Number formatting framework
First Claim
1. An apparatus for use in a computer system having a processor and a storage, the apparatus converting numerical information between a first format and a binary number and comprising:
- (a) a canonical number formatter object in the storage which translates numerical information between a standard intermediate form and a binary number;
(b) a number formatter framework residing in the storage having a plurality of number formatting classes arranged in a class hierarchy, each of the plurality of number formatting classes having methods for converting numerical information between one of a plurality of first formats and the standard intermediate form; and
(c) means responsive to numerical information in the first format for polymorphically instantiating a number formatting object from one of the plurality of number formatting classes.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for formatting numerical information. An object-based operating system provides various number formatting services. Some objects scan text and convert the text to numerical information, and convert non-text numerical information to text, and convert between different numerical formats and languages. The system provides a common ground from which application programs can speak a seemingly common numerical language without specifying the details of converting numerical information between systems of representation. The present system relieves application developers of the burden of handling details of numerical information, and provides ease of information transfer between monetary systems and cultures having differing languages. The system also provides for conversion between number formats to allow for easier processing and/or comprehension of the numerical information, and normalization and alignment of any textual representation of numeric information.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. An apparatus for use in a computer system having a processor and a storage, the apparatus converting numerical information between a first format and a binary number and comprising:
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(a) a canonical number formatter object in the storage which translates numerical information between a standard intermediate form and a binary number; (b) a number formatter framework residing in the storage having a plurality of number formatting classes arranged in a class hierarchy, each of the plurality of number formatting classes having methods for converting numerical information between one of a plurality of first formats and the standard intermediate form; and (c) means responsive to numerical information in the first format for polymorphically instantiating a number formatting object from one of the plurality of number formatting classes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer implemented method for use in a computer system having a processor and a storage, the method converting numerical information between a first format and a binary number, and comprising the steps of:
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(a) constructing a canonical number formatter object in the storage which translates numerical information between a standard intermediate form and a binary number; (b) storing a number formatting framework having a plurality of number formatting classes arranged in a class hierarchy, each of the plurality of number formatting classes having methods for converting numerical information between one of a plurality of first formats and the standard intermediate form; (c) polymorphically instantiating a number formatting object from one of the plurality of number formatting classes in response to numerical information in the first format; and (d) converting the numerical information in the first format to a binary number using methods in the number formatting object. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A computer program product for use in a computer system having a processor and a storage, the computer program product converting numerical information between a first format and a binary number and comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code thereon including:
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(a) program code for constructing a canonical number formatter object in the storage which translates numerical information between a standard intermediate form and a binary number; (b) a number formatter framework having a plurality of number formatting classes arranged in a class hierarchy, each of the plurality of number formatting classes having methods for converting numerical information between one of a plurality of first formats and the standard intermediate form; (c) program code for loading the number formatter framework into the storage; and (d) program code responsive to numerical information in the first format for polymorphically instantiating a number formatting object from one of the plurality of number formatting classes. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
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Specification