Method and apparatus for electronic documents retrieving, displaying document clusters representing relationship with events

[0001] This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/322,324, filed on May 28, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,526,398, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USING GAPS IN DOCUMENT PRODUCTION AS RETRIEVAL CUES,” and assigned to the corporate assignee of the present invention.

[0002] The invention relates to document management. More particularly, the invention relates to use of temporal gaps in document production and/or modification to manage documents.

[0003] Individuals or groups that produce documents typically store the documents according to content, date of modification/creation, title, etc. When an individual wishes to retrieve a document so stored, the individual must retrieve the document according to the storage scheme. However, the individual may not remember the title or date of a document and must inspect a large number of documents in order to retrieve the desired document.

[0004] Many document retrieval schemes have been developed to help an individual retrieve one or more desired documents. For example, queries using keywords, phrases, dates of creation, document size, and other characteristics have been implemented to aid in document retrieval. However, individuals often remember events for which, or in response to which, documents were created. The retrieval schemes described above cannot be used to retrieve documents based on events unless the event fits one of the search characteristics.

[0005] For example, an individual may have printed a particular document in preparation for a meeting. The individual may remember the date of the meeting and the general content of the document, but not the title of the document, or where the document was stored. Thus, if the individual desired to retrieve the document again at a later date, the individual will likely search many documents before finding the desired document.

[0006] What is needed is a document management scheme that allows a user to retrieve documents in a more natural and meaningful manner.

[0007] A method and apparatus for document management is described. One or more gaps in document production are determined. The one or more gaps can be assigned one or more labels. In one embodiment, the one or more labels are used as retrieval cues for accessing documents. In one embodiment, known events (e.g., predetermined dates, user-defined events) are used to generate labels for the one or more gaps. In one embodiment, the invention provides a graphical interface representing gaps in document production, labels and associated documents.

[0014] A method and apparatus for document management is described. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the invention can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the invention.

[0015] Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

[0016] Some portions of the detailed descriptions which follow are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.

[0017] It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or “determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

[0018] The present invention also relates to apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise a general purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus.

[0019] The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general purpose systems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of these systems will appear from the description below. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the invention as described herein.

Overview

[0020] The invention provides a method and apparatus for document management including assigning labels to gaps in document production. The gaps correspond to events that caused an individual to begin and/or cease production/modification of documents. Such events can be, for example, a vacation, a business trip, a meeting, etc. The labels can be used for document retrieval purposes. In one embodiment predetermined events, either predefined or user-defined, are used to automatically label gaps in document production. In one embodiment, the invention provides links to documents that correspond to gaps in document production where the links can be used for document retrieval purposes.

[0021] FIG. 1 is an architecture suitable for use in managing documents according to one embodiment of the invention. The architecture of FIG. 1 includes several devices interconnected by a network; however, not all of the devices are required to practice the invention. For example, a fax machine is not required for document management according to the invention; however, documents processed by a fax machine can be managed according to the invention.

[0022] Network 100 provides an interconnection between several devices. Network 100 can be, for example, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) or other type of interconnection of electronic devices. Network 100 can also represent multiple smaller networks, for example, a group of LANs. Network 100 can be implemented in any manner known in the art.

[0023] One or more computer systems (e.g., computer system 110 and computer system 120) can be coupled to network 100. The computer systems allow users to generate, modify, and otherwise manipulate documents managed according to the invention. Documents processed by the computer systems can be, for example, electronic mail, textual documents, graphical documents, documents to be printed, documents to be stored, documents to be transmitted via facsimile, etc. Documents can be processed by any manner known in the art, for example, by using a word processing program such as Word available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.

[0024] Documents can be retrieved by the computer systems as described in greater detail below. The documents retrieved can be stored locally on the computer system retrieving the document(s) or documents can be stored on another device that is accessed via network 100.

[0025] Document database 130 stores documents managed according to the invention. In one embodiment, document database 130 stored documents processed by devices coupled to network 100. For example, documents stored by the computer systems, documents that are printed, documents that are sent or received via facsimile, are stored by document database 130. In alternative embodiments, certain subsets of all potential documents can be stored by document database 130.

[0026] Copier 140 is coupled to network 100 and can produce copies in the ordinary manner where a user places a document in copier 140 to make copies. Documents that are copied by copier 140 are stored in document database 130. Copier 140 can also produce copies of documents stored in document database 130. Documents can be retrieved using copier 140 as described in greater detail below.

[0027] Printer 150 is coupled to network 100 and prints hard copies of documents from the computer systems or from document database 130. Similarly, fax machine 160 is coupled to network 100 and communicates facsimile transmissions of documents from the computer systems or from document database 130. Documents received by fax machine 160 are stored in document database 130. Documents can be retrieved by printer 150 and by fax machine 160 as described in greater detail below.

[0028] Thus, document database 130 maintains one or more copies of documents processed by the devices coupled to network 100. Users of the various devices coupled to network 100 can retrieve documents from document database 130 for reuse. In one embodiment, users can retrieve documents from document database 130 by interacting with an interface that indicates gaps in document production or in another manner that allows documents to be managed according to gaps in document production and/or modification.

[0029] FIG. 2 is an exemplary graphical interface for displaying gaps in document production. The interface of FIG. 2 corresponds to a one month period (July); however, other periods of time can be used. The period of time of interest can be determined based, at least in part, on the size of the gaps used for retrieval purposes. For example, when gaps are measured in days, many days can be displayed, but when gaps are measured in hours, fewer days are displayed.

[0030] Timeline 200 corresponds to a period of time during which gaps in document production are displayed. In one embodiment, timeline 200 is user-modifiable both as to the period of time displayed and to the starting and/or ending dates displayed.

[0031] Icons 210 represent documents generated and/or modified during the time period represented by timeline 200. Icons 210 can represent the corresponding documents or groups of documents in any appropriate manner. In one embodiment, selecting an icon with a cursor control or other device causes the corresponding document(s) to be retrieved. In an alternative embodiment, selecting an icon causes the corresponding document(s) to be previewed.

[0032] Labels 220 correspond to gaps in document production. Labels 220 can indicate correlation with known events 230 (e.g., Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day), with user-defined events 240 (e.g., a business trip, a meeting), or to no particular known event (e.g., user was reading hard copy documentation rather than generating/modifying documents).

[0033] In one embodiment labels 220 are generated automatically by a document management device (e.g., a computer system, a document database, etc.). Gaps are compared to known events 230 and to user-defined events 240 to determine whether any of the identified gaps in document production correspond to one or more of the events. If so, the gap is labeled with one of the events. Otherwise the gap is given a generic label (e.g., gap1).

[0034] In one embodiment, document production/modification gaps for multiple individuals are used to label gaps. Thus, team meetings, official holidays, or other events can be more accurately identified. However, this “collaborative labeling” is not required to practice the invention.

[0035] In one embodiment documents that include the dates and/or times that correspond to the beginning or end of a gap are considered to be related to the gap. For example, if a user generates an e-mail message describing a meeting to occur at a particular time, that message is considered to be related to the gap and is linked or otherwise associated with the gap.

[0036] Similarly, if a location or topic of a meeting or other event is known, documents having related key words can be linked to the corresponding gap. For example, if the meeting with Smith and Jones on July 20 was at corporate headquarters, documents generated or modified near the gap with the phrase “corporate headquarters” or the address of the corporate headquarters can be identified with the appropriate gap.

[0037] If an individual has an electronic calendar, personal digital assistant (PDA), or other electric device to record events, that device can be used to label gaps in document production. For example, if an individual uses an electronic calendar, events recorded on the electronic calendar can be used as user-defined events that are used for labeling gaps in document production/modification.

[0038] In one embodiment when a user defines a user-defined event, the user can also define a time window around the event that extends the gap. For example, a user might schedule a phone call at 10:00 a.m. on a particular day and might print or copy documents during the phone call. However, the user may wish to have a gap associated with the phone call. To provide a gap to be associated with the phone call, the user can extend the gap to a predetermined period (e.g., one hour).

[0039] The resolution of an event display timeline, such as the timeline of FIG. 2, can be user selectable. The user can also be allowed to “zoom in” or “zoom out” from the timeline to display a different number of gap labels. Table displays can be similarly user configurable.

[0040] FIG. 3 is an exemplary table interface for displaying gaps in document production. In the example of FIG. 3, underlined table entries correspond to Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) links; however, use of HTML or other links is not required to practice the invention.

[0041] The table of FIG. 3 includes three columns (Gap Length in Days, End Date, and Event) to present gap information. In alternative embodiments, the table can have more and/or different columns. For example, the table can include a column for group activities, or for the number of documents produced prior to the gap.

[0042] Gap length column 300 includes a gap length for each of the gaps listed. In the embodiment of FIG. 3 the gap length is listed in days; however, other time periods, for example, hours, four-hour blocks, 30-minute blocks can also be used to describe gap length. In one embodiment, the granularity of gap lengths can be adjusted by a user.

[0043] In the example of FIG. 3, gap lengths are not used as links; however, gap lengths can be used as links. For example, gap lengths can be used to link to a calendar, documents corresponding to the gap, etc. The gap lengths in column can also provide a link to a graphical interface, such as the interface of FIG. 2.

[0044] In one embodiment, end date column 310 includes an ending date for each gap listed in gap length column 300. In an alternative embodiment, column 310 lists starting dates for each gap listed in gap length column 300. In one embodiment, the dates listed in column 310 are links to other information. For example, the dates can be links to a calendar entry, to documents corresponding to the gap, to a graphical interface such as the interface of FIG. 2. In an alternative embodiment, the dates in column 310 provide date information and are not links to other documents, interfaces, data, etc.

[0045] In one embodiment, one or more of the entries in event column 320 are links. The information listed in event column 320 can be obtained, for example, from a calendar belonging to the person(s) whose gaps in document production are listed in the table of FIG. 3. In one embodiment, the links in column 320 are links to documents related to the gap corresponding to the link. For example, the “COMDEX” link can be a link to some or all of the documents generated and/or modified near the gap corresponding to the COMDEX link. In an alternative embodiment, the COMDEX link is a link to a World Wide Web page or other document related to COMDEX.

[0046] In one embodiment, matching documents corresponding to gaps with events or labels is accomplished by using the cosine measure. The cosine measure can be used for other matching operations as well. The cosine measure is described in greater detail in “Information Storage and Retrieval” by Robert R. Korfhage, published by Wiley Computer Publishing (1997) at pages 84-86. Briefly, the cosine measure is a measure of the angle between vectors representing two documents (e.g., a document and a query, document to document comparison). The cosine measure is defined as $\begin{array}{cc}\sigma \left(D,Q\right)=\frac{\sum _k\left(t_k{\mathrm{xq}}_k\right)}{\sum _k{\left(t_k\right)}^{2}x\sqrt{\sum _k{\left(q_k\right)}^2}}& \left(\mathrm{Equation}1\right)\end{array}$
where t_k is the value of term k in the first document and q_k is the value of term k in the second document. In mathematical terms, Equation 1 is the inner product of the first document and the second document, normalized by vector length. The cosine measure ranges from 1 for the highest similarity to 0 for the lowest similarity.

[0047] In one embodiment, the labels in event column 320 are generated automatically by analyzing the documents generated before and/or after the corresponding gap. Labels in event column 320 can also be supplied by a user in order to provide labels that are more meaningful to the user. Also, some combination of automatic labels and user-generated labels can be provided.

[0048] Automatic labels can be generated by text processing for keywords. For example, keywords such as “attended,” “visit,” “meet,” “discuss,” can be used to identify a purpose for the document. Lists of proper nouns, for example, geographical names, personal names, and event names can be used as keywords. Groups of words, phrases or sentences near gap dates can also be selected as labels.

[0049] In one embodiment, confidence values are calculated for automatically derived gap labels. This can be done, for example, with a heuristically derived weight value that includes the number of words derived from keyword lists. For example, “visit El Segundo” have a higher confidence value than “visit El Segundo with Steve” because the second phrase requires at least a grammatical transformation. Natural language processing technology can also be used to generate automatic labels.

[0050] In one embodiment, the user interface (e.g., the graphical interface of FIG. 2, the table of FIG. 3) used to provide gap information to a user includes user-configurable controls to select automatic labels, user-defined labels, or some combination of automatic labels and user-defined labels. Calendar events or user-defined events can be used to generate labels. In one embodiment, for automatic labels, confidence values above a user-selectable threshold value are used as labels.

[0051] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system suitable for use with the invention. System 400 can be any of the devices coupled to network 100 as described with respect to FIG. 1 (e.g., computer system, document database, copier). System 400 can also be another electronic device not described with respect to FIG. 1 (e.g., electronic calendar, PDA).

[0052] System 400 includes bus 401 or other communication device to communicate information and processor 402 coupled to bus 401 to process information. While system 400 is illustrated with a single processor, system 400 can include multiple processors and/or co-processors. System 400 further includes random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device 404 (referred to as main memory), coupled to bus 401 to store information and instructions to be executed by processor 402. Main memory 404 also can be used to store temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions by processor 402.

[0053] System 400 also includes read only memory (ROM) and/or other static storage device 406 coupled to bus 401 to store static information and instructions for processor 402. Data storage device 407 is coupled to bus 401 to store information and instructions. Data storage device 407 such as a magnetic disk or optical disc and corresponding drive can be coupled to system 400.

[0054] System 400 can also be coupled via bus 401 to display device 421, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) or liquid crystal display (LCD), to display information to a computer user. Alphanumeric input device 422, including alphanumeric and other keys, is typically coupled to bus 401 to communicate information and command selections to processor 402. Another type of user input device is cursor control 423, such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys to communicate direction information and command selections to processor 402 and to control cursor movement on display 421.

[0055] One embodiment of the present invention is related to the use of system 400 to generate labels for gaps in document production and/or modification. According to one embodiment, label generation is performed by system 400 in response to processor 402 executing sequences of instructions contained in main memory 404. Instructions are provided to main memory 404 from a storage device, such as magnetic disk, a read-only memory (ROM) integrated circuit (IC), CD-ROM, DVD, via a remote connection (e.g., over a network), etc. In alternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry can be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software instructions.

[0056] FIG. 5 is a flow chart for performing gap analysis according to one embodiment of the invention. In one embodiment, documents of interest are identified at 510. The documents of interest can be, for example, all of the documents created and/or modified by a particular user, documents created within a certain range of dates, particular types of documents.

[0057] The creation and/or modification dates/times are determined for the documents of interest at 520. Any combination of creation and/or modification dates as well as creation and/or modification times and other temporal information related to gaps in document production and/or modification can be used. From the dates and/or times related to the documents of interest the gaps are determined.

[0058] The gaps that exceed a gap threshold are determined at 530. The gap threshold can be a predetermined value, or the gap threshold can be a user-defined value. For example, if an individual is interested in business travel, the gap threshold can be set at one day, so that gaps are identified for periods of one day or more in which documents were not generated and/or modified. Other gap thresholds can also be used.

[0059] In one embodiment, recurring gaps, (e.g., weekends) are filtered out and do not result in generation of a label. The gap threshold can also be determined through statistical analysis of documents. For example, gaps of a length greater than two standard deviations above the normal gap size can be used to generate a label, or otherwise indicate a gap in document production.

[0060] Labels are generated for the gaps at 540. As described above, labels can be generated automatically or labels can be generated based, at least in part, on user input. Labels can also be user modifiable.

[0061] Links are generated, if appropriate, at 550. As described in greater detail above, links can be to specific documents, to a preview of documents, to a user interface, to a table, or to other configurations that are useful for managing documents. The links can be HTML links or other types of links. Links are not required to practice the invention.

[0062] The labels are displayed at 560. The labels can be displayed as a graphical user interface, such as the timeline of FIG. 2, or the labels can be displayed as a table, such as the table of FIG. 3. The labels can also be displayed in another manner.

[0063] Labels can be used to as part of a textual database query to manage electronic documents. For example, the following queries can be used to retrieve documents: “within one week of COMDEX”, “before COMDEX”, “after COMDEX”, “between ICDAR and COMDEX”, etc. The label can be used, for example, as a start date or and end data for a document query.

[0064] Other textual queries, for example, “near COMDEX” can also be supported. “Nearness” can be defined, for example, as a predetermined period of time (e.g., a week, a month), based on the length of the gap (e.g., the longer the gap the longer the time period that is “near”), based on statistical analysis (e.g., within one standard deviation).

[0065] Document queries can also be defined in terms of the labels, for example, “between(gap COMDEX−1 week) and (gap ICDAR+1 week).” The labels are operands within an arithmetic operation used for document management. Other queries can also be implemented using labels as described herein.

[0066] In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.