Apparatus, system and method of importing data arranged in a table on an electronic whiteboard into a spreadsheet

• US 20060012568A1
• Filed: 07/13/2004
• Published: 01/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/13/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kirkland, Dustin C., Rodriguez, Herman, Halcrow, Michael Austin, Hall, Kylene Jo
• Granted Patent: US 7,436,394 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/157
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0421 by interrupting or reflecting a light beam, e.g. optical touch-screen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/18 of spreadsheets form-filling G06F40/174

Abstract

An apparatus, system and method of importing data arranged in a table on an electronic whiteboard into a spreadsheet displayed in a computer system are provided. Generally, the spreadsheet and the table each include a plurality of grid cells. To determine where in the spreadsheet to display the data in the table, the location of the cursor in the spreadsheet is first established. This grid cell is used as a reference point. That is, data in the left-most/top-most grid cell on the table is displayed in the grid cell of the spreadsheet in which the cursor is located.

Claims

1. A method of importing data arranged in a table on an electronic whiteboard into a spreadsheet displayed in a computer system, the spreadsheet and the table including a plurality of grid cells, the computer including a displayed cursor, the method comprising the steps of:

determining a grid cell into which the cursor is located in the spreadsheet; and

using the grid cell of the spreadsheet in which the cursor is located as a reference point such that data in the left-most/top-most grid cell on the table is displayed in the grid cell of the spreadsheet in which the cursor is located.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein if the downloaded data is a bitmap image of information in the grid cells of the table, the bitmap image of information in each grid cell of the table is converted into machine-readable code.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein if there is more data to be downloaded than the table on the whiteboard can contain, after downloading the data, the table is erased in order to allow new data to be entered on the table, the cursor is moved to the cell into which the information in the left-most/top-most cell on the table is to be entered and the new information is downloaded.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining the grid cell into which the cursor is located in the spreadsheet includes the step of determining the number of grid cells in the table and the step of recording XY coordinates of each grid cell in the table.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein XY coordinates of each marking are recorded, the recoded XY coordinates of each marking for entering the marking into its appropriate grid cell in the spreadsheet.

6. A computer program product on a computer readable medium for importing data arranged in a table on an electronic whiteboard into a spreadsheet displayed in a computer system, the spreadsheet and the table including a plurality of grid cells, the computer including a displayed cursor, the computer program product comprising:

code means for determining a grid cell into which the cursor is located in the spreadsheet; and

code means for using the grid cell of the spreadsheet in which the cursor is located as a reference point such that data in the left-most/top-most grid cell on the table is displayed in the grid cell of the spreadsheet in which the cursor is located.

7. The computer program product of claim 6 wherein if the downloaded data is a bitmap image of information in the grid cells of the table, the bitmap image of information in each grid cell of the table is converted into machine-readable code.

8. The computer program product of claim 7 wherein if there is more data to be downloaded than the table on the whiteboard can contain, after downloading the data, the table is erased in order to allow new data to be entered on the table, the cursor is moved to the cell into which the information in the left-most/top-most cell on the table is to be entered and the new information is downloaded.

9. The computer program product of claim 6 wherein the code means for determining the grid cell into which the cursor is located in the spreadsheet includes code means for determining the number of grid cells in the table and code means for recording XY coordinates of each grid cell in the table.

10. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein XY coordinates of each marking are recorded, the recoded XY coordinates of each marking for entering the marking into its appropriate grid cell in the spreadsheet.

11. An apparatus for importing data arranged in a table on an electronic whiteboard into a spreadsheet, the spreadsheet and the table including a plurality of grid cells, the apparatus comprising:

means for determining a grid cell into which a cursor is located in the spreadsheet; and

means for using the grid cell of the spreadsheet in which the cursor is located as a reference point such that data in the left-most/top-most grid cell on the table is displayed in the grid cell of the spreadsheet in which the cursor is located.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein if the downloaded data is a bitmap image of information in the grid cells of the table, the bitmap image of information in each grid cell of the table is converted into machine-readable code.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein if there is more data to be downloaded than the table on the whiteboard can contain, after downloading the data, the table is erased in order to allow new data to be entered on the table, the cursor is moved to the cell into which the information in the left-most/top-most cell on the table is to be entered and the new information is downloaded.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the means for determining the grid cell into which the cursor is located in the spreadsheet includes means for determining the number of grid cells in the table and means for recording XY coordinates of each grid cell in the table.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein XY coordinates of each marking are recorded, the recoded XY coordinates of each marking for entering the marking into its appropriate grid cell in the spreadsheet.

16. A system for importing data arranged in a table on an electronic whiteboard into a spreadsheet, the spreadsheet and the table including a plurality of grid cells, the system comprising:

at least one storage device for storing code data; and

at least one processor for processing the code data to determine a grid cell into which a cursor is located in the spreadsheet, and to use the grid cell of the spreadsheet in which the cursor is located as a reference point such that data in the left-most/top-most grid cell on the table is displayed in the grid cell of the spreadsheet in which the cursor is located.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein if the downloaded data is a bitmap image of information in the grid cells of the table, the bitmap image of information in each grid cell of the table is converted into machine-readable code.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein if there is more data to be downloaded than the table on the whiteboard can contain, after downloading the data, the table is erased in order to allow new data to be entered on the table, the cursor is moved to the cell into which the information in the left-most/top-most cell on the table is to be entered and the new information is downloaded.

19. The system of claim 16 wherein the code data for determining the grid cell into which the cursor is located in the spreadsheet is further processed to determine the number of grid cells in the table and to record XY coordinates of each grid cell in the table.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein XY coordinates of each marking are recorded, the recoded XY coordinates of each marking for entering the marking into its appropriate grid cell in the spreadsheet.