Document processing using frame-based templates with hierarchical tagging

Abstract

A system and method for manipulating and displaying information in a computer system includes a display screen, a processor, a storage device, and a data input device. Input data is received in the system through the input device. The system determines a display format of the data. The display format includes a number of constraints on the display. The system associates the input data with the appropriate display frame and flows the data into the frame. Constraints on the display are solved as the data is flowed (or moved) into a frame or frames. Upon resolution of constraints, the display frame is sized to accommodate the input data and the frame is displayed on the computer display screen.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method for manipulating and outputting information in a computer system, the computer system including an output device and a data input device, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, through said data input device into said computer, a flow of input data including a plurality of sets of input data said input data including data and a plurality of data type identification tags, at least one said set of input data without a frame assignment;

determining, using said computer, an output format of said plurality of sets of input data based on said flow of input data including automatically determining a number of frames in said output format based on said flow of input data and output characteristics determined by said computer system, said output format having at least a first and a second automatically determined output frame, each having a plurality of defined constraints;

automatically assigning to said at least first and second automatically determined output frames and automatically flowing, using said computer, each of said sets of input data including said at least one set of input data without a frame assignment into a selected one of said at least first and second output frames by matching said data type identification tag included in each of said sets of said input data with a corresponding data type identification tag in each of said output frames;

evaluating, in said computer, said plurality of constraints when each of said sets of input data are flowed, and placing and sizing said at least first and second output frames to accommodate said input data; and

outputting said input data in said at least first and second output frames on said output device of said computer system.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said input data includes text and graphics data.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said output format includes a plurality of pages and at least one of said plurality of constraints is a fixed page constraint, wherein said step of evaluating each of said plurality of constraints further includes determining whether said fixed page constraint is violated.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising the steps of:

selecting, using said computer, a new page of said output format when said computer determines that said fixed page constraint is violated, said new page of said output format having at least a third display frame having a plurality of defined constraints;

automatically assigning and flowing a portion of said plurality of sets of said input data into said at least third display frame by using said computer to match data type identification tags associated with said portion of said plurality of sets of said input data with corresponding data type identification tags associated with said at least third output frame;

evaluating, using said computer, said plurality of constraints affected by said step of flowing and sizing said at least third display frame to accommodate said portion of said plurality of sets of said input data; and

outputting said portion of said plurality of sets of said input data in said at least second output frame on said output device of said computer system.

5. The method of claim 3 further comprising the steps of:

selecting, using said computer, a new output frame for the output of said input data when said computer determines that said fixed page constraint is violated; and

automatically assigning and flowing said portion of said plurality of sets of said input data into said new output frame by using said computer to match data type identification tags associated with said portion of said plurality of sets of said input data with corresponding data type identification tags associated with said new output frame.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said computer system is a desktop computer system.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said computer system is a personal digital assistant.

8. A system for outputting data, comprising:

an output device;

a data input device;

a processor programmed to:

(a) receive a flow of input data from said data input said input data including data and a plurality of data type identification tags, at least one said set of input data without a frame assignment;

(b) determine an output format of said flow of input data including determining a number of frames in said output format based on said flow of input data and output characteristics determined by said computer system, said output format having a plurality of output frames, each output frame having at least one defined constraint;

(c) automatically assign and flow said data including said at least one set of input data without a frame assignment into appropriate determined output frames by matching data type identification tags associated with said data to corresponding data type identification tags associated with said plurality of output frames;

(d) solve each of said constraints affected by the flow of said data;

(e) dynamically size each of said output frames; and

(f) output said input data in said output frames on said output device.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein said data input device is a computer keyboard.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein said data input device is a modem coupled to a telephone line.

11. A computer system for outputting data, comprising:

means for receiving input data said input data including data and a plurality of data type identification tags at least one said set of input data without a frame assignment;

means for selecting an appropriate output format for said input data, including automatically determining a number of frames in said output format based on said flow of input data said output format selected by said computer system by evaluating data type identification tag information provided in said input data, said output format having a plurality of output frames each having at least a first constraint upon the frame;

means for associating portions of said input data with an appropriate output frame including said at least one set of input data without a frame assignment by using said computer system to evaluate said data type identification tag information provided in said input data and data type identification tag information provided with each of said output frames;

means for resolving each of said constraints upon said output frames using said computer system; and

means for outputting said input data in said output format.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein said means for selecting further comprises means for storing a plurality of output formats, each of said output formats having an identifiable output type.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein said means for resolving each of said constraints further comprises means for sequentially executing each of said constraints in said output format.

14. A method for operating a digital computer to output input data from a flow of input data, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving said input data in said digital computer, said input data having a plurality of tags placed between text and graphics data, at least one set of said input data without a frame assignment;

selecting, using said digital computer, an appropriate output format for said input data based upon said tags located in said input data said output format including an automatically determined number of frames based on said flow of input data;

operating said digital computer to automatically assign and flow said input data into a plurality of output frames including an automatically determined number of frames defined by said selected output format based upon said tags located in said input data, each of said plurality of output frames having tags corresponding to said tags located in said input data;

dynamically sizing and positioning said plurality of output frames, using said digital computer, as said data is flowed into said frames;

evaluating established constraints associated with said plurality of output frames using said digital computer to maintain established relationships between said plurality of output frames as said frames are dynamically sized; and

outputting said input data in said appropriate output format on a an output device coupled to said digital computer.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for controlling and displaying information using computers.

Advances in computing technology have revolutionized the availability, transfer, presentation, and use of information. One advance has come in the area of computer hardware. Computers have shrunk in size while becoming more powerful. This has allowed the production of a variety of laptop and hand-held computer systems which enable users to create and manipulate data without being confined to an office with a desktop computer. Similar advances have allowed the creation of compact communications equipment such as credit card sized modems, faxes, and pagers compatible with these smaller computer systems. The result has been the proliferation of computer systems capable of sending and retrieving information from a diverse range of locations.

These advances in computing technology have been coupled with a tremendous increase in the amount of computer-accessible information. Commercial information repositories such as those provided by DIALOG.TM., PRODIGY.TM., LEXIS.TM., and the like store vast amounts of information accessible by anyone having a basic computer system and access privileges. Other pools of data may be accessed via the Internet or bulletin board systems (BBSs). Further, small, medium, and large-size companies frequently utilize electronic mail systems to allow employees to communicate with each other.

These advances enable individuals to access, retrieve, and share large amounts of information from a variety of computing platforms. The sheer volume of information available places a premium on a users ability to efficiently retrieve and assimilate the data. Unfortunately, however, all of this available data is not formatted in an optimal manner. To accommodate the wide range of computer types which can access, e.g., a BBS, the information stored on the system is typically formatted in a flat ASCII text file. Graphics, if used, are generally stored in a separate GIF file. Although these file formats are readable, they lose the ability to convey the information as originally intended. For example, when a magazine article is formatted for publication, page layout and formatting techniques are employed to make the article more legible and informative. A sidebar may be used to explain a relevant related topic which will aid the user in understanding the body of the article. The use of footnotes or endnotes can direct the reader to other helpful sources without adding unnecessary clutter to the article. Each page layout feature is designed to promote overall readability and to enhance the author's ability to convey information via the written word. All, or most, of these layout features are lost when the magazine article is converted for use in an on-line database, such as a BBS or DIALOG.TM.. Rather than appearing as the author or publisher originally intended, the article will, instead, appear as one constant page of text. Although the power of the text to convey information is preserved, the enhanced ability to present that information in a structured, readable format is lost.

An example of one type of hardcopy document which uses a structured format to convey information is a newsletter. A typical newsletter format is shown in FIG. 1A. The newsletter 10 may include graphics, such as a logo 12, and text, such as a header 14, a title 16, several columns 18, 20 and a footer 22. The graphics and text are arranged in a manner to improve readability of the document. Most newsletters are formatted in a manner similar to the one shown in FIG. 1A when they are printed in hardcopy form (e.g., printed on newsprint or other paper). Newsletters and other documents are being made available in computer formats in increasing frequency. Unfortunately, the formatting of the documents is typically lost when the documents are made available on-line. For example, were the sample newsletter 10 shown in FIG. 1A made available on a typical computer bulletin board system, no columns, graphics, or spacing would be retained. Instead, the well-designed, highly-readable newsletter would be reduced to a flat ASCII text file with carriage returns and, possibly, a separate graphics file for the logo. A representation of the contents of such a file is shown in FIG. 1B. In a typical system, the file 30 includes most of the information from the original printed document. However, the information is presented in a flat, unstructured file. Specifically, each portion of text is followed by one or more carriage returns 29 to set off each section of text. Further, many BBS's and other data repositories do not preserve the graphics content of documents stored on-line. Thus, the logo 12 of the original newsletter 10 may not be preserved in a typical file 30.

Others have attempted to standardize the formatting of on-line information. For example, the HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is a simple document markup system derived from the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) which is used to format hypertext documents. HTML codes are used to describe how textual elements, such as paragraphs, lists, and quotes will be displayed. However, these markup languages are limited in that they do not allow the data to be sized or formatted for specific display devices. That is, these markup languages are primarily designed to ensure that a document printed by different systems retains the original structure. Other attempts to standardize the presentation and formatting of information include treating a document as an entire graphic image and displaying it in a "what you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG) format. However, this approach is unsatisfactory as it requires increased file sizes and demands that each user system includes document generation software.

The problem of presenting information in a readable format is compounded by the vast spectrum of computer platforms available. For example, a palm-sized personal digital assistant (PDA) has a much smaller screen size than a desktop workstation. The display of a typical business memo on the PDA screen presents a much more difficult problem than the presentation of the memo on the page-sized screen of the workstation. One solution would be to shrink the size of the memo to correspond to the smaller screen. This, however, is unsatisfactory as it may make the memo illegible. It may also result in a document having an excess of whitespace (i.e., blank spacing between text and/or graphics).

The increased use of portable computers to communicate and transmit information requires that designers minimize the size of files created and transmitted. For example, the smaller the file to be transmitted, the more efficient the transmission is in terms of cost, time, and utilization of system resources.

The present invention recognizes that it is highly desirable to provide users with an ability to create, transmit, and receive information formatted in a legible and useful manner. What is needed is a system and method which receives input information from a variety of sources and which displays the file in the manner originally intended by the creator of the document. More particularly, the system should adapt to enable display of information on a variety of platforms and display types. These functions should be performed quickly and efficiently.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and method are disclosed for manipulating and displaying information in a computer system. The system preferably includes a display screen and a data input device.

Input data is received in the system through the input device. The system uses information about the input data to determine a display format for the data. The display format preferably includes a number of constraints on the display. The system then associates the input data with an appropriate display frame and flows the data into the frame. By "flows" it is meant that the input data is put into a virtual area defined as a frame. Constraints on the display are solved as the data is flowed (i.e., as more data is put into a specific frame). Upon resolution of constraints, the display frame is sized to accommodate the input data and the frame is displayed on the computer display screen.

In one specific embodiment, the present invention utilizes a number of tags located in the input data stream to associate specific items of data with a specific display frame. The frames are also tagged to indicate the type of data which may be displayed within each frame. Display frames are organized into forms called "metaforms." These metaforms may be created to present information in a number of forms, including: newsletters, reports, business letters, and the like. Embodiments of the present invention allow automatic selection of the appropriate metaform for a particular set of input data. Other embodiments of the present invention allow the automatic selection of alternative metaform styles when the most appropriate form is not available in the host system.

The result is a system which allows the dynamic presentation of information on any host system, from desktop computers to personal digital assistants. The system is small and fast and may be used with existing data formats. Input file sizes are kept to a minimum, thereby reducing transmission time and costs. The formats are not tied to specific screen sizes or orientations, allowing the presentation of easy to read data on any size system.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and advantages of the invention, reference should be made to the ensuing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a typical format of a common hardcopy document;

FIG. 1B is a representation of a format of a computerized representation of the hardcopy document of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2A is a block diagram of a computer system in which the present invention may be embodied;

FIG. 2B is a block diagram of a software system of the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a representation of a screen display of the present invention displaying the document of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 3B is a representation of a format of a tag for use in the computer and software systems of FIG. 2;

FIG. 3C is a representation of a format of a file for use in the computer and software systems of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is the screen display of FIG. 3A indicating possible constraint relationships; and

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting operation of a system according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention may be implemented in a computer system such as the system 40 of FIG. 2A, which comprises a central processor 42, a display device 44, a main memory 46, an input/output controller 48, a mass storage system 52 (e.g., a hard disk, tape system, or the like), and at least a first input device 54 (e.g., any combination of keyboard, mouse, trackball, pen device, or the like). Additional input/output devices, such as a printing device 50, may be included in the system 40 as desired. Communications hardware 56, such as a modem, fax, ethernet card, or the like may also be connected to the system 40. As shown, the various components of the system 40 communicate with each other through a system bus 58 or similar architecture.

In one specific embodiment, the computer system 40 receives information or data from an information source 62 via a transmission channel 60. Information source 62 may comprise any source of information, including commercial databases, bulletin board systems, company e-mail systems, network servers, other stand-alone computer systems, or the like. Transmission channel 60 may be formed from, for example, telephone lines, fiber optic cables, wireless digital or analog channels, or copper wire. Those skilled in the art will realize that the present invention may be utilized in conjunction with any source of computer data received via any transmission means.

A simplified representation of a computer software system 70 is shown in FIG. 2B. The software system 70 is employed to control the operation of computer system 40. -Software system 70, which is stored in main memory 46 and in mass storage memory 52, includes a kernel or operating system 72 and a shell or user interface 74. One or more applications programs, such as applications software 76, may be "loaded" (i.e., transferred from storage memory 52 into main memory 46) for execution by the computer system 40. Under control of software 72 and/or application software 76, the system 40 receives user commands and data through user interface 74. The interface 74 also serves to display results on the display device 44, whereby a user 78 may interact with and control the system.

In one specific embodiment, system 40 is an IBM-compatible personal computer, available from a number of vendors (including IBM of Armonk, N.Y.). Operating system 72 is MS-DOS and interface 74 is Microsoft Windows, both of which are available from Microsoft Corp. of Redmond, Wash. In one specific embodiment, applications software 78 is implemented using Microsoft Visual C++ to achieve the functionality described herein. The present invention supports the use of any of a number of computer system 40 architectures. For example, computer system 40 may be a handheld computer, a personal information organizer, a personal communicator, a laptop computer, or the like. Further, the operating system 72 may additionally function as the user interface. Any of a number of operating systems and user interfaces may be used. Examples are Windows 95 or WinPad (both also available from Microsoft Corp.), Magic Cap (available from General Magic Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.), or Newton Script (available from Apple Computer Corp. of Cupertino Calif.). Those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention may be embodied in any computer system 40 having an operating system 72. Further, applications software 78 may be implemented using any of a number of programming languages.

Features of the present invention, as will be discussed, allow information and documents such as the newsletter 10 of FIG. 1 to be presented in a readable format on any computer display device 44 when retrieved from an information source 62 such as a commercial database, bulletin board system, or the computer system's own mass storage device 52. Referring now to FIG. 3A, a representation of a metaform 80 as seen on display device 44 is shown. Metaforms are layouts or forms which have defined formats, including a number of frames into which specific type(s) of data may be input. Metaforms 80 may be used to present text and graphics data in a number of formats. The data may be reordered as well as remapped. Each metaform 80 includes a number of defined constraint relationships which govern the appearance and content of each metaform. Metaforms 80 according to the present invention may be displayed, e.g., on any size display device 44, including cathode ray tube (CRT) displays, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), or the like. These displays are typically formed of a plurality of pixel elements, positioned and referenced from the "origin" (top left of the screen) to the maximum coordinates located in the lower right of the screen. Metaforms may be customized for use with particular display types and sizes to optimally utilize available screen space.

The particular metaform 80 shown in FIG. 3A includes a plurality of frames 82-92 arranged in the form of a newsletter, such as the newsletter 10 of FIG. 1A. That is, the metaform 80 of FIG. 3A is a newsletter metaform. In the present invention, a frame is a dynamic template defined to receive specific items of information. Each of the frames are defined to receive either text or graphics data. For example, frame 82 has been defined to include graphics data, specifically, the letterhead or logo of a newsletter. Frames 84-92 contain text data. In this example, frame 84 includes header information, frame 86 includes title information, frames 88 and 90 contain the body of the newsletter, and frame 92 contains footer information. A variety of metaforms may be established for use in the present invention. Examples include memos, business letters, newspaper articles, electronic mail messages, technical reports, and the like. According to the present invention, as will be discussed in more detail infra, the specific metaform to be used with a particular set of data may either be selected by the user or be determined by software. The type of data each frame may accept is determined by a tag or set of tags which identifies the frame as accepting certain data. These tags correspond to tags used to identify input data.

Text and graphics data input to a system utilizing the present invention are displayed in the appropriate frames of a particular metaform using a plurality of tags which identify the various components of the metaform. For example, each of the components of the newsletter 10 of FIG. 1A would be tagged for use in the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3B, one specific embodiment of a tagging system for use in the present invention may consist of an eight character tag 100 having a leading field 102, several two character fields 104-108, and a trailing field 110. In this specific embodiment, the leading and trailing fields 102, 110 each contain backslash characters (".backslash.") to alert the applications software 78 of impending tag characters. If the tag 100 is included in a text stream, the leading and trailing fields 102, 110 may be expanded to two characters in length. Double backslash characters ".backslash..backslash." may then be used to set the tag 100 off from the remainder of the text stream. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other techniques for identifying tags may also be used.

The first two character field is referred to as a flow tag 104. The flow tag 104 identifies the paragraph type and indicates the frame to which the paragraph is assigned. Examples of flow tags 104 are: BD (body); gr (graphic); lg (logo); ft (footer); HD (header), etc. Other flow tags 104 are shown in Table I.

                  TABLE I
    ______________________________________
    FLOW TAGS   CODE      FLOW TAGS     CODE
    ______________________________________
    Abstract    ab        ISBN          IS
    Addresses   as        Keywords      ky
    Address     ad        Legend        lg
    Animation   an        Level 1       L1
    Arrows      ar        Level 2       L2
    Author      au        Level 3       L3
    Banner      ba        Level 4       L4
    BCC         bc        Level 5       L5
    Bibliography
                bb        List          L2
    Body        BD        List 2        L3
    Border      br        List 3        L4
    Byline      by        List 4        L5
    Callout     ca        Logo          lg
    Caption     cp        Masthead      MH
    CC          cc        Music         ms
    Chart       ch        Page Number   pg
    Colophon    co        Phone Number  pn
    Copyright   cr        Picture       pc
    Credit      ct        Postscript    ps
    Cross Reference
                cx        Preface       pf
    Data        dt        Publication Title
                                        pt
    Dedication  dd        Publisher     pb
    Email Address
                em        Pullquote     pl
    Fax #       fx        Rules         ru
    Figure      fg        Salutation    sa
    Footer      ft        Sidebar       sb
    Footnote    fn        Signature     sg
    Foreward    fw        Sincerely Line
                                        sn
    Graphic     gr        Story         st
    Header      HD        Subject       SB
    Identifier  id        Sublist       sl
    Illustration
                il        Table         tb
    Index       ix        Table of Contents
                                        yc
    Ink         ik        Video         vd
    Introduction
                in        Voice         vc
    ______________________________________

                  TABLE II
    ______________________________________
           STYLE          CODE
    ______________________________________
           Tags           s
           Force Just     fj
           Indented       in
           Justified      ji
           Large          lg
           Ragleft        rl
           Ragright       rr
           Small          sm
    ______________________________________

                  TABLE III
    ______________________________________
    SUBSTYLE   CODE       SUBSTYLE     CODE
    ______________________________________
    Bold       b1         Larger       lr
    Condensed  cn         Light        li
    Double     du         Marked       mr
    underline
    Dropfirstcap
               dc         Smaller      sr
    Expanded   ex         Strikethru   st
    Fat        ft         Subscript    s1
    Heavy      hv         Superscript  s2
    Indexed    in         Underline    un
    Italic     it
    ______________________________________

• Inventors
  Templeman, Michael L.;
• Assignee
  Netpodium, Inc. (Seattle, WA)
• Published
  Dec-1-1998
• Current US Classes:
  715/517
• Application #
  724219
• International Classes
  G06F 007/06
• Field of Search
  395/766 395/768 395/769 395/776 395/777 395/779 395/780 395/782 395/784 395/788 395/802 382/176 707/505 707/507 707/508 707/514 707/515 707/517 707/518 707/520 707/522 707/526 707/539
• Examiner
  Hong; Stephen S.
• Agent
  Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP
• US Patent References:
  4948283
  5051930
  5151975
  5179646
  5181162
  5263133
  5270705
  5276792
  5293473
  5319546
  5333246
  5347625
  5381523
  5495565