones of the customized
forms.
24. The system of claim 20 in which the same user information is
requested using different styled menus on different ones of the
customized forms.
25. The system of claim 20 in which at least some of the user
information is parsed into smaller elements before storage, the
smaller elements individually retrievable for insertion into
subsequent forms.
26. The system of claim 20 in which the information about the user
is in the form of user attributes and in which user attributes have
properties that specify information about the attribute.
27. The system of claim 20 further comprising means for
transmitting in a format specified by the institution information
from a completed form to the institution associated with the
form.
28. The system of claim 20 further comprising means for verifying
information in a form, the verification means including means for
verifying information common to all forms and means for verifying
information for a specific institution.
29. The system of claim 20 in which the forms engine generates a
form comprising multiple pages and in which the content of at least
one of the multiple pages depends upon previously supplied user
information.
30. The system of claim 20 in which the first or second data
storage comprises one or more XML files stored on a computer
readable medium.
31. The system of claim 20 in which the first or second data
storage comprises one or more relational database tables stored on
a computer readable medium.
32. A method of creating and processing forms associated with
multiple institutions, comprising: contacting a server over a
computer network; creating a form customized for one of the
multiple institutions from stored form description information;
inserting available user information from a user data storage into
the form; transmitting the form with the available user information
to a user for completion; completing the form; receiving the
completed form; and storing user information from the form in the
user data storage.
33. The method of claim 31 in which completing the form includes
completing multiple pages of the form with each page being
transmitted to the server for verification in accordance with
verification rules before completing a subsequent page.
34. The method of claim 32 in which receiving the completed form
includes verifying the completed form in accordance with
verification rules specific to the one of the multiple
institutions.
35. The method of claim 31 in which the user data storage includes
a relational database.
36. The method of claim 31 in which the user data storage includes
a one or more XML files.
37. The method of claim 31 in which the user data storage includes
information describing properties of the data.
38. The method of claim 36 in which the properties of the data
include permissible values for the data.
39. The method of claim 36 in which the properties of the data
specify the conditions under which the data is to be displayed.
40. A forms processing apparatus, comprising: multiple forms for
containing data, the forms being associated with different
institutions and specifying a process, the process including a
front-end process for presenting a page to a user and receiving and
storing data from the user and a back-end processing specification
for preparing the form data for receipt by the institution; a forms
engine that integrates the form, the data, and processes regardless
of the appearance of the form, the type or significance of the
data, and the processing that follows collection of the data.
41. The method of claim 39 in which the forms engine resides on a
server maintained by a third party forms servicer and each form is
customized for an associated are specified in a relational
database.
42. The method of claim 39 in which the content and processes of
the forms are specified in XML files.
43. The method of claim 39 in which the front end processing
includes data validation.
44. The method of claim 39 in which the front-end processing
includes creating a form including multiple pages, the content of
each page dependent upon information previously supplied by the
user.
45. A method of providing customizable applications to
institutions, the applications sharing common data storage, the
method comprising: providing at least two application information
files, each describing a customized applications for an independent
institution; providing data storage for storing information entered
on an application and inserting the information into subsequent
applications; generating a customized application in response to a
request over a computer network from an applicant, the application
form and content being specified by one of the at least two
application information files; populating fields of the customized
application using information from the data storage; transmitting
the customized application over a computer network to a requesting
applicant; and completing fields of the application that were not
populated from the data storage.
46. The method of claim 44 in which completing fields of the
application that were not populated from the data storage including
overwriting with new values fields that were populated from the
data storage, the new values being stored in the data storage in
place of the existing values.
47. The method of claim 44 in which providing a data storage for
storing information includes providing a data storage that is
extensible without reprogramming the program for generating the
customized application, thereby allowing an institution to readily
request and store new information not previously stored.
48. The method of claim 44 in which generating a customized
application includes generating an application that includes the
logotype of the institution.
49. The method of claim 44 in which the data storage store metadata
describing the data.
50. The method of claim 48 in which the metadata describes
permissible values for the data and further comprising comparing
the data in the completed fields with the permissible values.
51. The method of claim 48 in which the meta data describes
conditions under which questions on the customized application are
displayed.
52. The method of claim 44 in which the data storage includes a
relational database.
53. The method of claim 44 in which the data storage includes one
or more XML files.
54. The method of claim 44 in which the customized application
includes multiple pages.
55. The method of claim 53 in which the content of one of the
multiple page depends the fields completed by an applicant on a
previous one of the multiple pages.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority for U.S. Provisional Patent
application No. 60/088,123, filed Jun. 4, 1998.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to a computer implemented method and
apparatus for processing forms and, in particular, to a method and
apparatus for processing customizable application forms that share
information from an extensible database.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The processing of college admission application forms
described below is illustrative of the current state of forms
processing. Students applying to colleges and universities
typically complete a separate paper application for each
institution to which they seek admission. Each application is then
mailed to the corresponding institution along with an application
fee.
[0004] Many institutions would like to simplify the application
process by allowing students to apply over the Internet. Although
an Internet application allows an institution to process the
application information electronically, a student is required to
re-enter the same information for each subsequent application to a
different institution or to the same institution for a different
academic term. Moreover, if the institution wishes to change the
application form, the institution must typically revise the source
code that creates the application form, thereby making changes to
the application form expensive and inconvenient.
[0005] One could reduce redundancy in the application process by
allowing students to complete a single, generic application
provided by a third party who would then transmit the application
to any designated institution. Such systems, however, would make it
impossible for institutions to customize their applications form.
In an environment where schools are competing for top students, the
image that a school projects to potential students is important,
and a customized application can help project the image that the
school wishes to create. The questions that a school asks on its
application reflect the values of the institution. Many schools
want information different from that which would be on a generic
form. Thus, it is unacceptable to many institutions to use a
generic application form.
[0006] Most institutions continue, therefore, to use primarily
paper applications or their own on-line applications, with the
disadvantages described above. Moreover, the institution must then
process the application fee for on-line applications, which may
require that the institution have some expertise in electronic
commerce.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to
provide an improved method of processing forms.
[0008] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide
such a method that allows data sharing between customizable forms,
the customization including branding of forms to specific
institutions.
[0009] It is yet a further object of the invention to provide such
a method that uses an extensible data-sharing database.
[0010] It is still another object of the present invention to
provide an improved method of processing admissions
applications.
[0011] The present invention comprises a universal forms engine
that permits the creation and processing of customizable electronic
forms and selective sharing of information between the customized
forms. A user thus enters data only once, and the data is shared
through an extensible database between disparate forms. The forms
are completed by a user over a computer network and information
from each completed form is forwarded to the appropriate entity
over a computer network. The ability of the forms engine to present
a form for user input, to receive data from the user, and to
provide the data to the appropriate entity is independent of the
computing platform of the user and the entity. Any fees associated
with the forms can be processed electronically over a computer
network together with the forms.
[0012] The invention thus creates forms, parses data on forms,
stores data, retrieves the data, and deploys the data onto other
forms. As additional forms are completed and additional information
becomes part of the database, the amount of information that must
be manually entered on new forms decreases because the new forms
are automatically populated with the previously entered data.
[0013] A form is considered to be essentially a container for data
and implies an associated process. The forms engine integrates the
form, the data, and the processing regardless of the appearance of
the form, the type or significance of the data, and the processing
that follows collection of the data.
[0014] Metadata, that is, information that characterizes the
applicant data is also stored. For example, in one embodiment, an
attribute table describes characteristics, such as permissible
values and accessibility to various institution personnel, of
applicant attribute data. In another embodiment, such properties of
the applicant attributes are stored in XML files. Storing metadata
provides greater control over the data validation, sharing between
forms, grouping, and access.
[0015] User information and application information are abstracted
from the coding, that is, the user information and application
information is stored in a way that allows the application
information and the user information to be changed without
reprogramming. This abstraction allows the set of user data to be
extended without reprogramming, allows the user data to be
displayed in different formats in different applications, allows
the data to be validated to ensure that it can be used by the
institutions, and eases access to the information over the Web by
institutions. Abstracting the application information allows the
application itself to readily changed, and allows changes, such as
changes to application dates, to be made by the institutions
themselves. The abstracted information is saved, for example, in a
relational database or in an XML file.
[0016] The subject matter of the present invention is particularly
pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of
this specification. However, both the organization and method of
operation, together with further advantages and objects thereof,
may best be understood by reference to the following description
taken in connection with accompanying drawings wherein like
reference characters refer to like elements.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] FIG. 1 shows a network through which applicants, a servicer,
and institutions are connected in a preferred embodiment of the
invention
[0018] FIG. 2 shows an entry web page presented to an applicant of
FIG. 1
[0019] FIG. 3 shows a web page showing the results of an on-line
college search that provided the link to the entry web page of FIG.
2.
[0020] FIG. 4 shows a web page for creating a new account with the
servicer of FIG. 1
[0021] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing schematically how accounts are
created in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0022] FIGS. 6a-6d show a web page used to supply directions and
information to the applicant of FIG. 1.
[0023] FIG. 7 shows an applications options page that provides the
applicant with links to an application instruction page,
[0024] FIGS. 8a-8d shows an application instruction page for an
on-line application.
[0025] FIGS. 9a-9c shows the first page of an on-line admissions
application
[0026] FIGS. 10a-10c shows the second page of an on-line admissions
application
[0027] FIGS. 11a and 11b shows the third page of an on-line
admissions application
[0028] FIGS. 12a-12d shows the fourth page of an on-line admissions
application
[0029] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing schematically the interactions
between the applicant, the forms engine and the applicant database
during initial access of an application form.
[0030] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing schematically the interactions
between the applicant, the forms engine and the applicant database
as data is posted from an application form.
[0031] FIG. 15 shows a flowchart of the interactions shown in FIGS.
13 and 14.
[0032] FIG. 16 shows the steps shows the steps that occur in a
preferred embodiment when an applicant contacts the forms
engine.
[0033] FIG. 17 shows the "back-end" states available during
application processing.
[0034] FIG. 18 is a simplified example of classes used in an
object-oriented programming implementation of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0035] The system according to a preferred embodiment of the
present invention comprises a forms engine that processes
applications for admission to institutions. The preferred
embodiment, which is operated by a third party application
servicer, uses relational databases for storing information and
communicates with applicants and institutions over the World Wide
Web. The invention is not limited, however, to the processing of
any particular type of form or to the use of any particular network
or database.
[0036] Overview of a Preferred Embodiment
[0037] FIG. 1 shows multiple applicant computers 14 that
communicate with a server 16 through the portion of the Internet 18
known as the World Wide Web (the Web). A typical applicant computer
14 comprises a personal computer, such as a Pentium-based personal
computer using a Windows-based operating system and running a
commercially available Web Browser, such as Netscape Navigator or
Internet Explorer. In a preferred embodiment, applicant computers
14 can use an older, text-based browser, because processing, such
as error checking, is performed at server 16, rather than at the
client browser.
[0038] Server 16 is a computer, such as a Sun Solaris UltraSparc
Server, that is executing a forms engine of the present invention,
as well as Web server software that coordinates communications with
visitors to the form engine Web site. Information and forms
transferred from server 16 are typically formatted in a hypertext
mark-up language (HTML) and can include text, programs, graphics,
video, and audio portions. Server 16 is preferably operated by a
third party application servicer 24 and is connected to secure data
storage 26. Multiple institution computer 28, operated by
institutions, such as colleges or universities that require
admissions applications, also communicates with server 16 over the
Internet 18.
[0039] Although the preferred embodiment of the invention is
implemented using an Internet Web site, the invention is not
limited to any particular type of computer or computer network. By
making the applications available over the Web, any applicant with
a Web browser can apply electronically. On-line application also
allows the application fee to be processed on-line, so that credit
card settlements, electronic bank withdrawals, and other payment
methods can be performed more efficiently, and the settlement can
be easily facilitated by the third party that operates the
application forms engine to which multiple institutions
subscribe.
[0040] FIG. 2 shows an entry page 36 that is presented to an
applicant who has accessed server 16 of FIG. 1. In a preferred
embodiment, entry page 36, as well as all other pages presented to
the applicant, is presented as an HTML page. Pages on which the
applicant enters information use the HTML <FORM> tag. The
HTML form posts information to server 16, which executes a common
gateway interface (CGI) program specified by the form to process
the received information. The CGI program is preferably written in
Perl, C, C++, Java, or another language that supports CGI. The CGI
program accesses a database that includes information about the
customized application form and about the applicant. The database
is preferably a relational database that is accessed using a
structured query language through a database management system,
such as Informix.RTM., by Informix Software, Inc., based in Menlo
Park, Calif. The invention is not limited to a particular
implementation technology. The implementation details of the
invention are expected to change as computer technology
evolves.
[0041] Entry page 36 can be accessed from, and can be in the same
style as, an institution's own world wide web site. Entry page 36
can also be accessed from other links, for example, by a link 38
(FIG. 3) on a results web page 40 from an on-line college search,
such as the CollegeNET.TM. System, operated by the assignee of the
present invention. Entry page 36 is branded with a logotype 42
branding the application as belonging to the institution to which
it is directed, although the application is preferably hosted by a
third party to ease data sharing across institutions and electronic
processing of application fees.
[0042] Before accessing an application from entry page 36, each
applicant is required to have an account with the third party
servicer 24. Entry page 36 includes a link 52 for creating a new
account. FIG. 4 shows a web page form 54 that is presented to the
applicant to create a new account. Although the account is with
third party servicer 24 and can be used to apply to many
institutions, web page form 54 is branded with the logotype 42 of
the institution to which the applicant is applying. Thus, it is
transparent to the applicant that the application is being
processed by third party servicer 24.
[0043] FIG. 5 shows schematically the actions that comprise the
account creation process 56 required to create an account. The
applicant uses a web client 58, such as Netscape Navigator, to
enter personal information, such as name, address, e-mail address,
and a user name and password for accessing the system. The password
is encrypted and saved, along with the user name, in a password
database 60 connected with server 16 (FIG. 1) and user information
is saved in an applicant database 62, which databases comprise
database 26.
[0044] Entry page 36 (FIG. 2) also provides an information link 68
to provide the application with directions and information. FIGS.
6a-6d show a preferred information web page 70 that is returned to
the user in response to a request for information. Web page 70 is
also branded with logotype 42 indicating the institution to which
the application is directed. Web page 70 includes an application
option page link 72 (FIG. 6d) to the actual application, as does
entry page 36. Entry page also includes a link 74 to the user's
personal log page. The personal log describes the status of all
applications the user has worked on, including applications that
have been submitted and applications that are in various stages of
completion. Entry page 36 also includes a link 76 for changing a
user's password.
[0045] FIG. 7 shows an applications options page 82 that provides
an application instruction page link 84, an application link 86,
and links 92 to supplemental forms, such as a counselor's report or
teacher recommendation forms, that accompany an application. FIGS.
8a-8d shows application instructions 94 reached from application
link 86.
[0046] FIGS. 9a-9c show the first page of an electronic, on-line
admissions application 96 that is customized in content and
appearance for a particular institution. As shown in FIG. 9a, each
application is individually "branded," that is, it carries the name
and logotype 42 of the institution and appears in a style that is
representative of the institution. Thus, it is transparent to the
applicant that a third party is servicing the application, that is,
the applicant may not even be aware that the application is
processed by a third party servicer. In accordance with the
invention, the third party servicer provides customized forms for
each participating institution, and data is shared between the
customized applications. Information that had previously been
entered in connection with prior applications to any institution is
automatically inserted into the customized form. Information
entered by the applicant onto the application form is stored in an
applicant database for automatic insertion into subsequent
applications by that applicant. The HTML source code for page 1 is
attached in Appendix 1. FIGS. 10a-10c, FIGS. 11a-11b, and FIGS.
12a-12d show additional pages of application 96.
[0047] FIG. 13 shows schematically the interrelationship when
supplying a form pages to an applicant between a forms engine 104
of the present invention, applicant database 62, password database
60, and web browser client 58 running on applicant computer 14.
FIG. 13 shows that forms engine 104, preferably implemented as a
CGI program, performs four primary functions. When the applicant
requests an application form for a particular institution and the
request is authenticated by comparing the password with the
password in the password database 60, forms engine 104 retrieves
user information regarding the status of applications that are
pending or completed.
[0048] Forms engine 104 then generates a customized application
form based upon an application description in an application data
file 108. Forms engine 104 then retrieves user data that was
entered in previous applications and stored in the applicant
database 62, and merges the user data into the current application,
which is then returned to the applicant as an HTML form. The
applicant then enters any requested information that was not
automatically inserted from the database.
[0049] Application 96 includes fields for the applicant to enter
the specific information the institution requests of its
applicants. The information is requested in a format chosen by the
institution. The style and content of the customized application
expresses the values held by the institution. The customized
content of each application allows the school to obtain specific
information that it chooses to characterize its applicant pool,
including factors that it believes may correlate with student
success at the particular institution.
[0050] FIG. 14 shows schematically the interactions between forms
engine 104, applicant database 62, and web client 58 with respect
to forms engine 104 receiving data posted from the applicant. Forms
engine 104 performs a "front-end" validation on the posted data
118. Data validation is explained in detail below. If the data fail
validation, a data correction page is sent to the applicant. If the
data pass first stage validation, the next application page is
prepared by merging applicant information from the applicant
database 62 with form information in application data file 108 and
sending the resulting HTML application page to the applicant.
[0051] After all the pages have passed first stage validation and
the applicant attempts to submit the completed application to the
institution, a second stage validation is performed. If the second
stage validation is successful, user data 120 is written to the
applicant database 62 and payment scripts 122 are executed in which
the user is given an option to select any one of several of on-line
payment methods. Credit card information is verified from a credit
card database 124. After the information on the application is
validated, it is transferred to the institution in a data format
specified by the institution. The information is also stored for
use in subsequent applications in an applicant database 62, which
is independent of the institution.
[0052] FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the products at each step of
processing by forms engine 104 described in FIGS. 13 and 14.
Optional steps are shown in dashed lines. FIG. 15 shows that an
applicant 126 contacts forms engine 104 by a browser request for an
application. Before presenting an application page to an applicant,
forms engine 104 determines the state of the application process,
and only presents appropriate pages to the applicant. For example,
most institutions have application date windows during which
applications, whether electronic or paper, for a particular term
are accepted. The forms engine verifies that the application is
being submitted within the allowed window. Unlike pre-printed paper
applications, however, the invention provides the schools the
flexibility of easily changing the application date window, so that
the time to apply can be extended if the institution wants to
receive additional applications.
[0053] Forms engine 104 uses data from the appropriate application
data file 108 (FIG. 14) and previously entered user data to
generate a page of a form 128. Data 130 is entered on the form
page, by the applicant or from the database, and the page undergoes
a first stage data validation 136 upon being posted by the
applicant. A correction page form is submitted to the applicant
each time a data validation fails, and the data is saved to the
database upon successful validation. The process is repeated for
additional pages until the form is completed and the applicant
submits the form.
[0054] When the applicant indicates that the application is ready
to be submitted to the institution, a final, more thorough
validation 136, known as second stage validation, is performed on
the data. Second stage validation ensures that information required
by the specific institution to which the application is directed is
present and that the information meets certain content criteria
specified by the institution. The data validation is customized for
each institution. If the application fails second stage validation,
a data correction page is returned to the applicant. The validated,
submittable data 140 is stored in applicant database 62 in
connection with the application. The data is then processed and
transformed 142 as described below in connection with aliases, and
saved for use in other forms that the applicant may complete in the
future. A payment 148 is then processed and application transaction
processing 150 is completed. The forms engine then converts the
application information into a form compatible with the
institution's internal databases and delivers the information 152
to the institution's database 154.
[0055] When the applicant subsequently applies to a different
institution or to a different program within the same institution,
a new application, customized for the different institution, is
presented to the applicant. Information that was entered onto
previously submitted applications is retrieved from the database
and presented to the applicant as populated fields of the new
application, so that the applicant is not required to enter
information more than once. The applicant can change the values in
a pre-populated field if desired and the new values are saved for
use in subsequent applications.
[0056] As described in more detail below, information about the
applicants is maintained as a set of attributes, each attribute
corresponding to database fields. If an institution chooses to
include in its application a request for an applicant attribute
that does not correspond to one included in the database, the
database is easily extended to include the new applicant attributes
without reprogramming the forms engine. Once the new attribute is
added to the database, it is available for automatic inclusion in
all subsequent applications.
[0057] In the preferred embodiment, each attribute used to
characterize applicants has a unique identifier or alias. The
unique identifier allows the engine to recognize when the same
information is being described by different labels or entered in a
different format on different application forms. The information
can then be saved properly and inserted into subsequent
applications, regardless of differences in the entry format and
labels in the first and subsequent applications. Thus, the
variables can be universal and unique data elements having
different names can be shared among applications.
[0058] For example, one institution on its application may refer an
applicants last name as a "family name" while another institution
may refer to the last name as "surname" or a "last name," yet the
forms engine would share the data properly between such application
forms. As another example, if a first application form requests
multiple choice-type information in the form of radio buttons and
the second form requests the same information in the form of a
pull-down menu, information entered on the first form in the radio
buttons would appear in a pull-down menu box on the second
form.
[0059] While providing the institution flexibility to designate and
request the information any way it chooses on its customized
application, the information is retrievable onto subsequent
applications regardless of how the subsequent applications label or
display the information. The forms engine of the present invention
can thus share information across applications, regardless of how
the information is expressed in a particular application, unless
the data has been designated as described below as private to a
particular application and not shareable.
[0060] Each applicant attribute is characterized by one or more
properties. The properties that characterize an applicants'
attributes can specify, for example, whether and under what
conditions the attribute data can be shared between forms, whether
the attribute is a universally required field, or whether the
attribute is specific to a particular geographic region. For
example, an attribute named "California Driver License Number" is
applicable only to institutions in California. Other information
may be applicable to all institutions within a region but not to
other institutions. Some applicant attributes are applicable only
to institutions in a particular school system. Individual pieces of
information can also be grouped and properties can be specified for
the groups. The application can also include information that
designates the routing of the information to groups, such as
financial aid officers, within the institution.
[0061] The invention not only allows an application to be
customized for each institution, it allows the information
submitted by the applicant to be transmitted to each institution in
any data format that the institution requests so the institution is
not required to convert the data to a useable format. For example,
multiple fields, such as first name and last name, may be combined
into a single field, and the data fields may be delimited by a
delimiter specified by the institution. Data may also be
transmitted to the institution, for example, as name-value pairs,
as fixed records, in EDI, or printable PDF format. Thus, the
applicant information is entered in a customizable form on a
browser running on any type of computer platform and stored at
third party servicer 24 in a database. The information in the
database is then reloadable into another customizable application
form for a different institution. The information is also
transmittable to an institution in its preferred format regardless
of the platform used by the institution to process the
information.
[0062] After an application is sent to an institution, the
information remains available in the database of the third party
servicer for further analysis by the institution. The institution
can, for example, sort or view applicants based upon attributes
such as test scores, grade point average, participation in sports,
or musical talent. Moreover, each applicant attribute has a
property that can be used to specify who in the institution has
access to the attribute for the purpose of uploading the
information or of processing the information to characterize the
applicant pool. For example, parts of an application dealing with
academic background may be viewable by academic departments,
whereas more personal information may be viewable only by school
administrators.
[0063] A preferred implementation of the invention comprises a
single forms engine program, a single applicant database, including
information on all applicants, and one application data file for
each different application of each the participating institutions.
The application data file describes the format of each application,
and the forms engine displays information from the database in the
format prescribed by the application data file.
[0064] The applicant database can be extended to include new
attributes without making any changes to the forms engine program
or to the application files of institutions that chose not to
include the new data. The forms engine automatically uses the
application data file to produce the requested application in HTML
format for display on the applicant's browser. The application
description file can be easily modified, for example, to change
labels or to add additional fields. The appearance of the
application for each institution can be changed by changing its
application description file, without reprogramming the forms
engine. The completed application is transmitted to the institution
with the data in any format that the institution prefers. The
institution can therefore upload the data directly into its
applicant or student information system database, merging the
information seamlessly into their existing work flow, thereby
avoiding the additional expense and errors of re-keyboarding the
information. The forms engine thus has the capability of outputting
application information universally across platforms.
[0065] A transactions database table and a transactions operations
table track completed transactions and operations to assist the
engine in maintaining information about the state of each
application, so that only appropriate pages are presented to the
applicant. These tables also allow the applicant to track the
progress of his or her applications and online payment.
[0066] Database Structure
[0067] The tables described below are used in a preferred college
admission forms processing system. The invention can be used for
processing many different types of forms without departing from the
scope of the invention, and skilled persons will recognize that
different database structures will be required in different
applications.
[0068] Attribute Table
[0069] A first database table, the Attribute Table, includes a list
of all attributes that can be used to describe an applicant. The
Attribute Table thus defines the variable space for the entire
system. Each attribute, such as Name, Social Security Number, and
SAT score, is represented by one row of the Attribute Table and is
identified by a unique Attribute Identification Number. The
Attribute Table includes properties of each attribute, such as
whether the attribute is a required field for first stage
validation (explained below) and whether the attribute is part of a
data group, such as a geographical region or an institutional
group. The Attribute Table also includes references to first stage
validation rules, if any, for each attributes. The Attribute Table
does not include values of the attribute for any particular
applicant.
[0070] User Attribute Table
[0071] The values assigned to attributes for individual applicants
are stored in a User Attributes Table. Each row of the table
includes a User Identification, an Attribute Identification Number,
a sequence for the Attribute Identification Number, and a data
value. When an applicant enters information on an application page
on the Web and posts the form to the server, the information
entered by the applicant is stored in the User Attribute Table
after first stage validation. The form is posted when the applicant
switches to another page or when the applicant indicates that the
information is to be saved. An applicant may change the values of
an attribute from one application to another. For example, an
applicant may change his or her SAT scores to reflect new test
results.
[0072] The User Attribute Table always includes the latest
information that an applicant had entered and is used to supply
information for new applications. When the user calls up an
application to complete, data is read from the User Attribute
Table. When a new application includes attributes that were not
requested by any application that the user previously completed, a
new row corresponding to the new attribute is inserted into the
User Attribute Table. Preferably a single User Attribute Table
includes the attribute information on all applicants in the
systems.
[0073] User Attribute Sent Table
[0074] After an application is completed and it passes second stage
validation, the information contained in the application is stored
in a User Attributes Sent Table, which represents a snapshot of the
submitted application. The structure of the User Attribute Sent
Table is very similar to that of the User Attribute Table. The
primary key of the User Attribute Table is a user identifier (the
users log-on name), whereas the primary key of the User Attribute
Sent Table is a Transaction Identifier, which identifies a unique
combination of user, application, and application term. Thus, there
can be multiple records for a single user in the User Attribute
Sent Table if the user has submitted multiple applications or the
same application for different application terms.
[0075] The Transaction Identifier is the same identifier used in
the Transactions Table, described below. Thus, one can scan the
Transactions Table for Transaction Identifiers that correspond to
applications that are shown as having been submitted, and then use
those identifiers to look up data related to those applications in
the User Attribute Sent table.
[0076] Second stage validation is performed before writing a record
into the User Attribute Sent Table and may, for example, combine
fields such as last name and first name into a single field. Thus,
the User Attribute Sent table shows exactly what was sent to the
institution, and therefore includes a record for each application
that was completed by a user. To review what data was sent, the
institution reviews information derived from the records in the
User Attribute Sent Table, which are then put into a format
requested by the institution.
[0077] Applications Table
[0078] Each customized application is represented within an
Applications Table, which defines the data set for each
application. Each row in the Applications Table pertains to one
attribute in a specific application and includes information such
as an Application Identification Number, Attribute Identification
Number, Attribute Sequence Number within the application, any
second stage validation rules (described below), the Identification
Number of the institution to which the application belongs,
etc.
[0079] Application Data File
[0080] The Application Data File is a specially formatted text file
that acts as an application description. It is a series of
"directives" and optional arguments which the forms engine parses
to build the HTML form and to merge in user data. The directives
are interpreted by means of a look-up in a data structure that
stores the directive interpretations. For example, a line in the
Application Data File may be "SS_NUM." Upon encountering the line,
the forms engine will look into a data structure to interpret
SS_NUM. SS_NUM may mean, for example, to display a text box with a
label that reads "Enter Your Social Security Number" and to put the
previously supplied value for social security number (stored in the
User Attribute Table) into the text box. SS_NUM may also prescribe
a minimum length, maximum length, and call a function that creates
the text input box. The directive could also set flags that
indicate a particular state for the application. The Application
Data File can optionally supply arguments to directives. Arguments
may, for example, instruct the forms engine to apply specific
labels or to override default values, so that the label or format
for entering the data can be customized. The information in the
Application Data File could alternatively be included in the
Applications Table.
[0081] In an alternative embodiment, rather than having the
application information stored as directives and building the
application whenever a student invokes it on-line, the application
is built by a pre-processor utility that is run once to produce an
"application template" with a regularized syntax. In other words,
an Application Data File entry such as "SS_NUM" is replaced by a
template line such as "SS_NUM.vertline.ITEXT.vertline.Social
Security Number: .vertline.11.vertline.11".
[0082] In the previously described embodiment, the Application Data
File lines represent function calls with optional arguments. The
forms engine executes these function calls, which in turn execute a
form-element-producing function like "ITEXT" which produces a text
box. Thus, the forms engine not only needs to have available
hundreds of functions, it also has to do two (or more) layers of
function execution for each line in the Application Data File.
[0083] In the alternative embodiment, most of this processing is
performed off-line during the application development phase, and
the results of the processing is saved in the template file. The
on-line forms engine then pulls in this "pre-digested" template
file. Each line of the template file is a pipe (".vertline.")
separated list of: (1) variable name; (2) form element [for
example, form element ITEXT is textbox, IRADIO is radio button(s),
etc.]; (3) question label; and (4) arguments needed by the form
element function.
[0084] Whereas the forms engine in the first embodiment is
analogous to an interpreter, executing a shell script, the template
in the second embodiment is analogous to compiled code. The
pre-processing is analogous to a compilation phase, and the output
template file is analogous to a binary object. It is composed of
instructions to the engine, like compiled code is composed of
instructions to the CPU, whereas the bulk of the forms engine in
the first embodiment comprises code to do the interpretation, the
forms engine in the second embodiment has a very small instruction
set: basically one instruction per form element, plus a handful of
special instructions.
[0085] The template file gives the application developer absolute
freedom to quickly update the application with no need to rewrite
or add program code to the forms engine. Use of templates also
dramatically reduces the number of functions needed by the engine,
as well as the execution overhead.
[0086] The template file can be in the form of specially tagged
HTML; that is, instead of a line-by-line set of directives, the
template can look like HTML with embedded special tags representing
the form element/variable/value to interpolate.
[0087] Below is an example, simplified for clarity, of a part of a
template represented in a specially tagged HTML:
1 <H1>Biographical Information</H1> <OL>
<LI> <QUESTION ATTR_ID="53"
ARGS="SS_NUM.vertline.ITEXT.vertline.11.vertline.11"
VALRULE="Req();Int(-,);Len(9)">Please enter your Social Security
Number: </QUESTION> </LI> <LI> <QUESTION
ATTR_ID="106" ARGS="BIRTH_DATE.vertline.DATEMDY"
VALRULE="Req()">Please enter your birth date (MMDDYY):
</QUESTION> </LI> </OL>
[0088] To process the template, the forms engine need only look for
<QUESTION> . . . </QUESTION> sections and parse them.
Many other pieces of logic could also be embedded into the
templates. The output of the processed template is an HTML form
that is viewable by the student completing the application. The
output from the above template snippet could look like this, with
the special QUESTION tags converted into HTML form elements and
user data incorporated:
2 <H1>Biographical Information</H1> <OL>
<LI> Please enter your Social Security Number: <INPUT
TYPE="TEXT" NAME="SS_NUM" VALUE="200-00-0000" SIZE=11
MAXLENGTH=11> </INPUT> </LI> <LI> Please enter
your birth date (MMDDYY): <NOBR><INPUT TYPE="TEXT"
NAME="mdy1_BIRTH_DATE" VALUE="09" SIZE=2
MAXLENGTH=2></INPUT> <INPUT TYPE="TEXT"
NAME="mdy2_BIRTH_DATE" VALUE="17" SIZE=2
MAXLENGTH=2></INPUT> <INPUT TYPE="TEXT"
NAME="mdy3_BIRTH_DATE" VALUE="1966" SIZE=4
MAXLENGTH=4></INPUT> </NOBR> </LI>
</OL>
[0089] The above page is then transferred to the user.
[0090] Institutions Table
[0091] The Institutions Table includes a row for each institution.
Each row includes an Institution Identifier, an Institution Name,
an identifier for a parent institution if any, and other
information about the institution.
[0092] Institutions can also be arranged in a hierarchy, with one
institution belonging to another institution. The Institutions
Table allows the construction of an arbitrary hierarchy of
institutions, which can be used to control data access. Information
in the Contact Table (described below) and Attribute Table is
combined with information in the Institutions Table to determine
access to particular attributes in applications. For example, a
financial aid officer in the medical school of a university may
have access only to financial information on the medical school
application, whereas a financial aid officer of the university or
of the university system may have access to financial information
on all applications. Thus, the invention permits flexible control
of data down to the attribute level.
[0093] Institutions can be grouped geographically or by other
characteristics. The Institutions Table can have fields indicating
to which groups the institution belongs. Thus, the forms engine can
control attributes that are relevant only to institutions in a
particular group.
[0094] Contact Table
[0095] The Contact Table specifies the database access privileges
of people within an institution. For example, an administrator at a
state university system may have access rights to data from
applications to all universities within the system, whereas an
administrator at a particular school may have access only to
applications to that school.
[0096] Each row in the Contact Table includes a unique Contact
Identifier, an Institutional Identifier, which defines the
institution or group of institutions to which access is granted,
and the operations which the contact is permitted. For example, a
contact may be granted rights to acknowledge receipt of an
application, to transfer application data using a file transfer
protocol (FTP), or to receive a printable, non-editable version of
completed application.
[0097] The Contact Table can also contain additional useful
information, such as the e-mail address or last log-in time for the
contact.
[0098] Terms Table
[0099] The Terms Table indicates the application terms that are
currently available. Each row of the Terms Table includes a unique
Term Identifier, a Term Key, the start and expiration dates for
applications to the institution for the term, a text description of
the term, and an institution-defined Term Code. The
institution-defined Term Code is used when data is uploaded to the
institution so that the data is seamlessly loadable into the
institution's information system. The Institution-Application Table
described below defines the applications available for each
institution and includes a term key field that identifies the terms
for which the application can be used.
[0100] Institution-Application Table
[0101] One institution, represented by a row in the Institutions
Table, can own several applications, each of which is represented
by a row in the Institution-Application Table. For example, an
institution may have one application for freshman undergraduate
students, another for transfer undergraduate students, yet another
for international students, etc.
[0102] The Institution-Application Table includes one row for each
application owned by an institution and relates the information in
the Applications Tables to the Institution described in the
Institutions Table. Each row in the Institution-Application Table
includes an Application Identifier, an Institution Identifier,
status of the application, type of the application, and information
pertinent to the particular application (i.e., name campus, etc.).
Each row also includes a Term Key, which is used with the Term
Table to determine which terms are currently available for applying
using the application. The Institution-Application Table can also
include information about the application processing fee and how
the fee is allocated between the institution and the processor.
[0103] Transaction Operations Table
[0104] Each time an applicant performs an operation, such as saving
a page of information, the operation is assigned a unique Operation
Identification Number and a new row is added to the Transaction
Operations Table. Each row of the Transaction Operations Table
includes the unique Operation Identifier, a Transaction Identifier
(described below with the Transaction Table), a code indicating
which operation the row represents, a contact identifier, and a
time stamp indicating the date and time of the operation.
Operations include, for example, save, save and send, acknowledge,
secure credit card, no fee, void, and view printable
application.
[0105] The Transaction Operations Table and the Transaction Table
described below are used to maintain state information.
[0106] Transaction Table
[0107] A Transactions Table includes information about each user
transaction, that is, each application that a user has accessed and
saved. Each entry in the Transaction Table includes a unique
Transaction Identifier, a User Identifier, an Application
Identifier, a Term Identifier, and a code indicating the state of
the application. The Transaction Identifier represents a unique
combination of User Identifier, Application Identifier, and
Application Term. There is exactly one row in the Transaction Table
for each Transaction Identifier. The application state can be, for
example, `in progress`, `submitted`, `payment received`, and
`acknowledged by the institution,` etc. Each entry also includes an
order identifier, a text string that includes the User Identifier,
the Application Identifier and a time stamp. The Order Identifier
is used for credit card settlement and in correspondence with the
institution.
[0108] When a user accesses an application, the universal forms
engine looks for an existing transaction involving the user and the
requested application and term. If such a transaction exists, the
response of the forms engine to the user depends upon the state of
the transaction. If no such transaction exist, (i.e., this is the
first access to this application by the user) a new transaction is
begun. An new entry is inserted in the Transaction Table. A
Transaction Identifier is assigned when the user requests an
explicit save operation or a "save and send" operation for the new
application. A Transaction Identifier is not assigned merely on the
basis of a page flip on a multipage form.
[0109] Once the user selects the "Save, Pay and Send" button, the
Term, Term Identifier and Order Identifier fields are populated,
and the state is set to indicated the application has been
submitted. Upon payment, a Payment Operation field is populated
with the Operation Identifier for the payment operation, and the
state is set to indicate that payment has been received. This
continues as the transaction travels through settlement,
acknowledgment, etc.
[0110] Applicant Pages
[0111] Applicant pages are those presented to the applicant. These
include actual application pages generated by the forms engine and
displayed with labels identifying the requested information and
suitable form data entry elements for applicants to input the
requested information. Applications are typically composed of
multiple pages.
[0112] Another applicant page shows the applicant the status of all
applications the applicant has worked on. This page is produced by
a CGI utility that examines the tables described above and produces
an HTML page showing whether each application has been completed,
saved, submitted, or paid and whether it has been acknowledged by
the school.
[0113] Correction pages are presented to the applicant when first
or second stage validation described below detects missing or
incorrect data.
[0114] Other pages include those that inform the user when no terms
are available for accepting applications (that is, the current date
is outside the submission windows) or when a requested application
has already been submitted for the requested term.
[0115] Data Validation
[0116] The presence and content of the information is preferably
checked at the server, rather than by the browser on the
applicant's computer. This reduces the requirements for the
browser, so that the applicant is not restricted to using the
latest version of a browser and, as less computation is performed
by the browser itself, compatibility problems are reduced. An
applicant can use a character based browser, such as Lynx, if he
chooses. When information is recalled from the database for
insertion into a new application, it is checked against the content
requirements of the institution. If the recalled data does not meet
the criteria, the information is requested again from the
applicant.
[0117] Data validation is performed in two stages. Data is saved
both before and after each stage of validation. The first stage
consists of checks that are universal to all applications. These
checks are done every time a page is submitted, such as when a
subsequent page is requested or when a page is saved. For example,
first stage validation may check that the applicant's name is
present, that SAT scores are between be 200-800, and that once the
non-digit characters are stripped out of social security numbers, a
sequence of nine digits not beginning with "9" or "000"
remains.
[0118] To avoid presenting the applicant with an overwhelming
number of fields that fail validation rules at the end of the
entire application, it is preferable to validate as many fields as
possible in the first stage validation. On the other hand, the
number of required fields is preferably minimized in the first
stage, because an applicant may want to partially complete an
application during one session and complete the remaining fields at
another time.
[0119] Second stage validation is performed when an application is
being submitted to an institution and the entire form must be
complete. The second stage typically includes more required fields
and more specific validation rules for submitted data fields.
Second stage validation is performed on the entire data set for the
application and validates the information in accordance with rules
specified by the institution for the particular application. First,
institution specific required fields are verified. For example,
because some institutions may be willing to process an application
with the field Hobbies left blank, this field is not required in
first stage validation. If an institution does require this field
to be complete, an incomplete field will be flagged during second
stage validation. After second stage validation is successfully
completed, the data is ready to be uploaded to the institution.
[0120] The Application Table indicates which fields are required
for the particular application. The Application Table also
indicates certain data validation rules, such as permissible values
or formats for data. The second stage validation can reformat the
data into a format requested by the institution. For example, some
institutions want the name of the applicant in the form of a single
field, with the last name first, followed by a comma and then the
first name and middle initial. To avoid having applicants enter
data more than once to accommodate changes in format, the
information is preferably stored in simpler data elements, and then
combined during second stage validation into the format requested
by the institution.
[0121] Dependency rules are checked during second stage validation.
For example, whether a particular field, such as Alien Registration
Number, is required may depend upon the value supplied by the
applicant for another field, such as Citizenship.
[0122] A user who is earnestly filling out the application with the
intent to submit it, could, upon submission, be confronted with
many institution-required fields on a large second stage data
correction page. To minimize the size of that page, the user is
given the option of having first stage validation additionally scan
the current page's fields for attributes which will be required by
the second stage validation process.
[0123] Initially this option is active. If the user is presented a
data correction page, the top of the page has radio buttons and
instructions for enabling/disabling this feature. The user's choice
is maintained between pages via a hidden field in the form(s).
[0124] In this manner, as the user progresses through the
application, he can enter values for second stage-required fields
in a gradual manner via the first stage validation process, rather
than being confronted with many fields to populate upon
submission.
[0125] If the user is unable to supply a value at the time, he can
disable this feature and postpone entering data into the field
until he is ready to submit the application to the institution.
[0126] Attribute Aliasing
[0127] Aliasing of attributes refers to a secondary naming scheme
developed to create a flexible data dictionary. By using Aliasing,
an application developer can rapidly locate attributes that are
defined by system, and avoid creating duplicate attributes that
store the same data.
[0128] Each attribute alias is a series of descriptors delimited by
colons. For example, anything relating to address information uses
a descriptor of "ADDRESS"; questions relating to the applicant's
birth use a descriptor of "BIRTH".
[0129] Thus, the country of birth attribute is named
"BIRTH_COUNTRY" but its alias is "BIRTH:ADDRESS:COUNTRY".
Similarly, the date of birth attribute is named "BIRTH_DATE", and
is aliased as "BIRTH:DATE".
[0130] Permanent address attributes are named "STREET",
"STREET2","CITY", "ZIP", etc. but the aliases are
"ADDRESS:PERMANENT:CITY", "ADDRESS:PERMANENT:ZIP", etc.
[0131] Mailing address attributes are named
"MAIL_STREET","MAIL_STREET2", "MAIL_CITY", "MAIL_ZIP", etc. but the
aliases are "ADDRESS:MAIL:CITY", "ADDRESS:MAIL:ZIP", etc.
[0132] The use of Aliasing provides the ability to search for
content by a keyword or set of keywords. For example, to find
"father's home address", one could search for all attributes whose
aliases contain the descriptors "FATHER", "ADDRESS", and
"HOME".
[0133] This search would locate the aliases
"FATHER:ADDRESS:HOME.1:STREET"- , "FATHER:ADDRESS:HOME.1:CITY",
"FATHER:ADDRESS:HOME.1:COUNTRY", "FATHER:ADDRESS:HOME.1:TELEPHONE",
which correspond to the variable names "PERSON_AT_ADDRESS_SINCE.1",
"PERSON_CITY.1", "PERSON_COUNTRY.1", "PERSON_PHONE.1",
respectively.
[0134] One can look at the intersection or union of keyword search
results to quickly access desired attributes.
[0135] Thus, the aliasing system is used primarily for developing
new applications: not only as a lookup tool, but also to avoid
adding as new variables attributes that already exist. Finally,
aliasing ensures maximum data-sharing by weeding out duplicates
that would split the data between two name spaces. It is preferable
to use this system as the primary internal naming scheme.
[0136] Procedure
[0137] FIG. 16 shows the steps that occur in a preferred embodiment
when an applicant contacts the forms engine. Step 156 shows that
when an application contacts the URL of the forms engine, the forms
engine is invoked and initializes itself by reading in libraries
and initializing variables, such as global constants and data
structures. For example, in the first embodiment of the Application
Data File described above, an associative array of associative
arrays that defines the form elements used by the engine to
construct the application form is initialized.
[0138] In step 157, the forms engine looks for data posted from the
Web page form. There may be no data at first, but after some
information is entered and a page is saved or changed, data will
post to the forms engine, which will perform first stage validation
on the data. The forms engine then processes input arguments and
posted data to determine the application state as described
below.
[0139] Step 158 shows that the forms engine then makes database
calls to initialize variables pertaining to the current admissions
application (ID#, fee information, institution, etc.).
[0140] Step 159 shows that the forms engines determines which
application terms (e.g. "Fall 1999", etc.) are available for this
user/application combination. For example, the user may have
already submitted and paid for a "Fall 1999" application and is now
requesting the same application. This request may be to 1) review
the submitted application or 2) apply for a new term. The engine
needs to guarantee that the user does not submit the same
application more than once per term. The search engine calculates
submission state information to prevent a user from changing data
in an already submitted application, and then resubmitting it in
the mistaken belief that the data would be updated at the
institution.
[0141] There are three outcomes of the calculation of submission
state:
[0142] a. No currently available terms. Each term has a Begin-Date
and an Expiration-Date. If the current time is before the
Begin-Date or after the Expiration-Date, that term is unavailable.
No terms would be available if all application windows for an
institution are either expired or have not yet begun, or if the
user has applied to all currently available terms.
[0143] b. User has applied for a term, and has not yet initiated a
new transaction for this application.
[0144] c. User has an available "Active," that is, not submitted or
paid, transaction for this application.
[0145] In step 160, the engine determines, based upon the
availability of a term and the state of any pending or submitted
applications, which application form is required by the user and
generates the appropriate application form. If the user has an
available active transaction, the engine will return the
appropriate page of the application in an HTML form with any
previously supplied data already filled in. If the user has already
submitted the application and has no active transactions, an
"Already Submitted" page is returned, with hypertext link(s) to
"Printable" (uneditable) versions of the submitted application(s),
and the option to fill out the application for a term other than
the term(s) already applied for. If there are no available terms, a
"No Available Terms" page is returned, which gives the user the
option to fill out and save the application, but not submit it
until a term is available. In the case that the user has previously
submitted an application for the specified term and no other terms
are available, a hybrid of the above two pages is returned, with
links to printable version(s) of submitted application(s) and the
option to fill in and save data but not submit the application
until a new term is available.
[0146] In step 161, the forms engine reads and parses the
"Application Data File" corresponding to the application to find
the appropriate page of the application.
[0147] In step 162, the engine initializes a user data structure,
preferably an associative array of key/value pairs or a data object
in an Object-Oriented implementation Programming using data from
the User Attribute Table.
[0148] If data has been posted, the forms engine performs first
stage data validation in step 163.
[0149] If one or more data fail validation, the engine creates a
"data correction page" and returns it to the user. This page
repeats the text of the failed question, displays a message
explaining why the data failed, and repeats the form element
pertinent to that datum. When the user posts this page, first stage
validation is applied to the incoming data, and if one or more are
still in error, a new data correction page is returned. This
process continues until all the data for that page have passed
validation.
[0150] As described above, the first stage validation optionally
checks for second stage required fields, thereby reducing the
number of fields that will require data entry during the second
stage validation. On each data correction page, the user has the
option to enable/disable this feature.
[0151] In step 164, the forms engine outputs an appropriate page to
the user depending upon the engine's state.
[0152] The front end, that is, the portion of the forms engine that
processes incoming data from the user, is essentially one CGI
program that determines the proper action by parsing information
coming in from the Web form in combination with state information
from the Transactions Table. For example, the user could be
returning from a data correction page, the user may have hit the
"save and send" button, or the user may have switched pages. The
engine may look for posted data and process it, etc.
[0153] State
[0154] The forms engine can be in one of several possible states
after analyzing incoming data. For example, the data may have
failed validation and the forms engine, therefore, needs to output
data correction page, or a user may have requested to go to page
"x", so the forms engine needs to create and output page "x"; etc.
(see discussion of state, below).
[0155] Most interactions between the user and the inventive system
are through "front-end processing," which was described above with
respect to FIG. 14. The response of the engine is dependent upon
the current state. The Web, which is the communications conduit the
system uses, is by definition stateless: When a browser (Web
client) submits a request to a Web server, a connection is made
between the two only long enough for the server to transmit the
desired information. The server then drops the connection, and any
information created by the client/server interaction is discarded
by the server. The next time the client connects to the server, the
slate is blank and they start that interaction from scratch.
[0156] The system needs a way to maintain state information between
contacts. The system utilizes two state models to describe the
states of two different aspects of the system: a "session state"
applies to the front-end process of creating and returning Web
forms, and a "transaction state" pertains to the state of the
transaction, that is, the state for a particular user's application
to an institution for a specific term. Transaction states include
for example, active or submitted or paid or void.
[0157] Every page has hidden fields that provide state information.
The session state can be determined by parsing the hidden fields
returned with data. State information can include, for example, the
version number of the application and the page that the user
previously requested. For example, the hidden fields would indicate
to the server whether a page is being returned because the
applicant selected "Save, Pay, and Send" or whether the applicant
merely requested a page flip. As another example, when first stage
validation finds an error and returns a data correction page to the
user, the data correction page includes hidden fields that indicate
the page that the user was attempting to go to. When the data
correction page is submitted, the engine parses the hidden fields
to determine the state and returns the previously requested page to
the user.
[0158] The current transaction state for a specific
application/user combination is determined by looking up the
application in the data base tables described above. For example,
if the applicant requests an application for a term for which the
applicant has already submitted an application, the engine
determines that such is the case, and rather than returning the
application, returns a page stating that the application was
already submitted. The student is given the option of viewing the
application in a printable, non-editable form, or of opening an
application form for another term. The engine screens out the term
already applied for when it returns the application. If no terms
are currently available, a page is returned that states no terms
are currently available, but the applicant is permitted to begin
completing an application that can be saved until a term is
available. In such a case, the "save and send" button is not
available until a term is available. Thus, applicants can begin
completing forms even before a term is available.
[0159] With regard to the front-end state model, the following is a
list of the states the engine defined by the action that caused the
engine to be in that state:
[0160] 1. "Initial Contact"--The user is requesting the application
form from outside of the engine. The engine will create the first
page of the application, merge any matching user data, and return
the form.
[0161] 2. "Page Flip"--For multi-page applications, the user has
come from page "x" and wants to go to page "y". The engine first
applies front-end validation to the incoming data posted from page
"x" (which may result in returning a data correction page), saves
the validated data, generates page "x", merges any matching user
data and returns the form.
[0162] 3. "Explicit Save"--At the bottom of each page is a button
that allows them to save the current page of data. Essentially, the
action of the engine in this state is identical to the "page flip",
but "x" equals "y" (i.e., the returned page is the same page number
as the page posted from).
[0163] 4. "Save and Send"--The user has elected to submit the
completed application to the institution. The engine does front-end
validation on the current page posted, saves data, does back-end
validation on all data pertaining to the application, saves data to
the User Attribute Sent Table, and passes control to the payment
server.
[0164] 5. "Data CRX (Correction) Page"--When either front-end or
back-end validation has failed, the engine switches to this state,
which causes the form generator to create a data correction page
and hide in that page state information including the state the
engine was in prior to switching to this state. (For example, if
the user is on page 3 and chose to go to page 5, but errant data on
page 3 lead to an intervening data correction page, the data
correction page includes hidden data indicating the page flip to
page 5). Once the data are successfully amended and the user posts
the data correction page, the engine detects that the prior state
was a "page flip" to page 5, and returns page 5 to the user.
Similarly, if the user had selected "save and send" and got an
intervening front-end or back-end validation data correction page,
once corrected the post from that data correction page will then
switch the engine into "save and send" mode, and the user will
receive the payment page from the payment server.
[0165] 6. "App Terms Page"--This state is entered when the
applicant requests an application that was already submitted or for
which no terms are available: (a) an "already submitted" page; or
(b) a "no available terms" page. The engine will return either with
hidden state information. When one of these pages is posted, the
engine will then continually insert additional hidden state
information into subsequent forms to ensure future behavior is in
accordance with selection(s) the user made on those pages.
[0166] 7. "Print Engine"--The engine is being called in print mode
to deliver a "printable" (i.e., non-form) version of the
application/user data.
[0167] 8. "Exit"--The user has chosen the `Finish Session` button
on the application page, and the engine passes control to the user
activity CGI, which displays a page of information about the
applications the user has worked on and their status.
[0168] 9. "Search"--The user has selected a search button to aid in
the selection of a value for example, a country. The engine saves
any validated data and displays a search page, which contains links
back to the page of the application the user left. These links also
cause the selected value to be passed into the engine, which then
displays it appropriately in the form.
[0169] FIG. 17 shows the back-end state model for an application,
and the corresponding transaction operations that cause changes
between states. Null state 172 is the state after an application
has been created but before the application has been posted by the
applicant. The application switches into the active state 178 when
the applicant saves a page of the application or when the applicant
attempts to save a page and an error prevents the page from being
saved. When the application is submitted, it enters a submitted
state 180. The applicant is preferably given a warning that no
changes can be made to the application after payment is made and is
given the option to amend the application. If the applicant
indicates a desire to amend the application, or if the application
fee is not paid, the application returns to active state 178 . If
the applicant request a fee waiver or the applicant indicates that
he desires to pay by check, the application enters a hold state 182
until the check clears or the fee waiver is approved by the
institution. Fee waivers are used by institutions to encourage
applications from qualified individuals who may not be able to
afford the application fee.
[0170] After the application is submitted, the applicant pays for
the application, which enters a paid state 184 until the payment is
acknowledged by the institution or settled. In the paid state 184
and subsequent states, the application can be viewed for printing
by the applicant or downloaded by a batch transfer or file transfer
protocol by the institution. The application is then acknowledged
by the institution and the payment is settled. Depending upon
whether the acknowledgment or settlement occurs first, the
application enters an acknowledged state 186 or a
settled-preacknowledgment state 192. After both settlement and
acknowledgment occur, the application enters a completed state 190.
The application can enter a void state 194 if it becomes unuseable,
for example, because an applicant cancels the application or
withdraws permission to provide the application information to the
institution. Voided application are maintained in a separate
database table.
[0171] Data Formatting
[0172] When application information is uploaded and acknowledged by
the institution, the original application information remains
archived in the applicant database in the User Attributes Sent
table. The application can be printed, re-uploaded, etc.
Institutions can request information related to all or a subset of
their applications to see, for example, what new applications have
been sent and the status of various applications. The data is
available for data manipulation, such as for sorting on fields or
presenting application information in various database views. For
example, a school can look at applications sorted by test scores.
The school could also look at all applications of students from a
particular geographical area, or students who play a particular
sport or instrument. The institution can perform statistical
correlations between information on the application and grades
achieved at the institution after matriculation to determine what
characteristics of applicants correlate with success at the
institution.
[0173] Not only are the individual data elements tailored to the
specifications of a particular institution, the entire data set is
formatted to conform to that institutions needs. The data formats
may include 1) comma separated values, 2) tab delimited values, 3)
fixed length formats, 4) name/value pairs, and 5) EDI 189. For all
of these methods, of course, the data is ordered as required (e.g.,
Social Security number first, last name second, high school name
33rd, etc.).
[0174] The format of the entire data set is done via back-end
utilities that run on the server and that utilize specially
formatted text files containing data formatting descriptions and
additional data-manipulation rules. These utilities are triggered
when the institution's contact person accesses the administrative
utility on the forms engine server and chooses to upload data
sets.
[0175] Another implementation of the invention uses object-oriented
programming and the Extensible Markup Language (XML), which is used
to create a customized mark-up language related to applications
processing. In this embodiment, most of the information about each
applicant is stored in an XML file corresponding to that applicant,
although some basic account information about each applicant is
still maintained in a data table. Information about each
application is stored in an XML application description file. This
implementation requires fewer files, thereby simplifying
maintenance and reducing the run time overhead associated with
reading and reconstructing applications from multiple files. First
and second stage validation rules are maintained in the XML
application description file. Unlike the previously described
embodiment, initialization is only required when the web server is
started, because the application persists, along with its database
connections, as long as the server is operating.
[0176] An XML parser, typically written in Perl, parses the XML
application description source file and invokes programs that
implement by creating and saving binary objects the features
specified by the XML tags. For example, the text between a
<begin page> tag and an <end page> tag is used to
create a page object having attributes defined by the text between
the tags. Similarly, an object corresponding to an element of a
page is created based upon the text between a <begin element>
tag and an <end element> tag. The created objects define the
application that is presented to the applicant.
[0177] FIG. 18 shows examples of binary objects created by the XML
parser and the relationships between some of the objects. For
example, FIG. 18 shows, that a page object 204 can include one or
more element object 206, groups objects 208, and table objects 210.
An element object 206, which can be instantiated for example as a
question on the application, includes a pre-text element 212 and a
post-text element 214 corresponding to text associated with the
question, an input field element 216, and any validation rule
elements 218. Groups objects 208 may also include a pre-text
element 212 and a post-text element 214, as well as element objects
206, other group objects 208, and table objects 210. Table objects
210 can include table header objects 220 and row element objects
222. Skilled programmers can write many classes to customize an
application and will understand that FIG. 18 is a greatly
simplified example used to demonstration the principles of the
embodiment.
[0178] The group object allows multiple elements to be associated
with a group and eases the implementation of an adaptive
application, in which the content of application pages sent to an
applicant may depend upon the applicant's answers in previous
pages. Whether an element or group is displayed depends upon the
value of a display attribute, which can be used to specify the
conditions under which the object is displayed on the screen or in
printed reports. For example, a group of questions may belong to a
"non-U.S. citizen" group object. Questions belonging to the
non-U.S. citizen group object may request information such as visa
type, alien registration number, and country of origin. If the
applicant answers that he is a U.S. citizen, elements in the
"non-U.S. citizen" group are not displayed. An adaptive application
would also be useful for a higher education system that includes
multiple schools or campuses. A single application file could be
used, with the questions presented to the applicant depending upon
the particular school the applicant chooses. Using a single
application greatly simplifies maintenance of the application
form.
[0179] Applicant information is similarly saved in an applicant XML
file. Unlike the application description XML file, the applicant
file is changed as information is posted by the applicant. Thus,
the applicant XML file is re-saved each time that data is posted by
the applicant.
[0180] Although the present invention has been described using an
embodiment that processes college admission application forms, it
is not limited to that application, but is applicable to processing
any form, such as employment forms and student loan forms, such as
for the PLUS student loan program
[0181] While a preferred embodiment of the present invention has
been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in
the art that many changes and modifications may be made without
departing from the invention in its broader aspects. Because the
computer and computer network fields are changing rapidly, it is
expected that implementation of the invention will change
significantly as technology evolves. The particular programming
language and the type of database can be varied depending on the
preferences of the programmer. Such changes in implementation,
however, do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.
The appended claims are therefore intended to cover all such
changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope
of the invention.
* * * * *