GB2262639A - Improving data integrity for document generation - Google Patents

Abstract

A process is disclosed for reception of data during an interfacing process (5) and storing the data in a memory array. The data in the memory array is transmitted in parallel to a primary database (6) having a fixed record structure, and to a temporary database (10) after generation and insertion of printing instructions. This helps to ensure data integrity in printing and document generation operations which take place with data in the temporary database while accesses are not made to the primary database. The interfacing process (5) controls the situations in which the operator may input data by reference to a counter and display circuit identification numbers so that display circuits are bypassed or used for the interfacing process only if required. By decrementing the counter the control unit allows a user to input data to a specific circuit into which data has been previously incorrectly inputted. <IMAGE>

Description

unimproved data integrity for document generation" The invention relates to the storage of data and the subsequent generation of documents using the data. In more detail, the invention relates to the receiving and processing of data, it's storage and it's use in generation of documents.

In such systems, data integrity is of vital importance as one incorrect piece of data may lead to generation of numerous incorrect documents. This may have very serious consequences.

For example, in generation of legal documents such as for property conveyancing it is absolutely essential that all of the data be correct as there is absolutely no margin for error in such documents.

There are two aspects to ensuring data integrity in such systems. One aspect is prevention of machine errors, the other aspect being prevention of human errors. In prevention of machine errors, methods and systems such as that described in European Patent Specification No. 221275 (IBM) are used.

In this system there are a number of alternate logical devices which provide redundancy in data processing in order to ensure data integrity on development of a hardware fault. Other fault tolerant systems available at present involve use of redundancy in memory banks. While such approaches to achieving fault tolerance are undoubtedly helpful, the provision of redundant circuits, memory banks and associated control circuits considerably increases the cost for installation and maintenance of the computer systems. In many cases, such costs are prohibitive.

Regarding the other aspect of data integrity, namely that of human error, heretofore the approach has been to ensure that professionals spend a considerable amount of time checking the documents generated, checking the data, obtaining printouts of data stored for records and checking this, and having other people make cross-checks. Again, this approach is undoubtedly effective, although there is clearly a very large cost in terms of manpower. In situations where there are the usual commercial constraints such as limited fee income for carrying out professional tasks which involve generation of documents, this approach to ensuring data integrity simply makes such work not worthwhile to carry out.

The invention is directed towards providing a process for recording data and generating documents which ensures data integrity and which does not require more equipment than is normally required for generation of documents and which involves considerably reduced time input of people involved with the carrying out of the work.

According to the invention, there is provided a process for recording data and generating documents which ensures data integrity, the process being carried out by a control unit of a computer system also including an operator interface, a volatile memory circuit, a word processor, a permanent memory storage device storing relational databases of pre-set information for document generation, and a primary database having fixed-size blank records of at least 2 KByte size, the process comprising the steps of: generating a blank memory array in the volatile memory circuit; carrying out an interfacing process for reception and processing of data from an operator including the steps of:: setting a counter with a number representing an active display circuit; accessing a display circuit and carrying out display and data reception operations only if the circuit number matches the counter number; storing received data in the memory array; displaying a prompt for operator input of verification of displayed data for each display circuit in turn; repeating data receptions processing operations if a signal indicating presence of incorrect data is received; incrementing the counter if a verification signal is received and repeating data reception and verification operations if the counter and circuit numbers match for each display circuit in turn; writing the memory array to the primary database; in parallel, generating printing instructions and merging them with data from the memory array, and writing to a temporary database in the storage device; transmitting the temporary database record to the word processor; printing documents using the record; monitoring real time; and overwriting the record in the temporary database when a preset time period has elapsed.

In one embodiment, the interfacing process includes the additional sub-steps of: prompting operator input of a signal indicating incorrect data received by another display circuit; decrementing the counter to an identification number of the relevant display circuit if such a signal is received; accessing each display circuit in turn until the counter and circuit numbers match; carrying out display and processing operations for the matching display circuit; and overwriting new data on the original data in the memory array generated by that display circuit.

In another embodiment, the process includes the further step of initially retrieving a record from the primary database and writing data in the record to the memory array.

Preferably, the steps of carrying out data reception operations for each display circuit includes displaying data associated with other display circuits.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of some preferred embodiments thereof, given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a process of the invention for recording data and generating documents; and Fig. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a portion of the process of Fig. 1 in detail.

Referring to the drawings, and initially to Fig. 1, there is illustrated a process of the invention which in this embodiment is used for recording data, carrying out processing work on some of the data and generating documents. In many situations, it is absolutely essential to ensure that all of the data is correct so that documents generated from the data are correct. The process of the invention is carried out by a computerised apparatus which includes a control unit which is connected to output interfaces, namely, a video screen and printer and to an input interface, namely, a keyboard. For control of the video screen, the control unit is additionally connected to a number of display circuits, the number of circuits being indicated generally by the letter "n".Each display circuit is connected to the video screen for generation of a display panel in a particular format which prompts input by an operator of data at the keyboard and also displays data which has already been inputted. The control unit is also connected to a volatile memory circuit for temporary storage of data which is being processed and to a permanent memory storage device such as a bank of fixed disks.

To carry out the process, the storage device initially stores relational databases of preset information such as names and addresses of all the agents such as solicitors, auctioneers, and local authorities associated with the data, for example, those who could possibly be involved in property conveyancing.

The storage device also stores a primary database which has a number of fixed-size records in a rigid structure, each record having 128 fields and is of 2Kbyte memory size. The control unit is also connected to a word processor by a data bus.

In general, the records of the primary database will store data which has previously been stored in it, for example, the name and address of a client. If such a record exists, it is located in step 1 of the process and the data in the record is transmitted to the volatile memory circuit for temporary storage in step 2. In step 3, the control unit generates a blank memory array and in step 4 stores the available data in the volatile memory circuit in the memory array. The memory array is of similar size to the primary database record, i.e.

2Kbyte.

Under control of the control unit and the display circuits, an interfacing process 5 is then carried out between the apparatus and the operator during which data is received at the keyboard using feedback via the video screen, and is stored in the memory array in the volatile memory circuit.

Some of the data is not stored in the memory array because processing must be carried out on it for generation of data suitable for storage. The interfacing process 5 is described in detail in Fig. 2 and is of considerable importance to the invention to ensure that data integrity is maintained.

At the end of the interfacing process 5, the memory array contains all of the required data and in step 6 the data in the memory array is written to the primary database record.

As stated above, this record is of a rigid structure being 128 fields long, although in most cases many of these are not required. This allows for the considerable advantage of the apparatus being able to write additional information to the record which may be required at a later stage for generation of further documents without breaking the record into different parts of the storage device. This substantially reduces the chances of data being degraded in being transferred to different parts of the storage device and also makes retrieval from a back-up tape particularly convenient.

The step of transmitting data in the primary database to a tape backup is indicated by the numeral 7. It is agreed that this approach involves use of more memory than would heretofore be required, however, the advantages in ensuring data integrity are considerable and this is a small price to pay.

In parallel with writing of data to the primary database, in step 8 the control unit generates printing instructions and data to assist in printing of documents using the data in the memory array. This involves retrieval from the relational databases of preset data such as correspondence addresses.

The printing instructions are inserted in the last 28 fields of the memory array so that they do not interfere with the data stored in the first 100 fields. These numbers of fields are chosen so that there is no chance that data stored in the memory array before generation of instructions overlaps into the portion of the memory array required for printing instructions. The step of inserting the printing instructions into the auxiliary 28 fields is indicated by the numeral 9 and in step 10 all of the data from the memory array is transmitted to a temporary database stored in the storage device which has a similar structure to that of the primary database. In general, the temporary database will be stored on a different fixed disk from the primary database, although this is not an essential requirement.In step 11, the record in the temporary database is transmitted to the word processor and using the print instructions which are included in the record, documents are printed in step 12.

Step 14 indicates the general step of the apparatus monitoring real time and when a time period such as one day or one week has elapsed the control unit is permitted to write over the record stored in the temporary database. This is an important aspect of the invention as it prevents an excessive amount of data being stored which is superfluous to requirements.

Referring now to Fig. 2, the interfacing process 5 is described in detail. This process is an important aspect of the invention as it provides for the interaction between what is displayed on the video screen and what is inputted by the user and the manner in which data is processed to minimise human error in input of data. It is accepted that it is impossible to totally eliminate the chances of human error in inputting of data, however, the technical steps involved in the interfacing process considerably reduce the chances of such errors arising.

In step 20, the control unit accesses a counter forming part of the apparatus. The counter may be a register in a microprocessor or may be a separate solid state device connected to the control unit. The control unit stores in the counter the total number of display circuits of the apparatus.

The total number has been indicated generally by letter "n" and this may, for example, be 5. In step 21, the control unit initialises the counter with a number identifying the active display circuit and initialisation involves setting the counter to 1. In step 22, the control unit checks the status of the counter and in step 23, accesses the first display circuit. Each of the display circuits is assigned an identification number and in this example the numbers are 1 to 5, inclusive. The first display circuit to be accessed is display circuit 1 and in step 24 the control unit compares the counter number and the circuit number.If these are equal (as in this case because the counter has just been initialised and it is display circuit 1) the control unit proceeds in step 25 to instruct the display circuit to generate the associated display panel and to insert in the display panel any data which is already stored in the memory array for that record.

In step 26, additional data is inputted at the keyboard by the operator in response to prompts in the display panel. Thus, the operator views not only prompts for inputting of data but also existing data of the records so that he or she may immediately identify the record in a manner which mimics opening a file for a particular case such as a property conveyancing case. The data is either stored directly in the memory array in step 28 or is initially processed in step 27, the output of the process being stored in the memory array in step 28. Needless to say, the display circuit automatically displays any data which is inputted and stored in the memory array for immediate viewing by the operator.Before discontinuing display of the associated display panel, the display circuit displays a prompt to a user to input one or other of the following inputs: "No" "Yes" "Previous" A "No" input indicates to the control unit that the user has spotted incorrect data being displayed and accordingly stored in the memory array. On input of such a signal, the control unit 2 immediately re-checks the counter in step 22 and repeats the process. It is not essential that the operator input all of the data as data which is correct merely requires input of a signal indicating that that particular field is correct. However, it is essential for the operator to make a positive action by inputting a signal for verification of each data field and, needless to say, for input of the correct data which replaces the incorrect data and is overwritten in the memory array.

If a "Yes" input is received, the control unit increments the counter in step 31 by 1 and steps 22 to 29 are repeated for display circuit 2. In this case, however, if a "No" input is received at the end of the data inputting for the display circuit 2, when the control unit checks the counter in step 22 it will be seen that the level will be at 2 and thus in step 24 the control unit does not go on to generate the display panel with the display circuit 1 but bypasses all of steps 25 to 29 and goes immediately to step 31 to increment the counter to 1. When the process is repeated for the display circuit 2 the counter and display circuit numbers will match and interfacing will occur for display circuit 2.Thus, if on a previous display panel the user inputs incorrect data the control unit must link back through each display circuit which preceded it but will not carry out any processing for those display circuits if the counter values do not match. Such a mistake may be spotted because each display panel in turn displays not only information which has been inputted for that panel, but information which has already been inputted previously.

If a Previous signal is received, the control unit in step 30 decrements the counter to the identification number of the display circuit for which the incorrect value is inputted.

The control unit then proceeds to check the counter in step 22 and to either ignore the display circuit if the numbers do not match in step 24 or to proceed to step 25 for that particular display circuit so that all of the interfacing for that circuit is repeated just as if the user had spotted the error while the display circuit was still in operation.

The processes are repeated for each display circuit in turn until display circuit "n" is reached, in which case if a "Yes" input is received the control unit proceeds to transmit data in the memory array to the databases in steps 6 and 8 as shown in Fig. 1.

It will be appreciated that the process illustrated in Fig. 2 is extremely important as it allows for very efficient and clear interfacing between the operator and the apparatus with a large amount of versatility in correction of errors with little possibility of inadvertently corrupting data which has already been inputted. The operator may correct values which are inputted for the panel being displayed or for a previous panel while the control unit carries out what are sometimes complex and lengthy operations but which are relatively simple for a microprocessor to carry out and are "transparent" to the user. The processing required to carry out all these steps requires relatively little processing power and again, this is a small price to pay for the considerable improvement in reduction of human error.

It will be appreciated that the invention provides for the minimisation of both machine and human errors in a simple manner which uses presently available and relatively inexpensive computerised apparatus and avoids the need for specially constructed fault tolerant systems in many cases.

This allows an operator to generate documents such as legal documents with little chance of error. What has been achieved is maximum utilisation of the capabilities of electronic circuitry by carrying out relatively lengthy operations which are transparent to the user but are very effective while the user is required to make positive actions for approval of data in an active rather than in a passive manner.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described, but may be varied in construction and detail.

Claims (5)

1. A process for recording data and generating documents which ensures data integrity, the process being carried out by a control unit of a computer system also including an operator interface, a volatile memory circuit, a word processor, a permanent memory storage device storing relational databases of pre-set information for document generation, and a primary database having fixed-size blank records of at least 2 KByte size, the process comprising the steps of: generating a blank memory array in the volatile memory circuit; carrying out an interfacing process for reception and processing of data from an operator including the steps of:: setting a counter with a number representing an active display circuit; accessing a display circuit and carrying out display and data reception operations only if the circuit number matches the counter number; storing received data in the memory array; displaying a prompt for operator input of verification of displayed data for each display circuit in turn; repeating data reception operations if a signal indicating presence of incorrect data is received; incrementing the counter if a verification signal is received and repeating data reception and verification operations if the counter and circuit numbers match for each display circuit in turn; writing the memory array to the primary database; in parallel, generating printing instructions and merging them with data from the memory array, and writing to a temporary database in the storage device; transmitting the temporary database record to the word processor; printing documents using the record; monitoring real time; and overwriting the record in the temporary database when a preset time period has elapsed.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interfacing process includes the additional sub-steps of: prompting operator input of a signal indicating incorrect data received by another display circuit; decrementing the counter to an identification number of the relevant display circuit if such a signal is received; accessing each display circuit in turn until the counter and circuit numbers match; carrying out display and processing operations for the matching display circuit; and overwriting new data on the original data in the memory array generated by that display circuit.

3. A process as claimed in any preceding claim including the further step of initially retrieving a record from the primary database and writing data in the record to the memory array.

4. A process as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the steps of carrying out data reception operations for each display circuit includes displaying data associated with other display circuits.

5. A process substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.