Abstract:
The disclosed system, apparatuses, methods, and media prompt a person through a process of identifying and filling out a form(s) required to complete a task. An automated interrogation stage questions the user to determine a change of status that the user desires to effect with the organization. The interrogation stage can be dynamic and interactive, so that questions and forms provided to the user are dependent upon answers previously submitted by the user. The user is thus guided through the process of identifying the tasks and forms required of the user to affect a change of status with the organization.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/498,322, filed Aug. 26, 2003. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     This invention relates to a system, apparatuses, methods, and computer-readable media for guiding a user through one or more tasks to complete an activity. The task can involve the identification, location, and completion of one or more forms and documents. Such form(s) may be required for submission to an organization to accomplish a desired objective. For example, the form may be required to update a person&#39;s status with the organization, such as a change in family status (e.g., marriage, divorce, birth, death, etc.), a change in employment status (e.g., promotion, demotion, transfer, change in job title, and description, etc.), or other change. As another example, the form may relate to a decision or election of the user relative to a program or service offered by the organization, such as healthcare, retirement, or survivor benefits or tax withholding. The disclosed invention can be applied to virtually any activity involving one or more tasks, and can be applied to a task that requires a form to be completed.  
         [0004]     2. Description of Related Art  
         [0005]     It is often necessary for a person to fill out forms to carry out a task involving an organization. Consider an example of a member of a branch of the armed forces who dies while in service. Each branch of the armed forces has a unique set of tasks and forms to be completed by the surviving spouse or dependent in order to receive benefits for the death of the family member. But the survivor generally has no advance familiarity with the steps that need to be taken or the forms that need to be submitted in order to receive such benefits. Thus, such person must spend a significant amount of time in researching the tasks and forms required to complete the process, contacting the organization&#39;s personnel to determine the steps that need to be taken and information to be provided in the forms, etc. This results in significant aggravation to the person that must carry out the tasks and complete the forms required to complete an activity with the organization. In addition, viewing the process from the organization&#39;s perspective, personnel within the organization typically spend significant amounts of time in reviewing, correcting, and returning submitted forms due to the absence of information, incorrect information, missing forms or other errors made by the submitter. It would be desirable both from the standpoint of the user and the organization to streamline the process of collecting information on forms required by the organization to complete a task. This would provide significant savings of time and expense, and greatly simplify the execution of the process, both from the standpoint of the user and the organization.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     The invention is directed to a system, apparatuses, methods, and computer-readable media for prompting a person through a process of identifying and filling out a form required to complete a task. This can be accomplished with an automated interrogation stage which questions the user as to what change of status is desired to be affected with the organization. The interrogation can be dynamic and interactive, meaning that the questions and forms provided to the user are dependent upon answers previously submitted by the user in an interrogation session. The user can thus be efficiently guided through the process of identifying the tasks and forms required of the user to affect a change of status with the organization.  
         [0007]     To reduce burden on the user and increase accuracy of the data, any form selected by the user in response to interrogation can be auto-populated with data from a repository(ies). This data can be collected from a user profile established by the organization, data obtained from a third party, data previously submitted by the user, data input by the user, or a combination of the above data. The user is prompted to enter any remaining data required for the form. The data in the form can be viewed as an overlay on the form without requiring modification of such form. Because many organizations have strict control of the form(s) used by such organization and limit access to their computer systems and data, elimination of the need to modify the forms of the organization for use with the data entered in the form can be a significant benefit. It can also avoid lengthy and costly approval processes that would be required by the organization to permit acceptance of a form modification. The user can submit the data (which can be stored in XML) or the form(s) populated with the data to the organization&#39;s computer system. The user can be provided with a listing of pending task(s), including form(s) that the user has underway, along with an indication of the status of such tasks, whether new, incomplete, or complete. This enables the user to track and manage task(s) and form(s) that are in process by the user. In addition, data repository(ies) accessible to the computer system can store records regarding task(s) and form(s) previously submitted for archival purposes, for example. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)  
       [0008]     Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:  
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a general block diagram of a system having a user computer, task management computer (TMC), and data storage system (DSS) in accordance with the invention.  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a flow diagram indicating a method for accomplishing an activity involving the identification of task(s)/form(s) needed for a user&#39;s unique needs along with the completion of task(s) requiring data to be entered in one or more forms.  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a view of a home page listing activities that a user can select to determine the task(s) and corresponding form(s) required to be completed for the activity.  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a view of a login web page for authenticating a user to ensure privacy of data managed by the disclosed system and method.  
         [0013]      FIGS. 5-7  are views of web pages indicating a questionnaire or “activity wizard pages” that can be used to dynamically interrogate a user as to vital data, fact(s), and/or circumstances impacting the task(s) and form(s) required of the user for a particular user-selected activity.  
         [0014]      FIG. 8  is a view of a web page indicating task listing for an activity in which the user is prompted to enter a name for the activity.  
         [0015]      FIG. 9  is a view of a web page indicating a listing of previously-completed and pending activities for a user.  
         [0016]      FIG. 10  is a view of a web page listing the task(s) and corresponding form(s) to be completed for a particular activity.  
         [0017]      FIG. 11  is a view of a web page form with prompts for a user to enter or verify data in corresponding fields of a form.  
         [0018]      FIG. 12  is a view of a display generated by a viewer after completion of a form, showing the unchanged form with data overlain in a separate layer by the viewer.  
         [0019]      FIG. 13  is a block diagram of the TMC, DSS, and an administration computer used by a programmer to operate a development tool module of the TMC.  
         [0020]      FIG. 14  is a view of a web page for editing a form, showing questions and rules for activity wizard pages.  
         [0021]      FIG. 15  is a view of a web page for editing a rule and corresponding condition(s) and action(s).  
         [0022]      FIG. 16  is a view of a web page used to edit a form with one or more data elements and pages.  
         [0023]      FIG. 17  is a view of a web page used to edit a data element and associated details, options, and help text.  
         [0024]      FIGS. 18-22  are views of web pages of profile builder forms for automating connectivity between the TMC and DSS for use in auto-populating form fields with data.  
         [0025]      FIG. 23  is a view of a web page with routing builder form used to specify the email address or network address of an organization, to which a form with data is to be sent for processing by the organization.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0026]     The present inventions now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, these inventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.  
       Definitions  
       [0027]     “Activity” refers to a set of one or more tasks for a user to complete to obtain a desired objective with an organization. The task can be completion of a form, a document to read, instructions to read, calling a telephone number for instructions and/or a checklist, for example.  
         [0028]     “And/or” means either or both of the things signified by the words immediately before and after.  
         [0029]     “Browser” is a software application executed by a computer to access resources via the World Wide Web, Internet, Internet2, or other such networks. Microsoft® Explorer version 6.x and Netscape® version 7.x are examples of browser applications.  
         [0030]     “Computer” can be any device capable of receiving input data, processing that data, and generating output data. The computer can be a personal computer, laptop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), server, mainframe, minicomputer, or any other computing device. Examples are commercially available from numerous vendors, including Dell® Corporation, Round Rock, Tex.; Hewlett-Packard® Corporation, Palo Alto, Calif., IBM® Corporation, Armonk, N.Y., Sun Microsystems, Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif., and numerous others.  
         [0031]     “Data Storage Unit (DSU)” refers to read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), compact disc (CD-ROM), digital video disk (DVD), hard-disk or platter data storage unit, tape drives, and other such data storage devices.  
         [0032]     “Data Storage System (DSS)” refers to a system that stores data. It can comprise a computer, such as a server, which executes database management software (DBMS) such as SQL-92 software, and interacts with one or more DSUs storing one or more database(s).  
         [0033]     “Signal” refers to data or information carried in electronic, optical, wireless, and/or other physical format.  
         [0034]     “Form” is a type of task that requires entry of data for completion. “Form” references both a hard copy or paper form, as well as a form embodied in a signal.  
         [0035]     “Input Device” can be a keyboard, mouse, pen, stylus or other device used to input data into a computer.  
         [0036]     “Network” is a group of computers and associates devices, and can refer to a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, SONET, the Internet I and II, etc.  
         [0037]     “Operating Environment/Operating System (OE/OS)” enables a computer to communicate with other elements of a computer, and includes code for the basic functions of the computer. Examples of the OE/OS include DOS, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows XP, OS/2, Solaris, Linux, AIX, Unix, I-Series, E-Series, etc.  
         [0038]     “Output Device” refers to a device such as a monitor, for generating a display of a computer.  
         [0039]     “Processor” can be a microprocessor, micro-controller, programmable logic device, programmable logic array (PLA), programmed array logic (PAL), programmable gate array (PGA), field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other computing device. The processor can be a Pentium® or Xeon® series unit from Intel® Corporation, California, an Athlon® unit from Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., California or other such unit.  
         [0040]     “Prompt” is a question, text, icon, display, sonic message, and/or any other indicia that prompts a user to enter data in a form.  
         [0041]     “Questionnaire (Activity Wizard Pages)” comprises one or more questions or prompts requested of a user to determine the task(s) and corresponding form(s) required to accomplish an activity with an organization.  
         [0042]     “Task” is an action that must be taken by a user to accomplish an activity with an organization. A task can include completion and filing of a form, taking a medical or aptitude examination, reading a document, reading instructions, calling a telephone number for instructions and/or a checklist, for example.  
       General System  
       [0043]     In  FIG. 1 a  general system  100  of the invention is shown. The system  100  can be used to manage a task involving one or more forms that must be completed by a person and submitted to an organization. The form(s) can be required by the organization for a variety of reasons or purposes. For example, the form(s) can be submitted to update or change a person&#39;s status with the organization. To provide a context, consider a person who has undergone a life event such as marriage, divorce, adoption, employment hiring, termination, retirement, etc. These events can require the completion and filing of a form(s) with an organization to update the processes and services of the organization that are dependent upon such changed status. For example, if the person in this example is an employee of the organization, then a life event such as the user&#39;s marriage can trigger the need for the user to file forms with the organization to indicate the updated status. One form may be required to update the accounting department for tax withholding purposes since the addition of a spouse may change the amount of withholding from the employee&#39;s paycheck. Another form may be needed by the benefits administration department to update beneficiary designations under insurance policies or retirement accounts to include the employee&#39;s new spouse. Yet another form may be required by the benefits department to update group healthcare policies for coverage of the new spouse. And yet other forms may be required from the employee for other purposes. It will be appreciated that most organizations maintain a considerable number of forms, which are required for different situations. The system  100  can be used to assist in the use and administration of virtually any form. Importantly, the system  100  is able to capture the business intelligence of the organization and intelligently assist the user in determining a customized set of tasks/forms/documents for dealing with their situation and selected activity.  
         [0044]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the system  100  comprises at least one user computer  200 , a task management computer (TMC)  300 , and a data storage system (DSS)  400 . The user computer  200  is operatively connected to the TMC  300  via a network  500 . Similarly, the TMC  300  is connected to the DSS  400  via network  600 . Although the networks  500 ,  600  are shown in  FIG. 1  as distinct networks, it should be appreciated that they can be the same network. For example, the networks  500 ,  600  can be the Internet or other public network. An organization  700  can be provided with a computer system  702  which is operatively connected to the network  600 .  
         [0045]     In  FIG. 1 , only one user computer  200  is shown. However, it should be appreciated that in a typical application there can be, and generally is, numerous computers  200  interacting with TMC  300  via network  500 . The network  500  can be the Internet, for example, so that the users can be distributed in locations near or remote to the TMC  300 . The computer  200  comprises an operating environment or operating system (OE/OS)  202  that supports a browser application  204 . A user  210  can interact with the TMC  300  using the browser  204  and one or more input devices such as keyboard  212  and/or mouse  214 , as is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. The browser application  204  enables the user  210  to communicate with the TCM  300  using the computer  200 .  
         [0046]     The TCM  300  comprises a processor  302  and a data storage unit (DSU)  304 . The processor  302  is connected to retrieve a computer program  308  and data of various kinds from the DSU  306 . The processor  302  is also connected to store data in the DSU  304 . The processor  302  executes the computer program  308  to perform various functions herein described. More specifically, the DSU  304  holds a computer program  308  and a data store  310 . The processor  302  executes the computer program  308  using operating environment (OE/OS)  306  to retrieve and store rule(s), form(s), data, and web page(s) from and in, respectively, the data store  310 . The computer program  308  comprises a controller  312 , a login module  314 , a activity wizard module  316 , a user activity center module  318 , a task center module  320 , a form wizard module  322 , and development tool  324 . The controller  312  is executed by the processor  302  to coordinate execution of the modules  314 ,  316 ,  318 ,  320 ,  322 , and  324  and transition of control between the modules, as well as to effectively transfer data between the modules, data store  310 , and the processor  302 . The computer program  308  can be implemented as one or more Java Server Pages running on a J2EE platform on the computer  300 . Connectivity of the TMC  300  with the DSS  400  can be provided through J2EE, web services, JDBC, and Java Beans, for example, as is known to those of ordinary skill in the art.  
         [0047]     The DSS  400  generally comprises a computer  402  and data storage unit (DSU)  404 . The computer  402  comprises a processor  406  and a data storage unit (DSU)  408 . The processor  406  is operatively connected to communicate with the TMC  300  via the network  600 . The computer  402  is also connected to the data storage unit  404  to store data in the DSU  404  and/or to retrieve data therefrom. The DSU  408  comprises an operating environment/operating system (OE/OS)  410  and database management software (DBMS)  412 . The data storage unit  404  stores an activity database  413 , activity rule database  414 , form database  416 , user form database  417 , user activity database  418 , user database  420 , form rule database  422 , and a profile database  423 . The activity database  413  stores prompt(s) or question(s) for each activity, used to interrogate a user to determine task(s) to be accomplished by the user. The activity rule database  414  stores rule(s) for each activity, that are used to act upon data provided by the user in response to the prompt(s). The form database  416  stores the organization&#39;s form(s) for each activity. The user form database  417  stores the response data provided by the user in response to the prompt(s) in a form. The user activity database  418  stores a listing of activities that the user has underway or has previously completed. The user database  420  stores data pertaining to a user. The form rule database  422  stores rule(s) pertaining to data entered by a user. The profile database  423  stores mapping data to permit field(s) of a form to be auto-populated from local and/or remote database repositories, and stores routing data indicating how completed activity(ies) and corresponding form(s) are to be routed to the relevant organization. Returning to consideration of the TMC  300 , the functions of the various modules  314 ,  316 ,  318 ,  320 ,  322 ,  324  stored therein is now described. The login module  314  can be executed by the processor  302  to authenticate a user(s) of computer  200 . The authentication process is used to restrict use of the computer program  308  so that unauthorized users cannot engage in actions such as storing or, submitting tasks/forms, viewing pending or past activities, and/or auto-populating a form, or more generally, actions that could jeopardize the integrity of the database, or lead to loss of data privacy. The authentication process can be executed on the basis of a user name and password, as is known to those of ordinary skill in the art. The login module  314  is optional, as it is possible that an organization or administrator managing the computer  300  may desire to use its own authentication module for security. After completion of the authentication process, the login module  314  returns control to the controller  312 , which serves a home page to the user via the computer  200 . This home page includes a menu with an option of selecting an activity wizard module  316  for execution. Assuming that the user selects from the menu the activity wizard module  316  for execution, such module is launched by the processor  302  to provide a task menu to the user via the computer  200 . The user can select a particular task that the user desires to accomplish using the computer  200 , and such computer generates a signal indicating such selection to the TMC  300 . In response to receiving the task selection signal, the computer  300  executes the activity wizard module  316  to retrieve a dynamic questionnaire form from the data store  310  or the activity database  413 , depending upon whether this form is available to the computer  300  locally or remotely. The computer  300  serves such questionnaire form to the computer  200 . The user enters data into the questionnaire form with computer  200  to indicate the fact(s) pertinent to the activity, and provides the response(s) to the activity wizard module  316 . The activity wizard module  316  retrieves activity rule(s) from the database  414  of the data storage system  400 , and uses these activity rule(s) to determine what task(s), including form(s), apply to the user&#39;s situation, based on the data supplied by the user. More specifically, the processor  406  receives the request for an activity rule(s) from the computer  300 , and executes the DBMS  412  from the DSU  408  using the OE/OS  410 . The processor  406  generates a query to database  414  to retrieve the requested activity rule(s) from the database  414 , and to provide such activity rule(s) to the computer  300 . The computer  300  compares the data input by the user in response to the questionnaire with the activity rule(s) to determine the task(s) and respective form(s) required to be completed by the user in order to accomplish the identified task. The computer  300  retrieves the determined form(s) from the form database  416  via the processor  406  executing the DBMS  412 , and the data storage unit  404 . The computer  300  can store the retrieved form(s) locally in data store  310 .  
         [0048]     After execution of the activity wizard module  316 , the controller  312  transitions control to the task center module  320 . The processor  302  thus launches and executes the task center module  320  to retrieve the corresponding form(s) and data, either from the data store  310  if available locally and/or from the databases  416 ,  417  of DSS  400  via the network  600 . The computer  300  executes the task center module  320  to auto-populate data in any field of the form(s) indicating that data should be supplied from the DSS  400 . Any such field(s) is associated with a network address or location (e.g., URL or URI) of the computer  402 , as well as one or more metadata tags identifying the data sought for auto-population of the form(s). More specifically, if a network address associated with a data field indicates that data is to be auto-populated from an external source, the processor  302  executes the task center module  320  to generate a request for this data to the DSS  400  via the network  600 . The processor  406  of the DSS  400  receives the request from the computer  300  via the network  600 , and executes the DBMS  412  to generate a query supplied to the DSU  404 . In response to the query, the DSU  404  retrieves the data appropriate for the user from the user database  420 . In addition, the DSU  404  can provide routing data from the profile database  423  which indicates the tag(s), network address(es) and path (e.g., URL or URI) from which the data can be obtained. The DSU  404  provides this data to the processor  406  of the computer  402 , which in turn transmits such data to the processor  302  of the computer  300  via the network  600 . The processor  302  receives this data, retrieves any data remotely hosted using the tags, network address(es), and path(s) from the profile database  423 , and auto-populates the form(s) for the task selected by the user with such data.  
         [0049]     Auto-population of the form with data can be beneficial for a variety of reasons. For one, it can be used to ensure consistency of the data used to populate the form(s). In addition, the data used to auto-populate the form may have been previously verified as accurate to a desired level of certainty. Auto-population with data previously checked for accuracy reduces the occurrence of errors caused by incorrect or missing data. This also helps to reduce time and effort required on the part of the organization to which the forms will ultimately be submitted because the need to return or correct forms can be reduced significantly. In addition, auto-population of this data saves the user the effort of having to enter it through computer  200  so that the form(s) for a selected task can be more readily accomplished. Hence, the user can be saved considerable effort in using the system  100  to complete the form(s) required for a task.  
         [0050]     On any web page so constructed with a link, the user has the option of selecting the activity center module  318  for execution. Upon the user&#39;s selection of the activity center module  318 , the computer  300 , or more specifically, the processor  302 , launches the activity center module  318  for execution. Based on the user name and password previously provided by the user or prompted if not previously given, the computer  200  retrieves the history of past and current activities selected by the user, generates a web page listing these activity(ies), and provides same to the user with computer  200  via the network  500 . The computer  200 , or more specifically, the processor  302 , receives and displays the web page on monitor  216  to indicate the user&#39;s pending and completed activities. The user can select an activity using the computer  200 , and the computer  200  transmits the resulting selection signal to the computer  300  via the network  500 . The computer  300 , or more specifically, the processor  302 , receives the user&#39;s selected activity and executes the controller  312  to transition control from the activity center module  318  to the task center module  320 . Processing under execution of the task center module  320  has previously been described.  
         [0051]     The form wizard module  322  can be executed by the computer  300  to display user data, stored in XML format, for example, in conjunction with the electronic or signal version of the hard copy form. It is generally preferable for a variety of reasons to overlay data on the form as a layer separate from the form itself, rather than to integrate the data electronically into the form. The approach of using a separate layer for the data can be advantageous from the standpoint that no modification or the organization&#39;s form or customization to accept electronic data is required to populate the form with data. Instead, the data can be presented as a separate layer overlying the form, with the data at positions corresponding to the proper fields for such data on the form. This approach to providing the data is easier from the organization&#39;s perspective since its forms need not be customized to accept integrated data, thus avoiding corresponding time and cost and lengthy approval processes.  
         [0052]     After the form(s) selected by the user are auto-populated with data, the processor  302  of the computer  300  executes the controller  312  to transition control from the task center module  320  to the form wizard module  322 . The processor  302  executes the form wizard module  322  to generate and serve a web page with the form and auto-populated data to the user&#39;s computer  200  via the network  500 . More specifically, the processor  302  auto-populates the form with data, retrieves form rule(s) from the database  422 , and generates scripts incorporating these form rule(s) for inclusion in the web page served to the user. The form rule(s) can be used to establish that the user-entered data has the correct format (e.g., has proper characters and numerals), is complete (e.g., has no data missing from a required field), has a valid value(s)(e.g., form rule(s) may establish that a date with a day greater than “31”—such as “12-32-2003”—or a date that has not yet occurred in a field requesting information regarding a past event, for example), and was not otherwise entered erroneously by the user. The computer  300  can incorporate the form rule(s) in script (e.g., Javascript) included in the web page form so that the user&#39;s input can be dynamically checked for accuracy as the user inputs data. If there is any error in the data entered by the user, the user&#39;s computer  200  generates a web page indicating the problematic entry to the user, and requesting the user to re-enter the required data in the form. The user operates the computer  200  to enter any data missing from the form(s) and submits the form(s) back to the computer  200  via the network  500 . The processor  302  of the computer  300  receives the form(s) with corresponding data, and stores same in the data store  310 . The processor  302  further executes the form wizard module  318  to store the form(s) with auto-populated and entered data in the user form database  417  to update the task(s) pending for the user. The processor  302  then executes the controller  312 , which transitions control back to the task center module  320 .  
         [0053]     The processor  302  executes the task center module  320 , causing such processor to generate and serve a web page to the user&#39;s computer  200  via the network  500 . The user&#39;s computer  200  displays this web page which provides the user with a menu including the option of submitting a completed set of forms to the appropriate organization. Assuming the user operates the computer  300  to submit the form(s) to the computer system  702  of the organization  700 , either directly via the network  600 , or indirectly to the computer  300 , which in turn forwards the completed form to the computer system  702  of the organization  700 . As yet another alternative, the user  210  can operate the computer  200  to print the form  212  with completed data using printer  215  for hand or mail delivery to the organization  700 . The computer  300  then receives notification from the user of the computer  200  that the form has been submitted to the organization  700 , and the computer  300  updates the user activity database  418  to reflect the fact that the completed form has been submitted to the organization  700 . The computer  300  can identify the status of the form as completed using a watermark or other indicia.  
         [0054]     The development tool  324  can be executed by the processor  302  to review and edit task-specific questionnaires, rules used to determine the forms required to be submitted to the organization by the user, network addresses, file paths and/or database connectivity information and mapping for data to be auto-populated in the form and associated form fields of the forms, and rules used to check the data entered by the user. Further details on the development tool  324  are provided in a later section of this document.  
         [0055]      FIG. 2  is a flow diagram of a disclosed method. In Step S 200  the user is authenticated. This step can be performed by the login module  314 , as shown in  FIG. 2 . The user authentication can be performed on the basis of a user name and password supplied by the user with computer  200  to the computer  300 . In Step S 205  the user is prompted to select an activity involving task(s) with one or more corresponding forms. To accomplish this step, the user can be supplied with a web page prompting such user to select the activity from a menu provided by the computer  300  to the computer  200  for display on the monitor  216 . Upon the user&#39;s selection of an activity from the menu, the method proceeds to Step S 210  in which the user is presented with a questionnaire or “activity wizard pages.” This questionnaire can be provided by the computer  300  in response to the menu selection signal received from the user&#39;s computer  200 . In Step S 215  the user completes the questionnaire and submits same. More specifically, the user operates the computer  200  to respond to the questions posed in the questionnaire, and activates a soft button to transmit the entered response data from the computer  200  to the TMC  300 . In Step S 220  the user&#39;s responses are compared with one or more corresponding activity rules to determine the task(s), including one or more form(s), required to be completed by the user. The computer  300  can retrieve activity rule(s) from DSS  400  and compare such rule(s) with the data entered by the user with computer  200  to determine form(s) required to be submitted to an organization based on the user&#39;s response data. The form(s) determined as appropriate for the response(s) given by the user are stored in Step S 225 . This can be done by the computer  300  storing the form(s) in the DSS  400 . In Step S 230 , the user views the activity history, which can include one or more pending activities as well as any activity previously completed. More specifically, the user  210  operates computer  200  to generate a signal requesting display of the activity history web page. The computer  300  receives this signal, and in response thereto retrieves the activities pending and previously completed by the user. Assuming the user desires to complete an activity previously saved, the user selects the desired activity from the activity history listing. The user  210  can accomplish this activity using the computer  200  using the activity history listing. In response to the user&#39;s selection of the activity, the computer  200  transmits a signal indicating the selected activity to the computer  300 . The computer  300  receives this signal, and in response thereto, retrieves the selected activity with form set, and data previously entered in the form(s), from the DSS  400 . The computer  300  can supply the activity form set and any corresponding data to the computer  200  in the form of a web page. This web page is displayed on the user&#39;s computer  200 . In step S 235 , the user selects a form from the form set. This can be done by the user&#39;s operation of the computer  200  to indicate the form desired to be completed. In response to the user&#39;s selection, the computer  200  transmits a signal indicating the user-selected form to the computer  300 . The computer  300  retrieves the user-selected form, either from its data store  310  if available locally, or from DSS  400 . In step S 240  the selected form is auto-populated. The data for auto-population can be obtained by the computer  300  generating one or more direct queries to a database(s). Such database(s) can be available to the computer  300  locally in data store  310 , or can be located in DSS  400  or some altogether different remote database accessible to the computer  300 . The queried data is retrieved and stored in the data store  310 . The computer  300  populates the form field(s) with the data retrieved from the DSS  400 . The computer  300  transmits the form with auto-populated data from the computer  300  to the user&#39;s computer  200 . In Step S 245 , the form with auto-populated data is presented to the user. This can be done in a display rendered by the computer  200  on monitor  216 . In step S 250  the user completes the form by entering data in any field(s) requiring information form the user. Once the user has completed this task, the user submits the form. More specifically, the user can operate the computer  200  to post the form to the computer  300  via the network  500 . In Step S 255  the data in the submitted form is compared against form rule(s) corresponding to such form. To accomplish this action, the computer  300  includes JavaScript in the form transmitted to the user&#39;s browser. As the user enters data in each field, the JavaScript executes to catch and prompt the user to correct improper data. As previously mentioned, such errors can be illegal values, inconsistent data, misspelling, incorrect format or character length of entered data, etc. If there is an error in the form data, the JavaScript causes the user&#39;s browser to generate an error message requesting correction of the error, and the JavaScript checks the re-entered data against the form rule(s). Once all data has been verified as correct, the form is transmitted to the computer  300  where it is stored in Step S 260 . The computer  300  can transmit the form with data to the DSS  400  which stores this form and data in the user activity database  410 . The user then has the option of returning to Step S 205  or Step S 230 . Assuming the user elects to return to Step S 230 , the activity history is displayed to the user. In Step S 260  the user submits the completed form(s) to the responsible organization. More specifically, from the activity history web page, the user operates computer  200  to submit the completed form data and/or a completed form(s) for a task, to the appropriate organization. The computer  200  transmits a signal indicating the user&#39;s intention to submit the form(s) for the task to the organization. The computer  300  receives this signal, and in response thereto, transmits the completed form(s) and data for the task to the computer system  702  of the organization  700  in Step S 265 . Because the data is auto-populated or entered in the form as XML-tagged data, the computer  300  can provided the XML-tagged data directly to a receiving application running on computer system  702 , which processes this data in accordance with the procedures of the organization. No special translation or transformation of the data need be done after auto-population or data entry by the user to produce the XML data. After submission of the form(s) for the task, the user returns to the view activity history web page in Step S 230 . The user can use the above-described method to complete an additional task(s).  
         [0056]      FIG. 3  is a view of home page  800  displayed by browser  208  of the computer  200 . The home page  800  corresponds to the URL in the navigation address field of the browser  208 , which is transmitted to the computer  300  to request the home page. In response to the request from the user&#39;s browser  208 , the computer  300  retrieves and/or generates the home page  800 , and transmits the home page  800  to the computer  200 . The web page  800  is rendered by the computer  200  to display it to the user. Among the selections available to the user from the home page  800 , the user can operate the computer  200  to select soft button or hyperlink  802  which initiates user authentication in Step S 200  of  FIG. 2 . The user can thus be authenticated to determine whether access to the computer  300  and use of computer program  302  is permitted by a defined user access policy. The home page  800  also lists an array of soft buttons or hyperlinks entitled “Adoption,” Child Support,” “Citizenship,” “Education,” “Employment,” “Estate Plans,”“Beneficiary,” “Finance,” “Insurance,” “Legal,” “Marriage,” “Medical,” “Medicare,” “Military,” “Property,” “Relocation,” “Retirement,” “Small Biz,” “Social Security,” “Survivor Benefits,” “Taxes,” “New Hire,” “Vital Records,” and “Voting.” These refer to various activities that the user can select with computer  200  in the menu selection Step S 205  of  FIG. 2 . These activities are customizable to the types of activities that are germane to the organization&#39;s line of business.  
         [0057]      FIG. 4  is a view of login page  810  which the user has selected the “Survivor Benefits” activity option. In this case, rather than using the login button  802  to launch authentication, the user has directly selected the “Survivor Benefits” button. The computer  300  is programmed to determine the user&#39;s actions to be the menu selection of Step S 205  of  FIG. 2 , followed by the user authentication of Step S 200  of  FIG. 2 . Thus, Steps S 200  and S 205  can be reversed in  FIG. 2 . The user enters user name and password into fields  814  and  816  and activates the submit button  818 . The computer  200  sends the user name and password to the computer  300  which executes the login module  314  to authenticate the user. User authentication is important to the disclosed invention from the standpoint of protecting user privacy as well as complying with relevant law, regulation, and policy. For this reason, all communications between the computers  200 ,  300 , and DSS  400  can be, and preferably are, secured by encryption, for example, to ensure privacy of the user data. The computer program  308  can be provided with programming hooks to utilize authentication and security software used by the organization implementing the disclosed invention.  
         [0058]      FIGS. 5-7  are views of a questionnaire or “activity wizard pages”  820 ,  830 ,  840  provided to the user in Step S 210  of  FIG. 2  to determine the form(s) appropriate for completing the activity, which in this example is the “Survivor Benefits” activity. As shown in  FIG. 5  the user enters data in response to the questions  824  of the questionnaire  822  by selection of radio buttons and a pop-down menu. Note that the questions (i.e., prompts) are in multiple choice and yes-no format, which simplifies entry of data for the user, and avoids ambiguous or unclear user responses. The questions are also indicated in a sequential fashion that is readily understood, even though the corresponding form(s) for the activity may be complicated. After the user has completed all fields  828  (some, but not all, of which are specifically indicated in the web page  820 ), the user operates the input device of computer  200  to activate the “Next&gt;” button  826 , causing the computer  200  to post the entered data  829  to the computer  300 . The computer  300  stores the received data in the data store  310 . The computer  300  further uses the received data  829  to determine whether additional questions are to be asked of the user by checking the user&#39;s responses against activity rules retrieved from database  414 . In this example, it is assumed that the user&#39;s responses  829  require further questions  824  of the user. The questionnaire format can thus be dynamic so that the user&#39;s responses to previous questions determine follow-on questions that must be asked of the user to determine the form(s) appropriate for the user&#39;s circumstances, and in this example the computer  300  retrieves and/or generates a web page  830  with the questions appropriate for the responses  829  previously given by the user. The computer  300  transmits the web page  830  to the computer  200  for display to the user. The user operates the computer  200  to enter the data  829 , in this case using an input device to select radio buttons of fields  828  in response to the questions  824  indicated in questionnaire  822 . Upon completion of data entry, the user operates computer  200  to select the “Next&gt;” button  826  to post the response data to the computer  300 . The computer  300  receives the entered data and stores same in data store  310 . It further determines from the user&#39;s responses whether additional questions must be asked of the user based on the data previously entered. In this example, additional questions are necessary, and the computer  300  retrieves and/or generates, and transmits the web page  840  to the user&#39;s computer  200 . The user&#39;s computer  200  displays the web page  840 , prompting the user to respond to questions  824  therein. The user enters response data  829  for the questions  824  and activates “Next&gt;” button  829  to post such data to the computer  300 . The computer  300  receives and stores the data  829  in the data store  310 , and in this example determines that the user has answered all questions that need to be asked in connection with the “Survivor Benefits” activity.  
         [0059]     As shown in  FIG. 8 , the computer  300  generates and/or retrieves, and transmits a web page  850  listing the task(s) required by the user to complete the activity. In the example of  FIG. 8 , there are four tasks to be completed by the user, the completion of Forms 21-435, Form DD1172-2, Form SF180a, and Form SSA-8. The web page prompts the user to enter a name  854  for the activity in field  856 , and in this example the user enters “Ted—Survivor Benefits.” If the user so desires, the user can operate the “&lt;Back” button  858  to return to the questionnaire  822 . However, to complete the task and save it, the user activates the “Finish” button  859 . In response to activation of the button  859 , the user computer  200  transmits the task name  854  to be associated with the user&#39;s task, and saves the forms  852  in association with the activity name in the database  418  of DSS  400 . Step S 225  of the method of  FIG. 2  is thus completed.  
         [0060]      FIG. 9  is a view of web page  860  displayed by browser  208  of the user&#39;s computer  200 . The web page  860  is retrieved and/or generated by the computer  300 , and transmitted to the user&#39;s computer  200  for display. The web page  860  includes a listing  861  of the activities  862  pending or previously completed, along with the activity name  854 , the user name  863 , activity number  864 , activity&#39;s status  865 , activity category  866 , and date  867  activity was submitted to the relevant organization for approval. The activity number  864  is provided in ascending sequential order with “1” assigned to the most recent activity of the user, and the highest number assigned to the oldest activity of the user. The status  865  indicates whether the activity is “new,” “incomplete,” or “complete.” The activity category  854  indicates the type of activity, according to the relevant organization&#39;s nomenclature or procedure. The date  867  is used to indicate the date on which the user submitted the activity to the relevant organization for approval. By clicking on either the event number  864  or activity name  854 , the computer  200  provides the user the option to view the task(s) and form(s) for the selected activity. In  FIG. 10 , a web page  870  is displayed by the browser  208  of the user&#39;s computer  200 . The web page  870  is retrieved and/or generated by the computer  300 , and provided to the user&#39;s computer  200  by the network  500 . In this example, the web page  870  results from the user&#39;s selection of the first activity  704  listed in the web page  860  of  FIG. 9 . The web page  870  has a listing  871  of four tasks  852 . These tasks  852  are listed by task name  874 , task type  874 , and status  878 . The task name  874  indicates the nature of the task (e.g., “Fill form”), a task description (e.g., “Application for Lump-Sum Death Payment”), and a form identification (e.g., “Form SSA-8”). The task type  876  indicates the nature of the task (e.g., “Form” meaning a form must be completed, “Exam” meaning the user is required to have a medical examination, “Contact” meaning the user must contact an individual directly, etc.). The status  878  indicates the state of the task  852  (e.g., “New”; “Incomplete”; “Complete”; etc.). Icon  872  transitions the user to filling out the selected form, such as is described with reference to  FIG. 11 .  FIGS. 9 and 10  are used to carry out Step S 230  of the method of  FIG. 2 . Assuming that the user selects control button  872  to enter data in the last form “Request Pertaining To Military Records (Form SF180a)” of the listing  871 , the computer  200  transmits a signal requesting the next web page from the computer  300 . The user&#39;s action completes the form selection in Step S 235  of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0061]      FIG. 11  is a view of the resulting web page  880  resulting from the user&#39;s selection of the Form SF180a. In response to the user&#39;s selection of the task requiring completion of Form SF180a, the computer  300  retrieves the form  882  and parses the data fields to determine whether any such field is to be auto-populated with data  886 . In this example, most of the fields require auto-population with data  886 . The computer  300  can retrieve data from the profile database  423  to determine the location and computer instructions required to retrieve data for any field of the form to be auto-populated, whether the data to be retrieved resides in a local or remote database. For example, such computer instructions can cause the computer  300  to request data from the user database  420  of the DSS  400 , in response to which the DSS retrieves such data and provides same to the computer  300 . The computer  300  auto-populates the fields  884  of form  882  with this data  886 . This completes the auto-population of Step S 240  of  FIG. 2 . The computer  300  transmits the form with auto-populated data to the user for verification and completion of any field missing data. The user then activates the “Next&gt;” button  884  to post the data  886  from computer  200  to the computer  300  via the network  500 . This action completes Step S 250  of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0062]     In response to the user&#39;s posting of the data  886  to the computer  300 , the computer  300  stores the data  886  in the user form database  417  by transmitting such data to the DSS  400  via network  600 . The computer  300  retrieves the form rule(s) corresponding to the form  882  from the form rule database  422  of DSS  400 . The computer  300  verifies that the data  886  entered by the user is correct in form, format, is consistent, etc. This is an operation sometimes referred to as “data scrubbing” which can be performed by numerous commercially available software packages. If there are any errors in the data  886 , the computer  300  generates and transmits an error message to the user requesting correction of the error. This completes the Form Rule Trigger Step S 255  of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0063]     In  FIG. 12 , in response to the user&#39;s selection of the view form button  891  the computer  300  retrieves the image of the specific form (in this example, Form SF180a) from the forms database  416  or data store  310 . The computer  300  then generates an overlay layer including the data  886  which can be superimposed over the image of Form SF180a. Hence, no modification of the code or form need be made to display the data  886 . The computer  300  transmits a file containing data representing the image of Form SF180a and the overlay layer including data  886 , to the computer  200  via the network  500 . The computer  200  receives the file, determines by its file extension that it designates a viewer application  892 , and launches such application to display the Form  894  with overlay layer  896  including data  886 . Note that the user need not determine the fields of the form in which to enter data, as the computer  300  has automatically mapped the data  886  to the appropriate form fields. The user can print the form out using soft button  897  for retention in the user&#39;s personal file, and/or for mailing or hand delivery to the organization  700  responsible for form processing. Alternatively, the user can operate computer  200  to return to the activities menu and activate an “Submit Activity” soft button  898  to transmit the form  894  and overlay layer  896  with data  886 , to the computer  300  for signal filing of the form  894 , optionally along with all other forms required for the activity, with the organization responsible for processing the form  894 . This completes the Submit Activity Step S 265  of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0064]      FIG. 13  indicates further details of the development tool module  324  shown in  FIG. 1 . The tool module  324  comprises activity builder module  900 , form builder module  902 , profile builder module  904 , and routing builder module  906 . The general purpose of these modules is to simplify the generation of computer code used by the computer  300  to process one or more task(s) involving a form(s). The activity builder module  900  can be used to build the questions (i.e., prompts), data element identifiers, and activity rule(s) to determine the task(s) and form(s) necessary to define and accomplish an activity. In a typical case, prior to using the development tool module  324 , the analyst will have interviewed experts within the organization to determine the task(s) and form(s) required for an activity. This can be accomplished using “Six Sigma” or other techniques to determine applicable rules, laws, and policies relevant to the activity, the organization&#39;s processes, etc., to determine all necessary task(s) and form(s) and the conditions under which each is required. The form builder module  902  can be used to determine the form elements and layout of questions on each page of the electronic forms. The profile builder module  904  can be used to associate a data identifier and URL/URI, file path, and/or code (e.g., HTTP GET request) to retrieve data from the indicated database of the DSS  400 . The routing builder module  906  can be used to designate a network address to which to transmit the form(s) and data of a completed activity. In  FIG. 13 , the analyst  908  interacts remotely with the computer  300  of  FIG. 1  using administration computer  910 . The administration computer  910  is operatively connected to the computer  300  via network  912 . The network  912  can be distinct from the networks  500 ,  600 , or can the same as one or both of these networks. For example, the networks  500 ,  600 ,  912  can be a single network such as the Internet or other public network. The analyst  908  interacts with the development tool module  324  via a browser  914  which can be executed by administration computer  910  to interact via network  912  with the development tool module  324  running on computer  300 . The computer  910  can be connected to the DSS  400  directly via network  912 .  
         [0065]     In  FIG. 14 , the analyst  908  launches the activity builder module  900  by activating computer  910  to request the “Edit Activity” web page  920 , which is retrieved by computer  300  and transmitted to the administration computer  910  via network  912  for display on the browser  914 . The web page  920  indicates the “Activity ID” with value “7194317” which uniquely identifies the particular activity to which the web page  920  pertains. The “Activity Code” field indicates the particular type of the activity. It has a value “CM” indicating that the activity belongs to a collection of activities developed for an organization designated “CM.”. The activity name  854  identifies the activity as a descriptive alphanumeric string, in this example, “New Hire.” The activity version field  926  identifies the version of this particular activity. The web page  920  has a questions section  926  with question identifiers  928 . The question identifiers  928  reference corresponding questions to interrogate the user. By pointing and clicking on one of the question identifiers  928 , the corresponding question is displayed on the computer  910 . The analyst  908  can then add, edit, and/or delete text from the question as desired. The web page  920  also has a rules section  929  which specifies the rules pertinent to the questions. By pointing and clicking on a rule identifier  930 , the corresponding rule is displayed for adding, editing, or deleting one or more conditions and actions associated with the rule. The web page  920  further comprises a page section  931  listing page identifiers  932  for each page of the questionnaire, as well as the question identifiers  928  for the questions appearing on each page. Using control buttons  933 ,  934 ,  935 , the analyst  908  can add a question, rule, and/or page, respectively, to the activity.  
         [0066]      FIG. 15  is a view of web page  940  retrieved and/or generated by the computer  300  as it executes the activity builder module  900 . The computer  300  transmits the web page  940  to the administration computer  910  via the network  912  in response to the analyst  908  activating the “Select Direct Deposit” rule identifier  930  on web page  920  of  FIG. 14 . The web page  940  comprises a rule detail section  942 , a condition section  944 , and an action section  946 . The rule detail section  942  includes a field  943  in which a rule identifier  928  can be entered, modified, or deleted. The field  945  indicates whether the initial state  947  of the question is “true” or “false.” In this example, the analyst  908  has entered the initial state  947  as “false.” In the condition section  944 , the analyst  908  has used Boolean logic to specify the condition: 
        AND         |{DirectDeposit=Y     in which “AND” signifies the necessary condition that the data identifier “DirectDeposit” have data  829  with a “Y” or “yes” value in order to trigger the condition. Otherwise, if the data  829  is “N” or “no,” the condition will not be triggered. Although not shown in  FIG. 15 , the analyst  908  can include a string of Boolean operators (e.g., AND, OR) with corresponding conditions to determine whether the action identified in section  946  is to be taken, based on the data  829 . The action section  946  in this case indicates that the action  951  to be taken if the condition  949  is satisfied is:     ADD         
 
 {AddForm Instructions for Processing Federal Employee Paym}         
    meaning that the form “Instructions for Processing Federal Employee Paym” is to be added as a task for the activity. By activating the save button  952 , the rule name  928 , the initial state  947 , the condition(s)  949 , and action(s)  951 , are saved in the activity rule database  414 . Conversely, if the cancel button  953  is activated, then any changes made in web page  940  will not be saved, and the browser  914  exits the web page  940 .          
         [0071]      FIG. 16  is a view of an “Edit Form” web page  960  retrieved and/or generated by the computer  300  as it executes the form builder module  902 . More specifically, the analyst  908  operates the computer  910  to generate a request signal transmitted over network  912  to the computer  300 . In response to the request signal, the computer  300  retrieves and/or generates the web page  960  based in part or whole upon data in its local store  310  and/or data from DSS  400 . The computer  300  transmits the resulting web page  960  to the computer  910  via the network  912 . The web page  960  is displayed on the browser  914  as shown in  FIG. 16 . The “Edit Form” web page  960  has a “Form ID” field  962  has a value of “180,” a unique alphanumeric string identifying the displayed form. The “Form Code” field  963  has a value of “PF189” and indicates the form code assigned to the hard copy form by the relevant orgnization. The form name field  964  has a value of “The 180 Form” and is a descriptive reference readily comprehensible to a human reader. The “Form Version” field  965  indicates the particular version of the form displayed by web page  960 . The web page  960  comprises form element section  966  and form wizard pages  967 . The form element section  966  comprises data element identifiers  968  associated with corresponding fields  884  and data  886  of the form  882 . The page section comprises page identifiers  970  and data element identifiers  968 . A data element identifier  968  from the form element section  966  can be dragged and dropped with a mouse of computer  910  to define the data elements  968  to be included in each page of the corresponding form  822 . The analyst  908  can click on one of the data element identifiers  968  to edit the description associated with a data element identifier. In addition, the analyst  908  can click on the “Add an Element” button  972  to add a data element descriptor  883  and corresponding field  884  to the form  822 . The user can click on the “Add a Page” button  973  to add a page to the form  822 . The “back” control button  974  can be used to exit web page  960  without affecting any change to the form  822 .  
         [0072]      FIG. 17  is a view of a web page  980  produced by the computer  300  and supplied to the computer  910  via the network  912 . The web page  980  enables the analyst  908  to edit a data element entitled “TypeofDepositAccount” in this example. The manner of editing other data elements can be readily understood from this example. The web page  980  comprises data element detail section  981 , data element options section  982 , and help section  983 . In the data element detail section  981 , a name field  984  contains the name  285  of the data element, which in this example is “TypeofDepositAccount” The data element is indicated in field  986  as “single select” type  988 , meaning that the user can select only one option. “Multiple select” enables the user to select more than one option. “Yes-No” means the user can select only “yes” or “no” in response to a question. Pop-down menu  988  enables the analyst  908  to select the default control type, which in this example is selected to be a radio button  989 . Other options include a check box, drop-down menu, text, textbox, etc. The label field  990  defines the text descriptor used on the form  822  to describe the data element. In this case, the label field has data  991  with a value of “Type of Depositor Account.” The “required” field  992  indicates whether the data element requires a response from the user. The data  993  of required field  992  can be set to either “Never” meaning that a response is never required from the user, “Always” meaning that a response is always required from the user, or “Conditional” meaning that the field has a rule associated with it that is triggered upon satisfaction of one or more conditions. The “Never,” “Always,” and “Conditional” options can be selected from drop-down menu  994 . The data element options section  982  has action column  996 , key column  997 , and description column  998 . The action column  996  indicating what action can be taken with respect to the fields  999 ,  1001  associated with keys “checking” and “saving.” The values  1000 ,  1002  of the fields  999 ,  1001  in this example are “Checking” and “Savings.” The action “Del” associated with each of these fields signifies that the text “Checking” and “Savings” can be deleted by clicking on the “Del” box. The programmer can add a key and corresponding description using fields  1003 ,  1004  to enter the name of the key and description to be added, and clicking on the “Add” box to add the new data element option to the table of section  982 . The help section  983  enables the analyst  908  to assist the user  210  by entering a text message in the “Help Text” field  1005  to assist the user in responding to the data prompt  883  with the proper data  886 . Finally, the correct answer field  1006  can be used to suggest a probable correct answer to the user.  
         [0073]      FIG. 18  is a view of a “profile builder” web page  1010  similar to the web page  980  of  FIG. 17 . The profile builder web page  1010  includes a field  1012  in which a SQL instruction  1014  can be written to instruct the computer  300  of the query to execute to obtain requested data. The computer  300  can thus auto-populate the form with data retrieved by executing the SQL instruction  1014 . In addition, the menu  1015  enables the analyst  908  to select the database from which the data is to be retrieved. The build link  1017  can be activated by the computer  910 , causing the computer  300  to serve a web page  1018  shown in  FIG. 19 .  
         [0074]     In  FIG. 19  the web page  1018  includes a menu  1019  from which the user can select a database, which in this example is “Stratizondb.” The “Get Tables” button  1020  can be activated by the analyst  908  to cause the computer  910  to retrieve a web page  1021  from computer  300 . The web page  1021  has a list of tables for the selected database, as shown in  FIG. 20 .  
         [0075]     In  FIG. 20  the menu  1019  and “Get Tables” button  1020  are included in the web page  1021 . In addition, the web page  1021  indicates in field  1022  the database corresponding to the displayed tables  1023 , which in this example is the “Stratizondb” database. The analyst  908  can select a table  1023  using radio buttons  1024 . In this example, the analyst selects the table “admin.” The analyst  908  then activates the “Get Columns” button  1025 , causing the computer  910  to retrieve web page  1026  shown in  FIG. 21 .  
         [0076]     In  FIG. 21  the web page  1026 , in addition to the items shown in  FIG. 20 , includes a listing of columns  1027  for this exemplary table, in addition to “Select” button  1028  and “Condition” button  1029 . Note that the SQL statement window  1033  displays SELECT on one line and “FROM admin” on the next line. The Javascript of the web page  1026  is thus building the SQL statement as the analyst  908  in response to the analyst&#39;s indication that the relevant data is to be selected from the “admin” database. In  FIG. 22 , the analyst  908  selects the “role” column  1027  to signify the column from which data is to be selected, causing the Javascript of the web page  1026  to identify “role” after the SELECT statement in the window  1033 . The analyst  908  also selects the “admin_id” key as the condition for this statement, and the Javascript in the web page  1026  inserts “admin_id=%userid%” to complete the SQL statement. Thus, the SQL statement used to retrieve data can be defined. In this example, the SQL statement selects the value of the “role” column corresponding to a value of the “admin” column that matches the value “userid.” Hence, using the profile builder, the analyst  908  is not required to have detailed knowledge of the SQL language in order to use it to auto-populate data in a form. The analyst  908  can operate the “Save” button  1035  to cause the computer  200  to transmit the resulting SQL statement for the data element to the profile database  423 . If the user selects a form containing this element with computer  200 , such computer transmits a signal requesting the form to the computer  300 . The computer  300  executes the SQL statement stored in the profile database  423  to auto-populate the form with data according to the SQL statement analyst  908  Referring to  FIG. 23 , to launch the routing builder module  906 , the analyst  908  generates a request signal at computer  910 . The computer  910  transmits the request signal to the computer  300  via the network  300 . The computer  300  launches the routing builder module  906 , causing the computer  300  to retrieve part or all of such web page from its data store  310  and/or generate to generate part or all of the web page  1030 . The computer  300  transmits the web page  1030  to the computer  910  via network  912  for display thereon. The web page  1030  includes a routing building form with a form identification field  1032  prompting the analyst  908  to enter the form to be routed, in this example, “Form SF108a.” The analyst selects the form of transmission such as email delivery, email alert, direct database access, file transfer protocol (ftp) or use of a third party middleware tool. In the case of email delivery, the analyst  908  enters the address to which the form is to be sent, in this example, to “grobinson@organization700.com.” The analyst  908  activates the save button  1040  to post the form identification data  1034  and address data  1038  to the data store  310  of the computer  300 , and/or to a routing database stored in the DSS  400 , either directly or via the computer  300 . The computer  300  can thus be programmed to automatically transmit form(s) populated with data, to the person or application within the organization  700  that is responsible for processing such form(s). The analyst can activate the “cancel” button to exit the web page  1030 .  
         [0077]     Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.