ENCODING, UPDATING, AND DECODING BARCODES IN A DOCUMENT

• US 20100072269A1
• Filed: 09/24/2008
• Published: 03/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Tien, Jonathan, Scott, Matthew R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,925,822 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/375
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/381 using identifiers, e.g. barcodes, RFIDs for URLs G06F16/9554
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems

Abstract

Method for inserting a barcode image in a document including receiving a request to encode one or more properties about the document as a barcode image in the document, the request being received through a document editor, generating the barcode image based on the properties, wrapping the barcode image inside a container object, and inserting the container object into the document.

Claims

1. A method for inserting a barcode image in a document, comprising:

receiving a request to encode one or more properties pertaining to the document as the barcode image in the document, the request being received through a document editor;

generating the barcode image based on the properties;

wrapping the barcode image inside a container object; and

inserting the container object into the document.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the properties comprise information that describes the document'"'"'s file.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the properties comprise information regarding path location, author, template, previous author, revision number, application name, creation date, last save time, total editing time, number of pages, number of words, number of characters, or combinations thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request to encode the properties comprises:

displaying the properties through a graphical user interface (GUI); and

receiving a selection of the properties through the GUI.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the barcode image comprises:

generating an aggregated string having the properties and one or more property values corresponding to the properties;

encoding the aggregated string into the barcode image; and

creating the barcode image.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adding a tag to the container object, the tag being used to identify the barcode may display the barcode information as “

<

property name>

;

<

property value>

<

new line character>

”

. In another implementation, the document editor application 60 may present the string to the user in its entirety as an aggregated string, or it may display the string in a format that may be easily interpreted by a user. Referring back to the example described in step 240, the document editor application 60 may present the aggregated string for the file path information in the following manner;

“

File Path;

C;

/Mydocs/document”

In another implementation, the barcode image may also include information pertaining to the author of the document. In that case, the aggregated string may be presented as;

“

File Path;

C;

/Mydocs/document Author;

User”

In yet another implementation, the document editor application 60 may be able to map the document to a file path location. If the aggregated string includes a file path location, the document editor application 60 may search the computing system 100 for the file path indicated in the aggregated string. If the file path is successfully located on the computing system 100, the document editor application 60 may subsequently open the document. Otherwise, the document editor application 60 may present the aggregated string to the user in an alternate form.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims. image among a plurality of objects in the document.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document based on the properties.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the XML document comprises a list of the properties, a list of values for each property, an indication for each property as to whether the property was selected to be encoded as the barcode image, or combinations thereof.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the XML document is part of the document'"'"'s format property bag.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the XML document is accessible by the document editor'"'"'s object model.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the document editor is a computer software configured to create, save, modify, and print the document.

12. A method for updating a barcode image in a document, comprising:

receiving a request to save, print, or update the document;

retrieving current property values of the document;

replacing the barcode image with a new barcode image based on the current property values; and

updating an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document to reflect the current property values of the document.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the current property values are stored in a 3-tuple data structure.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein replacing the barcode image comprises:

retrieving one or more properties that have been selected to be included in the barcode image;

generating the new barcode image based on the properties;

scanning the document for one or more container objects configured to store the barcode image; and

replacing the barcode image in each container object with the new barcode image.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein generating the new barcode image comprises:

generating an aggregated string corresponding to the properties that have been selected to be included in the barcode image and the current property values for the properties that have been selected to be included in the barcode image; and

encoding the aggregated string into the new barcode image.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the aggregated string comprises a format:

“

<

property name>

;

<

property value>

<

new line character>

”

.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein updating the XML document comprises replacing property values listed in the XML document with the current property values.

18. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

receive a barcode image;

decode the barcode image into an aggregated string;

determine whether the aggregated string comprises a file path;

search a computing system for the file path if the aggregated string comprises the file path; and

open a file corresponding to the file path if the file path is found on the computing system.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the barcode image comprises a digital image file obtained from a digital camera, a scanner, or an image file.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to present the aggregated string in a format such as “

<

property name>

;

<

property value>

<

new line character>

”

.