Frame structure which provides an interface between parts of a compound document
First Claim
1. In a computer system for the creation and/or manipulation of compound documents, wherein a first component of a document is embedded in a second, containing component of the document and each component includes associated contents and a manipulator for those contents, an interface arrangement for defining the relationship between said first and second components, said arrangement comprising:
- means storing a first data structure containing information that is shared between said first and second components, said stored information including a first shape that is determined by said second component and which defines an area within said second component that is available for the placement of the contents of said first component, and a second shape that is determined by said first component and which defines the portion of said area in which the contents of said first component are actually located; and
means storing a second data structure associated with the first data structure and containing information regarding the geometric relationship between said first and second components, said information stored in the second data structure including a third shape that is determined by said second component and which defines a portion of said area in which the contents of said first component can be displayed.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A document-centered user interface architecture for a computer system employs parts as the fundamental building blocks of all documents. All data is stored in the system as a part, which is comprised of contents and an associated editor. The contents and the functionality of the editor are available to the user wherever the part is located, whether in a document, on a desktop or in a folder. Parts function as containers for other parts, thereby facilitating the compilation and editing of multimedia or compound documents. A data structure, labelled a frame, functions as an interface between a container part and an embedded part, and allows the two parts to negotiate with respect to graphic structure without requiring extensive knowledge of one another'"'"'s internal constraints.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. In a computer system for the creation and/or manipulation of compound documents, wherein a first component of a document is embedded in a second, containing component of the document and each component includes associated contents and a manipulator for those contents, an interface arrangement for defining the relationship between said first and second components, said arrangement comprising:
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means storing a first data structure containing information that is shared between said first and second components, said stored information including a first shape that is determined by said second component and which defines an area within said second component that is available for the placement of the contents of said first component, and a second shape that is determined by said first component and which defines the portion of said area in which the contents of said first component are actually located; and means storing a second data structure associated with the first data structure and containing information regarding the geometric relationship between said first and second components, said information stored in the second data structure including a third shape that is determined by said second component and which defines a portion of said area in which the contents of said first component can be displayed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for producing a compound document in a computer system of the type in which components of the document are stored as parts having contents and each part has an associated manipulator for its contents, wherein the compound document comprises a first part which is embedded within a second part, said method comprising the steps of:
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determining an area within the contents of said second part that is to be allotted to the contents of the first part; establishing a frame shape corresponding to said area and notifying the manipulator for the first part of said frame shape; determining, by means of the manipulator for the first part, the layout of the contents of said first part within said frame shape and determining a used shape corresponding to a subset of said area that is occupied by the contents of said first part, and notifying the manipulator for the second part of said used shape; determining, by means of the manipulator for said first part, an active shape which corresponds to a subset of said used shape and which is independent of said frame shape and said used shape; detecting user input events pertaining to the manipulation of the contents of the document; determining whether a user input event occurs within said active shape; presenting a detected user input event to the manipulator for said first part when it is determined to have occurred within said active shape; and responding to said detected user input by means of the manipulator for said first part. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. In a computer system of type in which a compound document comprises at least two parts where one part, the embedded part, is contained within the other part, the container part, and each part is comprised of contents and an associated manipulator for its contents, a method for providing a graphic display of the compound document, comprising the steps of:
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storing a frame data structure which includes information regarding a frame shape, which defines an area within the container part that is available for the embedded part, and a used shape, which defines an area within the frame shape that is actually used by the embedded part; determining a frame shape by means of said container part and providing a notification of the frame shape to said frame data structure; transforming the frame shape from coordinate space of the container part to coordinate space of the embedded part; providing the embedded part with a notification of the transformed frame shape; determining, by means of said embedded part, a used shape which conforms to the frame shape; providing the container part with a notification of the determined used shape; and displaying at least some of the contents of said embedded part within the area of said used shape. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification