Electronic data entry system employing an expert system to facilitate generation of electronic data forms with complex interrelationships between fields and subforms

摘要

An rulebase software system is incorporated into a form data entry system for a digital computer to assure that only complete, consistent and valid data entries are made in accordance with the expert system rulebase. The rulebase is in a simple tabular format which eliminates the need for programming. The system interprets the rulebase tables automatically in order to draw the data forms and subforms displayed on the computer screen. Dependencies between input data fields on a data form and between fields and subforms are embedded in the tables of the rulebase. Valid data entries displayed for a given menu field vary in accordance with certain prior entries, and fields which can only assume one valid value can be automatically filled in with the single value dependent upon the value previously entered for designated other fields. Context sensitive hypertext help forms called by a selected field are dependent upon values previously entered for designated other fields.