Identifying unchecked criteria in unstructured and semi-structured data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9430464-B2
Application number	US-201314136314-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 20, 2013
Priority date	Dec 20, 2013
Publication date	Aug 30, 2016
Grant date	Aug 30, 2016

Abstract

A method, system and computer-usable medium are disclosed for identifying unchecked criteria in unstructured and semi-structured data within a form. Text spans representing unchecked criteria within unstructured text in a form are detected and classified to facilitate accurate interpretation of the text. Section identification and annotation operations are then performed to identify and categorize sections within the form. Checklist sections within the form, along with associated checkmarks and boxes, are then identified, followed by the identification of checked item, criteria scope, and previously undetected checklist sections. Once all checklist sections and checked criteria have been identified, remaining text spans within a checklist section are annotated as unchecked criteria.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a processor;
a data bus coupled to the processor; and
a computer-usable medium embodying computer program code, the computer-usable medium being coupled to the data bus, the computer program code used for identifying unchecked criteria in unstructured data within a form and comprising instructions executable by the processor and configured for:
identifying checked data in a form;
identifying a first set of unstructured data as pertinent to the checked data in the form; and,
identifying unchecked criteria in unstructured data within the form based upon the identifying the first set of unstructured data, the identifying comprising detecting and classifying text spans representing the unchecked criteria within the form to facilitate accurate interpretation of the text spans, the unchecked criteria comprising a discrete item that represents a question in the form lacking a response.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a first checklist section in the form, the first checklist section containing a first set of checklist data pertinent to the checked data in the form.

3. The system of claim 2 , further comprising:
re-categorizing a non-checklist section as a second checklist section based upon a criteria, the re-categorizing performed after identifying a second set of unstructured data contained in the non-checklist section as pertinent to the checked data in the form.

4. The system of claim 3 , further comprising:
processing the second set of unstructured data to generate a second set of checklist data; and
associating the second set of checklist data with the second checklist section.

5. The system of claim 4 , further comprising:
processing the non-checklist section, the first checklist section, and the second checklist section to identify unchecked criteria.

6. The system of claim 5 , further comprising:
using a first natural language process on the non-checklist section and a second natural language process on the first and second checklist sections of the form to identify the unchecked criteria.

7. A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium embodying computer program code, the computer program code comprising computer executable instructions configured for:
identifying checked data in a form;
identifying a first set of unstructured data as pertinent to the checked data in the form; and,
identifying unchecked criteria in unstructured data within the form based upon the identifying the first set of unstructured data, the identifying comprising detecting and classifying text spans representing the unchecked criteria within the form to facilitate accurate interpretation of the text spans, the unchecked criteria comprising a discrete item that represents a question in the form lacking a response.

8. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , further comprising:
identifying a first checklist section in the form, the first checklist section containing a first set of checklist data pertinent to the checked data in the form.

9. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , further comprising:
re-categorizing a non-checklist section as a second checklist section based upon a criteria, the re-categorizing performed after identifying a second set of unstructured data contained in the non-checklist section as pertinent to the checked data in the form.

10. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , further comprising:
processing the second set of unstructured data to generate a second set of checklist data; and
associating the second set of checklist data with the second checklist section.

11. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , further comprising:
processing the non-checklist section, the first checklist section, and the second checklist section to identify unchecked criteria.

12. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising:
using a first natural language process on the non-checklist section and a second natural language process on the first and second checklist sections of the form to identify the unchecked criteria.

13. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the computer executable instructions are deployable to a client system from a server system at a remote location.

14. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the computer executable instructions are provided by a service provider to a user on an on-demand basis.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Carrier Scott R
• Romanova Elena
• Setnes Marie L

Classifications

• G06F40/40 Primary

  Processing or translation of natural language (natural language analysis G06F40/20; semantic analysis G06F40/30) · CPC title

• G06F16/2365 Primary

  Ensuring data consistency and integrity · CPC title

• G06F16/35

  Clustering; Classification · CPC title

• G06F16/838

  Presentation of query results · CPC title

• G06F17/28 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic