The invention is partially based on the use of regular expressions. Regular expressions are used for the recognition of patterns in texts.
A regular expression, often called a pattern, is an expression that describes a set of strings. Regular expressions are usually used to give a concise description of a set without having to list all elements. For example, the set containing the three strings Handel, Händel, and Haendel can be described by the pattern “H(ä|ae?)ndel”, or alternatively, it is said that the pattern matches each of the three strings. As a side note, there are usually multiple different patterns describing any given set.
Most formalisms provide the following operations to construct regular expressions:
(a) Alternation. A vertical bar separates alternatives. For example, “gray|grey” matches gray or grey.
(b) Grouping. Parentheses are used to define the scope and precedence of the operators. For example, “gray|grey” and “gr(a|e)y” are different patterns, but they both describe the set containing gray and grey.
(c) Quantification. A quantifier after a character or group specifies how often that preceding expression is allowed to occur. The most common quantifiers are ?, *, and +. The question mark “?” indicates there is 0 or 1 in the previous expression (character). For example, “colou?r” matches both color and colour. The asterisk “*” indicates there are 0, 1 or any number of the previous expression. For example, “go*gle” matches ggle, gogle, google, etc. The plus sign “+” indicates that there is at least 1 of the previous expression. For example, “go+gle” matches gogle, google, etc.. but not ggle.
These constructions can be combined to form arbitrarily complex expressions, very much like one can construct arithmetical expressions from the numbers and the operations +, −, * and /.
“H(ae?|ä)ndel” and “H(a|ae|ä)ndel” are valid patterns, and furthermore, they both match the same strings as the example from the beginning of the Detailed Description. The pattern “((great )*grand )?(father|mother)” matches any ancestor: father, mother, grand father, grand mother, great grand father, great grand mother, great great grand father, great great grand mother, great great great grand father, great great great grand mother and so on.
Example of syntax. The precise syntax for regular expressions varies among tools and application areas. Examples of syntax for the regular expression are available on the Web by searching under “syntax regular expression.”
Meta characters.
Quantifiers.
Anchors.
Grouping \(\)
Backreference \1 \2 . . . \9
Table 1 shows examples of items and their regular expressions.
In the examples in Table 1, some typical regular expressions are presented that can be used in the present invention. The present invention is based on the following principles. (1) Regular expression are defined for identifying a specific user defined data type. (2) Depending on the context (which is the running application), the possibility is given to the user, through a contextual menu, to launch a pre-programmed application with the identified character string as variable.
Physical view
As shown in
As illustrated in
Logical Tables
(1) Parser Table.
(2) Launcher Table.
If no active application is defined or an “*” has been set, this entry is used for any application. This field allows to define different target applications for the same data type, potentially depending on the active application. For instance, the record 293 specifies that a data type “Email” is associated to the target application “Outlook” when the active application is “Word”, while the record 294 specifies that the same data type “Email” is associated to the target application “Lotus Notes” when the active application is “Wordpro”.
If a new entry match again the characters string, case of subtype (type refinement), the newly detected type is saved in place of the previously saved data type. This means that the user must take care of the regular expression order, defining the most general rule in first, and refining the rule after.
As example, a string of ten digits beginning by “0” in France, may be considered as a telephone number (type MSISDN). It is true for both number “0492114000” and “0612345678”. But if a rule associating a type “GSM MSISDN” is added, if the second digit is equal to “6”, then the characters string “0612345678” will be typed “GSM MSISDN” while characters string “0492114000” will be typed “MSISDN”.
At step 320, when the Parser Table 200 is fully scanned, the process determines whether or not a data type is identified for the selected string of characters. If it is the case, then control is given to step 325; otherwise control is given to step 360. At step 325, the application(s) associated with this data type and the source application type is(are) retrieved. This “retrieve process” uses the Launcher Table 250 (
At step 330, the process checks whether at least one application associated with this data type and the source application has been identified at the previous step. If it is the case, then control is given to step 335; otherwise control is given to step 360. At step 335, the process checks whether a single application has been identified at step 325. If it is the case, then control is given to step 350; otherwise control is given to step 340.
At step 340, the user is prompted with a list box comprising all applications eligible to process the data type identified. This list box presents all applications ordered by their percentage of use, with the more used application in first. At step 345, a test is performed to check if the user has selected an application. If it is the case, then control is given to step 350; otherwise control is given to step 360. At step 350, the either unique or user selected target application is launched with the user selected characters string as argument or parameter. At step 360, the process is ended.
The description focuses on the presently preferred embodiments of the present invention, which are embodied in an application operative in the Microsoft Windows environment. The present invention, however, is not limited to any particular application or any particular environment. Instead, those skilled in the art will find that the system and methods of the present invention may be advantageously applied to a variety of system and application software, including database management systems, word processors, and the like. Moreover, the present invention may be embodied on a variety of different platforms, including Macintosh, UNIX, NextStep, and the like. Therefore, the description of the exemplary embodiments is for purposes of illustration and not limitation. While the present invention has been described with reference to a particular preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the preferred embodiment and that various modifications and the like could be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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06300904 | Aug 2006 | EP | regional |