US-12626057-B2 - Document form export system

Abstract

Systems and methods to record, process, and finalize documents such as forms from customized form input data into submission-ready selectable document forms are provided. Data entries are received and mapped to a set of user-defined data field templates. Data mutation export actions are performed to bring data entries into conformance with requirements of the submission-ready selectable document form.

Inventors

• Dante Lee Knapp
• Jiayi Liu
• Robert Matthew Martin
• Eric Webb
• William H. Page
• Nathaniel David Boyless

Assignees

• Metcalf Archaeological Consultants, Inc.

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20240227

Claims (18)

1. 1 . A method of using a document form export system comprising: providing a document form export system comprising: a system database having a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the system database configured to store system data, the system data comprising at least one final export document template and a set of forms, each form comprising a set of data field templates configured to be added to a data field instance, at least one of the set of data field templates having a data field export action; a logic engine comprising a computer processor, the processor operating on the system database; and a user interface; receiving, by the processor, a set of data field instances; retrieving a data field template associated with each of the data field instances; adding the data field template associated with each of the data field instances to each of the data field instances to create a set of templated field instances, the set of templated field instances comprising at least one templated field instance with an associated data field export action and a set of templated field instances not associated with any data field export action; executing the associated data field export action of the at least one templated field instance with an associated data field export action to create a mutated templated field instance; designating the set of templated field instances not associated with any data field export action as unmutated templated field instances; receiving a selection of a particular final export document template; routing the mutated templated field instance and the unmutated templated field instances to particular data locations within the particular final export document template to create a populated final export document; and exporting, from the populated final export document, a final export document.
2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the final export document is one of a pdf document and a word document.
3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the data field export action converts a checkbox data element to a text element.
4. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one data field instance is alphanumeric data.
5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the data field export action is a third party defined code.
6. 6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the data field export action is a picklist.
7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the data field export action is a dropdown.
8. 8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the populated final export document is in JSON format.
9. 9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein: the system database is further configured to store a set of field actions; and the set of data field templates are further configured to receive the set of field actions, and at least one of the set of field actions comprises a reactive field action.
10. 10 . A document form export system comprising: a system database having a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the system database configured to store system data, the system data comprising at least one final export document template and a set of forms, each form comprising a set of data field templates configured to be added to a data field instance, at least one of the set of data field templates having a data field export action; a logic engine comprising a computer processor, the processor operating on the system database; and a user interface; wherein: the logic engine has machine-executable instructions operating to: receive, by the processor by way of the user interface, a set of data field instances; retrieve a data field template associated with each of the data field instances; add, by the processor, the data field template associated with each of the data field instances to each of the data field instances to create a set of templated field instances, the set of templated field instances comprising at least one templated field instance with an associated data field export action and a set of templated field instances not associated with any data field export action; execute, by the processor, the associated data field export action of the at least one templated field instance with an associated data field export action to create a mutated templated field instance; designate the set of templated field instances not associated with any data field export action as unmutated templated field instances; receiving, by the processor, a selection of a particular final export document template; route, by the processor, the mutated templated field instance and the unmutated templated field instances to particular data locations within the final export document template to create a populated final export document; and export from the populated final export document, by the processor, a final export document.
11. 11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the final export document is one of a pdf document and a word document.
12. 12 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the data field export action converts a checkbox data element to a text element.
13. 13 . The system of claim 10 , wherein at least one data field instance is alphanumeric data.
14. 14 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the data field export action is a third party defined code.
15. 15 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the data field export action is a picklist.
16. 16 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the populated final export document is in JSON format.
17. 17 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the data field export action is a dropdown.
18. 18 . The system of claim 10 , wherein: the system database is further configured to store a set of field actions; and the set of data field templates are further configured to receive the set of field actions, and at least one of the set of field actions comprises a reactive field action.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a nonprovisional patent application of and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/449,947 titled “Document Form Export System” filed Mar. 3, 2023, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/551,490 titled “Customized Field Action Template System of a Document Form Export System” filed Feb. 8, 2024, the disclosures of both are hereby incorporated herein by reference in entirety. FIELD The disclosure relates generally to systems and methods involving document form exporting, and specifically to systems and methods to record, process, and finalize documents such as forms from customized form input data into submission-ready document forms. BACKGROUND The process of digitizing forms requires accommodation of any existing systems in a paper/handwritten form system. Forms should be somewhat mutable and allow users to determine what is really needed from a form in a certain circumstance. Government or reporting agencies spend a lot of time and resources designing forms to be cohesive and effective enough to gather as much information as possible in the shortest amount of time possible. This is a difficult task because a particular agency does not know the exact circumstances or requirements of the varied situations that a user will encounter. Such circumstances or requirements will only be determined when the user is in that situation, attempting to complete a task or collect an adequate amount of data. What is needed is a document form export system that can tailor any form to a user's specific needs based on any particular situation. The resulting forms to be rendered must be adaptable to the ideas, workflow and management style of the user recording the data. The result of a digitized form needs to meet many different criteria and be adaptable to changes as though one was changing a paper form. The disclosed document form export system solves these needs and creates new efficiencies across many different areas once basic process requirements are met. The document form export system addresses such requirements and allows additional form customization while meeting the strict and at times changing requirements of the final result (an export document). A purpose of the document form export system is to allow users to record, process, and finalize submission-ready forms in a digital process. The document form export system receives user-defined/filled form content as a structured format, e.g., JSON, and a pointer to an export template. The system then mutates the data in specific ways to be inserted into an end product that meets predefined requirements set by the form's creator. The document form export system uses an action statement stored with the form template to prepare the data to meet the predefined criteria specific to a template. These predefined criteria for customization vary and are selected from customizations that are supported using the action statement. This modular system allows customizations for anything clients need in the export. Each customization has a module that recognizes the action statement associated with a form element and performs the script to mutate that set of data, then continues the process until all actions are complete. Lastly, the system fills the predefined template with the finished data, and sends a download with the final export to the client. SUMMARY Systems and methods to record, process, and finalize documents such as forms from customized form input data into submission-ready selectable document forms are described. Data entries are received and mapped to a set of user-defined data field templates. Data mutation export actions are performed to bring data entries into conformance with requirements of the submission-ready selectable document form. In one aspect, a customized field action feature enables dynamic and customizable data field templates. Users may design a data collection document particular to their data collection process, while still meeting the requirements of a regulatory environment with an export form. An example of digitized form activity in a regulatory requirement is the exported forms that satisfy requirements of a State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) for acceptance for CRM (Cultural Resource Management) projects across states. Another example are the forms used by government agencies to audit regulated resources/assets. As a practical illustration of the document form export system of the disclosure, the following user story is provided: In the cultural resource management industry, the site reporting team consists of a Project Manager (PM), the field crews and the office workers. Typically, the field crews will perform the data recording tasks out in the field, while the PM and the office workers will divide the workload of final editing and reviewing of the form data.A Project Manager is getting ready for data collection. With knowledge of the regulato