Automated Publishing System That Facilitates Collaborative Editing And Accountability Through Virtual Document Architecture

Abstract

The present invention automates the publishing of financial, legal, and governmental documents and any other publications that are structured and require compliance with corporate or external standards and may share content elements. It gives users control in an always-on, familiar environment: the Internet. Due to its virtual document architecture and ability to operate over the Internet and intranets, the system facilitates collaborative work and traces accountability. The key concept behind automating publishing is to control scheduling and costs by better content management. The present invention handles document content as small, reusable components, down to the paragraph and table cell level. The interface helps users assemble documents from these version-controlled components with automated support. The system applies context and filtering criteria stored with each component to locate and apply content fragments to a current document. The system of the present invention can apply structural rules and content requirements to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and company business rules. A working virtual document within the system always incorporates the current version of all constituent elements.

1 . An automated document publishing system implemented by at least one computer, said system comprising:
 a document type store stored on said at least one computer and containing a plurality of document types, each document type identifying a document structure definition for use in the construction of a virtual document edition, each document structure definition comprising a hierarchy of element definitions;   a business data store stored on said at least one computer and containing business data;   a content library store stored on said at least one computer and containing a library of content components, each component being capable of use in a plurality of documents by reference;   an element store stored on said at least one computer and containing a plurality of elements for use in the construction of a virtual document edition, each said element being defined by a said element definition and identifying a said component by reference;   a document manager configured for execution by said at least one computer for using a selected said document type, said business data, and said elements to form a document structure for a virtual document edition to identify a plurality of said elements, each said element identifying a said component by reference and/or at least one other said element;   a document structure store stored on said at least one computer and storing at least one said document structure for at least one respective document edition to be published; and   an output module configured for execution by said at least one computer for forming a structured serial document for publishing using said document structure;   wherein an environment manager, configured for execution by at least one said computer system and which is part of said document manager, acts to instantiate a set of values for environment variables based on environment variables set at the root of said virtual document structure, said business data, hierarchic contexts of said elements in said document structure according to a said document type, and said element rules and attributes and component properties.   
     
     
         2 . An automated document publishing system according to  claim 1 , wherein resolved values for said environment variables are available to said document manager to use in evaluating candidate elements. 
     
     
         3 . An automated document publishing system according to  claim 1 , wherein resolved values for said environment variables are available to said output module to use in constructing output files. 
     
     
         4 . An automated document publishing system according to  claim 1 , wherein resolved values for said environment variables are available to said output module to use in constructing output files conforming to document types other than the instant document's document type definition. 
     
     
         5 . An automated document publishing system according to  claim 1 , wherein said output module is adapted to use environment variables to construct output files conforming to document type definitions not requiring support at time of invention, such as XBRL.