Document composition from parts inventory

Abstract

A document preparation program for use in connection with a word processing facility includes a succinct identification and listing of designated parts of a memorandum or document, each unique part having access to an associated file which contains the basic text and formatting controls for that particular part. The user of the program may readily assemble a document from the parts inventory displayed on a master screen by mere cursor reference or by keying the name of designated parts and have the newly created document displayed, or printed in most cases without reference to additional screens.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A program for use in a word processing system including an operator display and operator input means, said program being selectively operable to effect the process of:

displaying an inventory screen which includes a plurality of generic parts indicia corresponding to predetermined standard parts of a document, each of said standard parts having associated therewith a plurality of screen areas for including short identifiers for a plurality of specific files which may be associated with said standard parts;

receiving selectively generated operator input for assigning specified short identifiers to said plurality of screen areas;

selectively displaying file screens for prompting operator input to define a content of said specific files;

receiving operator input for defining the content of said specific files;

receiving operator input for designating selected specific files to be included in a document; and

assembling a document from said designated specific files.

2. The invention as set forth in claim 1 and further including the step of saving said specific files and displaying the corresponding short identifiers for said files in said inventory screen, whereby an operator may thereafter designate specific files to be included in a document by input reference to said short identifiers on said inventory screen without displaying said file screens.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein said inventory screen includes visually perceptive means for identifying which of said specific files have been selected for a current document being composed.

4. The invention as set forth in claim 3 wherein said visually perceptive means comprises a selection column on said inventory screen in which appears the short identifier for the selected specific files for each of said standard parts.

5. The invention as set forth in claim 2 and further including the step of displaying the document created by the selection of said specific files.

6. The invention as set forth in claim 5 and further including the step of selectively effecting the printing of the document.

7. The invention as set forth in claim 2 and further including the step of selectively effecting the printing of the document.

8. The invention as set forth in claim 7 and further including the step of receiving operator input designating at least one particular printer at which the document is to be printed.

9. The invention as set forth in claim 7 wherein the program contains means for selectively receiving operator input identifying an electronically available file to be formatted and printed with the document.

10. The invention as set forth in claim 7 wherein the program contains means for receiving and effecting operator input designations of a selected font style in which the document is to be printed.

11. The invention as set forth in claim 7 and further including program means effective upon the actuation of the printing function to automatically create an entry in a document log file, said entry including a summary of the specified files contained in the document to be printed.

12. The invention as set forth in claim 11 and further including program means effective to display said document log file.

13. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein one of said standard parts is the current date.

14. The invention as set forth in claim 13 wherein the current date is automatically retrieved from a system clock and displayed in a document date field.

15. The invention as set forth in claim 14 and further including the step of receiving selectively generated operator input, effective to change the displayed date.

16. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein one of said standard parts is a document classification category.

17. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein one of said standard parts is an addressee identification.

18. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein one of said standard parts is an addressor identification.

19. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein one of said standard parts is a subject matter identification.

20. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein one of said standard parts is a reference identification.

21. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein one of said standard parts is an identification of persons receiving copies of the document.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to word processing systems and more particularly to a method for creating a document parts inventory and composing final documents by referencing selected parts of the inventory.

In connection with microcomputers and computer work-stations, there are a number of word processing programs available to facilitate the task of preparing correspondence in the form of letters and memos as well as the preparation of other documents for transmittal where hard copies are required. Through the years, such programs have been improved in many ways in order to make it easier for the user to determine the content of a document and then to compose the requisite content items in a predefined manner which is frequently the same in all cases with regard to a specific form of correspondence.

Many of these word processing programs permit the creation of so-called standard form letters and the identification of those letters as separate files on a file screen of a video display terminal (VDT). A VDT operator may display the file screen and select which file or letter is to be displayed on the screen and to which changes may be made to customize that previous file or letter to a current situation and save that newly created document to a new file. That process, however, normally involves a significant amount of keying by the operator since addressees, subjects, mailing addresses and content as well as the identity of individuals receiving copies, all have to be changed in most cases. Moreover, a substantial amount of time is required for content changes to the letters since sections of text must be identified and deleted and new sections require identification, keying in, insertion and proofreading before the document can be printed in final form.

Notwithstanding the improvements which have been made to word processing programs over the years, there still exists a need for a word processing facility by which operator keying is significantly reduced and documents can be created in even shorter periods of time using document portions previously created thereby minimizing the keying in and proofreading of added text.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved word processing system by which an operator may create and save a significant inventory of document parts and create new documents by a selective "pointing" to the inventory parts desired to be included in the required document. A preferred embodiment of the present invention displays a document parts inventory to the user on a single screen from which the user may compose a new document by screen references to the parts desired, and effect the printing of the selectively composed document, in most cases without reference to additional screens.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present invention may be had when the following specification is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of the document parts inventory screen of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of the program flow and function implemented to support the operation of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a continuation of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a continuation of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, as disclosed herein, has been designed to run in connection with, or "on top of", a typical word processing program which includes editing functions utilized by the present invention in creating and modifying the document parts inventory files. Such basic editing operations are available on the market and well known in the art. Subsequent reference to an "XEDIT" function will be understood to mean such an editing function which has the capability of manipulating text including facilities to insert and delete text from a displayed document.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the implementing code was used in connection with an IBM Personal Computer XT connected in a network to a host IBM 3081 mainframe computer which in turn was running the IBM Virtual Machine System Product (VM/SP).

Referring in detail to FIG. 1, there is shown the master menu for the memo parts inventory or interface system. The main screen has 24 rows designated R1 through R24 and includes 13 columns designated C1 through C13. The FIG. 1 screen is displayed to the user after the user keys in the initials "MPI" and hits the enter key on his video display terminal after logging onto the VM system.

The first column C1 of the master menu designates the control functions available to the program. The "PF1-PF12" designations on the screen refer to corresponding function keys on an operator keyboard which, on the Personal Computer XT, are designated F1-F10, and shifted F9 and F10, respectively. Although the designated functions are somewhat self-explanatory, they will be explained in more detail in connection with the following description of an exemplary application of the present invention.

In column C2, portions of a typical document are identified and those portions comprise the parts inventory for the documents to be created using the present invention. In column C3, the selected inventory parts are displayed. The short identifier fields in column 3 designate corresponding files in the system which are selected for the document presently being composed, or default designations in the event files are unspecified by the operator.

Columns C4-C13 generally indicate the short identifiers for particular files which have previously been created and which are available for selection by a user to include in a document presently being composed. As shown, the "TO" inventory part of a document is arranged in the present example to contain three rows of 10 columns each, or 30 files, with each file containing the name of an individual or department to whom memos are frequently sent. It should be noted that more than 30 files may be created and stored but only 30 will appear on the screen in the present example. Files not appearing on the screen may be viewed by moving the cursor anywhere in the "TO" fields and depressing the PF4 key to "Scroll List". In other applications, the "TO" list of files may have more or fewer spaces for files and the "Body" or other list or document part may be designed to display fewer or more files so that the total number of displayed short identifiers remains the same.

In row R7, there are shown the various classifications ("CLAS") of the document which may apply. For example, at R7 C4, the designation "NONE" means that the document being composed is not classified in any way. The program may be designed so that each of the designations in C2 may or may not appear in the hard copy of the memo being created regardless of whether or not there is a user input or selection made in the corresponding C3 position. At R8, C2, the date of the memorandum is designated and in the present example is defaulted to or automatically inserted as the current date, but may be typed over for a different date.

At R9, there are 10 columns to identify 10 individuals or departments from whom the memo may be sent. That facility is useful in departments where one or more secretaries type for a number of people, all of whom may send or receive memos or correspondence. Moreover, the files are arranged to contain specific address information of the sender, and may include items which vary from individual to individual even within the department such as the individual's phone number or virtual machine terminal identification (VMID). It should be noted that the document parts identified as "TO", "FROM", and "BODY", have an asterisk associated therewith to indicate in the present embodiment that at least those three items require a user input before the memo can be sent. If one or more parts is lacking, an error message will be displayed to so indicate.

At R10 and R11, there are 10 columns each for storing standard "subject" inputs ("SUBJ"). Each of the files included in column C4 through C13 have space for a four-character designator although file designators having fewer characters may be used. For example, in row R12 which includes possible "reference" insertions ("REF"), C4 specifies "I105" which could stand for the corporate instruction, which could set forth the policy of the company with regard to a particular area of interest and the practices which are required to be implemented in that particular area by corporate management. In that case, that particular corporate instruction would be referenced on many different internal memoranda although each one would specifically include a report or correspondence with regard to only one practice covered by the broad policy.

At rows R13-R15 there are 10 columns each for a total of 30 possible file identifiers of which each one designates a particular "BODY" of a memorandum for a different "standard form". For example, the file at R13, C4, is identified as "RPTM" which could stand for a required monthly report which must be submitted in accordance with the referenced corporate instruction I105. The file at R13, C5 "RPTW", could stand for a weekly report and "BGTR" at C6 could mean the standard "BODY" for a budget request. Generally, the body files will have some correspondence to the subject files although there may be several body files which could correspond to one general subject file. For example, at R10, C8, the "SUBJ" file designated in "APR" could generally stand for "Name Approval" for the name of a new product. Under that general subject, there may be several procedural documents which are routinely sent. For example, at R13, C8, the "BODY" file "NAPI" could stand for a first standard correspondence under the name approval procedure which could be a request from one department to another for its concurrence and approval of a proposed name while "NAP2" at R13, C9, could refer to a stored file containing the body portion of a memo which provides notice to various departments that a proposed name for a new product has received the necessary approvals.

At rows 16 and 17, there are spaces for the identification of 20 possible files which, in this case, are individuals to whom carbon copies of memoranda are frequently sent. It should be noted that although the present example shows specific numbers of files for each particular document part, the number of files available for each part may vary among users depending upon the application, and the main menu shown in FIG. 1 along with the underlying implementing program can be modified accordingly to suit particular needs with regard to numbers of files required without departing from the scope of the present invention.

At R18, C4-C13, there are 20 potential files to identify 20 different distribution lists "DIST" of individuals or departments for receiving memos or documents being created. "ATT" at R20, C2 indicates whether or not attachments "ATT" are to be forwarded along with the created memo and an entry at R21, C3 allows a user to attach another file "ATTFI" which is electronically stored in system memory.

At R22, C3 a user is allowed to specify the number of copies "COPYS" of the memorandum to be printed, as well as the particular font "FONT" desired at R22, C5-6. Row R23 identifies the particular kinds of printers "PRNTR" on which the memo is to be printed, and R24, C3 specifies the location of the printer "PRTID" at which the created memorandum is to be printed.

FIGS. 2 through 4 illustrate, in logical flow, the functions performed by the program in implementing the present invention and are hereinafter referred to in connection with the following description of an exemplary operation.

In operation, the first time the program is utilized at START 1, a determination is made at block 3 whether or not this is the first use of the program. If it is the first use, a series of HELP screens 5 are displayed which include instructions regarding the use and operation of the program. Thereafter, the master screen or main menu is built at block 7 and the program flow merges at point 9 to a Build or Refresh Parts List function 15. For second and subsequent uses of the system, the help screens are not displayed and the program reads the screen record from memory at block 11. Subsequent portions of the program are also merged at point 9 as indicated by the "A1" off-page connector 13. After the "PARTS LIST" is built or refreshed (updated) the screen record is saved at block 17. At that point, a determination is made as to whether or not this is the first time through the program at block 19. If it is the first time through the program, another determination is made whether or not a "Log" file exists at block 21. As will be hereinafter explained in more detail, the "Log" file contains a quick reference to previous documents which were created and printed in final form using the present invention. The "Log" file includes the "TO", "FROM", "DATE", "SUBJECT", and "REFERENCE" entries or fields as used in a prior printed memorandum or correspondence. The "Log" file also contains the identification of the unique set of short identifiers which were selected to create that memorandum. In the present example, the "Log" files are displayed in several screens with each screen containing three separate summaries of previously printed documents. The log file is automatically created whenever a document is printed in final form and may be accessed by depressing the function key PF11 "VIEW LOG". The "VIEW LOG" function is useful to the extent that the short identifiers for the many files in the program may not be remembered by a user for a particular document and before creating a new document the user may wish to review the log file in order to identify a previously written document and the precise files which were combined in that document. In many cases, however, the user will relate the short identifiers on the master menu for the files with the content of those files and be able to create new documents without referring to the "Log" file at all.

Returning to the functional flow diagram of FIG. 2, if it is determined that a Log file exists at block 21, the program reads the last log record to display those file entries in the "SELECTIONS" column C3 when the master menu is displayed. In the event this is not the first time through the program, blocks 21 and 23 are bypassed and the program restores the selections or gets the default values at block 25 to display in the "SELECTIONS" column C3 when the master menu is displayed at block 29. In subsequent portions of the program, as shown in FIG. 4, where no operator input is required, the program is returned to the "Restore Selections" block 25 as designated at the C1 off-page connector 27. Where, however, inputs are detected, the program returns to off-page connector A1 so that the display may be updated or refreshed at block 15 before the refreshed master menu is displayed at block 29. Upon the first use of the program, all of the file identifiers in columns C4 through C13 are blank except for selected ones such as row 7 which includes the various possible classifications and row 8 which displays the current date. This particular arrangement may vary depending upon the particular application.

As a user creates his first document which, in the present example, is an internal memorandum having a prearranged format, he positions the cursor on row 4, column 2, underneath the first input blank and proceeds to type in the initials, for example, of the person to whom the memorandum is to be sent. At that point, the user after insuring that the cursor is in the R4,C3 field activates the PF8 key designated in column 1 "XEDIT". At that time a file screen appears on the display as shown below, in which the user is able to insert the full name of the individual to whom the memo is being sent together with the particular mail station of that individual, the city and the state.

    __________________________________________________________________________
    M3TOTFGSCRIPTAlV 132 TRUNC=132 SIZE=18 LINE=0 COL=1 ALT=4
    ====>
           ...+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....
    ===== * * * TOP OF FILE * * *
    ===== .* Leave the single quotes, but delete any extra "<->".
    ===== .* You may replace all this with ":to.tag", if desired,
    ===== .* in which case "tag" must be in a "NAMES" file you have
    ===== .* accessed.
    ===== .* Ignore the line four lines below that begins with ":TX."
    ===== .se a=`T. F. Galvin`
    ===== .se b=`15-11-50`
    ===== .se c=`Irving, Tx`
    ===== :tx.`&a ` `&b ` `&c `
    ===== * * * END OF FILE * * *
    1=NUON2=NOFF3=SPLIT4=FOR5=BACK6=JOIN7=UP108=DO109=TAB10=<-11=->12=FILE
    __________________________________________________________________________

    __________________________________________________________________________
    M3FRRVWSCRIPTAlV 132 TRUNC=132 SIZE=14 LINE=0 COL=1 ALT=0
    ====>
           ...+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....
    ===== * * * TOP OF FILE * * *
    ===== .* Enter your name immediately after ":name." on line 9.
    ===== .* Enter your phone extension in place of "xxxx" on line 9.
    ===== .* Enter your title & dept. name after ":dept." on line 10.
    ===== .* Enter your location and int. zip after ":zip." (line 11.)
    ===== .* Enter your electronic address after ":mail." (line 12.)
    ===== .* Enter the way you sign your name after ":sig." on line 13.
    ===== .* Enter your initials after ":init./" on line 14.
    ===== :from.
    ===== :name.Robert V. Wilder :phone.214-556-5491, T/L 641-5491
    ===== :dept.Patent Attorney/Dallas Patent Operations
    ===== :zip.MS 15-11-50, PO Box 152750, Irving, Texas 75015-2750
    ===== :mail.DALHQICI(WILDER)
    ===== :sig.Robert V. Wilder
    ===== :init./rvw
    ===== * * * END OF FILE * * *
    1=NUON2=NOFF3=SPLIT4=FOR5=BACK6=JOIN7=UP108=DO109=TAB10=<-11=->12=FILE
    __________________________________________________________________________

    __________________________________________________________________________
    M3SBTMCL SCRIPTAlV 132 TRUNC=132 SIZE=4 LINE=0 COL=1 ALT=4
    ====>
           ...+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....
    ===== * * * TOP OF FILE * * *
    ===== .* Each line of a subject block must start with ":subj.".
    ===== .* Modify or delete the following lines as desired.
    ===== :subj.Trademark Report.
    ===== * * * END OF FILE * * *
    1=NUON2=NOFF3=SPLIT4=FOR5=BACK6=JOIN7=UP108=DO109=TAB10=<-11=->12=FILE
    __________________________________________________________________________

    __________________________________________________________________________
    M3BORPTMSCRIPTAlV 132 TRUNC=132 SIZE=20 LINE=0 COL=1 ALT=20
    ====>
           ...+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....
    ===== * * * TOP OF FILE * * *
    ===== .* If you don't need them, delete these ten comment lines.
    ===== .* (A comment line is one that starts with ".*" column 1.)
    ===== .* Add memo body below line 12.If you don't want ragged
    ===== .* right margin, change ".ju off" to ".ju on" on line 11 below.
    ===== .* Formatting tags::p.=paragraph, :ol.=begin ordered list,
    ===== .* :eol.=end ordered list, :ul.=begin unordered list,
    ===== .* :eul.=end unordered list, :sl.=begin simple list,
    ===== .* :esl.=end simple list.
    ===== .* Use starter set tags freely.Save this file frequently.
    ===== :body.
    ===== .ju off
    ===== :p.This is the first sentence in a sample paragraph.
    ===== This is the second sentence in the first sample paragraph.
    ===== :p.This is the second sample paragraph.
    ===== :ol.
    ===== :li.This is list item 1 in a sample ordered list.
    ===== :li.This is list item 2 in a sample ordered list.
    ===== :li.This is list item 3 in a sample ordered list.
    ===== :eol.
    ===== * * * END OF FILE * * *
    1=NUON2=NOFF3=SPLIT4=FOR5=BACK6=JOIN7=UP108=DO109=TAB10=<-11=->12=FILE
    __________________________________________________________________________

• Inventors
  Bradshaw, Kenneth A.;
• Assignee
  International Business Machines Corp. (Armonk, NY)
• Published
  Mar-8-1988
• Current US Classes:
  707/4
• Application #
  779535
• International Classes
  G06F 003/12; G06F 015/21
• Field of Search
  364/403 364/419 364/200 364/900 364/300 400/63 400/68 340/720 340/721 340/723 340/724
• Examiner
  Fleming; Michael R.
• Agent
  Whitham; C. Lamont
• US Patent References:
  4085445
  4417322
  4445795
  4454576
  4555759
  4555796
  4559598
  4593356
  4633430