TEMPORARY HIGHLIGHTING OF SELECTED FIELDS

• US 20140372863A1
• Filed: 06/17/2013
• Published: 12/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Ritter, Gerd, Wilmer, Guenter
• Granted Patent: US 9,928,220 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/231
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/117 Tagging; Marking up details of markup languages G06F40/143; Designating a block; Setting of attributes style sheets, e.g. eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformation [XSLT], G06F40/154

Abstract

Approaches are presented for temporary highlighting of selected fields of a document. For example, a user can select which fields of a document or class of documents he wishes to have highlighted. The user can also select (a) when he wishes the selected fields to be highlighted, for example, if a field exceeds a threshold and/or (b) how he wishes the selected fields to be highlighted, e.g., overlay the field with a contrasting color. When the user performs a specified action, for example, opens a document, the selected field is selectively highlighted according to the rules for when and how to highlight the selected field. This can help a user quickly recognize important fields in the context of the document.

Claims

1. A method of configuring automated highlighting of selected fields of a document comprising:

selecting one or more fields to be highlighted;

assigning one or more rules for the selected fields, the assigned rules specifying how the selected fields are to be highlighted for a temporary duration; and

saving the selected fields and assigned rules.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more fields are selected by one or more of a company, a partner, a key user or an end user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more rules are assigned by one or more of a company, a partner, a key user or an end user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more fields are selected and the one or more rules are assigned for an application that is capable of rendering the document.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more fields are selected and the one or more rules are assigned for a class of documents that includes the document.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more rules control at least one of a color, font size, and transition of the highlighting.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more rules control the temporary duration.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more rules indicate use of highlighting of a given field of the one or more fields based on whether the given field exceeds a threshold value specified for the given field.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more fields is a table column.

10. A computing device adapted to perform a method of highlighting selected fields of a document, the method comprising:

retrieving one or more rules specifying how to highlight one or more fields;

when a specified action occurs, selectively highlighting the one or more fields according to the one or more rules, wherein the one or more fields are selectively highlighted for a temporary duration; and

after the temporary duration has ended, un-highlighting any of the one or more fields that were highlighted according to the one or more rules.

11. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the highlighting comprises displaying the one or more fields with at least one of a larger font size and a bolded font.

12. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the temporary duration is a number of seconds specified according to one of the one or more rules.

13. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the one or more rules include a comparison to a threshold value, and wherein if a given field of the one or more fields does not exceed the threshold value, highlighting of the given field is skipped.

14. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the specified action comprises opening the document.

15. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the specified action comprises moving a pointer of a graphical user interface over one of the one or more fields.

16. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the specified action comprises a combination of key presses.

17. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for causing a processor programmed thereby to perform a method comprising:

selecting one or more fields to be highlighted;

assigning one or more rules for the selected fields, the assigned rules specifying how the selected fields are to be highlighted for a temporary duration; and

saving the selected fields and assigned rules.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein a configuration box is presented to a user to select the one or more fields, to select a behavior of the highlighting and/or to assign one of the one or more rules.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the one or more fields are selected and the one or more rules are assigned for an application that is capable of rendering the document or for a class of documents that includes the document.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein a given rule of the one or more rules controls highlighting of a given field of the selected fields based on whether the given field exceeds a threshold value specified for the given field.