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Method and system for recognizing a graphic object's shape, line style, and fill pattern in a pen environment

  • US 5,287,417 A
  • Filed: 09/10/1992
  • Issued: 02/15/1994
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/10/1992
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. A method of recognizing a graphic object in a computer system, the computer system comprising a handwriting instrument and an electronic tablet, the graphic object comprising a shape attribute, a line style attribute, and a fill pattern attribute, the method comprising the steps of:

  • drawing the graphic object on the electronic tablet with the handwriting instrument to produce a plurality of data points, the data points comprising shape-defining data points and interior-defining data points, the shape-defining data points representative of the shape attribute and the line style attribute and the interior-defining data points representative of the fill pattern attribute, each data point having an x-coordinate and a y-coordinate;

    segmenting the plurality of data points into one or more strokes, wherein each stroke comprises one or more data points in a path traveled by the handwriting instrument after the handwriting instrument touches the electronic tablet and before the handwriting instrument is lifted off of the electronic tablet, the strokes comprising shape-defining strokes and interior-defining strokes, each shape-defining stroke having only shape-defining data points and each interior-stroke having only interior-defining data points;

    for selected ones of the data pointsmapping the data point to a normalized data point, the normalized data point having an x-coordinate and a y-coordinate that are within a predetermined range of values; and

    transforming the normalized data point into a transformed data point by rotating the normalized data point a preselected angle;

    determining an average number of data points per stroke;

    based on the average number of data points per stroke, determining the line style attribute of the graphic object;

    based on the largest and smallest x-coordinate of the data points, the largest and smallest y-coordinate of the data points, the largest and smallest x-coordinate of the transformed data points, and the largest and smallest y-coordinate of the transformed data points, determining the shape attribute of the graphic object;

    based on the largest and the smallest y-coordinate of the transformed data points, determining the slope of the shape attribute of the graphic object when the shape attribute is determined to be equal to a line;

    based on the x-coordinate and y-coordinate of the interior-defining data points, determining the fill pattern attribute of the graphic object; and

    selecting a representation of the graphic object corresponding to the determined line style attribute, the determined shape attribute, and the determined format attribute.

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