Scalable edit window and displayable position indicators for an electronic typewriter

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a system for displaying keyed-in characters in electronic typewriter applications. More particularly, the invention involves a display device for an electronic typewriter which displays a scalable edit window and position indicators for the window, both of which facilitate operator preview of keyed-in characters while providing location information of the characters with respect to a recording medium.

2. Description of the Related Art

Conventional electronic typewriters include some sort of display screen on which keyed-in characters are displayed prior to printing. However, to identify the position at which displayed characters will be printed, it is necessary for the operator to refer to a horizontally-engraved ruler located adjacent the printer carriage, or to a cursor position marker located on the printer head. To perform this task, the operator must, however, switch his/her focus from the display screen, where edit and keying operations are displayed, to the ruler or marker. When several edit operations are necessary, such cross-reference between the display screen and a ruler or marker causes great inconvenience and results in reduced efficiency. In addition, since such conventional rulers or markers only provide horizontal position information, the operator cannot determine the vertical line position or vertical span of the printed characters with respect to the paper.

Thus, there exists a need for a system which displays on a single display device, the spatial relationship of keyed-in characters with respect to the recording medium selected for printing. In particular, there exists a need for a system which provides horizontal and vertical positional information of keyed-in characters, with respect to the recording medium selected for printing the characters, so that the format of the characters on the recording medium may be previewed prior to printing. There also exists a need for a display device which facilitates the display of characters of a variety of font sizes on a single line, including very large font sizes.

In addition, since electronic typewriters generally print each line of characters as soon as keying-in of the characters is complete, the typewriter display screen is usually large enough to display only a single line. Even though markers indicating the horizontal position of the keyed-in characters may be available prior to printing, since only a single line is displayed the operator is generally unable to visualize where on the recording medium the line will be printed. Thus, to visualize the document he/she is formatting, the operator must either print a draft of the document or project an inherently inaccurate mental image of the unprinted document. Inconvenience, delay and inaccuracy are the resulting consequences.

Thus, there exists a need to provide the operator of an electronic typewriter with assistance in visualizing where on a page keyed-in characters will be printed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system for displaying a scalable edit window and position indicators for the window, both of which facilitate operator preview of keyed-in characters while providing location information of the characters with respect to a recording medium (or paper).

One aspect of the present invention is a system for providing a scalable edit window in which keyed-in characters may be previewed, the edit window having a height adjustable in accordance with font size of the keyed-in characters. A scalable edit window is displayed in accordance with a stored window height, and at least one keyed-in character is displayed in the edit window. The scalable edit window is sized to display a single line of text, and the keyed-in character is displayed in the scalable edit window in a size and font type representative of the corresponding character to be printed. A font size of the keyed-in character is compared to the stored window height. If the font size is larger than the stored window height, the stored window height is replaced with the font size so as to provide an updated window height. The window height of the scalable edit window is adjusted in accordance with the updated window height.

Thus, this aspect of the present invention provides a system which displays on a single display device the spatial relationship of keyed-in characters in a size and font type representative of the corresponding character to be printed. It also facilitates the display of characters of a variety of font sizes mixed together in a single line, including very large and very small font sizes.

Another aspect of the present invention involves a system for providing a scalable edit window in which keyed-in characters may be previewed, the edit window having a width adjustable in accordance with a width of paper on which the characters will be printed. A scalable edit window is displayed in accordance with a stored window width, and at least one keyed-in character is displayed in the edit window. The scalable edit window is sized to display a single line of text, and the character being displayed in the scalable edit window is displayed in a size and font type representative of the corresponding character to be printed. It is then determined if a paper width sensor is present. If present, a paper width value is stored; if not present, a manually-entered paper width value is stored. The stored paper width is compared to a previously-stored window width. If the stored paper width is not the same as the previously-stored window width, the previously-stored window width is updated by replacing it with the newly-stored value so as to provide an updated window width. The window width of the scalable edit window is adjusted in accordance with the updated window width.

This aspect of the present invention provides the operator with a visualization of the spatial relationship of keyed-in characters in a size and font type representative of the corresponding characters to be printed. It also provides a display system which is responsive to the width of the recording medium, so that the operator will be provided with precise location information of keyed-in characters with respect to the recording medium.

A further aspect of the present invention is a system for providing position indicators for a scalable edit window in which keyed-in characters are displayed prior to printing on a recording medium. The position indicators indicate the position of the edit window with respect to the recording medium. A scalable edit window in which keyed-in characters are displayed prior to printing on a recording medium is displayed. A horizontal ruler and a vertical ruler for indicating the position of the edit window with respect to the recording medium are also displayed. The horizontal ruler comprises a left margin marker and a right margin marker which respectively indicate the left and right margins designated for formatting on the recording medium, whereas the vertical ruler comprises a line top marker and a line bottom marker which respectively indicate a top and a bottom of the editing window. A width of paper selected for printing the keyed-in characters is detected. A font size of the keyed-in characters and maximum printing capability of the apparatus are detected. A length of paper selected for printing the keyed-in characters is entered. A left margin value and a right margin value are also entered. The length of the horizontal ruler is adjusted in accordance with the width of the recording medium or in accordance with the detected maximum printing capability of the apparatus. The left margin marker and the right margin marker are also adjusted respectively in accordance with a left margin value and a right margin value. The length of the vertical ruler is adjusted in accordance with the entered length of paper. The line top marker and the line bottom marker are also adjusted in accordance with the detected font size of the keyed-in characters. The keyed-in characters are then printed.

This aspect of the present invention provides the operator with the spatial relationship of keyed-in characters with respect to the recording medium selected for printing. More specifically, horizontal and vertical position information of keyed-in characters are provided so that the format and position of characters on the recording medium may be previewed prior to printing.

Yet another aspect of the present invention involves a system for displaying a scaled image of a recording medium on which is indicated a position for pending print operations. A line of keyed-in characters is displayed in a first display area prior to printing on a recording medium. Size information for the recording medium and position information indicative of the pending print position for the keyed-in characters displayed in the first display area are stored. A scaled image of the recording medium is displayed in a second display area, which is preferably on the same screen as the first display area. The pending print position of the line of keyed-in characters displayed in the first display area is visually highlighted on the scaled image in the second display area in accordance with the stored position information.

This aspect of the present invention provides the operator of an electronic typewriter with assistance in visualizing where on a page keyed-in characters will be printed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the external appearance of a preferred embodiment of the electronic typewriter of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting structural elements within the electronic typewriter of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart which illustrates the procedure for selecting the application programs used in the method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a detailed functional block diagram depicting various functional elements within the electronic typewriter of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the scalable edit window, the horizontal ruler, the vertical ruler and the scaled image of a recording medium of the present invention as displayed on a monitor screen.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart which outlines the general operational flow of the method of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of the process steps for updating the height of the edit window.

FIG. 8 illustrates an alternate embodiment of the screen display used for previewing keyed-in characters.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of the process steps for updating the width of the edit window.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of the process steps for updating the length of the horizontal ruler.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of the process steps for updating the height of the vertical ruler.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of the process steps for updating the size and format information of the scaled image of a recording medium.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the electronic typewriter system 1 of the present invention. The electronic typewriter system 1 provides format and size information of keyed-in characters on a display prior to printing the displayed text. The electronic typewriter system 1 also provides precise location information of keyed-in characters with respect to a recording medium on which the characters are to be printed.

The electronic typewriter system 1 comprises display means 2 such as CRT monitor, an electronic typewriter 3, keyboard 5 and an integral printer 7 for printing on a recording medium such as paper 4. The electronic typewriter system 1 may optionally include a mouse 6.

The display means 2 displays keyed-in characters entered by the operator via keyboard 5. In a preferred embodiment, the display means 2 is a CRT monitor with a 14-inch, 15-inch or 17-inch screen. In an alternate embodiment, the display means 2 is a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen integrally mounted above the keyboard, such as in area 2a. The display means 2 permits the operator to preview the characters as they would appear when printed on a recording medium. The structure and manner of previewing characters on display means 2 will be discussed in greater detail below.

The keyboard 5 comprises a plurality of keys which facilitate operator input of textual information, such as alphanumeric characters. In an alternate embodiment, textual information may be entered by either voice recognition devices or an input device which recognizes handwritten data, or by reading a computerized disk file on floppy disk drive 12. The keyboard 5 further comprises a plurality of function keys including a backspace key, a return key and a space key. The function keys also include keys for selecting the printing mode and the font style of characters to be printed. The electronic typewriter system 1 stores these input characters in random access memory (RAM) pending printout by printer 7 on the recording medium.

The integral printer 7 prints out characters entered via keyboard 5 as stored in RAM. In an alternate embodiment, the electronic typewriter system 1 is connected to a separate printer.

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram illustrating the internal control and processing components of electronic typewriter system 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the electronic typewriter system 1 comprises a central processing unit (CPU) 10 such as an Intel 80286 or similar processor. As described earlier, the electronic typewriter system 1 also comprises a plurality of peripheral devices, such as a keyboard 5, mouse 6 and printer 7, which are in communication with the CPU 10 via peripheral controller 19. The peripheral controller 19 is connected to Input/Output (I/O) bus 11 which is in turn connected to the CPU 10. In the present embodiment, the I/O bus 11 connects to a storage device such as floppy disk drive 12 via a storage device controller 14. Similarly, the I/O bus 11 connects to a display unit 2 through a display controller 15.

Printer 7 may include a paper-length sensor 8 and a paper-width sensor 9, both of which also communicate with the CPU 10 via Input/Output bus 11.

A read only memory (ROM) 17 interfaces with system bus 18 to provide the CPU 10 with specialized and variant functions such as a start-up program and Basic Input Output System (BIOS) programs. ROM 17 also provides the CPU 10 with storage for its operating system (preferably a windowing operating system such as Microsoft Windows or GEOS by GeoWorks), as well as storage for several application programs, each of which provides electronic typewriter system 1 with different capabilities, such as word processing, spreadsheet, Rolodex and electronic typewriter applications, as will be discussed in detail in the following sections.

To execute stored program instruction sequences for the start-up program, BIOS programs or application programs, CPU 10 loads program instruction sequences of a specific program from the ROM 17 and executes those sequences, such as in response to word processing, spreadsheet, Rolodex and electronic typewriter applications. A random access memory (RAM) 16, which is also connected to CPU 10 via system bus 18, provides the CPU 10 with data storage such as storage for keyed-in characters.

In addition to storing process steps for controlling the operation of electronic typewriter system 1 and the applications program, the ROM 17 also stores font data for "What-You-See �on the monitor!-Is-What-You-Get �in the printed document!" (WYSIWYG) software. The WYSIWYG software permits keyed-in characters to be displayed on display means 2 in the same format, size and appearance as they are printed.

In a further embodiment, additional application programs such as user-purchased application programs not loaded on ROM 17 may be loaded in floppy disk drive 12 and run by the system 1.

Though not shown in FIG. 2, the electronic typewriter system 1 may also be provided with a network interface such as Ethernet or a token ring, which would provide networking capabilities, for example, to a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN).

FIG. 3 is an operational flow chart showing the selection and application of software used in the method of the present invention. Upon power-up, as indicated by a start state S301, the electronic typewriter system 1 proceeds to perform a Power-On Self-Test (POST) and initialization procedures as shown in step S302. Once initialized, the electronic typewriter system 1 allows the operator to select any one of the available operational modes corresponding to the application programs in ROM 17. Thus, as shown in step S302, the system 1 queries if a spreadsheet mode is desired. If the operator selects the spreadsheet mode, as shown in step S303, CPU 10 retrieves and executes program instruction sequences for the spreadsheet program from ROM 17, as shown in step S304.

In a preferred embodiment, a menu presenting a listing of various spreadsheet programs is displayed prior to the retrieval and execution processes. The operator may select to utilize any one of a number of conventional spreadsheet programs presented on the menu. Typical examples include BigCalc from Geoworks, Excel (Version Five) from Microsoft, Lotus 123 and Quattro Pro from Borland.

Upon completion of the spreadsheet program, the system 1 returns to step S303 to present further opportunity for program selection by the operator.

In one embodiment, word processing programs such as Geoworks' GeoWrite, WordPerfect for Windows, Microsoft's Word for Windows and Lotus' AmiPro for Windows, are presented. In another embodiment, a custom-written word processing program may be used.

Upon completion of the word processing program, the electronic typewriter system 1 returns to step S303 for operator selection of available programs.

If the operator selects to operate the Rolodex mode (step S307), the CPU 10 retrieves and executes the program instruction sequences for the Rolodex program from ROM 17, as shown in step S308. In one embodiment, a menu illustrating a number of conventional Rolodex programs, such as GeoWorks' GeoDex, Microsoft's Personal Organizer program, is presented prior to the retrieval and execution processes. In another embodiment, custom-written Rolodex programs may be presented to the operator.

Upon completion of the Rolodex application, system 1 returns to step S303 for further inquiries.

If the operator selects the electronic typewriter mode, CPU 10 retrieves and executes the program instruction sequences for the electronic typewriter program from ROM 17, as shown in step S310. In a preferred embodiment, a custom-written electronic typewriter program, such as that illustrated in the flow chart of FIG. 6, is presented. Advantageously, a menu depicting a number of other conventional electronic typewriter programs may also be presented prior to the retrieval and execution processes.

Upon completion of the electronic typewriter program, the system 1 returns to step S303, where it prompts the operator to select another program.

Other selections or applications may be provided, as shown in step S311.

Selection of the above-mentioned applications may also be facilitated by way of a menu generated by CPU 10 and displayed on display means 2.

FIG. 4 is a detailed functional block diagram depicting various functional elements which control edit window functions within the electronic typewriter system 1 of the present invention.

Memory 20, which is a predesignated memory location in RAM 16, stores a value representing the maximum possible horizontal printing capability of printer 7. In the present preferred embodiment, a sensor (not shown) senses the maximum horizontal printing. In an alternate embodiment, this capability is preset. In a further embodiment, the system 1 prompts the user to enter this value. Whatever its source, the value representing the maximum horizontal printing capability of the printer 7 is then stored in maximum horizontal printing capability memory 20.

Paper width memory 23 stores a value representing the width of the recording medium, as detected by paper-width sensor 9 from the paper inserted in printer 7. Alternatively, the system 1 prompts the user to enter this value. This detected or entered value is stored in paper-width memory 23. Based on the value stored in printing capability memory 20 or the value stored in paper-width memory 23, a horizontal ruler controller 25 controls how a horizontal ruler is displayed on display means 2.

Similarly, the paper-length sensor 8 detects the length of the paper inserted into the printer 7 and this value is stored in paper-length memory 21 in RAM 16. In an alternate embodiment, the system 1 prompts the user to enter this value. Based on this value, a vertical ruler controller 26 controls how a vertical ruler is displayed on display means 2. The vertical ruler controller 26 also monitors the font sizes of keyed-in characters. Where a change in font size is detected, the value of the new font size is stored in font-size memory 22. The value stored in font-size memory 22 is also used by the vertical ruler controller 26 to control how the vertical ruler is displayed on display means 2.

The value stored in font-size memory 22 is also monitored by an edit window height controller 27 in CPU 10. Based on this value, the edit window height controller 27 controls how the height of the edit window 30 is displayed on display means 2.

The value stored in paper-width memory 23 is also monitored by an edit window width controller 28. Based on this value, the edit window width controller 28 re-sizes the width of the edit window 30, and sends a command to the display means 2 to display the width of the re-sized edit window 30.

A scaled image controller 29 in CPU 10 also monitors the left, right, top and bottom margin locations for the document presently being edited. In a preferred embodiment, the system 1 prompts the user to enter these values. In an alternate embodiment, these values are preset. The values representing the left, right, top and bottom margin locations are stored in a page format memory 24 stored in RAM 16. The value stored in the page format memory 24 and the values stored in the paper-length memory 21, the font-size memory 22, and the paper-width memory 23 are used by the scaled image controller 29 in CPU 10 to control how a scaled image of the recording medium is displayed on display means 2.

In a preferred embodiment, the scaled image controller 29 also monitors the position of a cursor in the edit window which indicates the position where the next keyed-in characters will be displayed. The value representing this cursor position is stored in a cursor position memory (not shown) and is used by the scaled image controller 29 to control highlighting in the scaled image, as described below in connection with FIG. 5. In another preferred embodiment, the value stored in the cursor position memory is also used by the horizontal ruler controller 25 to control how a cursor marker (39 in FIG. 5) is displayed on display means 2.

FIG. 5 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a scalable edit window 30, a horizontal ruler 31, a vertical ruler 32 and a scaled image 33 as presented on the screen of display means 2.

The scalable edit window 30 has a width 34 which is substantially the same width as the paper currently being used with the electronic typewriter, and a height 35 which is substantially the same height or font size as one line of displayed characters. The scalable edit window 30 displays keyed-in characters, as will be discussed in greater detail in the following sections. In an alternate embodiment, the width of edit window 30 is constrained by the maximum printing capability of printer 7.

In a further embodiment, the scalable edit window 30 is scrollable in a horizontal direction. For example, where a display screen limits the display of the entire line of keyed-in characters, the edit window width controller 28 scrolls the edit window horizontally, as each character beyond the horizontal span of the display screen is entered. This feature enables all keyed-in characters to be previewed by the operator. The edit window 30 also displays a cursor 38 in a position which indicates where the next character will appear (or will be edited).

The horizontal ruler 31 has a width which varies in accordance with the paper width and the vertical ruler 32 has a height which varies in accordance with the current character font size. Both the horizontal and the vertical rulers 31, 32 have markers which indicate the horizontal and vertical positions of the line to be printed. In the case of the horizontal ruler 31, the markers are left and right margin markers 36, 37 which together indicate the horizontal boundaries within which the displayed characters will be printed. In addition, the horizontal ruler 31 has a cursor marker 39 which indicates the horizontal position of the final displayed character. In the case of the vertical ruler 32, the markers are line top marker 40 and line bottom marker 41 which together indicate the vertical boundaries of the edit window 30. The line top marker 40 and line bottom marker 41 also indicate the vertical boundaries within which the characters currently displayed will be printed. The vertical ruler 32 also has a top margin marker (not shown) and a bottom margin marker (not shown) which together indicate the vertical margins of the recording medium.

Scaled image 33 is a representational image of the recording medium on which keyed-in characters will be printed. The scaled image 33 is positioned in a second display area 34 on the same screen in which edit window 30 is displayed in a first area. The scaled image has a length and a width respectively representative of the length and width of the actual paper currently inserted in the printer. Positioned on the scaled image 33 is an editable zone 44, a current editing line 45, and a cursor 46. The border of editable zone 44 is visually shown as a dotted line 44a representative of the left margin, the right margin, the top margin and the bottom margin of the recording medium. A highlighted area 45 superimposed on the editable zone 44 represents the position on the recording medium that window 30 corresponds to. A darker highlighted area 46 superimposed on area 45 represents the width of the next editing character in the edit window 30. This area 4