초록 ▼

A method of traversing a workflow is described. The workflow comprises a plurality of interconnected question and answer nodes, each question node being linked to a respective stored pre-determined question and each answer node being linked to a respective stored answer. The method comprises: determ

A method of traversing a workflow is described. The workflow comprises a plurality of interconnected question and answer nodes, each question node being linked to a respective stored pre-determined question and each answer node being linked to a respective stored answer. The method comprises: determining the type of the current node of the workflow and, if the current node is a question node, accessing a data store, ascertaining whether the data store contains a previously determined answer to the question linked to the current question node and, a) if the data store does contain such a previously determined answer, retrieving the answer from the data store and using the retrieved answer to determine the next node of the workflow to be traversed; and b) if the data store does not contain such a previously determined answer, presenting the question linked to the current question node to a user, and using answer data obtained from the user to determine the next node of the workflow to be traversed.

대표청구항 ▼

The invention claimed is: 1. A method of traversing a workflow, the workflow comprising a plurality of interconnected question and answer nodes, each question node being linked to a respective stored pre-determined question and each answer node being linked to a respective stored answer, the method

The invention claimed is: 1. A method of traversing a workflow, the workflow comprising a plurality of interconnected question and answer nodes, each question node being linked to a respective stored pre-determined question and each answer node being linked to a respective stored answer, the method comprising: determining the type of the current node of the workflow and, if the current node is a question node, accessing a data store, ascertaining whether the data store contains a previously determined answer to the question linked to the current question node and, a) if the data store does contain such a previously determined answer, retrieving the answer from the data store and using the retrieved answer to determine the next node of the workflow to be traversed; and b) if the data store does not contain such a previously determined answer, presenting the question linked to the current question node to a user, and using answer data obtained from the user to determine the next node of the workflow to be traversed. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the presenting step further comprises presenting the question and one or more associated pre-determined answers to the user for user-selection to give the answer data. 3. A method according to claim 1, further comprising creating a viewing page for presenting the question and associated answer(s) to the user and for obtaining answer data. 4. A method according to claim 1, further comprising creating a personal history record for the user at the data store prior to commencing the traversal of the workflow that is pertinent to the upcoming traversal, the personal history record storing personal permanent or semi-permanent information regarding the user. 5. A method according to claim 4, further comprising storing question/answer data given by the user in the personal history record prior to and/or during the traversal of the workflow. 6. A method according to claim 5, wherein the storing step further comprises linking the answer data given by the user with the question presented to the user to generate a question and answer pair, and storing the question and answer pair in the personal history record. 7. A method according to claim 6, wherein the data store is remotely located from the user, and the storing step further comprises transmitting the question and answer pair to the data store via a communications network. 8. A method according to claim 6, wherein the accessing step comprises matching the question linked to the current question node with the question of each question and answer pair in the personal history record and, if there is a match, the retrieving step comprises retrieving the answer linked to the question of the matching question and answer pair to determine the next node of the workflow to be traversed. 9. A method according to claim 4, wherein the workflow further comprises at least one conclusion node connected to a respective at least one previous node, each conclusion node being associated with a respective stored conclusion specifying information according to the pathway taken through the nodes during the traversal of the workflow and if the current node is a conclusion node, the method further comprises storing the conclusion associated with the conclusion node in the personal history record. 10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the data store is remotely located from the user, and the storing step further comprises transmitting the conclusion to the data store via a communications network. 11. A method according to claim 9, wherein a question comprises a conclusion check question for checking whether a conclusion node has been reached, and the method further comprises referring to the personal history record to ascertain whether it contains a pre-stored conclusion in order to determine the next node of the workflow to be traversed. 12. A method according to claim 4, further comprising creating a viewing page comprising question and answer data from the personal history record for user-confirmation, and transmitting the viewing page to a client. 13. A method according to claim 12, wherein the viewing page is an editable data page, and the method further comprises deleting an answer from the personal history record via the data page, and re-commencing the traversal of the workflow from the question node associated with the deleted answer. 14. A method according to claim 13, further comprising receiving confirmation from the user, creating a viewing page comprising conclusion data from the personal history record, and transmitting the viewing page to the client. 15. A method according to claim 1, wherein the workflow further comprises at least one conclusion node connected to a respective at least one previous node, each conclusion node being associated with a respective stored conclusion specifying information according to the pathway taken through the nodes during the traversal of the workflow. 16. A method according to claim 15, wherein a single conclusion is associated with a plurality of conclusion nodes of the workflow(s). 17. A method according to claim 1, wherein the workflow further comprises at least one termination node connected to a respective at least one previous node, and the method further comprises repeating the determining, accessing and retrieving or presenting steps until a termination node is reached. 18. A method according to claim 1, wherein the workflow further comprises at least one message node connected to a respective at least one previous node and, if the current node is a message node, the method further comprises sending a message to the user prior to the continuation of the traversal of the workflow. 19. A method according to claim 1, wherein the workflow comprises a plurality of linked workflows. 20. A method according to claim 19, wherein the workflow further comprises at least one transfer node connected to a respective at least one previous node and, if the current node is a transfer node, the method comprises terminating the traversal of the current workflow and carrying out the traversal of another, linked workflow. 21. A method according to claim 20, further comprising returning to the traversal of the previous workflow upon the termination of the traversal of the current workflow. 22. A method according to claim 1, wherein a single pre-determined question or pre-determined answer is associated with a plurality of question and answer nodes of the workflow(s). 23. A method according to claim 1, wherein the workflow(s) comprises a document containing a visual representation of the nodes and their interconnections. 24. A method according to claim 23, wherein the workflow document comprises a Microsoft Visio drawing. 25. A method according to claim 23, wherein the workflow(s) comprises a database table containing a representation of the nodes and their logic interconnections and the method further comprises converting the visual representation of the workflow to a database table prior to carrying out the traversal of the workflow. 26. A method according to claim 1, wherein the workflow(s) comprises a database table containing a representation of the nodes and their logic interconnections. 27. A data carrier comprising a computer program arranged to configure a computer to implement the method according to claim 1. 28. A system for traversing a workflow comprising a plurality of interconnected question and answer nodes, each question node being linked to a respective stored pre-determined question and each answer node being linked to a respective stored answer, the system comprising: display means for presenting a question to a user; traversal means arranged to retrieve a node of the workflow, to determine the type of the current node and, if the current node is a question node, to access a data store, and to ascertain whether the data store contains a previously determined answer to the question linked to the current question node and, a) if the data store does contain such a previously determined answer, to retrieve the answer and use the retrieved answer to determine the next node of the workflow to be traversed; and b) if the data store does not contain such a previously determined answer, to present the question linked to the current question node to the user via the display means, and to use answer data obtained from the user to determine the next node of the workflow to be traversed. 29. A system according to claim 28, further comprising a library of pre-determined questions, answers and conclusions. 30. A system according to claim 29, wherein the library includes at least one previously determined possible answer for a pre-determined question. 31. A system according to claim 30, wherein each pre-determined question, answer, and conclusion may be re-used in different workflows. 32. A system according to claim 29, wherein pre-determined questions and answers are independent of one another. 33. A system according to claim 32, wherein each pre-determined question, answer, and conclusion may be re-used in different workflows. 34. A system according to claim 28, further comprising a server operably connected to the data store. 35. A system according to claim 34, wherein the server comprises the traversal means. 36. A system according to claim 34, wherein the data store comprises the traversal means. 37. A system according to claim 34, wherein the server comprises an application for integrating assets in workflow documents. 38. A system according to claim 28, further comprising a personal history record for the user arranged to store personal permanent or semi-permanent information regarding the user. 39. A system according to claim 28, wherein question and associated pre-determined answers are stored as question and answer pairs in the data store. 40. An apparatus for constructing an interactive workflow document comprising questions, answers and conclusions, the apparatus comprising: specifying means for specifying question, answer and conclusion data as reusable respective question, answer and conclusion assets of the workflow; a data store for storing the reusable question, answer and conclusion assets; selecting means enabling user selection of a graphical representation of the type of asset required as a node of a graphical workflow, the type determining how the asset is handled; associating means for associating an actual asset of the specified type with each graphical node representation; layout means arranged to enable the user to graphically position each of the selected assets on a layout page; and connecting means arranged to enable user construction of the logical connections between the selected nodes on the layout page, the connected together nodes providing a graphical representation of the interactive workflow document. 41. An apparatus according to claim 40, further comprising classifying means arranged to classify each question, answer and conclusion asset and to provide assistance in user selection of a particular asset from consideration of the asset's classification. 42. An apparatus according to claim 41, wherein the stored assets within the data store comprise a library of assets, each asset being classified for ease of retrieval. 43. An apparatus according to claim 41, wherein the specifying means comprises a graphical user interface having a portion showing the classifications of the stored assets and being arranged to enable selection of an asset from consideration of the classifications. 44. An apparatus according to claim 40, further comprising assignment means for assigning a unique identifier (asset identifier) to each question, answer and conclusion asset. 45. An apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the assigning means is arranged to assign a unique identifier (node identifier) to each graphical node representation and each logical connection between nodes. 46. An apparatus according to claim 40, further comprising converting means for converting the graphical representation of the workflow into a table of identifiers specifying the workflow completely. 47. An apparatus according to claim 46, further comprising assignment means for assigning a unique identifier to each node and asset of the workflow wherein the converting means is arranged to compile a table detailing, for each node in the workflow, the node type, the node identifier, the asset identifier associated with the node and all the connections from that node. 48. An apparatus according to claim 47, wherein the optimising means orders the information contained in the table of identifiers by node pairs to represent the interconnectivity of the nodes within the workflow document. 49. An apparatus according to claim 48, wherein the optimising means converts the table of identifiers into an optimised table, the optimised table comprising, for each question/answer set, the node identifier of the question node, the asset identifier for all of the questions and answers, the node type for all of the assets in the node. Node identifiers for answers within the workflow document are replaced by the node identifier of the associated question therefore a question node comprises of both questions and answers. 50. An apparatus according to claim 46, further comprising optimising means for optimising the table of identifiers into a minimum format representing the connectivity between each pair of connected nodes. 51. An apparatus according to claim 40, wherein the selecting means is arranged to present to the user a plurality of different types of graphical representation of types of asset. 52. An apparatus according to claim 51, wherein the selecting means is arranged to present to the user one or more graphical representations of predetermined combinations of question and answer assets. 53. An apparatus according to claim 40, wherein the specifying means is arranged to retrieve an existing stored question, answer or conclusion asset and to enable the user to edit the asset. 54. An apparatus according to claim 40, wherein the specifying means comprises a graphical user interface. 55. An apparatus according to claim 54, wherein the graphical user interface is arranged to enable user addition, editing and deletion of the assets stored in the data store. 56. An apparatus according to claim 40, wherein the data store comprises at least one silent question asset which requires no user interaction to determine an associated answer. 57. An apparatus according to claim 40, wherein the data store comprises at least one silent conclusion asset which is for internal use within the apparatus and is not presented to the user. 58. An apparatus according to claim 40, further comprising creating means for creating a derived question asset from a value entry question asset, the creating means being arranged to create a question whose answer is determined by the value entry answer asset corresponding to the value entry question asset. 59. An apparatus according to claim 40, further comprising means for testing the constructed workflow document to confirm the logic associated with the user-determined connections. 60. An apparatus according to claim 40, wherein the data store is arranged to store the question and answer assets in pairs for the personal history record of the user. 61. An apparatus according to claim 40, wherein the data store is arranged to store at least some of the reusable question, answer and conclusion assets temporarily and to delete the reusable question, answer and conclusion assets after a given time period or event occurrence. 62. A method of constructing an interactive workflow document comprising questions, answers and conclusions, the method comprising: specifying question, answer and conclusion data as reusable respective question, answer and conclusion assets of the workflow; storing the reusable question, answer and conclusion assets; enabling user selection of a graphical representation of the type of asset required as a node of a graphical workflow, the type determining how the asset is handled; associating an actual asset of the specified type with each graphical node representation; enabling the user to graphically position each of the selected assets on a layout page; and enabling user construction of the logical connections between the selected nodes on the layout page, the connected together nodes providing a graphical representation of the interactive workflow document. 63. A data carrier comprising a computer program arranged to configure a computer to implement the method according to claim 62. 64. A workflow representation comprising a question node being linked to a respective stored pre-determined question and a plurality of answer nodes, each answer node having a direct link to the question node. 65. A workflow representation as claimed in claim 64, wherein more than one answer is possible in response to the question. 66. A workflow representation as claimed in claim 64, wherein the answer is numerical. 67. A workflow representation as claimed in claim 64, wherein possible answers to the question are represented in the form of a table. 68. A workflow representation as claimed in claim 67, wherein there is one possible answer per table row. 69. A workflow representation as claimed in claim 67, wherein there is more than one possible answer per table row. 70. A workflow representation as claimed in claim 64, wherein the answer comprises a free text field. 71. A workflow representation as claimed in claim 64, wherein possible answers to the question are represented as an image arranged such that an end user may select a portion of the image to answer the question. 72. A representation for a workflow, the workflow comprising a series of interconnected question nodes, answer nodes and conclusion nodes, each of the question, answer and conclusion nodes being associated with a respective question, answer and conclusion asset, the representation comprising a table of identifiers representing the connectivity between pairs of connected nodes. 73. A representation as claimed in claim 72, wherein each node and asset is associated with a unique identifier and wherein for any pair of connected nodes, the table details the node identifiers and the asset identifier and node type for both nodes. 74. A method of traversing a workflow, the workflow comprising a plurality of interconnected question and answer nodes, each question node being linked to a respective stored pre-determined question and each answer node being linked to a respective stored answer, the method comprising: creating a personal history record for the user at the data store prior to commencing the traversal of the workflow that is pertinent to the upcoming traversal, the personal history record storing personal permanent or semi-permanent information regarding the user determining the type of the current node of the workflow and, if the current node is a question node, accessing a data store, ascertaining whether the data store contains a previously determined answer to the question linked to the current question node and, a) if the data store does contain such a previously determined answer, retrieving the answer from the data store and using the retrieved answer to determine the next node of the workflow to be traversed; and b) if the data store does not contain such a previously determined answer, presenting the question linked to the current question node to a user, and using answer data obtained from the user to determine the next node of the workflow to be traversed, wherein (i) the workflow further comprises at least one conclusion node connected to a respective at least one previous node, each conclusion node being associated with a respective stored conclusion specifying information according to the pathway taken through the nodes during the traversal of the workflow and if the current node is a conclusion node, the method further comprises storing the conclusion associated with the conclusion node in the personal history record and (ii) a question comprises a conclusion check question for checking whether a conclusion node has been reached, and the method further comprises referring to the personal history record to ascertain whether it contains a pre-stored conclusion in order to determine the next node of the workflow to be traversed. 75. A method of traversing a workflow, the workflow comprising a plurality of interconnected question and answer nodes, each question node being linked to a respective stored pre-determined question and each answer node being linked to a respective stored answer, the workflow comprising a document containing a visual representation of the nodes and their interconnections, the method comprising: determining the type of the current node of the workflow and, if the current node is a question node, accessing a data store, ascertaining whether the data store contains a previously determined answer to the question linked to the current question node and, a) if the data store does contain such a previously determined answer, retrieving the answer from the data store and using the retrieved answer to determine the next node of the workflow to be traversed; and b) if the data store does not contain such a previously determined answer, presenting the question linked to the current question node to a user, and using answer data obtained from the user to determine the next node of the workflow to be traversed.