Computer-human interface system for compound documents
First Claim
1. In a computer system of the type having a display for displaying the contents of a document as it is created and edited and a pointing device for controlling the manipulation of elements of the document during editing, a computer-human interface for the creation and manipulation of compound documents, comprising:
- means storing all of the component objects of a document as parts, wherein each part comprises intrinsic contents and an associated manipulator for the contents;
means for displaying parts to a user;
means responsive to actuation of said device for enabling any displayed part to be selected by the user and moved within the display, and to be placed within another part such that it becomes a portion of the contents of said other part and its contents remain manipulatable by its associated manipulator; and
means for automatically determining a manipulator to be associated with a part within the computer and for launching the determined manipulator upon selection of the part so that its functionality becomes available to the user.
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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.
119 Citations
39 Claims
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1. In a computer system of the type having a display for displaying the contents of a document as it is created and edited and a pointing device for controlling the manipulation of elements of the document during editing, a computer-human interface for the creation and manipulation of compound documents, comprising:
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means storing all of the component objects of a document as parts, wherein each part comprises intrinsic contents and an associated manipulator for the contents; means for displaying parts to a user; means responsive to actuation of said device for enabling any displayed part to be selected by the user and moved within the display, and to be placed within another part such that it becomes a portion of the contents of said other part and its contents remain manipulatable by its associated manipulator; and means for automatically determining a manipulator to be associated with a part within the computer and for launching the determined manipulator upon selection of the part so that its functionality becomes available to the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. In a computer system for the creation and manipulation of compound documents, wherein a first component of a document is embedded in a second 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 shape, said first shape being determined by said second component and defining an area within said second component that is available for the placement of the contents of said first component; and means storing a second shape, said second shape being determined by said first component and defining the portion of said area in which the contents of said first component are actually located. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. A method for producing a compound document in a computer system of the type in which components of the document are stored as objects having contents and each object has an associated manipulator for its contents, wherein the compound document comprises a first object which is embedded within a second object, said method comprising the steps of:
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determining, by means of the manipulator for the second object, an area within the contents of said second object that is to be allotted to the contents of the first object; establishing a frame shape corresponding to said area and notifying the manipulator for the first object of said frame shape; determining, by means of the manipulator for the first object, the layout of the contents of said first object within said frame shape; determining, by means of the manipulator for the second object, a portion of said area in which the contents of the first object can be displayed; notifying the manipulator for the first object of said portion of said area; and displaying at least some of the contents of said first object in said portion of said area. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer-readable storage device containing a computer-human interface which performs the following steps:
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storing each component of information that is created by a user as a part which contains intrinsic contents and associated properties; detecting selection of a part by a user; determining an editor to be associated with the selected part and automatically launching the determined editor so that its functionality is available to the user whenever the part is selected; detecting that a user has placed a first part within the contents of a second part; and creating a data structure which functions as an interface between said first and second parts and defines a geometric area that is shared by said first and second parts and in which the contents of said first part can be edited by its associated editor. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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25. A computer-human interface for a computer, comprising:
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means for storing each component of information that is created by a user as a part which contains intrinsic contents and associated properties; means for detecting selection of a part by a user; means for determining an editor to be associated with the selected part and automatically launching the determined editor so that its functionality is available to the user whenever the part is selected; means for detecting that a user has placed a first part within the contents of a second part; and means for creating a data structure which functions as an interface between said first and second parts and defines a geometric area that is shared by said first and second parts and in which the contents of said first part can be edited by its associated editor. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A computer-readable storage device containing a computer-human interface which performs the following steps:
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storing each component of information that is created by a user as a part which is comprised of intrinsic contents and an associated manipulator; detecting that a user has placed a first part within the contents of a second part; determining, by means of the manipulator for the second part, 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; determining, by means of the manipulator for the second part, a portion of said area in which the contents of the first part can be displayed; notifying the manipulator for the first part of said portion of said area; and displaying at least some of the contents of said first part in said portion of said area. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35)
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36. A computer-readable storage device containing a computer-human interface which performs the following steps:
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storing each component of information that is created by a user as a part which is comprised of intrinsic contents and an associated manipulator; detecting that a user has placed a first part within the contents of a second part; determining, by means of the manipulator for the second part, 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, a used shape corresponding to a subset of said area that is occupied by the contents of said first part within said frame shape; notifying the manipulator for the second part of said portion of said area; and displaying at least some of the contents of said first part in said portion of said area. - View Dependent Claims (37)
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38. A system for the creation and manipulation of compound documents, comprising:
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means storing the component objects of a document as parts, wherein each part includes one of a plurality of types of intrinsic contents; a display for displaying the parts of a document as they are created and edited; a pointing device for controlling the manipulation of elements of the document during editing; means storing a plurality of editors for manipulating the intrinsic contents of parts, wherein at least one of said types of contents can be manipulated by a plurality of the stored editors; means responsive to actuation of said device for enabling any displayed part to be selected by the user and moved within the display, and to be placed within another part such that it becomes a portion of the contents of said other part and its contents remain manipulatable by its associated manipulator; and means for determining the type of contents of a selected part and for choosing one stored editor from among a plurality of stored editors which can manipulate the determined type of contents, and for binding the chosen editor to the selected part upon selection of the part so that the functionality of the chosen editor becomes available to the user in connection with the contents of the selected part.
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39. A method for creating and editing compound documents in a computer, comprising the steps of:
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storing each component of information that is created by a user as a part which contains intrinsic contents; storing a plurality of editors which are capable of manipulating the contents of a part, wherein at least two of the stored editors are capable of manipulating contents of a given type; detecting selection of a part by a user; choosing an editor to be associated with the selected part from among a plurality of editors which are capable of manipulating the contents of the selected part, and automatically launching the chosen editor so that its functionality is available to the user whenever the part is selected; detecting that a user has placed a first part within the contents of a second part; and creating a data structure which functions as an interface between said first and second parts and defines a geometric area that is shared by said first and second parts and in which the contents of said first part can be edited by its associated editor.
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Specification