Multi-versioned documents and method for creation and use thereof

• US 20050071755A1
• Filed: 07/28/2004
• Published: 03/31/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Harrington, Steven J., Manchala, Daniel W., Jhong, Yoon J., Wenn, John C. II, Seo, Youngseok, Omega, Noel S., Orlov, Leonid, Gloger, Paul B.
• Granted Patent: US 7,171,618 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/229
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/197 Version control for software G06F8/71

Abstract

The optimal version of a document can depend on the user'"'"'s need and the presentation device, and can govern choices of content as well as style. The content needed for multiple versions of a document can be included in a single document structure and identified by means of tags or by a content selection node. Tags allow the user to specify a desired version, while selection nodes allow the content to be automatically selected, styled and formatted to optimize a set of constraints. Content alternatives may be generated automatically from original content.

Claims

1. A method for creating a multi-version document, comprising the steps of:

identifying a first section of said document intended for representation in a first document version;

identifying a second section of said document intended for representation in an alternative document version;

tagging at least the second section of said document to indicate its association with said alternative version; and

storing at least a portion of the multi-version document as a single digital file including the first and second sections.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of tagging at least the second section of said document to indicate its association with said alternative version includes the step of inserting into the document a unique identifier to delimit the second section, wherein the identifier further indicates its association with said alternative version.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of tagging at least the second section of said document to indicate its association with said alternative version includes the steps of:

inserting into the document a plurality of alternative content nodes, each content node indicating an alternative selection; and

inserting into the document a selection node, said selection node indicating, in response to an alternative selection input, one of the plurality of alternative content nodes.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein each of said content nodes indicating an alternative selection is associated with one of a plurality of versions for the document.

5. The method of claim 3, further including the step of using the multi-version document to create a document version, wherein at least one alternative selection input is determined by a a variable of a constraint optimization problem solver, and the document version is created in response to the alternative selection input.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein a genetic algorithm is used as the constraint optimization problem solver, and the at least one alternative selection input is determined by a gene in a document genome.

7. The method of claim 3, further including the step of:

using the multi-version document to render at least two document versions, wherein at least one alternative selection input is determined by a gene in a document genome, such that the gene in the document genome is a variable of a constraint optimization problem, and the document versions are created in response to alternative values for at least one gene in the document genome; and

analyzing the document versions created to determine which of the at least two document versions is a preferred version in accordance with at least one predetermined criteria.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of analyzing the document versions created to determine which of the at least two document versions is a preferred version, includes:

(a) measuring a predetermined set of characteristics of each of the at least two document versions;

(b) quantizing the measured predetermined set of characteristics of each document version; and

(c) generating a quantized value for each document version based on a predetermined combining function, the predetermined combining function combining the quantized predetermined set of characteristics, the quantized value being a measure of quality of the document in accordance with the intended use of the document versions.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the content of said second section is generated automatically from the content of said first section.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said second section is selected from the group consisting of:

a compete text;

a hyperlink;

a summary of the complete text;

audio data representing the complete text converted to speech; and

a machine translation of the complete text to an alternative language.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said second section is selected from the group consisting of:

an image;

a thumbnail representation of the image;

a hyperlink to a file containing the image;

a descriptive text of the image;

the image cropped to a region of interest only;

a line drawing of the image edges only; and

a compressed encoding of the image.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said second section includes a presentation graphic.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said presentation graphic is selected from the group consisting of:

a color-to-texture mapped graphic;

a reduced size graphic;

a hyperlink to a file containing the graphic; and

a descriptive text associated with the presentation graphic.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said second section includes a content structure.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said content structure is selected from the group consisting of:

a hyperlink to a file containing the content structure;

a descriptive text or caption associated with the content structure;

a graphical thumbnail representation of the content structure;

an embedded rendition of the content structure content displayable in response to a user'"'"'s command.

16. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of rendering a version of the multi-version document for a user.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of rendering content selected according to an enclosing tag.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein said step of rendering a version of the multi-version document for a user comprises the steps of:

locating, within the stored digital document, a selection node;

inputting, to the selection node, information sufficient to cause the identification of at least one of the plurality of alternative content nodes associated therewith; and

outputting a version of the multi-version document including content from the identified at least one of the plurality of alternative content nodes.

19. A method for creating a multi-version document, comprising the steps of:

identifying a first section of said document intended for representation in a first document version;

identifying a second section of said document intended for representation in an alternative document version;

tagging at least the second section of said document to indicate its association with said alternative version;

storing at least a portion of the multi-version document as a single digital file including the first and second sections; and

rendering a version of the multi-version document for a user, including locating, within the stored digital document, a selection node, inputting, to the selection node, information sufficient to cause the identification of at least one of the plurality of alternative content nodes associated therewith, and outputting, in a user-determined format, a version of the multi-version document including content from the identified at least one of the plurality of alternative content nodes.