Method and system in an office application for providing content dependent help information

• US 20040139073A1
• Filed: 11/20/2003
• Published: 07/15/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Etorre, Yves-Nicolas, Bauchot, Frederic, Soler, Catherine, Harari, Albert
• Granted Patent: US 7,363,348 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/453 Help systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access

Abstract

The present invention discloses a system, method and computer program for providing on-line help information in an office application comprising one or a plurality of objects, said on-line help information (624, 642, 643) being dependent on the content (504) of a selected object (503). The method comprises the steps of: detecting (402) an on-line help command as a result of a user action; identifying a selected object (503); determining (403) if the selected object (503) comprises a user entry field; if the selected object (503) comprises a user entry field: identifying the content (504) of said user entry field; parsing (405) the content (504) of the user entry field to identify if any predefined keyword (301) is present, a keyword (302) being characterized by a character string (302); for each predefined keyword (301) identified in the content (504) of the user entry field: identifying (407) a predefined help information (303), if any, associated with the identified keyword (301), said help information specifying one or a plurality of parameters associated with said keyword; and one or plurality of formats and rules related to said one or plurality of parameters; parsing (408) the content (504) of the user entry field to identify the one or plurality of parameters specified in said predefined help information (303); verifying (410) that formats of the one of plurality of parameters within the user entry field satisfy formats specified in the predefined help information (303); verifying (409) that the one or plurality of parameters within the user entry field satisfy the rules specified in the predefined help information (303); if the content (504) of the user entry field does not satisfy a format or a rule specified in the help information of a predefined keyword identified in the content of the user entry field: correcting (409, 410) the content of the user entry field according to the one or plurality of formats and rules specified in the help information (303).

Claims

1. A method for providing on-line help information in an office application comprising one or a plurality of objects, said on-line help information (624, 642, 643) being dependent on the content (504) of a selected object (503), said method comprising the steps of:

detecting (402) an on-line help command as a result of a user action;

identifying a selected object (503);

determining (403) if the selected object (503) comprises a user entry field;

if the selected object (503) comprises a user entry field;

identifying the content (504) of said user entry field;

parsing (405) the content (504) of the user entry field to identify if any predefined keyword (302) is present, a keyword (301) being characterized by a character string (302);

for each predefined keyword (301) identified in the content (504) of the user entry field;

identifying (407) a predefined help information (303, 304), if any, associated with the identified keyword (301), said help information specifying one or a plurality of parameters associated with said keyword; and

one or plurality of formats and rules related to said one or plurality of parameters;

parsing (408) the content (504) of the user entry field to identify the one or plurality of parameters specified in said predefined help information (303);

verifying (410) that formats of the one of plurality of parameters within the user entry field satisfy formats specified in the predefined help information (303);

verifying (409) that the one or plurality of parameters within the user entry field satisfy the rules specified in the predefined help information (303);

if the content (504) of the user entry field does not satisfy a format or a rule specified in the help information of a predefined keyword identified in the content of the user entry field;

correcting (409, 410) the content of the user entry field according to the one or plurality of formats and rules specified in the help information (303).

2. The method according to the preceding claim comprising the further steps of:

for each predefined keyword (301) identified in the content (504) of the user entry field;

identifying a predefined help text (304), if any, in the help information (303, 304) associated with the identified keyword (302);

displaying (415) said predefined help text (304) preferably in a help window (640).

3. The method according to any the preceding claim wherein the step of displaying said predefined help text preferably in a help window, comprises the preliminary step of:

copying (413) the corrected content (642) of the user entry field in the predefined help text (624).

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the step of identifying the content of said user entry field comprises the further step of:

copying (404) the content (504) of the user entry field in a working buffer.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the step of correcting the content of the user entry field, comprises the further step of:

storing the corrected content in a working buffer.

6. The method according to any one of the preceding claim wherein said step of correcting the content of the user entry field, comprises the further step of:

displaying (415) the corrected content (642) preferably in a help window (640).

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims comprising the further step of:

copying (417) onto the selected object (513), the corrected content (514) of the working buffer as a result of a user action (416).

8. The method according to any one of the preceding claims comprising the further step of:

automatically copying onto the selected object (513), the corrected content (514) of the working buffer.

9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the one or plurality of predefined keywords (302) are recorded in a table (300), said table comprising for each predefined keyword (301):

a character string (302) identifying the keyword (301);

help information, if any, comprising;

a parameter template (303), if any, specifying one or a plurality of parameters associated with said keyword, and one or plurality of formats and rules related to said one or plurality of parameters; and

help text (304), if any, or a reference pointing to the location where the help text is recorded.

10. The method according to any one of the preceding claims comprising the preliminary step of:

defining one or a plurality of keywords (301);

recording said one or plurality of keywords in a table (300), said table comprising for each keyword;

a character string (302) identifying the keyword;

help information, if any, comprising;

a parameter template (303), if any, for specifying one or a plurality of parameters associated with said keyword, and one or plurality of formats and rules related to said one or plurality of parameters; and

help text (304), if any, or a reference pointing to the location where the help text is recorded.

11. The method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said office application is a multi-dimensional spreadsheet comprising a plurality of cells identified by a cell address along each dimension, said on-line help information being dependent on the content of a selected cell.

12. A system comprising means adapted for carrying out the method according to any one of the preceding claims.

13. A computer program comprising instructions adapted for carrying out the method according to claims 1 to 11 when said computer program is executed.