Automated document formatting tool
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Accused Products
Abstract
A formatting tool enables “smart” copy and paste functions. The “smart” copy and paste functions can be invoked in a context-sensitive manner, depending on the conditions under which the copy and paste functions are implemented. The present invention will automatically include in a selection a paragraph marker at the end of a selected paragraph, if every other textual character in the paragraph has been selected. The present invention will discard a paragraph mark that is included in pasted text if the pasted text is pasted into the middle of another paragraph, indicating that the user prefers the formatting of the pasted-into paragraph. The present invention also reduces inconsistencies in formatting styles that may exist between source and target documents automatically redefining a style in the target document to conform to a corresponding style in the source document. The present invention also automatically adjusts paragraph spacing, in response to text being pasted into a target document. In response to various scenarios, the present invention will determine the most likely paragraph spacing intended by the user and will apply the most probable paragraph spacing to the pasted paragraph. The present invention also automatically adjusts list, table, and spreadsheet formatting, in response to such document elements being pasted into a differently-formatted target document. Finally, the present invention provides a convenient recovery dialog that may be invoked to alter any automatically-implemented formatting decisions.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1-21. -21. (canceled)
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22. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:
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determine the selection of the document element;
determine the portion of the paragraph represented by the selected document element;
determine whether a paragraph mark is included in the selected document element; and
add the paragraph mark to the selected document element in response to a determination that the entire paragraph has been selected and that the paragraph mark has not been included in the selected document element. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method for eliminating a paragraph mark from a document element selected from a source document, the method comprising:
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determining the selection of the document element in the source document;
determining a paste point in a target document;
determining whether a paragraph mark is included in the document element;
determining whether the paste point is within a paragraph in the target document; and
eliminating the paragraph mark from the document element, in response to a determination that the paste point is within the paragraph in the target document and that the paragraph mark is included in the document element. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32)
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33. A method for eliminating empty paragraphs from a document, the method comprising:
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determining the selection of a document element in a source document;
determining a first number of preceding empty paragraphs adjacent to the document element;
determining a first number of following empty paragraphs adjacent to the document element;
determining a total of the first number of preceding empty paragraphs and the first number of following empty paragraphs; and
eliminating the following empty paragraphs from the source document, in response to a determination that the total is less than a first predetermined threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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Specification