Automatic generation of an operation procedure presentation system reusing user's input data

Users use software applications to achieve a goal. Occasionally they make mistakes in the operation path due to the complexity of large-scale applications, which requires them to back track to the appropriate operation step and reenter previously input data. This is burdensome for users. Herein a method is proposed to generate an operation support system that reuses previously input data in an inappropriate operation path as much as possible by navigating users to the appropriate operation path. Specifically, our method has an input reuse function for copying previously input data to similar input items as well as an operation procedure presentation function to highlight the operation procedure from the current step to the goal. Our integrated operation support can minimize users' rework. To generate our system, developers must create an ontology, including concepts of label names of input items, correspondence between input items and label names, an activity diagram of the target application, and the operation procedure. Our system uses this information to compute the similarity of label names between input items, copy input data for similar input items, and present operation procedures to users.