WO2008155503A1

WO2008155503A1 - Method for entering information on an electronic form

Info

Publication number: WO2008155503A1
Application number: PCT/FR2008/051033
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alain Abinakhoul
Original assignee: France Telecom
Priority date: 2007-06-18
Filing date: 2008-06-10
Publication date: 2008-12-24
Also published as: EP2156325A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for writing information on an electronic form installed on a data processing device. The method includes a step in which the location of the user is obtained and a step in which a first piece of information based on the location of the user is entered.

Description

Method of entering information into an electronic form.

Technical area

The invention relates to a method of entering information into an electronic form.

Remember that a form is a space for entering a user interface. Recall also that a user interface allows the exchange of information between the human user and a data processing device. The space is most often a zone or a field in which a user can in particular enter text, check boxes, make a choice in a list of predefined terms, etc.

More particularly, the invention applies to the inputting of information in a form known as the search engine of a browser.

State of the art

Some computers have forms with an AutoComplete feature. This function stores in memory, more precisely in registers, information generally typed by a user at the keyboard of a computer. This information may be website addresses when the computer is equipped with a software browser allowing access to content located on a website, words entered in a search engine, passwords entered, etc. With the recorded information, the autocomplete function anticipates what a user wants to write by proposing one or more possible matches between information being written and at least one previously typed information stored in memory. This feature saves the user time when writing information in a form by not having to write information in full. Suppose for example that a user wants to enter the city "Neuilly sur Seine" in a form. The user types "Neuilly" or even more simply "neu" and the autocomplete function proposes the writing of "Neuilly sur Seine". A problem is that when the user types data for the first time, the autocomplete feature offers no match for it to be based on previous entries stored in memory. Similarly, when the user types a word containing a misspelling, the autocomplete function does not propose a possible match in coherence with the misspelled data input.

The invention

The subject of the invention is a solution that does not have this problem.

For this purpose, the subject of the invention is a method for writing information into an electronic form that can be used by a user and comprising at least one field to be completed, characterized in that it comprises

a step of obtaining the location of the user,

- A step of writing, in at least one field, a first information based on the location of the user.

Thus, thanks to the invention, any writing in an electronic form of information related to a geographical situation is coupled with obtaining the location of the user who initiated the search. In this way, the invention makes it possible in all cases to propose the anticipation of writing a first information based on the location, even when the device does not store the user's previous entries, or when the device does not have a semi-automatic entry feature based on previous entries stored in memory.

The step of writing the first information may be preceded by a step of writing a second information. In this case, the first information is based on both the location and the second written information. In this way, the location makes it possible to propose the writing of a first piece of information based on the set including the second piece of written information and the location. According to a variant, if no correspondence exists between the second written information and the location, the writing step is preceded by a step of permutation of the characters of the second piece of written information, and if there is a correspondence between a permutation and the location, the method comprises a step of writing a first information in coherence with the second information and the location. In this way, even if the user reverses two characters during an input, the permutation makes it possible to obtain a proposal for writing the first information. Thanks to this characteristic, a misspelling does not call into question the obtaining of the first information.

According to a variant of the method, if obtaining the localization is not possible, the location-based writing step is replaced by a writing step based on a correspondence between the second piece of written information and a piece of information stored in a device memory. This feature improves the probability of getting a write of a first piece of information.

According to a material aspect, the invention relates to a data processing device storing an electronic form including at least one field to be completed, characterized in that it comprises

means for obtaining the location of the user,

means for writing, in at least one field, a first piece of information based on the location of the user.

Note that this device can be indifferently a terminal or a server.

According to a variant, the device comprises means for capturing a second piece of information, and means for writing a first piece of information based on both the location and the second piece of written information.

According to another variant, the device comprises means for permutation of the characters of the second written information, said means of permutation being activated if no coherence exists between the second written information and location, and means for writing a first information consistent with the second information and location, said writing means being activated when there is a consistency between a permutation and location.

According to a variant, the device comprises means for requesting, when obtaining the location is not possible, a writing of the first information on the basis of a correspondence between the second written information and information previously recorded in a memory of the device.

The invention also relates to a computer program adapted to be implemented on a data processing device storing an electronic form including at least one field to be completed, said program comprising code instructions, which when the program is executed performs the following steps:

a step of obtaining the location of the user,

The invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows, given by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The figures:

FIG. 1 represents a system on which the invention can be implemented.

FIG. 2 is an algorithm illustrating the various steps of the method according to the invention.

Detailed description of an exemplary embodiment illustrating the invention

The SYS system comprises a TRM terminal and an application capable of rendering a service on request of the terminal. This application is indifferently stored on a data processing device which may be the TRM terminal or an SRV server. In our example, the terminal communicates with an SRV server through a first telecommunications network RES1.

In our example, the SRV server hosts an I NT Internet site that performs a flight search. The search is carried out by means of an electronic form MTR. In our example this form is a search engine

MTR which includes a search interface comprising a CHP field that a UT user uses to write characters such as numbers, letters, symbol signs, etc. In our example, the fields to be entered correspond to a departure city and a destination city.

The TRM terminal includes software, most often called browser NAV by the skilled person, able to display the search engine.

The terminal TRM is a data processing device including registers for storing the data entered by a user, for example by means of a keyboard CLV.

In our example, the Internet site I NT includes means for obtaining the location of the user. This location of the user can be obtained directly from the user. This location can also come from MLOC locating means. In our example, these MLOC locating means are located on a SLOC server equipped with a location application. This location application comprises means able to require a location of the terminal TRM. For example, the location may be based on the knowledge of the I P address of the terminal. Recall that an Internet Protocol (I P) address is the number that identifies each terminal connected to an Internet network. Other locating means known to those skilled in the art, such as triangulation, may be used to obtain a location.

In our example, the SLOC server communicates with the search server SRV through a second telecommunications network RES2.

The two telecommunications networks RES1 and RES2 are arbitrary and can, if necessary, be the same. In our example, networks are internet networks. Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the invention. In these figures dashed lines showing variants of the process of the invention appear.

In a first step EΞT1, a user accesses an Internet site I NT. In our example, the website specializes in finding flights, research based on a particular departure city.

During a second step EΞT2, the site obtains the location of the terminal and thus indirectly the user. In our example, the location is obtained by querying the SLOC server. In our example, the location corresponds to the city of "VERSAI LLES".

In a third step ET3, the I nternet I NT site fills the CHP field with a first piece of information having a coherence with the "VERSAI LLES" location. For example, if the location is a city that does not have an airport, and the search is for a departure city of a flight, in our example the website automatically populates the CHP field with the name of a city with an airport consistent with the location. For example, the website automatically populates the CHP field with the name of a city that is closest to the location of the terminal. In our example, VERSAI LLES "having no airport, the website I nternet writes in the field CHP the information" PARIS ", said first information with reference to the disclosure of the invention described above.

According to a first variant V1, the third step ET3 is preceded by a step ET2-1 during which the user accesses on his screen the input field CHP of the search engine MTR. Step ET2-1 is followed by an ET2-2 write step in which the user writes a part of the departure city, for example "PA". This information part "PA" corresponds to a second piece of information with reference to the description of the invention described above. Then, during an ET2-3 step, the search server SRV checks the correspondence between the two characters written "PA" and the first two characters of the location "PARIS". If there is a match, during an ET2-4 step, the server anticipates the writing of that city in the field. then a step EΞT2-5, the user sees on his screen a proposal to write "PARIS" and validates if he wishes the proposed city. In this case, the user validates "PARIS" as the departure city of a flight.

According to a second variant V2 of the method described above, it is assumed that the user writes, in the third step ET2-2, the following two letters by mistake "AP" instead of "PA". be deduced by the website in different ways, for example, the error can be inferred from the fact that the characters written incorrectly as "AP" do not correspond to the current location of the terminal or to a location having a coherence with the current location . A location having a coherence with the current location is for example a near distance location of the current location. If an error is found, in our example, a character permutation of the misspelled written information is performed during an ET2-2-1 step. A permutation makes it possible to obtain the information "PA". Step ET2-2-1 is followed by step ET2-3.

According to a third variant V3, the second step ET2 is preceded by a step ET1-1 in which the MTR engine proposes a search based on its location. In our example, the user can accept or reject such a proposal. A refusal has an interest when the departure city is independent of the location of the terminal or when obtaining the location is not possible. In our example, a refusal can be followed during a step ET1 -2 of an automatic entry based on previously entered information stored in the terminal memory.

According to a fourth variant, the user can first define a maximum distance between his location and the proposal for writing the first information. This preliminary step will be used to judge the consistency between the first information and the second written information.

According to a fifth variant of the process, after filling the field

CHP, the proposal for writing the first information is based both on the location and a second piece of information written in the CHP field. In this way, localization makes it possible to propose the writing of a first piece of information having a coherence with the set including the second written information and the location. For example, if the location is "Marseille" and the written information is "the Q", the first information proposed is based on the set including "the Q" and the location "Marseille" and proposes "the Qotat" as writing proposal.

Claims

claims

1. A method for writing information in an electronic form (MTR) adapted to be used by a user (UT) and comprising at least one field (CHP) to be completed, characterized in that it comprises

a step (EΞT2) of obtaining the location of the user (UT),

- A step (EΞT3) of writing, in at least one field, a first information based on the location of the user.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the writing step is preceded by a step (EΞT2-2) of writing a second piece of information, and in that the first piece of information is based at the same time on location and second written information.

3. Method according to claim 2, characterized in that if no coherence exists between the second written information and the location, the writing step is preceded by a step (EΞT2-2-1) of permutation of the characters of the second written information, and if there is a consistency between a permutation and the location, a step of writing a first information consistent with the second information and location.

4. Method according to claim 2, characterized in that, if the obtaining of the localization is not possible, the location-based writing step is replaced by a writing step (ET1 -2) based on on a correspondence between the second written information and information previously stored in a device memory.

5. Data processing device (SRV) storing an electronic form including at least one field to complete, characterized in that it comprises

means for obtaining the location of the user (UT),

6. Device according to claim 5, characterized in that it comprises means for capturing a second piece of information, and means for writing a first item of information based on both the location and the second piece of written information.

7. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that it comprises

means for permutation of the characters of the second piece of written information, said permutation means being activated if no coherence exists between the second piece of written information and the location,

means for writing a first information in coherence with the second information and the location, said writing means being activated when there is coherence between a permutation and the location.

8. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that it comprises means for requiring, when obtaining the location is not possible, a writing of the first information on the basis of a correspondence between the second information written and information previously stored in a device memory.

9. A computer program adapted to be implemented on a data processing device storing an electronic form including at least one field to be completed, said program comprising code instructions, which when the program is executed performs the following steps:

a step (EΞT2) of obtaining the location of the user (UT),