Computer generation of documents using layout elements and content elements

• US 20060174186A1
• Filed: 03/28/2006
• Published: 08/03/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Caro, Perry A., Pasqua, Joseph, Brotsky, Daniel C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,984,374 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/229
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/10 Text processing natural language analysis G06F40/20; semantic analysis G06F40/30; processing or translation of natural language G06F40/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/186 Templates

Abstract

Bindings are used to describe a document (and a different document) by associating content elements with layout elements, the layout elements defining layout features or placement information to be applied to the associated content elements in the document, the bindings being stored separately from both the content and layout elements.

Claims

1-11. -11. (canceled)

12. A machine-based method comprising:

using an application program to create content elements for use in documents, storing the content elements in a format native to the application program,

forming a content portfolio, based on the stored content elements, by storing unique binding site names associated with respective content elements, and storing information with each of the content elements that aids a formatter in generating documents based on the content elements and on layout elements stored in a layout portfolio.

13. The method of claim 12 in which the information that aids the formatter comprises attributes associated with is the content elements.

14. The method of claim 12 further comprising storing a binding specification which refers to the content elements.

15. The method of claim 12 in which the forming of the content portfolio also comprises storing implementation specific properties.

16. The method of claim 12 in which the forming of the content portfolio also comprises storing portfolio-specific attributes.

17. The method of claim 12 in which the forming of the content portfolio also comprises storing a list of binding sites of elements belonging to the content portfolio.

18. The method of claim 12 in which the forming of the content portfolio also comprises storing a list of groups of content elements belonging to the content portfolio.

19-20. -20. (canceled)

21. A medium storing a content portfolio capable of configuring a machine to enable generation of documents based on a content portfolio, a layout portfolio, and a binding specification, the content portfolio including content elements, names of unique binding sites associated with the content elements, and information configured to aid a formatter in generating the documents based on the content portfolio, the layout portfolio, and the binding specification.

22. The medium of claim 21 in which the information that aids the formatter comprises attributes associated with the content elements.

23. The medium of claim 21 in which the information that aids the formatter comprises implementation specific properties.

24. The medium of claim 21 in which the information that aids the formatter comprises portfolio-specific attributes.

25. The medium of claim 21 in which the information that aids the formatter comprises a list of binding sites of elements belonging to the content portfolio.

26. The medium of claim 21 in which the information that aids the formatter comprises a list of groups of content elements belonging to the content portfolio.

27. A machine-based method comprising using an application program to create layout elements for use in documents, storing the layout elements in a format native to the application program, forming a layout portfolio, based on the stored layout elements, by storing unique binding site names associated with respective layout elements, and storing information with each of the layout elements that aids a formatter in generating documents based on the layout elements and on content elements stored in a content portfolio.

28. The method of claim 27 in which the information that aids the formatter comprises attributes associated with the layout elements.

29. The method of claim 27 further comprising storing binding specifications that refer to the layout elements.

30. The method of claim 27 in which the forming of the layout portfolio also comprises storing implementation specific properties.

31. The method of claim 27 in which the forming of the layout portfolio also comprises storing portfolio-specific attributes.

32. The method of claim 27 in which the forming of the layout portfolio also comprises storing a list of binding sites of elements belonging to the layout portfolio.

33. The method of claim 27 in which the forming of the layout portfolio also comprises storing a list of groups of layout elements belonging to the layout portfolio.

34. A medium storing a layout portfolio capable of configuring a machine to enable generation of documents based on the layout portfolio, a content portfolio, and a binding specification, the layout portfolio including layout elements, names of unique binding sites associated with the layout elements, and information configured to aid a formatter in generating the documents based on the layout portfolio, the content portfolio, and the binding specification.

35. The medium of claim 34 in which the information that aids the formatter comprises attributes associated with the layout elements.

36. The medium of claim 34 in which the information that aids the formatter comprises implementation specific properties.

37. The medium of claim 34 in which the information that aids the formatter comprises portfolio-specific attributes.

38. The medium of claim 34 in which the information that aids the formatter comprises a list of binding sites of elements belonging to the layout portfolio.

39. The medium of claim 34 in which the information that aids the formatter comprises a list of groups of layout elements belonging to the layout portfolio.

40. A machine-based method comprising creating a binding specification for use in formatting documents based on the binding specification, content elements referenced by the binding specification, and layout elements referenced by the binding specification, and storing in the binding specification global bindings and direct bindings that aid the formatter in formatting documents.

41. The method of claim 40 in which the global bindings include a list of element bindings that define a default binding for elements of a specified type.

42. The method of claim 41 in which the global bindings include a list of model bindings that define a default model for a specified binding site.

43. The method of claim 40 in which the binding specification contains composition sequences that aid the formatter in formatting documents, the composition sequences defining the order in which formatting is to proceed using bindings between content elements and layout elements, each of the composition sequences including composition blocks containing ordered lists of direct bindings.

44. The method of claim 43 in which each of the direct bindings comprises a placement binding or a style binding.

45-49. -49. (canceled)

50. A method of formatting a document based on bindings, content elements, and layout elements, the bindings defining relationships between the content elements and the layout elements, the method comprising processing bindings that comprise placement bindings before processing bindings that comprise style bindings.

51. A machine-based method of formatting a document using stored content elements and stored layout elements, the stored content elements including content aspects and layout aspects, the method comprising determining whether the layout should be dominated by the layout components or the layout aspects of the content components.

52. The method of claim 51 in which the content elements include layout aspects and the bindings contain information sufficient to mediate a conflict between a layout aspect of a content element and a layout element with which the content element is associated.

53. A medium storing a machine-readable program that enables an application program to create layout elements for use in documents, stores the layout elements in a format native to the application program, forms a layout portfolio, based on the stored layout elements, by storing unique binding site names associated with respective layout elements, and stores information with each of the layout elements, that aids a formatter in generating documents based on the layout elements and on content elements stored in a content portfolio.

54. A medium storing a machine-readable program that enables creation of a binding specification for use in formatting documents based on the binding specification, content elements referenced by the binding specification, and layout elements referenced by the binding specification, and stores in the binding specification global bindings and direct bindings that aid the formatter in formatting documents.