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Claims  |
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What is claimed is:
1. In a computer system including a memory for form documents to be
operated upon, a processor for operating on the form documents and a
display for displaying the form documents, each form document containing
at least one page, a form document editor for editing a page of a form
document, comprising:
a form document data structure, including
a form descriptor table defining editable graphics and text areas of the
page, wherein the form descriptor table includes
a definition entry for each graphics and text area of the page, each
definition entry including
a location of the area on the page,
an extent of the area on the page, and
a definition of when the area is to contain a graphic image and when the
area is to contain text, and
when the area is to contain text, a definition of the line spacing and
character size of the text.
a background bitmap image of a background of the page,
a graphics bitmap image of graphics appearing in a graphics area of the
page, and
a text buffer of text appearing in a text area of the page,
a graphics editor responsive to an analog user input device and to the form
descriptor table and having an output to the graphics bitmap image for
editing the bitmap image of graphics,
a text editor responsive to a user keyboard input device and to the form
descriptor table and having an output to the text for editing the text in
the text buffer, and
a composite image generator responsive to the form descriptor table for
receiving the background bitmap image, the graphics bitmap image and the
text buffer and generating a composite page image to the display, and
the text editor and an autofill data parser for generating an area of the
page to contain autofill data that includes user entered data, wherein
the description entry corresponding to the page area including autofill
data contains a reference to the autofill data, and
the autofill data contains a user data import indicator that user data is
to be entered into the autofill data by the user,
the user data import indicator being located in the autofill data at the
location the user data is to be entered by the user, and
the text editor being responsive to the description entry reference to the
autofill data for,
retrieving the autofill data, and
inserting the autofill data into the area of the page containing the
autofill data, and
the autofill data parser being responsive to the autofill data for
reading the autofill data to the text editor to be entered into the text
buffer by the text editor,
detecting the presence of a user import data indicator
halting the reading of the autofill data to the text editor for entry of
the user data (46) by the user, and
resuming reading of the autofill data to the text editor when the user has
entered the user data.
2. The form document editor of claim 1, wherein a form document is
comprised of one or more pages and the pages of the form document are
identified and linked by an index file.
3. In a computer system including a memory for form documents to be
operated upon, a processor for operating on the form documents and a
display for displaying the form documents, each form document containing
at least one page, a form document editor for editing a page of a from
document comprising:
a form document data structure, including
a form descriptor table defining editable graphics and text areas of the
page,
a background bitmap image of a background of the page,
a graphics bitmap image of graphics appearing in a graphics area of the
page, and
a text buffer of text appearing in a text area of the page,
a graphics editor responsive to an analog user input device and to the form
descriptor table and having an output to the graphics bitmap image for
editing only the bitmap image of graphics,
a text editor responsive to a user keyboard input device and to the form
descriptor table and having an output to the text for editing only the
text in the text buffer,
a composite image generator responsive to the form descriptor table and
connected from the background bitmap image, the graphics bitmap image and
the text buffer for
receiving the background bitmap image, the graphics bitmap image, and the
text buffer,
generating a composite bitmap image of the page wherein the composite
bitmap image is comprised of the background bitmap image, the graphics
bitmap image and the text buffer, and
providing the composite bitmap image of the page to the mass storage device
for storage as a new background bitmap image of the page for a next
editing of the document, wherein
the new background bitmap image of the page incorporates all text and
graphics data entered by a user in a present editing of the document and
is unchangeable in any subsequent editing of the document, wherein
the new background bitmap image is provided to the form document editor as
the background bitmap image of the page when the page is retrieved from
the mass storage device for editing and the graphics editor can edit only
the graphics bitmap image and the text editor can edit only the text
buffer.
4. The form document editor of claim 3 wherein the composite bitmap image
of a stored page is provided to the form document editor as the background
bitmap image of the page when the page is retrieved from the mass storage
device for editing.
5. The form document editor of claim 3, further comprising
an image compressor for
receiving the composite bitmap image of the page representing the new
background bitmap image and compressing the composite bitmap image of the
page into a compressed format for storage in the mass storage device as
the new background bitmap image, and
receiving the compressed new background bitmap image of a page retrieved
from the mass storage device, decompressing the compressed new background
bitmap image of the retrieved page to generate a decompressed new
background bitmap image of the stored page, and
providing the decompressed new background bitmap image of the retrieved
page is provided to the background memory as the background bitmap image
of the page for editing of the page.
6. The form document editor of claim 1, wherein:
a user data import indicator includes a user prompt message indicating the
user data to be inserted, and
the autofill parser is responsive to the user prompt message for providing
the user prompt message to the display for display to the user.
7. In a computer system including a memory for form documents to be
operated upon, a processor for operating on the form documents and a
display for displaying the form documents, each form document containing
at least one page, a method for editing a page of a form document,
comprising the steps of:
storing a form document data structure, including
a form descriptor table defining editable graphics and text areas of the
page,
the form descriptor table including a definition entry for each graphics
image and text area of the page, each definition entry including
a location of the area on the page,
an extent of the area on the page,
a definition of when the area is to contain a graphic image and when the
area is to contain text, and
when the area is to contain text, a definition of the line spacing and
character size of the text,
a background bitmap image of a background of the page,
a graphics bitmap image of graphics appearing in a graphics area of the
page, and
a text buffer of text appearing in text area of the page,
editing the graphics bitmap image by operation of a graphics editor
responsive to an analog user input device and to the form descriptor table
and having an output to the graphics bitmap image.
editing the text buffer by operation of a text editor responsive to a user
keyboard input device and to the form descriptor table and having an
output to the text buffer, and
generating a composite page image by receiving the background bitmap image,
the graphics bitmap image and the text buffer and responsive to the form
descriptor table combining the background bitmap image, the graphics
bitmap image and the text buffer into a composite page image to the
display, and
inserting autofill data including user entered data into an area of the
page by
inserting a reference to the autofill data into the description entry
corresponding to the page area including the autofill data, and
inserting a user data import indicator into the autofill data,
the user data import indicator indicating that user data is to be entered
into the autofill data by the user, and
being located in the autofill data at the location the user data is to be
entered by the user, and
by operation of the graphics and text editors in response to the
description entry reference to the autofill data,
retrieving the autofill data, and
inserting the autofill data into the area of the page containing the
autofill data, including,
by operation of an autofill data parser
reading the autofill data to the text editor to be entered into the text
buffer by the text editor,
detecting the presence of a user import data indicator,
halting the reading of the autofill data to the text editor for entry of
the user data by the user, and
resuming reading of the autofill data to the text editor when the user has
entered the user data.
8. The method for editing a page of a form document of claim 7, wherein a
form document is comprised of one or more pages, further comprising the
steps of:
identifying and linking the pages of the form document by an index file.
9. In a computer system including a memory for form documents to be
operated upon a processor for operating on the form documents and a
display for displaying the form documents, each form document containing
at least one page, a method for editing a page of a form document,
comprising the steps of:
storing a form document data structure including,
a form descriptor table defining editable graphics and text areas of the
page,
a background bitmap image of a background of the page,
a graphics bitmap image of graphics appearing in a graphics area of the
page, and
a text buffer of text appearing in a text area of the page,
editing the graphics bitmap image by operation of a graphics editor
responsive to an analog user input device and to the form descriptor table
and having an output to the graphics bitmap image,
editing the text buffer by operation of a text editor responsive to user
keyboard input device and to the form descriptor table and having an
output to the text buffer, and
generating a composite image of the page by
receiving the background bitmap image, the graphics bitmap image appearing
in a graphics area of the page, and the text buffer appearing in a text
area of the page,
generating a composite bitmap image of the page, and
providing the composite bitmap image of the page to mass storage device for
storageas a new background bitmap image of the page for a next editing of
the document, wherein
the new background bitmap image of the page incorporates all text and
graphics data entered by a user in a present editing of the document and
is unchangeable in any subsequent editing of the document, wherein
the new background bitmap image is provided to the form document editor as
the background bitmap image of the page when the page is retrieved from
the mass storage device for editing and the graphics editor can edit only
the graphics bitmap image and the text editor can edit only the text
buffer.
10. The method for editing a page of a form document of claim 13, further
comprising the steps of compressing and decompressing the page image for
storing the page image in and retrieving the page image from the mass
storage device by:
receiving the composite bitmap image of the page and compressing the
composite bitmap image of the page into a compressed format for storage in
the mass storage device as the new background bitmap image of the page,
and
receiving a compressed new background bitmap image of a page retrieved from
the mass storage device, decompressing the compressed new background
bitmap image of the retrieved page to generate a decompressed new
background bitmap image of the stored page, and
providing the decompressed new background bitmap image of the retrieved
page to the editors as the background bitmap image of the page for editing
of the page.
11. The method for editing a page of a form document of claim 7, further
comprising the steps of:
providing a user prompt message indicating the user data to be inserted in
a user data import indicator, and
by operation of the autofill parser in response to the user prompt message,
providing the user prompt message to the display for display to the user. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for creating and
editing documents and, in particular, a method and apparatus for creating
and editing form documents including text and graphics elements in a
manner analogous to the creating and editing of paper documents.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
One of the most significant developments in computer systems has been the
development of applications programs which allow users to perform their
usual and customary tasks in a manner analogous to the manner in which
they performed those tasks without computer systems. Examples of such
include the electronic spreadsheet such as Lotus 1-2-3.sup.1, and word
processing such as Wang Word processing systems wherein users essentially
perform financial calculations or generate documents in much the same
manner as when they used paper and pencil or typewriters. The use of
applications programs running on computer systems to perform these tasks,
however, provided such advantages as greater speed, the ability to rapidly
perform more complex calculations, the ability to readily edit the work
and the convenience of electronic data storage and retrieval.
Recent years have seen the development and adoption of integrated operating
environments, such as Microsoft Windows.sup.2 and New Wave.sup.3, for
virtually all computer data processing systems. An integrated operating
environment is comprised of operating system functions together with a
plurality of other functions, such as user interface and data exchange and
integration functions, which may be used in common by applications
programs executing in the integrated operating environment. Such operating
environments and applications programs provide all of the functions and
capabilities originally available to users, together with capabilities
that would be virtually impossible before the advent of such systems.
These new capabilities include the capability to
.sup.1 Lotus and 1-2-3 are trademarks of Lotus Corporation.
.sup.2 Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
.sup.3 New Wave is a trademark of Hewlett-Packard Corporation. link data,
images or text from one document, worksheet or database into another and
the ability to combine text and images and even voice and sound
annotations into a single document.
Applications programs such as those for creating and editing documents now
offer the features and functions to perform virtually any imaginable
operation on a document. A recurring problem, however, is that the focus
of the applications programs has shifted from expediting the user's work
to providing the most extensive possible array of powerful tools for all
possible document creation tasks. As a result, current document processing
programs now require the users to invest significant time and effort in
learning to use these very powerful but very complex assemblages of tools
and functions. In effect, the focus has shifted from allowing users to
perform their usual work in the usual way to requiring the users to become
document processing experts.
While many potential users of such systems could benefit greatly from the
speed, convenience and power of current computerized document processing,
they have not been able to do so. The burden in time and effort to learn
and use current document processing systems exceeds the benefits to be
gained from such systems, and would actually hinder their work by taking
up time and effort which must be devoted to their primary tasks. At the
same time, currently available document processing applications that are
simple to learn and use simply do not have the range or power of features
and functionality that would benefit these users.
These users are usually highly skilled and trained professionals who have a
need for extensive documentation and have specialized documentation
requirements, but cannot devote extensive time to the creation and editing
of documentation. As a consequence, these users are characterized by the
extensive use of paper forms of various types, wherein the users
documentation tasks have been reduced, in so far as possible, to filling
in blanks, checking boxes and writing short comments by hand. Examples of
such users include doctors, medical technicians and nurses, the police,
the court system, insurance investigators, inventory controllers, and even
the Examiners of the Patent Office.
The primary problem, therefore, is to bring the power, speed, convenience
and features of computerized document processing to users who cannot
devote significant effort to learning and using computerized document
processing programs and who have specialized document processing needs,
usually characterized by the use of forms, and in such a manner as to
allow the users to perform their usual work in the manner to which they
are accustomed.
The present invention provides a solution to these and other problems of
the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a form document editor and a method
implemented in a computer system for editing a page of a form document
wherein the system includes a form descriptor table defining editable
graphics and text areas of the page, a background bitmap image of a
background of the page, a graphics bitmap image of graphics appearing in a
graphics area of the page, and a text buffer of text appearing in a text
area of the page.
The system further includes a graphics editor responsive to an analog user
input device and having an output to the graphics bitmap image for editing
the bitmap image of graphics and a text editor responsive to a user
keyboard input device and having an output to the text for editing the
text in the text buffer. A composite image generator then receives the
background bitmap image, the graphics bitmap image and the text buffer and
generates a composite page image to the display to display the page of the
form document and the editing of the page of the form document to the
user.
The form descriptor table includes a definition entry for each graphics and
text area of the page, wherein each definition entry includes a location
of the area on the page, an extent of the area on the page, a definition
of when the area is to contain a graphic image and when the area is to
contain text, and when the area is to contain text, a definition of the
line spacing and character size of the text.
According to a present implementation of the invention, a form document is
comprised of one or more pages and the pages of the form document are
identified and linked by an index file.
The form document editor system of the present invention further includes a
mass storage device and the form document editor further includes a
composite image generator connected from the background bitmap image, the
graphics bitmap image and the text buffer for receiving the background
bitmap image, the graphics bitmap image, and the text buffer, generating a
composite bitmap image of the page, and providing the composite bitmap
image of the page to the mass storage device for storage. Upon subsequent
retrieval of a page of a form document from the mass storage device for
editing, the composite bitmap image of the stored page is provided to the
form document editor as the background bitmap image of the page, rather
than decomposing the bitmap image of the stored page into its component
background bitmap, graphics bitmap and text buffer so that a previously
existing version of a page becomes the background to subsequent editing of
the page.
The form document editor system of the present invention thereby maintains
and operates upon the component elements of a document, such as a
background bitmap, one or more graphics bitmaps and/or one or more text
buffers, as separate and independent elements, combining the component
elements of the document into a single, composite entity only for the
purposes of display and storage. The editor of the present invention
thereby provides a simplier and more flexible system wherein the text and
graphics editors, each of which is required to perform only a limited
range of closely related functions, can each be much simplier than in the
systems of the prior art which attempt to provide all functions through a
single, complex, all inclusive and all purpose document processing editor.
The editor of the present invention is further provides a simple and
flexible means for adding new forms to the system in that each form is
completely defined by a simple form definition table and a background
bitmap. A form definition table can be easily and readily generated by a
simple table editor and a background bitmap can be readily generated
either by any of a wide range of graphics programs or by scanning of an
existing form.
Finally, the editor of the present invention further, and as a consequence,
provides a simplier, more flexible and easier to learn user interface
particularly suited for the needs and operations of users characterized by
extensive user of forms based documentation. The forms document editor of
the present invention allows users to continue performing their accustomed
form documentation tasks in the same manner as before, and thereby
requires little effort, study or adaptation by a new user.
The form document editor system may further include an image compressor for
receiving the composite bitmap image of the page and compressing the
composite bitmap image of the page into a compressed format for storage in
the mass storage device. When a page is retrieved from mass storage, the
image compressor receives the compressed bitmap image of the page from the
mass storage device and decompresses the compressed bitmap image of the
retrieved page to generate a decompressed composite bitmap image of the
stored page.
The form document editor of the present invention also allows an area of
the page to contain autofill data, wherein the description entry
corresponding to the page area including autofill data contains a
reference to the autofill data. The text editor is responsive to the
description entry reference to the autofill data for retrieving the
autofill data and inserting the autofill data into the area of the page
containing the autofill data.
The present invention also provides an intelligent autofill data import
mechanism for inserting user provided data into autofill data wherein the
autofill data includes a user data import indicator that user data is to
be entered into the autofill data by the user, the user data import
indicator being located in the autofill data at the location the user data
is to be entered by the user. The autofill data is provided to a text
editor for insertion into the text data of a document through an autofill
parser which reads the autofill data to the text editor to be entered into
the text buffer by the text editor and which detects the presence of a
user import data indicator in the autofill data.
Upon detecting a user import data indicator, the autofill parser halts the
reading of the autofill data to the text editor and prompts the user
regarding the data to be entered into the autofill data by the user and
resumes reading of the autofill data to the text editor when the user has
entered the user data. The autofill data thereby appears in the document
in the form that it was originally provided to the editor, except that the
user provided data will appear in the autofill data in substitution for,
and in the same locations as, the indicators for user provided data in the
original version of the autofill data.
The intelligent autofill data mechanism also provides that a user data
import indicator may include a prompt message to the user indicating the
user data to be entered by the user, wherein the autofill parser will
respond to a prompt message in a user data import indicator by providing
the prompt message for display to the user.
Other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will be
understood by those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the
following descriptions of a present implementation of the present
invention, and after examining the drawings, wherein:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a record and record pages of the
forms of the pro/sent invention;
FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of a form definition table of the
forms of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of a page and page bitmaps of the
forms of the present invention; and
FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of a system implementing the
present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
It will be assumed in the following detailed description of the present
invention that the integrated operating environment in which the invention
is implemented is comprised of Microsoft Windows, together with the
functionality and capabilities of Microsoft Windows as used to implement
the present invention. The functionality and capabilities of Microsoft
Windows are well known to those in the relevant arts and is well described
in readily available publications, such as "Windows 3.1 Programmer's
Reference" by James W. McCord and published by Que Corporation and "Inside
OLE 2" by Kraig Brockschmidt and published by Microsoft Press.
Those of skill in the relevant arts will readily understand from the
following description of the present invention how to implement the
present invention using the functionality and capabilities of Microsoft
Windows and how to adapt the present invention to other operating system
environments, such as New Wave and Macintosh.sup.4. As such, the following
description of the invention will include only such detail as is necessary
to understand the implementation and operation of the present invention,
but will not include a detailed description of the elements of Microsoft
Windows that are used to implement the present invention as such detailed
descriptions of these elements are readily and publicly available, as in
the above referenced publications.
A. Form Document Data Structures (FIGS. 1, 2 and 3)
Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, therein is shown diagrammatic
representations of the component data structures of a form document of the
form document creation and editing system and method of the present
invention. As indicated in FIG. 1, in the present implementation of the
system and method of the present invention, each Record 10 comprising a
form document is comprised of one or more Pages 12 wherein, for
convenience and simplicity of handling the file management operations for
the Pages 12, each Page 12 is an individual file or object. The Pages 12
of a Record 10 are then associated with one another to form a Record 10 by
an Index File (Index) 14.
In alternate implementations, the Pages 12 of a Record 10 may be contained
within a single file or object, with the relationship between the Pages 12
being defined by the internal structure and format of the file, or object,
thereby eliminating the need for an Index 14 for each Record 10.
As represented in FIGS. 2 and 3, each page of a form document is defined by
a Form Definition Table (FDT) 16 and one or more Background Bit Maps
(BBMs) 18 and may include one or more Graphic Areas (GAs) 20, each defined
by a Graphic Bit Map (GBM) 22, and one or more Text Areas (TAs) 24, each
defined by a Text Buffer (TB) 26.
Each BBM 18 contains a bitmap of the background image of a Page 12 or a
portion of a Page 12 and comprises the text, lines, borders and images
appearing on a "blank" copy of a form. In the present implementation this
background image data is not modifiable by the user but is provided from a
library of background
.sup.4 Macintosh is a trademark of Apple Computer Corporation. image
bitmaps generated, for example, by a separate graphic application program
or as scanned images.
Each GA 20 is an area of the Page 12 containing user entered data in the
form of a graphic image or images and the graphic image or images in a
given GA 20 are contained in a corresponding GBM 22. As will be described
further below, the graphic image data may be entered directly by the user,
for example, by use of a graphics editor, or by linking or copying in from
another file or object containing the graphic data and may be modified by
the user. The graphic data appearing in a GA 20 and stored in the
corresponding GBM 22 may include handwritten script which can be entered
by the user using a pen type device and which will appear as image data.
Each TA 24 is an area of the Page 12 containing user entered data in the
form of text and the text in a given TA 24 is stored in a corresponding TB
26 as an array of ASCII characters. Text data is entered by the user
through a keyboard and text editor, is modifiable by the user, and may
also include autofilled data.
Finally, each FDT 16 is comprised of a plurality of Definition Entries
(DEs) 28 wherein each DE 28 either identifies a BBM 18, a GA 20 or a TA
22, wherein the GBM 22 associated with the GA 20 or the TB 26 associated
with the TA 22 will be allocated in MEM 52 by the system operating in
response to the FDT 16.
Each DE 28 defines the Location 30 and Extents 32 of the GA 20 or TA 24 in
the Page 12, usually by identifying the x,y coordinates of a corner of the
area on the page and the length and width of the area with respect to the
x,y dimensions of the Page 12. The x,y coordinates and dimensions of the
areas are expressed in pixels or image bits of the Page 12 for convenience
and ease of creation and editing in the present implementation of the
system and method because the areas of a Page 12 and the graphic and text
data appearing in the areas of a Page 12 are defined as bitmapped images.
Other coordinate and dimensional conventions may be used in alternate
embodiments of the system, such as dimensions in centimeters, inches or
points, with corresponding adaptations in the graphics and text editors
that will be well understood by those of skill in the relevant arts.
Each DE 28 associated with a TA 24 and its associated TB 26 will also
contain Text Format Data (TFD) 34 which defines the orientation and
spacing of lines of text entered into the TA 24 and associated TB 26, and
the size and spacing of the characters.
It has been described above that each DE 28 defines the locations and
extents of a corresponding GA 20 or TA 24. In accordance with these
definitions, a graphics or text editor operating on a GA 20 or TA 24 will
not enter data in the areas outside of the defined GA 20 or TA 24. That
is, a drawn line or script or imported image will stop at the edge of a GA
20 and text entered into a TA 24 will enter according to the defined line
and character spacing and size definitions and will word wrap when the
edge of the TA 24 is reached. When the bottom of the TA is reached, that
is, when the defined TA 24 and TB 26 is full, the associated TB 26 will
accept no more text.
As will be described further below, the GAs 20 and TAs 24 of a Page 12 and
their associated GBMs 22 and TBs 26 are essentially independent of all
other GAs 20 and TAs 24 of the Page 12, so that GAs 20 and TAs 24 may
overlap on a Page 12. For example, it is possible to define a GA 20 or TA
24 which essentially occupies the entirety of a Page 12, so that a user,
for example, may thereby "handwrite" script annotations at any point on
the Page 12. The sole exception to overlapping areas is that, in the
present implementation of the invention, TAs 24 are not allowed to overlap
due to the complexities in managing overlapping TAs 24.
As will also be described below, the various GAs 20 and TAs 24 of a Page 12
are ORed to compose the image of the Page 12, so that the graphic and text
data of overlapping GAs 20 and TAs 24 will overlap on the composite
representation of the Page 12. A user may thereby import a graphic image
into a GA 20 of a Page 12 and annotate that image with "hand drawn" or
"hand written" drawing or script in that GA 20 or in an overlapping GA 20
or with "typed" character text in an overlapping TA 24.
Each DE 28 may further include a Type Identification (Type) 36 of the type
of data appearing in the corresponding GBM 22 or TB 26 and this
information is used to control the types of data that may be entered by a
user into the corresponding GA 20 or TA 24. In this regard, the present
implementation identifies a given area as a GA 20 or as one of three types
of TA 24. Of the three types of TA 24, the first is a "plain text" TA 24,
wherein the text data is entered entirely by the user and may be modified
or edited at will by the user. The second type of TA 24 is an "autofill
with plain text" TA 24 wherein part of the text data is autofilled text
and part is entered and modified or edited at will by the user. The third
is a "display only autofill" TA 24 wherein the text data is entirely
autofill data and wherein the user may not modify or edit the text in the
area.
With respect to the above described types of TAs 24 which may contain
autofilled data, the associated DE 28 may further include one or more
Autofill Identifications (AUIDs) 38 of Autofill Data (AUD) 40 which is to
appear in the corresponding TA 24. AUD 40, in turn, is text data which is
automatically filled into a TA 24 when the corresponding Page 12 is
invoked for creation or editing and, for example, may be linked or
automatically copied or updated from another file or object. It should be
noted that while the references to autofill data are represented herein as
being resident in the corresponding DE 28, these references may
alternately be embedded in the data of the corresponding TB 26 in the
manner well known to those with the object linking and embedding functions
of Microsoft Windows.
Finally, and as will be described in further detail below in the
description of a system implementing the present invention, the form
document editor of the present invention implements an intelligent text
import mechanism. In intelligent text import, an AUD 40, which is
comprised of a string or Array of Text Characters (ATC) 42, may contain
one or more Text Substitution Prompts (TSPs) 44 embedded in the ATC 42
wherein each TSP 44 indicates a position in the autofill text data wherein
corresponding User Prompted Text (UPT) 46 is to be entered by the user.
This operation is illustrated in FIG. 3 by TSPs 44a and 44b appearing in
ATC 42 of the original, stored version of an AUD 40 and corresponding UPTs
46a and 46b appearing in the ATC 42 of the version of the AUD 40 which
appears in the TA 24 that the autofill text is inserted into.
Each TSP 44 is located in the autofill text data, that is, in the ATC 42,
at the location the user entered data, that is, the UPT 46, is to appear
and contains a prompt message to the user indicating to the user what text
data should appear in the corresponding UPT 46, either directly or by
linking or reference to a prompt message stored elsewhere. As will be
described below, the text import mechanism will substitute the UPT 46 text
data entered by the user for the corresponding TSP 44 originally appearing
in the AUD 40. The ATC 42 of the AUD 40 will thereby appear in the TA 24
with UPTs 46 in place of and in the same locations as the TSPs 44 in the
original version of the ATC 42 of the AUD 40. The ATC 42 of the AUD 40
will thereby become part of the Page 12 generated by the user, but with
the user entered UPTs 46 in place of the TSPs 44.
B. Form Document System (FIG. 4)
Referring to FIG. 4, there in presented a diagrammatic representation of a
System 48 implementing the form document creation and editing system of
the present invention. As described above, present invention is
implemented in an integrated operating environment, such as Microsoft
Windows, and the general and well understood functionality and
capabilities of the integrated operating environment is used to implement
the present invention. As such, many of the functions, such as those
implemented through Application Program Interface (API) calls to the
functions implemented in the operating environment will not be shown in
detail.
As represented in FIG. 4, the FDT 16 and the BBMs 18, GBMs 22 and TBs 26 of
the Page 12 presently being operated upon and the integrated operating
environment (IOE) 50 reside in assigned areas of a System 48 Memory Space
(MEM) 52, respectively designated as MEM 52a, MEM 52b, MEM 52c and MEM
52d, and are operated upon by and use various control and editing
mechanisms operating through a Processor 54. As is well understood in the
art, MEM 52 includes System 48's operating memory, such as random access
memory, and System 48's storage memory, which may include disk drives,
tape units, file servers, and other systems.
Associated with GBMs 22 and TBs 26 are, respectively, a Graphics Editor
(GED) 56 and a Text Editor (TED) 58, which will usually reside in MEM 52,
operate within IOE 50 and operate upon GBMs 22 and TBs 26 through
Processor 54. GED 56 and TED 58 may be editors designed specifically for
System 48 or purchased editor programs having the necessary capabilities,
both of which are well understood and common in the art. GED 56 and TED 58
may also be implemented largely or wholly through the functions provided
within IOE 50, again as well understood in the art.
GED 56 operates with and upon graphics elements, that is, lines, graphic
shapes, and "handwritten" script text, and accordingly preferably receives
its primary inputs from an analog device, such as a mouse, a trackball or,
preferably, a pen and tablet. GED 56's primary input is therefore
represented as provided from a pen and tablet device designated as Pen 60.
TED 58 operates with and upon text comprised of characters and accordingly
receives its primary inputs, that is, text characters and text editing
commands, from a Keyboard (KB) 62. It should be noted, however, that
certain inputs to GED 56 and TED 58 may be provided from either of Pen 60
or KB 62. For example, menu control and pick inputs to both GED 56 and TED
58 may be provided from either or both of Pen 60 or KB 62, that a Pen 60
input may be used to indicate the location of TED 58's text entry cursor,
and that the Pen 60 input may be used to designate blocks of text to be
operated upon by TED 60, as in text copy, cut and move operations
As indicated, GED 56 and TED 58 are provided with data access to FDT 16,
thereby reading the DEs 28 stored therein to determine the respective GAs
20 and TAs 24 in which they may operate, the locations and extents of the
GAs 20 and TAs 24, and, in the instance of TED 58, the line and character
spacing and size defined for each TA 24.
TED 58 will also use the information from the DEs 28 to determine whether
there is autofill data associated with a TA 24 in which the editor is
presently operating and will use this information to access the autofill
data. As described previously, autofill data may be linked from another
source through the functions of IOE 50, as provided by the object linking
and embedding functions of Microsoft Windows and similar IOEs 50, and GED
56 or TED 58 will issue to appropriate call to invoke the automatic fill
of the data. The autofill data residing in one or more AUD 40s is
represented in FIG. 4 as residing in yet another assigned area of MEM 52,
designated therein as MEM 52e.
As described, the ATC 42 of an AUD 40 may contain one or more TSPs 44
wherein each TSP 44 indicates a position in the autofill text data wherein
corresponding UPT 46 is to be entered by the user in substitution for the
TSP 44. The intelligent text import operation is performed through
Intelligent Text Substitution Parser (ITSP) 64 which, as indicated in FIG.
4, has an input from the AUDs 40 to receive the text characters of an AUD
40's ATC 42 being inserted into an autofill area of a TA 24, and an
autofill text output to TED 58. TED 58 receives the text characters of the
ATC 42 of the AUD 40 and inserts the text characters into the TA 24's TB
26 in the same manner as text characters entered by a user through KB 62.
ITSP 64 parses the string of text characters of the ATC 42 of an AUD 40
being read to TED 58 for insertion into a TB 26 to detect the presence of
each TSP 44 therein. Upon detecting a TSP 44, ITSP 64 will halt the
reading of the text characters to TED 58 and provide the prompt message
contained in the TSP 44 to be displayed to the user to prompt or advise
the user regarding the text, that is, the UPT 46 text characters to be
entered into this location in the ATC 42 of the AUD 40. The user will then
use KB 62 to enter the prompted alphabetic or numeric characters and will
signal to ITSP 64 that the UPT 46 text has been entered, for example, by
entering a RETURN or ENTER keystroke. ITSP 64 will then resume reading the
characters of the ATC 42 to TED 58 until either the end of the ATC 42 is
reached or until another TSP 44 is detected, at which point the steps just
described will be repeated.
It should be noted that in implementations of System 48 which do not
include intelligent text import, ITSP 64 will not be present and AUD 40
text data will be provided directly to TED 58.
Next considering the generation of the composite Page 12 image to be
displayed to the user as the user edits or modifies the original form
document, the graphics and text image data generated by and operated upon
by GED 56 and TED 58 have been previously described as stored in GBMs 22
and TBs 26, respectively, and GED 56 and TED 58 accordingly have
interfaces with GBMs 22 and TBs 26 for these purposes.
As previously described, the background, graphics and text image elements
comprising a Page 12 and stored in BBM 18, GBM 22 and TB 26 are combined
by an ORing operation to create the Composite Image (COMPI) 66 of the Page
12, which resides in a Display Memory (DSPMEM) 68 and which is displayed
to the user through a Display 70. As represented in FIG. 4, this ORing
operation is per | | |
