SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GENERATING ONLINE DOCUMENTS

• US 20160342312A1
• Filed: 05/20/2015
• Published: 11/24/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hubin Jiang
• Original Assignee: Hubin Jiang
• Inventors: CHI, ShengXing, JIANG, Hubin, MIN, Rui, KOHUTE, Robert A.
• Granted Patent: US 10,303,350 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text

Abstract

A method and system facilitate online document generation and publication in true What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get fashion without requiring any programming or computer engineering skills. The online document may be a full website with any functions demanded including 3D features. They system includes a graphical user interface module configured to display on a user device display a working area for display to other users over a network and to display mechanisms for a user to manipulate the working area, and further configured to receive user input via the user device display, wherein the mechanisms displayed include one or more content objects configured to be placed in a desired location on the working area, and a coordinate system module configured to track absolute positions of the content objects placed on the working area, the coordinates including horizontal position, vertical position, and layer.

Claims

1. A system for generating online documents, comprising:

one or more computing devices comprising one or more processors and configured to execute modules, the modules comprising;

a graphical user interface module configured to display on a user device display a working area for display to other users over a network and to display mechanisms for a user to manipulate the working area, and further configured to receive user input via the user device;

wherein the mechanisms displayed by the graphical user interface module comprise one or more content objects configured to be placed in a desired location on the working area; and

a coordinate system module configured to track absolute positions of the content objects placed on the working area, the positions comprising horizontal position, vertical position, and layer, such that locations of content objects on the working area are tracked.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a repository configured to store electronic data; and

a decomposition and integrity organizer module configured to provide information to the graphical user interface module to determine what mechanisms are displayed and how they are displayed, and to send at least some of the received user input to the repository.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a relationship net module configured to record attributes of the working area and manipulations of the working area in nodes for subsequent restoration of a given manipulated working area to the user device display via the graphical user interface module, wherein the information relating to manipulations of the working area comprises, for each manipulation of the working area, manipulation location information, manipulation size information, and manipulation content information.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the content objects are configured to be placed anywhere on the working area, including overlapping and/or within other content objects on the working area.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the information relating to manipulations of the working area comprises, for each content object placed on the working area, any other content objects each content object is located within on the working area.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the content objects are configured such that, when one content object is moved from one location on the working space to another, all content objects which were placed within the one content object move with it.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the mechanisms displayed by the graphical user interface module comprise a sub working area configured to be placed in a desired location on the working area, and to be manipulated in the same way as the working area, and to be repositioned on the working area, all manipulations of the sub working area being repositioned with it.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the working area is configured to be displayed to other users dynamically according to the size of a screen on which it is displayed.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the working area is configured to be displayed on the user device exactly as it is configured to be displayed to other users.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the content objects placed on the working area comprise a first content object, wherein the absolute positions tracked by the coordinate system module comprise the positions on the working area of top left corners of rectangular cover boxes of sizes just sufficient to completely cover the content objects placed on the working area, including the position of a top left corner of a first rectangular cover box of a size just sufficient to completely cover the first content object, wherein sides of the rectangular cover boxes are parallel with horizontal and vertical axis of the working area.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein display order of items on the working area used for layout rearrangement when the working area is displayed to other users is determined by treating all items as having zero depth, then ordering the items from top to bottom and from left to right.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface module is configured to expand the working area when the user places a content object in a location extending off an edge of the working area, and to create a second working area for placement of the content object when the working area is set to a predefined page size.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a repository configured to store electronic data; and

a content management system module configured to manage received user input content by saving and deleting content in the repository, converting content formats for storage and/or display, and processing the user input content.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein processing the user input content comprises at least one of spell checking, content auto-generation, content search engine optimization, content indexing, content matching, data mining, and data analysis.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a repository configured to store electronic data; and

a repository controller module configured to manage the repository by keeping an indexing system for quick information storage and retrieval and managing the repository'"'"'s database and file system.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising a data integration channel module configured to interface between the repository and third party applications.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the mechanisms displayed by the graphical user interface module comprise editor tools wrapped around content objects placed on the working area.

18. The system of claim 1, further comprising a repository configured to store electronic data, the modules further comprising:

a decomposition and integrity organizer module configured to provide information to the graphical user interface module to determine what mechanisms are displayed and how they are displayed, and to send at least some of the received user input to the repository;

a relationship net module configured to record attributes of the working area in a net root and to record manipulations of the working area in nodes for subsequent restoration of a given manipulated working area to the user device display via the graphical user interface module, wherein the information relating to manipulations of the working area comprises, for each manipulation of the working area, manipulation location information, manipulation size information, and manipulation content information;

a content management system module configured to manage received user input content by saving and deleting content in the repository, converting content formats for storage and/or display, and processing the user input content;

a repository controller module configured to manage the repository by keeping an indexing system for quick information storage and retrieval and managing the repository'"'"'s database and file system; and

a data integration channel module configured to interface between the repository and third party applications.

49. The system of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface module is configured to display the working area to other users over a network as a website portion.

50. The system of claim 1, wherein the coordinate system module is configured to track locations of content objects on the working area without reference to other content objects.

51. The system of claim 8, wherein a layout of the working area is configured to remain the same regardless of the display size, except that when maintaining the layout would result in loss of viewability above a threshold, the layout is modified according to predetermined rules.

52. The system of claim 3, wherein the nodes comprise subnodes nested within one or more other nodes, wherein the subnodes correspond to manipulations of the working area positioned inside of manipulations corresponding to the one or more other nodes they are nested within on the working area.

19. A system for generating online documents, comprising:

one or more computing devices comprising one or more processors and configured to execute modules, the modules comprising;

a graphical user interface module configured to display on a user device display a working area for display to other users over a network and to display mechanisms for a user to manipulate the working area, and further configured to receive user input via the user device;

a relationship net module configured to record attributes of the working area and information relating to manipulations of the working area in nodes for subsequent restoration of a given manipulated working area to the user device display via the graphical user interface module;

wherein the information relating to manipulations of the working area comprises, for each manipulation of the working area, manipulation location information, manipulation size information, and manipulation content information.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein a unique ID is assigned to the working area and stored in one of the nodes.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the attributes of the working area comprise at least one of document name, author information, date/time of document creation, date/time of last update, thumbnail, and document description.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein each manipulation of the working area is recorded in a separate corresponding node, wherein the manipulation location information of each node comprises absolute position on the working area of a top left corner of a rectangular cover box of size just sufficient to completely cover the corresponding manipulation on the working area, wherein sides of the rectangular cover box are parallel with horizontal and vertical axis of the working area, and wherein the manipulation size information of each node comprises the width, height and depth of the cover box.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the information relating to manipulations of the working area comprise at least one of content body, content attributes, frame attributes, overlap rules, and sub nodes.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the content body comprises content of the manipulations including formatting information, the content attributes comprise metadata relating to the manipulations including date/time of creation and/or author, the frame attributes comprise control information defining the shape, color and/or size of an area in which the manipulation is displayed, overlap rules define a sequence, opacity and/or merging of overlapping manipulations, and subnodes list manipulations within a given manipulation.

25. The system of claim 19, wherein each node is implemented as a DIV element in HTML, and the information relating to manipulations of the working area is stored in attribute fields of the DIV element.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the relationship net module is further configured to save all DIVs as an html page in a database to save the given manipulated working area for later restoration, and configured to load the html page from the database and scan the DIV elements in the html page for restoration of the given manipulated working area.

27. A system for generating online documents, comprising:

one or more computing devices comprising one or more processors and configured to execute modules, the modules comprising;

a graphical user interface module configured to display on a user device display a working area for display to other users over a network and to display mechanisms for a user to manipulate the working area, and further configured to receive user input via the user device;

wherein the mechanisms displayed by the graphical user interface module comprise one or more content objects configured to be placed in a desired location on the working area; and

a 3D content transformer configured a) to apply 3D transformations to at least one of the content objects by giving the at least one of the content objects a three-dimensional appearance and/or by marrying the at least one of the content objects to a three-dimensional object, and/or b) to apply 3D transformations to the working area by creating a 3D environment in the working area for performing 3D actions on displayed content objects in the 3D environment.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the 3D content transformer is further configured to adjust attributes of the 3D transformations responsive to the received user input.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the attributes of the 3D transformations comprise at least one of floating height, rotation angle, shadow, and depth.

30. The system of claim 27, wherein the 3D content transformer comprises:

a coordinator module configured to receive information regarding content to be transformed, to store the information regarding the content to be transformed in a repository, to receive user interaction device events and control signals to effect manipulation of 3D content and/or environments;

a sensor controller module configured to receive input from one or more user interaction devices and to transmit events and control signals from the user interaction devices to the coordinator module;

a sub-content input module configured to allow the user to specify a sub-content and configured to provide the sub-content with its position and size information to the coordinator module, wherein the sub-content comprises a content object or area in a content object;

a content input module configured to allow the user to provide new content not placed on the working area, and configured to provide the new content to the coordinator module;

an instruction input module configured to allow the user to specify a transformation to be applied to provided sub-content and/or new content and configured to provide the specified transformation to the coordinator module;

a 3D content transformation module configured to receive the sub-content and/or new content from the coordinator module and transform the sub-content and/or new content according to the specified transformation;

a 3D environment transformation module configured to create a 3D environment on the working area;

a 3D composition module configured to receive the sub-content and/or new content processed by the 3D content transformation module, output from the 3D environment transformation module, and the specified transformation and to combine the processed sub-content and/or new content with the created 3D environment and animate the processed sub-content and/or new content according to the specified transformation, and further configured to manipulate the processed sub-content and/or new content responsive to input received by the sensor controller module; and

a display interface configured to process output from the 3D composition module to fit it to a specific display device and to display the output from the 3D composition module to the specific display device.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the specified transformation comprises at least one of floating, placing on one face of a card that is rotatable between two faces, and placing on a face of a cube that is rotatable between different faces.

32. The system of claim 30, wherein the sub-content input module, content input module, and/or instruction input module are interfaced with a third party application and accept inputs programmatically from the third party application.

33. The system of claim 30, wherein the user interaction devices comprise at least one of a mouse, a touch sensor, a keyboard, and a body position sensor.

34. The system of claim 30, wherein the manipulation of 3D content and/or environments comprises at least one of floating, rotating, lighting and animating.

35. The system of claim 30, wherein the specified transformation is no transformation and the sub-content and/or new content is passed through the 3D content transformation module in original form.

36. The system of claim 30, wherein the 3D environment comprises a three-dimensional object having multiple faces, wherein the faces are configured for content objects to be placed on them and the three-dimensional object is configured to be rotated to bring various of the faces to the front, facing the user, where a content object thereon is visible to the user.

37. The system of claim 30, wherein combining the processed sub-content and/or new content with the created 3D environment and animating the processed sub-content and/or new content according to the specified transformation comprises at least one of mapping the sub-content and/or new content onto faces of a three-dimensional object and floating the sub-content and/or new contact above one or more of the content objects on the working area.

38. The system of claim 30, wherein the combined processed sub-content and/or new content and created 3D environment is static and the sensor controller is configured to transmit the events and control signals from the user interaction devices directly to the 3D composition module or display interface.

39. The system of 30, wherein the display interface is part of a decomposition and integrity organizer module configured to provide information to the graphical user interface module to determine what mechanisms are displayed and how they are displayed, and to send at least some of the received user input to a repository.

40. A system for generating online documents, comprising:

one or more computing devices comprising one or more processors and configured to execute modules, the modules comprising;

a graphical user interface module configured to display on a user device display a working area for display to other users over a network and to display mechanisms for a user to manipulate the working area, and further configured to receive user input via the user device;

wherein the mechanisms displayed by the graphical user interface module comprise one or more content objects configured to be placed in a desired location on the working area; and

a universal content presentation module configured to create presenter containers and presenter program objects for display within the working area, responsive to the user input;

wherein presenter program objects are configured, when the working area is displayed over the network, to present content according to predetermined rules;

wherein presenter containers provide inputs, information and/or commands to presenter program objects within them, including providing the content to the presenter program objects as requested.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein each of the presenter containers comprises:

a container interface configured to recognize and communicate with an authorized presenter program object within the presenter container;

a document manager module configured to allow the user to specify documents the presenter container can provide to the presenter program object within the presenter container, and configured to track and make available documents requested by the presenter program object within the presenter container; and

an intelligence and action agent module configured to provide information regarding the working area to the presenter program object within the presenter container and to control behaviors by the presenter program object within the presenter determined to be threatening to the system.

42. The system of claim 40, wherein each of the presenter program objects comprises:

a presenter body configured to execute one or more actions for viewing by the other users;

an mechanisms module configured to set display attributes of the presenter program object;

a defaults module configured to set default values for the presenter program object; and

a presenter interface configured to recognize and share a communication protocol with a presenter container the presenter program object is within.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein the document manager module is configured to allow the user to specify documents the presenter container can provide to the presenter program object within the presenter container by specifying rules as to how documents in a document repository may be provided to the presenter program object within the presenter container.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein the rules as to how documents in a document repository may be provided comprise rules that only documents in a certain date/time range, having certain subject matter, and/or containing specified keywords and/or other content may be provided.

45. The system of claim 42, wherein executing one or more actions for viewing comprises displaying documents provided by the presenter container the presenter program object is within.

46. The system of claim 42, wherein executing one or more actions for viewing comprises executing a computer game for the other users to play.

47. The system of claim 42, wherein the attributes of the presenter program object comprise at last one of background color, size, and border color.

48. A method for generating online documents, comprising:

displaying on a user device display a working area for display to other users over a network and displaying mechanisms for a user to manipulate the working area;

receiving user input via the user device;

wherein the mechanisms displayed by the graphical user interface module comprise one or more content objects;

placing at least one of the content objects in a desired location on the working area;

tracking absolute positions of the content objects placed on the working area, the positions comprising horizontal position, vertical position, and layer, such that locations of content objects on the working area are tracked;

storing electronic data in a repository;

providing information to the graphical user interface module to determine what mechanisms are displayed and how they are displayed, sending at least some of the received user input to the repository;

recording attributes of the working area and manipulations of the working area in nodes for subsequent restoration of a given manipulated working area to the user device display via the graphical user interface module, wherein the information relating to manipulations of the working area comprises, for each manipulation of the working area, manipulation location information, manipulation size information, and manipulation content information;

managing received user input content by saving and deleting content in the repository, converting content formats for storage and/or display, and processing the user input content;

managing the repository by keeping an indexing system for quick information storage and retrieval and managing the repository'"'"'s database and file system; and

interfacing between the repository and third party applications.