Abstract:
A system for record keeping that utilizes the advances in computer technology and alleviates problems such time constraints by monitoring information about a person or resource and automatically generating journal entries for that person or resource at the appropriate times. The appropriate times for entry generation can be defined for each individual through a rules-based mechanism. When an individual&#39;s rules are met, a journal entry is automatically generated according to a template defined in the computer system. The entry is placed in the individual&#39;s electronic journal, and, if desired, the individual can be notified of the generated entry or delay entry of said journal entry until receiving a notification at a later designated time.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates generally to the field of electronic record keeping. More specifically, the present invention is related to gathering and storing input data and automatically generating journal entries according to a rules-based mechanism.  
           [0003]    2. Discussion of Prior Art  
           [0004]    Many people desire to keep some sort of formal account of their personal or professional doings. Unfortunately, life is often so busy that most either do not wish to take the time to record events that happen in their life or simply do not remember to do so until after a good recollection of those events has already passed. Therefore, individuals find it difficult to maintain the level of journaling they desire for their personal and professional lives. Even those who do keep a diary or journal on a regular basis often wish that their record was more complete.  
           [0005]    In addition, corporate entities must often spend valuable resources trying to record and maintain histories of all of their business events. The rise of pervasive computing and wireless electronic communication has increased the amount of information available electronically to those people making extensive use of these technologies. While such information seems to be potentially harmful if used inappropriately, it may also be used to significantly benefit a person who utilizes these resources wisely.  
           [0006]    Information about a person, such as location, time, proximity of associates, and events, has always been the crux of information recorded in a journal or diary. Current event archiving systems are error prone and often of inconsistent format. With all of this information now potentially available to a single computer system, the journal entry process can be extended to become more automated.  
           [0007]    The prior art has failed to provide for a fully automated rules-based journal mechanism.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    A system for journal entry generation continuously receives information from a person or group of people and compares that information through a rules-based mechanism. If the mechanism determines that an entry should be generated, it passes the data obtained by the system along with the appropriate template to a journal entry generator. The generator then uses the information to populate the template as appropriate to create the journal entry. The entry is placed in the person&#39;s electronic journal, and, if desired, some form of notification can be sent to the person of the entry&#39;s creation.  
           [0009]    In an alternative embodiment, memory cues can be set up in advance to assist a user in entering or acknowledgment of entries to a journal at a predefined later time. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 illustrates a general overview of generating a journal entry.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 illustrates a general system used for data input and filtering.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 illustrates a journal entry process.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 illustrates a general overview of the process of the creation of reminders.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 5 illustrates a second embodiment of the system&#39;s automatic journal entry generator.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 6 illustrates a sample journal template. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0016]    While this invention is illustrated and described in a preferred embodiment, the device may be produced in many different configurations, forms and materials. There is depicted in the drawings, and will herein be described in detail, a preferred embodiment of the invention, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and the associated functional specifications for its construction and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. Those skilled in the art will envision many other possible variations within the scope of the present invention.  
         [0017]    A thorough and trusted system for journal entry could aid corporations, governments, and, most of all, individuals and families. Corporations and governments are able to review past business meetings, both formal and informal, and provide a mechanism for recording histories that reduce overhead costs of a manual system. Individuals are able to preserve information as memories about themselves for access years later and pass these memories on to their future generations. Of course, the real advantage of this system is that the effort of starting and maintaining a system of thorough record keeping is automated, thereby reducing costs, and more significantly, improving reliability and thoroughness. Important occasions are far more likely to be recorded and thus far less likely to be permanently forgotten.  
         [0018]    Implementation of a system that monitors information about a person or resource and generates journal entries for that person or resource at the appropriate times will alleviate the problems mentioned previously. The appropriate times for entry generation can be defined for each individual through a rules-based mechanism. The individual defines rules that, when met, automatically generate a journal entry according to a template defined in the computer system.  
         [0019]    The general process of generating a journal entry is shown in FIG. 1. Information is continuously gathered about a person or resource  100  that will be stored and compared through a rules mechanism  102 . Should the conditions of the designated rules be met  104 , a journal entry is generated  106 . For instance, a user might tell a system that whenever a group of their friends are gathered together in one place, and if it is the birthday of one of the people gathered, a journal entry should then be generated about the user&#39;s attendance to the birthday party for the friend. The entry includes the names of those present, where they were, and what they did, as well as any additional information the user entered into an electronic calendar kept on the system.  
         [0020]    This journal system is general enough to work for any entity for which pervasive information is known. A Global Positioning System (GPS) device attached to a suitcase (with sensors hooked up to the suitcase) records and shares information about its surroundings. Rules and templates are defined for creating journal entries for the suitcase. Hereafter, the entity, be it a person, animal, object, etc., will be referred to as a ‘person’, without loss of generality.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 2 shows an illustration of parts of the journal system  200  used for data input and automatic journal entry. Computing system  202  continuously gathers and stores external information  201 . Information does not need to be obtained from personal devices only; any external device may communicate information to the system. Therefore, this is a continuous process so as long as the devices are transmitting information.  
         [0022]    Information internal to the system is then gathered  204  from the system data  206  and combined with the information obtained externally to the system  201 . System data  206  includes, for example, calendar entries, past journal entries, associates of resources with locations, etc. The information is gathered by, for example, electronic personal/corporate calendars, previous journal entries, coordinates from a GPS device, activity on a personal computer or hand-held device, communication through a cell phone or pager, and other similar devices. Once gathered, the combined information is passed  208  to the rules mechanism  210 .  
         [0023]    Using the information  208  gathered by the computing system  202 , the rules mechanism  210  evaluates whether or not the factors merit a journal entry. If so, the rules mechanism gathers the appropriate template  212  for such an entry. Both the data and template are then passed  214  to A an entry generator  216 . The generator  216  then creates an entry through a transformation process, which applies the information given by the rules mechanism  210  to the template  212 , and produces a journal entry that is sent and inserted  218  into the person&#39;s journal  220 .  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 3 further illustrates the flow of the journal entry process for the system in FIG. 2. External information or data  201  is sent to the computing system  202  and stored  300 . After all information is received, the internal information of the system is gathered and stored  302  to be evaluated for possible journal entry. All data is to be evaluated according to a rules-based mechanism  304 . Once rules are applied and a decision for journal entry is made, a proper template is selected and populated with the data to create an entry  306  by entry generator  214 . This entry is then inserted and stored into a person&#39;s journal  308 .  
         [0025]    In a second embodiment, the invention is extended to include creation of reminders for journal entries that alert a user of previously recorded information. This embodiment allows for creation of triggered memory cues for delayed journal entries. FIG. 4 shows the general overview of the process of the creation of reminders. The system continuously gathers information about a person or resource  400 , the system waits for prompts from a user  402  to create a memory cue  404 , waits for information recorded that associates the user at the given time and place  406 , and then activates a reminder to alert the user of the entry  408 . The user then acknowledges the completed journal entry or manually adds additional information, which is then stored in their journal records.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 5 illustrates  500  the system  200  of FIG. 2 with new elements  506  and  507 . As with the system of FIG. 2, computing system  503  continuously receives and stores external information  501 . The system additionally stores internal data  502  about individuals, places, and resources associated with possible future journal entries (i.e., calendar entries, old journal entries  508 , locator information (e.g., GPS  510 ), etc.). Such information is obtained by electronic sources, such as personal calendars located within the system (or transferred thereto from remote sources). System  503  then receives a request for a delayed journal entry memory cue by a user  504 . Information internal to the system is gathered  511  from the internal system data  502  and combined with the information obtained externally to the system  501 . Once gathered, the combined information is passed  505  to data filter  506 . Data filter  506  separates data relevant to requester  504 . The filtered data is sent to the journal memory cue generator  507 . The memory cue generator will create a time-based cue for completion of the template entry, either automatically or manually by the user. Once a cue is created, it is populated with known internal system data  502  and waits until this memory cue is activated at a later time, for instance, when the cued event for a journal entry actually takes place or soon thereafter, the journal entry is completed and placed  509  in a person&#39;s journal  508 .  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 6 illustrates a sample rules template  600  for the preferred embodiment described above. Shown in the template is a method using the XML standard for document formatting, but other formatting methods can also be used for defining a rules mechanism for journal entry.  
       CONCLUSION  
       [0028]    A system and method has been shown in the above embodiments for the effective implementation of rules-based automatic generation of journal entries. While various preferred embodiments have been shown and described, it will be understood that there is no intent to limit the invention by such disclosure, but rather, it is intended to cover all modifications and alternate constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims. For example, the present invention should not be limited by software/program, computing environment, specific computing hardware and specific journal entry types, rules, filtering techniques, sources of input data or template requirements.  
         [0029]    The above enhancements for icons and its described functional elements are implemented in various computing environments. For example, the present invention may be implemented on a conventional IBM PC or equivalent, multi-nodal system (e.g., LAN) or networking system (e.g., Internet, WWW, wireless web). All programming, templates, and data related thereto are stored in computer memory, static or dynamic, and may be retrieved by the user in any of: conventional computer storage, display (i.e., CRT) and/or hardcopy (i.e., printed) formats. The programming of the present invention may be implemented by one of skill in the art of database programming.