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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to word processing and more particularly to
automatic adjustment of line ends in text during editing.
2. Description of Prior Art
Numerous word processing systems have been developed for editing and
processing conventional alphanumeric text. Although some systems, such as
the IBM Office System 6, have text adjustment features which can be
explicitly invoked within a page, present systems do not permit automatic
text adjustment during editing after each line of revisions. Accordingly,
there is a need for an automatic text adjustment during editing which
keeps text adjusted to the extent possible with minimum interference to
the operator input.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, a method for adjusting text during editing is
provided. An indicator is set to indicate a change active condition if a
change is made to the current line of text when an establish insert mode
key is depressed by the operator. The indicator is interrogated to
determine if a change active condition has been indicated when a terminate
insert mode key is later depressed by the operator. When a change active
condition is detected, the line end codes for the current line of text are
adjusted to provide an adjusted line. The adjusted line is then
interrogated to determine whether a paragraph boundary or page end code is
included. If no paragraph boundary or page end code is included, the
adjusting line is interrogated to determine whether a change was made in
the line end code. Each succeeding line following the adjusted line is
adjusted unless a paragraph boundary or page end code is encountered or no
change was made in the line end code for that line.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a more complete understanding of the present invention and the
advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following Description
taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a work station comprising a
cathode ray tube display screen and a keyboard with a station connected to
a main store consisting of a diskette storage unit;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the functional units of the system illustrated
in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a logical flow chart for the keystroke service routine invoked
when an established insert mode key, such as a graphic insert, is
depressed;
FIG. 4 is a logical flow chart for the Establish Change Subroutine;
FIG. 5 is a logical flow chart for the Get Last Breakpoint Subroutine;
FIG. 6 is a logical flow chart for the keystroke service routine invoked
when a terminate insert mode key, such as "cursor up", is depressed;
FIG. 7 is a logical flow chart for the End Change With Adjust Subroutine;
FIG. 8 is a logical flow chart for the Adjust To End of Paragraph
Subroutine;
FIG. 9 is a logical flow chart for the keystroke service routine invoked
when a terminate insert mode key, such as "find," is depressed;
FIG. 10 is a logical flow chart for the keystroke service routine invoked
when an establish insert mode key, such as "delete", is depressed;
FIG. 11 is a logical flow chart for the End Change Without Adjust
Subroutine; and
FIG. 12 is a logical flow chart for the keystroke service routine invoked
when a terminate insert mode key, such as "move", is depressed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE BEST MODE
The present invention provides a method for automatically adjusting
previously keyed text during editing with minimal interference to the
operator input and minimum interference to performance.
Text adjustment refers to the process of adding and deleting line end codes
to provide relatively uniform line lengths within margins without changing
the grammatical structure of the text. Insert mode refers to the mode in
which changes are made to the text of a document stored in a storage
media. As an aid to understanding the present invention, the keys in a
word processing system may be classified into four categories. One
category includes a set of keys which establish an insert mode upon entry
and which effect adjustment of the data stream. These keys are called
establish insert mode keys and include primarily the graphics, but also
text format controls and function keys such as error backspace, required
page end code, instruction, change format, enter and delete. When the
establish insert mode keys are depressed, they signal that a change is
being made to the current paragraph which may require automatic
adjustment. The instruction, change format and delete in conjunction with
the enter key establish insert mode only when the operation is
successfully completed (not cancelled or invalid).
The second category involves keys which by their nature have no effect on
the length of a line of text. These include, for example, the cursor
right, cursor left, boundary right, boundary left, keyboard change,
message, reply and all ignored or invalid keys. Since these keys cause no
changes in the length of a line of text, no automatic adjustment is
necessary. In fact, by not adjusting text when keys such as the cursor
right, cursor left, boundary right or boundary left are depressed, an
operator can make several corrections and cursor motions on a single line
without initiating the adjustment process. If the lines were adjusted
after each of these keystrokes, such adjustment would cause a delay in
cursoring and result in multiple adjustments of a single line.
A third category includes keys which terminate the insert mode, but which
do not execute the automatic adjust when entered by the operator. These
keys may include, for example, the line adjust, get, move and copy keys.
The line adjust permits the operator to manually go through a paragraph
and adjust the text to make hyphenation decisions. The get, move and copy
keys permit moving and copying of entire pages. No textual adjustment is
made when these keys are depressed because the magnitude of the changes
they effect makes automatic text adjustment on a line by line basis
impractical. The text adjustment process of the present invention is
limited to relatively small scale revisions within a single paragraph.
The fourth category of keys includes keys which indicate the insert mode
has been terminated and which will cause the automatic adjust to be
executed. These keys are called the terminate insert and execute keys.
These keys normally imply movement off the line. Thus, the current line is
adjusted only after all corrections on that line have been made. This
category of keys includes the cursor up, cursor down, boundary up,
boundary down, find, go to, print, page end, end and request keys. The
cursor up and cursor down keys cause the cursor to be moved off the
current line to the same horizontal position from the left margin one line
above or below the current line. The boundary up and boundary down keys
cause the cursor to be moved off the current line to the beginning of the
top line and the end of the bottom line, respectively. The find and go to
keys may take the cursor off the current line to another page or
paragraph. The print and page end keys, by definition, move the cursor to
the top of the next page. The end key signals the end of revision of the
document. The request key allows interrupting the editing process
temporarily to handle various printer conditions. Depressing one of the
terminate insert and execute keys may indicate that a change has occurred
or that a current revision has been completed which should be
automatically adjusted.
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated an information processing
system 10 which comprises a work station 12 connected to an auxiliary
store which in this system is a diskette storage 14. The station 12
includes a display screen 16, which is typically a cathode ray tube.
Station 12 further includes a keyboard 18 which has keys for entering
alphanumeric characters, as well as predefined commands.
In operation, the operator enters commands through keyboard 18 to call up
information which is stored in the diskette storage 14. An operator
command may consist of one or more keystrokes. The information which is
called up is displayed on screen 16 so that the operator can edit the
displayed information to accomplish such tasks as entering new
information, revising information, moving information from one location to
another and deleting stored information. The operator also has the
capability to manipulate the stored information to perform other
operations, to select or modify records stored in the files in diskette
storage 14. Thus, the operator has the capability of carrying out
conventional word processing editing together with data base
manipulations.
Referring to FIG. 2, there is illustrated a functional block diagram of the
operational elements of the present system. The information flow is
described as follows. An information file is stored in the diskette
storage 14. The file is made up of a group of records. Each record
consists of one or more character fields, arithmetic fields and text
fields. A character field is defined as a group of primarily alphanumeric
and punctuation characters and specifically excludes control characters
such as line end and page end codes. An arithmetic field is defined as a
field having numeric and limited punctuation characters and further
including limited algebraic characters illustrating mathematical
relationships. The arithmetic field does not include control characters.
The text field is essentially the same as a character field but includes
control characters. Control characters are utilized by the system 10 to
indicate the nature and location of characters on the display screen 16.
Typical control characters are line end codes, page end codes, tabs and
carriage returns.
The operator enters a command into the work station 12 which causes the
document to be read from storage 14. The document is transmitted to an
input/output buffer 20 where it is temporarily stored. The record in
buffer 20 is then transmitted to a display data buffer 22. The record in
buffer 22 is transferred to a text storage buffer 24 and a display format
buffer 26. The text field of a record is stored in text storage buffer 24.
The arithmetic and character fields of a record are stored in buffer 26.
The screen 16 displays the information stored in buffers 24 and 26.
The displayed record is edited by the operator entering commands and
characters through keyboard 18 to alter the fields stored in buffers 24
and 26. After editing is completed, the text field in buffer 24 is
returned to display data buffer 22 and incorporated therein. The edited
fields in buffer 26 are likewise returned to buffer 22 and incorporated
into the text therein. This produces an edited record which the operator
can then cause to be transferred into the input/output buffer 20 for
storage on the diskette storage 14.
Reference is now made to FIG. 3 which illustrates the logical flow of the
keystroke service routine invoked by the keyboard distributor when one of
the establish insert mode keys, such as a graphic insert, is depressed by
the operator at 30. The appropriate keystroke service routine 32 for the
particular establish insert mode key processes the keystrokes made by the
operator. For keys such as the graphic insert, text format controls, error
correct backspace and required page end code, the keystroke service
routines invoked are essentially the same as shown in FIG. 3. Keys such as
the instruction, change format and delete in conjunction with enter invoke
different keystroke service routines, such as that shown in FIG. 10 and
described below in greater detail.
At step 34, the keystroke service routine determines whether the cursor is
in a valid position to make an insertion. If the cursor is not in a valid
position, the routine is terminated at 36 and control is returned to the
keyboard distributor with an appropriate message displayed to the
operator. Thus, an invalid keystroke makes no change to the line of text,
although one invalid keystroke on a line will not alter other valid
keystrokes previously made on that line. The fact that a previous change
has been made on the line will be remembered.
If the cursor is in a valid position, then at step 38, Establish Change
Subroutine 40 is called. FIG. 4 shows a logical flow chart for the
Establish Change Subroutine 40.
Referring now to FIG. 4, the Establish Change Subroutine 40 samples the
change active indicator at 42 to determine if an active change has already
occurred on the current line. If so, the change active indicator will have
already been set and the routine will be terminated at step 44 and control
will be returned to the keystroke service routine 32. If this is the first
valid change to occur on the current line, the change active indicator is
set at 46. When the change active indicator is set, subroutine 40
requests, receives and initializes storage for the line adjust control
blocks as indicated at step 48. The control blocks contain indicators,
pointers and parameters used by the line adjust routine. At 50, the Get
Last Breakpoint Subroutine 52 is called to find the last breakpoint prior
to the cursor position.
FIG. 5 illustrates the logic of Get Last Breakpoint Subroutine 52.
Subroutine 52 insures that what is between the beginning of the line and
the cursor position is not sufficient to make up a line by itself. If it
is, the line is adjusted by inserting as many line end codes as necessary
to break up the line. At 54, subroutine 52 calls the line adjust routine.
The line adjust routine is a common service routine used for the automatic
adjust, as well as for document pagination and the line adjust function.
The line adjust routine will process from the beginning of the cursored
line until a line end code is inserted or the cursor position is reached.
A determination is made at step 56 whether the cursor position is reached.
If not, the line adjust routine at 54 will be called by subroutine 52
until the determination is made at steps 56 that the cursor position is
reached. After the current line is adjusted to the cursor position,
control is returned at step 60 to the keystroke service routine 32 (FIG.
3).
Referring once again to FIG. 3, when control is returned to the keystroke
service routine 32, all insertions made by the operator are processed at
step 62. If the operator is several keystrokes ahead of the machine when
keystroke service routine 32 is called for the first of those keystrokes,
the routine will look ahead and see if any more changes are to be made and
process all changes at once. This is done by putting all waiting insertion
keystrokes into the text storage buffer 24 before they are put onto the
diskette storage 14 or into display buffer 26.
When all insertions (changes) have been processed, the Get Last Breakpoint
Subroutine 52 is again called at step 64 since the operator may have
inserted enough characters to cause the cursor to move beyond the right
margin. As previously described, the Get Last Breakpoint Subroutine will
insert line end codes in the appropriate position and move the cursor down
to the next line. Thus, whenever an automatic adjust is required, all
lines above the current line will have been properly adjusted so that as
the cursor goes down through the paragraph, only the current line and
remaining lines in the paragraph may require adjustment.
In keystroke service routine 32, Get Last Breakpoint Subroutine 52 is
called twice: the first time to establish the initial conditions of the
line and the second time to adjust for new insertions and determine
whether the revised line needs to be broken down into more than one line.
Once it has been determined at step 56 that no more line end changes are
required, the routine returns control to the keystroke service routine 32,
which calls the display update program at 66 to cause the display to
reflect the changes that have been made in the text storage buffer. The
graphic insert keystroke service routine 32 is invoked every time the
operator presses a graphic insert key.
FIG. 6 illustrates the logical flow of the keystroke service routine which
is invoked when a terminate insert execute key is depressed. Once a
terminate insert execute key such as "cursor up" is depressed at step 70,
a keystroke service routine 72 is invoked. This terminates the insert mode
and executes the automatic line adjust. Essentially, the functional
aspects of keystroke service routine 72 for the cursor up key are
identical to other keys in the group such as, for example, cursor down,
boundary up, boundary down, print, end and request. Routine 72 is similar,
but not identical to the find and go to keys, which are described below in
greater detail.
The appropriate keystroke service routine 72 is called up when the operator
depresses a cursor up, cursor down or other terminate insert execute key.
At step 74, the End Change With Adjust Subroutine 76 is called. FIG. 7
illustrates the logic of the flow chart of End Change With Adjust
Subroutine 76. At step 78, the change active indicator is interrogated to
determine if a change active condition exists. If not, no text adjustment
is necessary and control may be returned to keystroke service routine 72
at step 80. If the change active indicator has been set, the next step 82
releases the line adjust control blocks. The next step 84 calls the Adjust
to End of Paragraph Subroutine 86.
FIG. 8 is a flow chart for the Adjust to End of Paragraph Subroutine 86. At
step 88, the routine requests, gets and initializes the line adjust
control blocks. In the next step 90, subroutine 86 goes to the end of the
current line (i.e., the next line end code) where the line adjust service
routine is called at step 92. At decision step 94, a determination is made
whether a paragraph boundary or page end code has been encountered. If a
paragraph boundary or page end code has not been encountered, a
determination is made at step 96 whether the current line end was changed.
If so, the routine goes to the end of the current line, calls the line
adjust routine and continues to recycle until either the end of the
paragraph or a page end code is reached or the current line end is
unchanged. At this point, the next step 98 releases the control blocks for
the line adjust routine and control is returned at step 100 to the End
Change With Adjust Subroutine 76.
Referring again to FIG. 7, the next step 102 in the End Change With Adjust
Subroutine 76 is to set the Display Update Needed. This provides an
indicator which signals that a future update should be a full update to
include the results of the processing by End Change With Adjust Subroutine
76. At 104, the change active indicator is reset and control is returned
at step 80 to the keystroke service routine 72.
Referring again to FIG. 6, which illustrates the logic of the keystroke
service routine 72, the key function, cursor up, cursor down, boundary up,
boundary down, print, end or request is next processed at step 106. The
keystroke service routine 72 is then concluded at step 108 and control is
returned to the keyboard distributor.
FIG. 9 illustrates the functional steps of the find and go to keystroke
service routines. These keystroke service routines are basically the same
as the cursor up, cursor down, boundary up, boundary down, print, page
end, end and request keystroke service routines with the exception that
these routines are not processed for invalid operations. Referring to FIG.
9, when a find key is depressed at step 110, the keystroke service routine
112 for the find key is invoked. At step 114, a determination is made
whether the operation is valid. If not, the routine is terminated at 116.
If the operation is valid, the End Change With Adjust Subroutine 76 is
called at step 118 and upon return of control from this subroutine, the
find operation is processed at step 120. When the find operation is
processed, the routine is terminated at 116 and control is returned to the
keyboard distributor.
Referring now to FIG. 10, the functional steps of the keystroke service
routine for the delete key are illustrated. As earlier stated, the delete
key (as well as the enter and change format keys) is somewhat atypical of
the insert mode keys. The delete key causes a change in the current line
which may encompass many lines and pages. When the delete key is depressed
at step 122, the appropriate keystroke service routine 124 for the delete
key is called up. When keystroke service routine 124 is called, the End
Change Without Adjust Subroutine is called at step 126. The purpose of
calling this routine is to reset the change active indicator if prior
changes have occurred on the line prior to depressing the delete key.
FIG. 11 illustrates the logic of the End Change Without Adjust Subroutine
128. At step 130, the change active indicator is interrogated to determine
whether a valid change has occurred on the current line. If no valid
change has occurred, the End Change Without Adjust Subroutine 128 is
terminated at 132 where control is returned to the delete keystroke
service routine 124. If the change active indicator has been set, the
indicator is reset at step 134 and the control blocks for the line adjust
routine are released at step 136.
Referring again to FIG. 10, when control is returned from End Change
Without Adjust Subroutine 128, the specified deletion is then processed at
138. At step 140, the Establish Change Subroutine 40 is called since the
processing of the delete function requires adjustment of the line at which
deletion ends. Subroutine 40 is processed as previously described. The
control blocks for the line adjust routine are initialized and the Get
Last Breakpoint Subroutine 52 is called. Since the change active indicator
was reset in step 134, these steps will automatically occur. When control
has been returned from Establish Change Subroutine 40, the delete
keystroke service routine 124 is completed and control is transferred back
to the keyboard distributor at step 142. The instruction and change format
keys in conjunction with the enter key invoke keystroke service routines
following the same logic as the delete key.
FIG. 12 illustrates the logical flow chart of a keystroke service routine
for the move key, which is typical of the other terminate insert mode
without execution keys. When a move key is depressed at step 144, the
appropriate keystroke service routine 146 is called. Since these keys
normally invoke massive changes which are more efficiently processed
through other modes, the line adjust routine is not invoked. At step 148,
the End Change Without Adjust Subroutine 128 is called. This subroutine,
as previously mentioned, resets the change active indicator and releases
control blocks for the line adjust routine. When control is returned to
keystroke service routine 146, the move function is processed at step 150
and the routine is then terminated at step 152.
It can thus be seen that the present invention provides a method for
efficiently adjusting text during the editing or insert mode in word
processing.
Although one embodiment of the invention has been illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings and described in the foregoing Detailed Description,
it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiment
disclosed, but is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and
substitutions without departing from the scope of the invention.
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