WO2018150211A1

WO2018150211A1 - Method for handling documents on ontology base

Info

Publication number: WO2018150211A1
Application number: PCT/IB2017/000144
Authority: WO
Inventors: András CSIBA
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2017-02-20
Filing date: 2017-02-20
Publication date: 2018-08-23
Anticipated expiration: 2019-08-20

Abstract

The subject of the invention is method for handling documents on ontology base, which allows the implementation of safe document handling, as a result of which the unchanged condition of the data content of a given document can be guaranteed. During the method the Gateway server (SDSys GS) belonging to the SDSys system receives all the documents during the procedure, which come from the document issuers, constituting the collector in terms of the utility, then the server forwards the documents to the appropriate subcontractor according to the ordered services. If all invited subcontractors meet their obligations, then the SDSys Gateway server (SDSys GS) forwards the documents to the system of the addressee, during the process the subcontractor service providers perform the tasks that require special business logic.

Description

Method for handling documents on ontology base

The subject of the invention is method for handling documents on ontology base, which allows the implementation of safe document handling, as a result of which the unchanged condition of the data content of a given document can be guaranteed.

The traditional way of data handling is generally known and used as the technical predecessor of the invention for handling documents. During this process the data is handled by the information technology so-called IT systems in an integrated and coherent way for internal use, but the emphasis is put on the data. Except for the document managers, the IT systems essentially do not handle documents, they handle data only. On the other hand, document managers handle, sort and make searchable the documents, but do not deal with processing of data, the evaluation of data does not belong to their scope. Exclusively data exchange takes place among the respective IT systems, and it is generally realized within the B2B system, which is essentially an interface. No exchange of documents is made among the respective IT systems. In summary, an important feature of the IT systems is that the document and the data are separated, and in certain cases the terms are misinterpreted, and data, i.e. the a compilation of electronic data, is regarded as document. This is inconvenient, because the data tells what is in the document, and the document tells what should be done with the data.

A known solution for handing documents containing data or information is the so called data store or data warehouse. The Espacenet database containing patent data is a good example of such database, where the various patent documents are identified according to various aspects, e.g. by key words, such as applicant, inventor, priority, publication number, time and identifiers of content. In such database the search is made according to documents, input data and key words. The document is stored usually in pdf format, it is not necessary and it is not possible to verify its authenticity. Another widely used method for managing data and documents is the so called data fishing. Google search is an example of this, and this is how the various search engines produce database from the date found in the Internet. For instance, Goggle generates key words for itself, then sorts these key words, and uses them for searching in the various web sites. These key words are regularly updated and refreshed. This is how the various hit lists are provided. Its principle is based on the so called "big data" handling, when an unorganised set of data exists, such as the Internet, and there is a search engine, which starts to index the changes in the unorganized set of data. By this action it produces a kind of order from the unorganised set of data. Then decision has to be made about what is important, for which already a higher intelligence is necessary, software or further filtering, e.g. business intelligence.

According to the state of art the Hungarian patent application P0501053 makes known an internet based intelligent information collection, processing and display procedure, which is supported by Hungarian linguistic tools, and which is controlled by an ontology that can be tailored to the needs. The invention described here is an intelligent information collection, processing and display procedure, which can be tailored to the needs, and can be used in the areas of Hungarian language with the help of Hungarian linguistic tools, which monitors the contents of the internet pages written in the Hungarian language, and collects the relevant documents for the user, and with the help of its special text mining algorithms it prepares sequences according to relevance, makes classification according to content (clustering), highlights the key words and the relevant texts (extracting), stores them in own database (archiving) and displays them for the user.

The invention is built partly on freely available Hungarian linguistic tools, e.g. morphological analyser, and partly on special individual text mining tools. It sorts the collected documents for the user according to relevance. It is usable for storing the knowledge of companies or individuals, as well as for using in searching and in text mining. The invention stores the knowledge in a simple ontology, and links the terms to a synonym storage. It builds up the queries with the help of the ontology, using the terms and synonyms found in the ontology, and it forwards them to the known large search engines. It collects the results, processes them with text mining algorithms, stores them in database and makes them available for the user.

The invention described in this is useful for companies as well as for individuals. Many companies make efforts to make sure that the articles published about them or about their products are positive in attitude, and that they are able to react in time if such articles are negative. The kind of information published about the competitors, including their products and actions is also important for these companies. This tool monitors continouosly the Internet, and informs the user immediately about the relevant pieces of information, thus releasing the company from the task of browsing the web for published articles. The invention is useful for individuals also, because only the ontology is to be uploaded with the interesting, important terms and items about which the user intends to obtain information regularly, and the user will get all relevant pieces of information with the help of intelligent tools.

The Chinese patent document CN 102314519 (A) makes known a procedure for searching information, which is based on an analysis of ontological model of the contents in the public domains. The solution described here prepares a search procedure for words and word groups interpreted in natural language environment, and it primary serves for the stock search.

The patent document EP 1300778 makes known a data warehouse, in which multi dimensional data cubes are formed during the described procedure, which allows the assignment of multi dimensional identification system to a given document. As a result of this process a document grouping or clustering is made, which establishes the possibility of searching later on.

The patent document AU2013370424 makes known a patent document system and procedure, which is applicable for creating, editing, storage of knowledge located in the specifications of the documents, as well as for retrieval of such knowledge. In case of the solution described here, ontological features are assigned to the documents, and the documents are sorted accordingly. The ontological properties are extracted from the document.

The patent document TW591519 makes known a system and procedure built on automatic ontology base. In case of the solution described here, the ontological properties are extracted from the document, and a mathematical model, the linear dependency model is used for the sorting, and clusters are created in this way. The distances among the various properties are determined in the multi dimensional space. In this case, a multi dimensional space is created, which is rotated according to the given search aspects, and views and cross sections are produced from this spatial model according to the given search aspects.

The patent document US7644052 makes known a system and method of building and using hierarchical knowledge structures. In case of the solution described here, a multiple level ontological system is built, in which new features are created statistically based on statistical occurrence, and the ontological map characterising the given document is built up on this basis.

The disadvantages and deficiencies of the solutions know and used according to the state of art are as follows:

Exclusively the data are forwarded in the solutions used in practice, and only the data are handled, which usually accompanied by loss of information, because it is the document that can determine what to do with the data. In the IT systems no compilation of data is produced like a document, which could be handled as authenticated document, and although documents may exit within data stores, but only their data content counts, they are not authenticated data.

Periodic data polling takes place for instance at the "big data" handling, but it is not know what happens in the interim periods. It could happen, that the data content changes, and the document is forwarded with changed or erroneous data content. This cannot be considered as authentic in the point of view of the content or legal aspect either. In case of an electronic document the change of content cannot be tracked without authentication.

With the creation of the solution according to the invention the aim and requirement was to realize the safe document handling, as a result of which the unchanged status of the data content of a given document can be guaranteed.

The recognition and milestone constituting the basis of the procedure according to the invention was the result of an organic problem finding effort done during the creation of the solution according to the invention. For establishing the rules of the data traffic in the IT systems, the process control principles (e.g. sampling, measurement, feedback) known and practiced for centuries were considered. Although the method is convenient in many respects, but there are lots of higher level data movements, where the compliance with these principles is problematic. Examples that can be mentioned include the economy in general, company management, particularly the subsystems of accounting and logistics. The state administration and all the subsystems of the legal technique systems belong here. The problem was recognised by the professional circles in the subsystems of logistics and then in the subsystems of accounting. Legislations were adapted about the accounting subsystems by introducing an accounting principle, that bookkeeping, i.e. the recording of data, may be made only from original documents. The logistics subsystem, e.g. ordering, order acknowledgement, delivery, stocking, as part of the accounting system, inherits this legal obligation, but the IT systems could not ensure that. The EDI system emerged for solving this problem, which created a safe data channel at least at this area, providing not a full solution, but a situation close to the solution. The EDI solution is appropriate in a narrow environment, it is able to establish document type data connection between two IT systems, which is still used today.

At a discussion taking place many years ago with the participation of a couple of people we analysed the problem, and I put forward a vision about a system, where the electronic document in itself can provide relevant data in images for the process control. During this discussion I got an idea, that such a method has a nature as if the document had a kind of ontological property. This is when I realized that an ontological system is missing that can describe the documents in general, and for this purpose a general ontological database would be necessary. Later on I also realized, that even if the document ontology existed, its usability could be ensured, only if a document utility network is created in which the document ontology is able to make its actions affective.

The invention is a method for handling documents on ontology base, which allows the implementation of a safe document handling, as a result of which the unchanged condition of the data content of a given document can be guaranteed. It is characterised by that, the SDSys Gateway server belonging to the SDSys system receives all the documents during the procedure, which come from the document issuers, constituting the collector in terms of the utility, then the server forwards the documents to the appropriate subcontractor according to the ordered services, and if all invited subcontractors meet their obligations, then the SDSys Gateway server forwards the documents to the system of the addressee, during the process the subcontractor service providers perform the tasks that require special business logic, which can be the conversion of document, creating new documents, interpreting a document, initiating control events, archive, etc., and more and more new subcontractor logic can be implemented in the procedure only as required by the subcontractors, and if anybody finds a data and document handling task that can be resolved and interpreted (in business term), which can be accomplished on the basis of the given document, then the given user can built a connector, interface to the SDSys system for taking out and putting back documents, and this activity can be regarded as the essential idea behind the SDSys services, meaning that the document issuer is connected to the system SDSys collector at a single point with its document, then the services deployed there convert the basis document, or create new elements, making expansion, reduction or conversion.

In a preferred application of the method according to the invention an ontological server is used for the application of the method, which ontological server is an outstanding subsystem, that provides basic service for interpreting any document, and in the given case it is connected to a service, to an optical character recognition system, which optical character recognition system is capable of determining the relevant data in the document according to its business logic, which can be tax code, name, address, etc.

In another preferred application of the method according to the invention document types of the ontological procedure can be extended, but the reception of the ontological description of the new document belongs to the responsibilities of the operator of the document ontological database, and only such document can be included in the ontological database, which is the descendant of a document type recorded earlier in the document ontology, and it does not contradict its inherent logic.

In a further preferred application of the method according to the invention a new language version of a document type described earlier in the ontology can be placed in the ontology database without creating a new document type.

In a preferred application of the method according to the invention if the document is an invoice , then the invoice ontology determines the place of tax code, name, address, etc. in the invoice type document, as well as the mode of interpreting the same data, e.g. identification, name, address, etc. of buyer and supplier in case of invoice.

In a further preferred application of the method according to the invention if the document type is contract, it determines the mode of interpreting the same data, e.g. identification, name, address, etc. of the obligatory and beneficiary of the contracting parties.

In a further preferred application of the method according to the invention if the document type can be found in the ontology database, then it determines the mode of interpreting the relevant data recognised in the document, which shall be or may be placed as document meta data into the xml data belonging to the SDSys system.

In a further preferred application of the method according to the invention it identifies how the document evaluating systems can determine the mode of automatically creating xml data containing meta data based on the ontology data according to the document type, which can be read from the ontology data base interpreted by the document processing system in an automatically processable mode according to the method of the invention.

In a further preferred application of the method according to the invention that meta data structure processed according to a document ontology can be interpreted in any language different from the original language, related to which language supplementary information can be found in the ontology database created according to the invention.

In a further preferred application of the method according to the invention the mailing service is the emitter side of the utility for the use of the method, which is capable of finding the recipient software based on the individual identifier of the addressee, and forwards the SDSys document there, and opens a gate to the mailbox maintained for the recipient, as a result of which, two document releasing technologies are available, and the recipient IT system can chose freely from these two technologies.

In a further preferred application of the method according to the invention the document recipient systems are used for the application of the method, among which the SDSys emitter has an address, which is a recipient IT system, and has a sub-address, which assigns further routes within the own system of the recipient, which in the given case is visible at the recipient having "Bookkeeper" identifier, while the "Buyer" receives electronic invoice, and the "Web shop operator" receives orders.

In a further preferred application of the method according to the invention the emitters and recipients are selected examples only, but in reality they can be numerous and many different kinds, furthermore, the "right" and "left" sides are interchangeable, and then the automatic management system is established.

In a further preferred application of the method according to the invention with a preferred application of the method a system is designed and built up, which flows the documents through the SDSys system, meaning that the document logistics changes entirely, because the paper based equivalent of the document is processed only once within the SDSys system, as a result of which, the document hereinafter can be flown as an automatically processable electronic document, while it retains a property which existed in case of paper based document, namely that it can be displayed, in other words, not only the data flows during the method, but it is also possible to assign the authenticated electronic copies of the document in an inseparable manner.

In a further preferred application of the method according to the invention during the preferred application of the method the IT subsystems perform the tasks that can be made automatically on the basis of the data, while in the case of tasks requiring human decision, the systems are capable of showing the authenticated electronic copy of the original document on the screen at the appropriate subsystem, and it can be seen with the application of the method, that the processing subsystem disappear from the company environment, and the document can be transferred to the utility after executing the method once.

The methode according to the invention, and a methode used in a known manner, and their joint application are set forth below on the basis of the attached figures.

Fig. 1 shows a possible embodiment of a complete SDSys system implementing the procedure according to the invention.

Fig. 2 shows the general architecture of automatic control systems used so far.

Fig. 3 shows a system, which flows the documents through the SDSys system with the procedure according to the invention.

Fig. 1 shows a possible embodiment of a complete SDSys system which implements the procedure according to the invention. The documents issuers are shown at the left of the figure, which constitute the collector in terms of the utility of IT aspect. The SDSys GS Gateway server receives all documents, then it forwards the documents to the appropriate subcontractor according to the ordered services. If all addressed subcontractors complete their own tasks, then the SDSys GS Gateway server forwards the document to the system of the addressee. Fig. 1 shows the parts of the system which can be a possible implementation of the procedure according to the invention, including the issuer of electronic invoice of EVSZ buyer, AVA administration of "A" company, WMR WEB shop orders, as well as the documents of the total electronic archive of BVTA„B" company, the services ordered from the document issuers, and in the give case the creation of ESZLE E-invoice, the SZAD accounting documents, the MAD order data, and the MAJD document orders assigned for archiving are sent in electronic form to a SDSys GS Gateway server. The SDSys GS Gateway server receives all the documents, and it contains an ADSZR authentication, which performs the encryption of document and the service, and the tasks of system administrations, then it forwards the documents to the ASZ subcontractor service provider according to the ordered services.

This could be done according to the preferred solution shown in Fig. 1 , so that the SDSys GS Gateway server sends a portion of the SZD1 accounting documents to the OCR service provider, which produces raw data and sends them to the OCR optical characters recognition OSZE ontology server through the HOCR network route with conversion according to the ontology characterising the raw data document produced by the OCR. The OSZE ontology server contains or it can reach the ODA ontology database, which is the business logic that interprets the document and the meta data based on the ontology.

According to another preferred solution according to Fig. 1, the SDSys GS Gateway server sends a portion of the SZD2 accounting documents, as well as the documents handed over for AD archiving directly, and the ESZLA e-invoices through the ESZ electronic invoice preparing service to the ARC archiving subcontractor service provider for the purpose of ESZA e-invoice archiving. The ESZ electronic invoice preparing service sends the data to the EA electronic signing subcontractor service provider for the purpose of EDA e-invoice digital signing.

According to another preferred solution shown in Fig. 1 , the data are forwarded directly from the SDSys GS Gateway server to the EA electronic signing subcontractor service provider. If all service providers completed the given task, then they can send it to the SDSys GS Gateway server, which forwards the POD documents ready for mailing electronically to the addressees of the PSA mailing services, through the service provider performing SDSys basic service, i.e. to the VEV buyer, and the SZDAK accounting documents to the "A" database of KONY bookkeeper according to the preferred solution shown in Fig, 1 , and the documents containing the data of MAD order to the IT service provider operating the WIT WEB shop, as addressees, or in the given case to the AVP, BVP, CVP sub-addressees through the KONY bookkeeper.

The document recipient systems can be found at the right side of the figure. The SDSys emitter has a VEV, KONY, WIT address, which is the identifier of the recipient IT system, as well as an AVP, BVP, CVP sub-address, so that the recipient would be able to determine further routes within its own system. This can be seen at the recipient having KONY accounting identifier. The VEV buyer receives electronic invoice, while the operator of WIT WEB shop receives orders. The issuers and the recipients are mentioned only as examples, in reality they can be numerous and of many different kinds. Right side and the left side are interchangeable, thus an automatic control system is created.

As can be seen in Fig. 1 , the ASZ subcontractor service providers perform the tasks that require special business logic, which could be conversion of the documents, creation of new documents, interpretation of document, initiating control events, archiving, etc. Inclusion of new subcontractor logic depends on how the subcontractors can realize their ideas. If anybody finds a task that can be resolved and interpreted in business terms, which can be accomplished on the basis of the document, then the user can built a connector to the SDSys system for taking out and putting back documents. This activity can be regarded as the essential idea behind the SDSys utility service. The document issuer is connected to the SDSys system at a single point with its document, then the service deployed there (basis) will convert the document or create document.

For the purpose of comparison, if a company would like to built a business logic during an actual application of a procedure known according to the state of art, so that it would be possible to produce aggregate business reports based on the recorded basic data upon the mandate by the customer (cash flow, order distribution, change of stocks, order regional distribution, statement of sales according to delivery addresses, etc.), for this an interface should be built to every bookkeeping software according to the former data handling solutions. On the other hand, if the company is connected to the SDSys Gateway server, and can intercept the documents flowing there for which permit has been obtained from the client, then such documents can be evaluated and then converted to a report. By this arrangement the document handling would be simpler and safer.

The OSZE ontology server is an outstanding subsystem, which provides basic service for the interpretation of any document. In the figure that OSZE ontology server, corresponding to the present interpretation, is connected to a service, i.e. to the OCR optical character recognition server. The role of OSZE, however, is an independent entity, so it could from a part of any other subsystem. The OCR optical character recognition system is capable of determining interpretable relevant data in the document according to its own business logic. This could be tax identification code, name, address, etc. If the document is an invoice, then the invoice ontology will tell the location of tax code, address, etc., in the invoice type document, and will also tell how to interpret the same data, if the document type is a contract. The obligator and the beneficiary are the buyer and the supplier in case of an invoice, while the contracting parties are the obligator and beneficiary in case of a contract. The OSZR is capable not only of subsedquent analysis of the doucument, but is can produce live templates for creating new document, or it may generate automatic documents according to the needs of further service providers.

The mailing service is an emitter, i.e. the releasing side of KOS utility. It is capable of finding the recipient software based on the individual identifier of the addressee, and of forwarding the SDSys document there, and of opening a gate to the mailbox kept for the recipient. This means that there are two document release technologies, and the recipient IT system can chose freely from the two. Fig. 2 shows the general architecture of the automatic control systems used previously. For the case of the previously used procedures Fig. 2 shows the company environment VAL and the associated IT subsystem according to Fig. 2_S as well as the financial department PE, sales ERT, accounting SZV, controlling KON, and the procurement subsystems BESZ, and the processing FED as part of the given subsystems. The figure shows the schematic diagram of the company document flow system used so far, which indicate that where document flow, i.e. document sending and reception takes place, then the FED processing always appears there as part of the given subsystems.

It can be seen in the figure how the VAL company received document from external sources, in the given case the BA bank, the SZAL supplier, the VEV buyer, the ESZ cooperating organisations, the MT management, the owner, the NAV and the NGM receive documents from external sources or send documents to external sources. In case of a possible solution shown in Fig. 2 the UT remittance documents are sent to BA bank through the FED processing, or KIV extract documents are received, from the VEV buyer the SZR invoice complaint document, the MR order document, and through the SZF contract processing the TER production documents are received, and to the VEV buyer the KIN receivables document, the IGSZ acknowledgement, disposition, verification of performance, bill of lading and invoice documents are sent, while from the SZAL supplier subsystem, the KIN receivables document, the MR order documentation are sent, and SZR invoice complaint document, the IGSZ acknowledgement, disposition, verification of performance, bill of lading and invoice documents are received, and furthermore, from the KON controlling subsystem documents are sent to ESZ cooperating organisations, as well as to the MT management and owners, from the SZV accounting subsystem statement document is sent to the NGM ministry and tax return document is sent to NAV bureau, while certificates and list of errors are received from the NAV bureau. The FED processing of document appear within the company system, even when more systems serve the company business.

The FED processing within the company system is shown in the figure, where KOV claim document is sent from the SZV accounting subsystem to the PE financial subsystem, and SZLA is sent from the ERT sales subsystem to the SZV subsystem. The reason is that the document is created on paper because of its nature, and the flow is also a traditional logistical task. The company management systems, however, are now IT systems most of the time, which can handle paper based document only after suitable processing and interpretation. This tasks can be tackled usually with the use of human interface and with a software specifically prepared for this purpose.

Fig. 3 shows a system, which flows the document through the SDSys system by the procedure according to the invention. The mode of designing and implementing a system is introduced in Fig. 3, which flows the documents through the SDSys system. It means that the document logistics is changed entirely, because the paper based equivalent of the document is processed only once, and it is made within the SDSys system. As a result of this, from here on the document can be flown as an automatically processable electronic document, while it keeps the property that existed in case of paper based document, so its display is also possible. In other word, not only the data flows, but the authenticated electronic copies of the document can be attached in an inseparable manner.

Fig. 3 shows a preferred application of the procedure according to the invention, where the IT subsystems accomplish the tasks that can be done automatically based on the data, wherein the systems using proper subsystems are able to show the authenticated electronic copy of the original document on the display in case of tasks requiring human decision, therefore, it is possible to see by the application of the procedure, that the processing subsystems disappear from the company environment (FED), and after running them once, the document can be transferred to the utility (KOS).

It can be seen in the figure, that the VAL company environment and the associated IT subsystems, PE financial, ERT sales, SZV accounting, KON controlling and the BESZ procurement subsystem according to Fig. 2, which are no longer parts of the FED processing, but from the various subsystems of the VAL company, such as the PE financial and ERT sales subsystems, and from the BA bank, VEV buyer external sources, the respective UT remittances, ED extract, other documents, SZRK invoice complaint receivable documents, MR order documents, IGSZ acknowledgment, disposition, verification of performance, bill of lading, invoice documents, statement documents to the NGM ministry and tax return documents to NAV, and certificates and lists of errors documents from NAV are received and sent in the SDSys system in the KOS document utility by executing once.

Examples for the preferred actual applications of the procedure according to the invention:

Example 1

Traffic of documents between companies and outsourced accounting companies.

- In the K V sector it is not economically efficient to maintain a management department. According to the known practice, the task is performed by bookkeeping bureaus. The forwarding of paper based documents to the bookkeeper is made in a campaign like manner, primarily according to the reporting schedules. As a result, the work management of the bookkeeping bureaus is influenced by the large amount of documents coming in simultaneously, which is expected to processed within a short period of time. The work cannot be scheduled properly, and it could lead to unnecessary capacities sometimes.

- The data of the documents are converted to book-keeping data by the bookkeeper, therefore, 70 % of the work of the bookkeeper is spent by data recording activity instead of accounting activity, which could have been done by less qualified persons.

- The company receive "only" accounting reports and statements instead of business management information.

- The bookkeeper may store the documents in his own office, thus the company has no immediate access to the documents that could be important to the business, and alternatively, the bookkeeper may return the documents right after the bookkeeping operations, but in this case the bookkeeper has no access to the original documents in the reporting period.

- When the statements are being prepared, the bookkeeper needs access to the documents repeatedly in many cases, which have to be found in the own office, but among all the documents of all companies, which is a time consuming task even if the filing office is well organised. It is even more inconvenient, when the document is located at the storing place of the files at the company. In this case the efficiency of the work is greatly deteriorated by the long time required for having access to the document.

- The list contains only the most significant disadvantages encountered in the present practice. In the SDSys system the continuous flow of the document ensures the efficient organisation of work.

The task regarding the recording of data is minimum, as ensured by OCR and the ontology. The electronic copy of the document is available immediately any time on the screen, so the tasks related to the search and data sorting in the files are practically eliminated.

Example 2

Companies having large document store.

Organisations such as insurance agencies, health care banks, social security subsystems and many more are obliged to keep thousands of tons of documents. Huge resources are necessary for maintaining the infrastructure created for storing the documents, but even more resources are necessary for having access to documents and to make search and subsequent processing of documents in the document store. The system of SDSys is capable of providing a document flow regime, which allows the creation of a electronic document filing system, as a result of which the storing of documents, as well as their search, sorting and processing can be made with efficiency magnitudes higher that of the present solutions.

Example 3

Data traffic among logistics companies and their clients.

The list of problems is the same as the list shown in Point 1 , except that the data processing in this industry has an entirely different role. In addition to the benefits highlighted in Point 1 , the SDSys is capable of ensuring to the relevant IT system, that the processed document would be capable of controlling the loading machines directly, or in case of manual processing, the system would be capable of preparing the takeout compiling lists without preliminary processing.

Example 4

Business management system of companies choosing state of art electronic data processing.

The subsystems of larger companies process the paper based documents as subsystems. In the present practice, a further task is the operation of the company logistics system of documents (internal mailing traffic). The logistical feature of the document is that a document is part of a number of subsystems, which run linearly or in parallel.

In the SDSys system the document pre-processing can be centralized with the help of the ontology, and it can be outsourced to external contractors, which significantly increases the effectiveness. The SDSys document flow system is capable of performing the document logistical tasks with the help of the addressing and sub addressing system of the document, and it forwards the document to the division, where it has to be processed, or where it performs its control function.

Example 5

Connecting the different business logics into a unified system.

Different business logics mean also significantly different data structures. The SDSys system and the document processing according to the ontology can ensure that the different data structures are interconnected efficiently without interfaces.

Example 6

The relationship of systems, subsystems operating in different language environments. The meta data structure of SDSys as well as the ontological bases can ensure that the pre-processing of documents created in different language environments would not need programming and individual development or tasks made with human resources.

Example 7

Relationship among systems of companies and the authorities. The state administration subsystems require data strukture from the companies, which match the own internal analysing and controlling systems. It means, that it is required to prepare a data releasing subsystem for each program, which establishes a link to the state administration subsystems. As soon as the SDSys link to the state administration system exists, every program has the possibility of maintaining the expected relationship with the subsystems. There is not any additional development task, because the necessary procedure is the same as the system, which is capable of maintaining contact with the database of the bookkeeper or any other partner.

Example 8

Legal administration systems and subsystems

The legal subsystems of law offices, district attorneys, courts and state administration are obliged to keep huge quantities of paper based documents. The document flow system of SDSys is a secure and closed system, which is capable of verifying the authenticity of electronic document copies, which are regarded as private or public documents that can be used as evidence according to the civil lawsuit legislation. The system is ready in technical terms, it is only the required change of attitude which presents a limitation.

Terms and definitions used during the application of the procedure according to the invention.

The "Document" utility" is a general and universal service, which is suitable for processing or servicing any type of document. The essence of the invention that can be described with a single sentence is as follows, that secure forwarding of any document from the sender to the recipient, along the route of which supplementary services can be assigned to the document, while the document handling and its route can be evaluated within the expiry period. Because of its latter property, and subject to a further development of the legal background, it may correspond to the category of private document that can be used as an evidence without electronic signature or time stamp. The document utility provides a procedure, that can ensure the safe and traceable flow of documents, while the document could go through processing, changes and other procedures according to the ordered services. All changes affecting the original document, or the process of creating new procedure are regarded as processes which are registered in the utility with time stamp, where the system registers the start and end of the procedure, as well as its success (successful, unsuccessful intervention). The document "flows" only in the utility, its content in the utility is not know, no business logic is built on it.

With the use of the internal logic, the task of the utility is to analyse the document flow, and to ensure that the document is forwarded to the assigned service provider, to receive the modified or new document from the service providers, stores the path of the document, then to forward it to the addressees. If no service has been ordered by the sender, nor by the recipient, then the basic service of the utility is enabled, which ensures the reception of the document.

Document flows in the utility instead of data. In this respect the terms document and data are defined as follows, that data could be a date, a value, a description, while the document is able to determine whether the data refers to delivery, payment deadline or issue of invoice, or the value is the quantity or price, the description is the name of the author or article or the description of the service. These two terms are joined by the ontology.

Architecture of the document utility:

The document utility is a compilation of services. The respective services (IT services in practice) perform their activities independently. The utility has three layers.

Receiving the document

Independent service, the document gate (gateway service)

Handling the document

The documents will be processed by the service assigned to the service provider, if the sender or the recipient has valid contract for this. Each processing service with the functionality expected by the external service provider shall be created for each external service provider in the utility development. The task of the service is to forward the documents in a condition prevailing before the processing to the external service provider, and to place the results in the utility database after completing the service. It is expected from the external service provider to provide the necessary data to the utility. The designing of the services assigned to the service providers can be done only jointly with the service providers.

Forwarding the document

The own basic service by the utility (post service), which makes sure that the documents are delivered to the recipient in a verified manner.

Document ontology

The ontology based electronic invoicing is a mode of document interpreting that has not been explored before, which could lead to the programmable automatic document processing. It is indispensable for the solution, that all documents in the ICT system assume a data structure that can be handled by the IT technology. The digitalization of written documents, the digital conversion of sound and image recordings are not enough for extracting the data, because the result provides only an opportunity for the processing systems to handle the data of documents in a unified structure in orderly fashion. If we want to interpret a digitized written document in an IT system, then the image information has to be recognised first (text interpretation, shape recognition), then the data-like content has to be found in it (dates, partner data, values, etc.). Data shall be assigned with their interpretations (date of delivery or payment deadline, location of delivery or premises of company, value in sum or value in the given currency, etc.).

The subsequent ontology based interpretation, grouping and analysis of the document content are known in earlier patents and in practice (big data, evaluation of data warehouses, search by intelligence agencies, marketing research, etc.).

The novelty of the invention is that no subsequent search is made to find the placing location of the document according to the ontological structure, but a document is created according to a determined element of the ontology data structure existing earlier. Theoretically, a tree structure exists (not created yet), in which all documents could be found on the leaves. The documents listed at the nodes of the tree structure has a common property of having identical data and their interpretation, which are inherited by all descendant documents as proceeding in the structure. A document prototype is a element positioned at the terminal point of the structure. All elements of the structure are characterised only by the data description and interpretation corresponding to their identity, the rest of the descriptive data are inherited from the predecessors.

All descriptive data of a prototype can be determined very efficiently with the method, so that new descriptive data could be created only in compliance with the rules of the system. The created document description system defines the e-ontological map of the documents. The ontology database is a separate database, which can be used by more utilities also. The ontology database is realized from elemental level through an organic development.

The task of the utilities is to regularly update the descriptions and publish them on the internet, which is important, because the document processing systems do not need to store the entire ontology map (which is probably very large), it is enough to poll the description of the given document prototype for the interpretation, on which the document in the system can be automatically interpretated, independently of the language created of the original document.

Data structure of the ontological database

R Individual identifier

The document is identified in the entire database individually. One of the services provided by the utility is the creation of a document description interface characterising the given utility from the ontology database. An example could be when a document utility, that has chosen XML data structure, prepares the xml for the processing system, which has to be filled with data only, and it allows for the development environment to automatically produce an interface, which ensures easy access to the XML uploading or reading the assigned to the document. The tasks of the utility include the creation of the empty xml considering of all predecessors of the meta data description determined with individual identifier, or an interface that can be interpreted by the translating program. It is not necessary in the service to generate the tools on the basis of the last element of the tree structure. Any intermediate element can be regarded as the last element of the descriptive database. The result in such case it that the data fields describing the developed meta data built on the given document ontology cannot be seen in the processing.

R Language identifier

A language module is to be created in the ontological database, which makes sure that the Field Text included in the description can be displayed in any language. When a new document prototype is created (which is actually the emergence of a new document individual identifier with the associated elements), then it should be possible immediately or at any time later to assign an arbitrary series of characters to any Field Text in the ontology database. The prototype can be prepared in any language, and the language version is to be prepared when it is necessary for the processing. The solution makes sure, that the form of a document can be produced with the same program in any language, and that the meta data of the document is accessible in any language existing in the ontology. A document may be produced with a form in the Hungarian language, and if it has assigned English Field Text data, then it can be read with form in the English language.

R Name of the document

Interpreting description for a document prototype

R Description of the document data type

u Elementary data

o Field Text

o Field Name

o Field Type

o Field property

ϋ Detailed data θ Field Text

o Field Name

o Field Type

o Field property

The ontology database and the utility constitute a unit in a way, that the ontology database is an operable unit without the utility, but an IT utility can be created without ontology database. Acting as a single unit, the two systems realize the most efficient document utility. With the use of the ontology database it is possible to prepare an application, which is capable of creating input form for any document prototype. By filling the prepared application the user of the form creates an electronic document, which can be directly sent to the document utility.

Advantages:

The ontology database can be used by any service, if the meta data needs to be interpreted. There are two main types of data handling and data recognition:

1. Data recognition according to ontology

The externals service provider receives the ontology identifier assigned to the document. Based on this, it will not search randomly among the data obtained with OCR, but tries to find specific data content assigned to the given fields in the ontology. The processing is considered successful, when all the data described in the ontology are found. The success may be determined in proportion based on the found and not found data. The meta data are returned by the service in the order corresponding to its own business logic. The service assigned to the external service provider places the returned data into the meta data fields listed by the ontology.

A significant advantage of the method is that the external service provider is not expected to prepare independent procedure for each document type, because the search for meta data is not built on the type of document, but on the rules given by the ontology. The efficacy of the search and the safety of the found data fields increases significantly. 2. Data recognition according to document type

In this case the document evaluation searches for meta data built on the document type given in the provided service. Document having ontological identifier can also be sent to external service provider, who has been established the possibility of such type of processing. In this case the service has to consider the ontology identifier, or other document property if such identifier does not exist, for determining the mode of processing by which the given document is requested from the external service provider (invoice, bank report, contract, etc.). If the document has ontological identifier, then the service converts the processed meta data do data fields according to the ontology. If the document has no ontological identifier, then the service performs a data conversion according to the public business logic of the external service provider and the document utility.

In this way, the method according to the invention allows the implementation of a safe documenting handing, as a result of which the unchanged condition of the content of a given document can be guaranteed.

The previous data processing and document handling methods used to produce groups or clusters on the basis of language ontology, i.e. according to works, expressions, synonyms, but with the method according to the invention we ourselves create ontology based system, corresponding to the given document.

List of references:

Fig. 1

EVSZ - Invoice of the buyer issuing the electronic invoice

AVA -„A" company administration

WMR - WEB shop orders

BVTA -„B" company full electronic archiving

ESZLE - Generation of e-invoice

SZAD - Accounting documents

MAD - Order data

MAJD - All documents market to be archived

ADSZR - Authentication, document encryption, service encryption, system administration

SDSys GS- SDSys Gateway server

ODA - Ontology database (document and meta data interpreting business logic based on ontology)

OSZE - Ontology server

POD - Documents ready for mailing

SZD1 - Portion of accounting documents

SZD2 - Portion of accounting documents

AD - Documents handed over for archiving

ESZLA - E-invoice

HOCR - Conversion of raw data created by the OCR according to the ontology characterising the document type.

PSA - Mailing service SCSys basic service

EA - Electronic signature

OCR - Optical character recognition system

ARC - Archiving

ESZ - Electronic invoice preparatory service

ASZ - Subcontractor service providers

ESZBF - Reception of e-invoice as a supplier invoice

EDA - Digital signing of e-invoice

ESZA - Archiving e-invoice SZDAK - Sending accounting documents to the bookkeeper "A" database

MAD - Document containing the order data

VEV - Buyer

KONY - Bookkeeper

WIT - IT operating the WEB shop

AVP -„A" database

BVP -„B" database

CVP -„C" database

Fig. 2

BA - Bank

SZR - Invoice complaint

VEV - Buyer

KIN - Receivables

SZER - Contract

UT - Remittances

MR - Order

IGST - Acknowledgement, disposition, verification of performance, bill of lading, invoice

KIV - Extract

FED - Processing

SZF - Contract processing

PE - Financial department

VAL - Company

TER - Production

ERT - Reminder

SZLA - Invoice

KOV- Claim

SZV - Accounting

IHI - Certificates, list of errors

BESZ - Procurement

KON - Controlling

BEV - Tax return BESZ - Procurement

SZAL - Supplier

EJ - Analyses, reports

ESZ - Cooperating organisations

MT - Management, owner

NAV - Tax bureau database

NGM - Ministry database

Fig. 3

UT - Remittances

KOS - SDSys (SDSys utility, and the services ordered in it)

ED - Extract, other document

SZRK - Invoice complaint, receivables

VEV - Buyer

MR - Order

IGSZ - Acknowledgement, disposition, verification of performance, bill of lading, invoice

PE - Financial department

VAL - Company

ERT - Sales

SZLA - Invoice

KOV- Claim

SZV - Accounting

IHI - Verifications, list of error

BESZ - Procurement

KON - Controlling

BEC - Statement

BESZ - Procurement

SZAL- Supplier

ESZ - Cooperating organisations

MT - Management, owner

NAV - Tax office database

NGM - Ministry database

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. Method for handling documents on ontology base, which allows the implementation of a safe document handling, as a result of which the unchanged condition of the data content of a given document can be guaranteed, characterised by that, the Gateway server (SDSys GS) belonging to the SDSys system receives all the documents during the procedure, which come from the document issuers, constituting the collector in terms of the utility, then the server forwards the documents to the appropriate subcontractor according to the ordered services, and if all invited subcontractors meet their obligations, then the SDSys Gateway server (SDSys GS) forwards the documents to the system of the addressee, during the process the subcontractor service providers perform the tasks that require special business logic, which can be the conversion of document, creating new documents, interpreting a document, initiating control events, archive, etc., and more and more new subcontractor logic can be implemented in the procedure only as required by the subcontractors, and if anybody finds a data and document handling task that can be resolved and interpreted (in business term), which can be accomplished on the basis of the given document, then the given user can built a connector, interface to the SDSys system for taking out and putting back documents, and this activity can be regarded as the essential idea behind the SDSys services, meaning that the document issuer is connected to the system (SDSys collector) at a single point with its document, then the services deployed there (basis) convert the document, or create new elements, making expansion, reduction or conversion.

2. Method according to claim 1 characterised by that, an ontological server (OSZE) is used for the application of the method, which ontological server (OSZE) is an outstanding subsystem, that provides basic service for interpreting any document, and in the given case it is connected to a service, to an optical character recognition (OCR) system, which optical character recognition (OCR) system is capable of determining the relevant data in the document according to its business logic, which can be tax code, name, address, etc.

3. Method according to claim 2, characterised by that, the document types of the ontological procedure can be extended, but the reception of the ontological description of the new document belongs to the responsibilities of the operator of the document ontological database (ODA), and only such document can be included in the ontological database (ODA), which is the descendant of a document type recorded earlier in the document ontology, and it does not contradict its inherent logic.

4. Method according to claim 3, characterised by that, a new language version of a document type described earlier in the ontology can be placed in the ontology database (ODA) without creating a new document type.

5. Method according to claim 2, characterised by that, if the document is an invoice (EVSZ), then the invoice ontology determines the place of tax code, name, address, etc. in the invoice type document, as well as the mode of interpreting the same data, e.g. identification, name, address, etc. of buyer and supplier in case of invoice.

6. Method according to claim 2, characterised by that, if the document type is contract, it determines the mode of interpreting the same data, e.g. identification, name, address, etc. of the obligatory and beneficiary of the contracting parties.

7. Method according to claim 2, characterised by that, if the document type can be found in the ontology database (ODA), then it determines the mode of interpreting the relevant data recognised in the document, which shall be or may be placed as document meta data into the xml data belonging to the SDSys system.

8. Method according to claim 7, characterised by that, it identifies how the document evaluating systems can determine the mode of automatically creating xml data containing meta data based on the ontology data according to the document type, which can be read from the ontology data base (ODA) interpreted by the document processing system in an automatically processable mode according to the method of the invention.

9. Methods according to claim 7 or 8, characterised by that, that meta data structure processed according to a document ontology can be interpreted in any language different from the original language, related to which language supplementary information can be found in the ontology database (ODA) created according to the invention.

10. Method according to any of the claims 1 - 9 characterised by that, the mailing service is the emitter (KOS) side of the utility for the use of the method, which is capable of finding the recipient software based on the individual identifier of the addressee, and forwards the SDSys document there, and opens a gate to the mailbox maintained for the recipient, as a result of which, two document releasing technologies are available, and the recipient IT system can chose freely from these two technologies.

1 1. Method according to any of the claims 1 - 10 characterised by that, document recipient systems are used for the application of the method, among which the SDSys emitter has an address, which is a recipient IT system, and has a sub-address, which assigns further routes within the own system of the recipient, which in the given case is visible at the recipient having "Bookkeeper" ( ONY) identifier, while the "Buyer" (VEV) receives electronic invoice, and the "Web shop operator" (WIT) receives orders.

12. Method according to any of the claims 1 - 1 1 characterised by that, the emitters and recipients are selected examples only, but in reality they can be numerous and many different kinds, furthermore, the "right" and "left" sides are interchangeable, and then the automatic management system is established.

13. Method according to any of the claims 1 - 12 characterised by that, with a preferred application of the method a system is designed and built up, which flows the documents through the SDSys system, meaning that the document logistics changes entirely, because the paper based equivalent of the document is processed only once within the SDSys system, as a result of which, the document hereinafter can be flown as an automatically processable electronic document, while it retains a property which existed in case of paper based document, namely that it can be displayed, in other words, not only the data flows during the method, but it is also possible to assign the authenticated electronic copies of the document in an inseparable manner.

14. Method according to any of the claims 1 - 13 characterised by that, during the preferred application of the method the IT subsystems perform the tasks that can be made automatically on the basis of the data, while in the case of tasks requiring human decision, the systems are capable of showing the authenticated electronic copy of the original document on the screen at the appropriate subsystem, and it can be seen with the application of the method, that the processing subsystem disappear from the company environment, and the document can be transferred to the utility after executing the method once.