Method of multiple text selection and manipulation

• US 6,240,430 B1
• Filed: 12/13/1996
• Issued: 05/29/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Deike, Kevin W., Amro, Hatim Y.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen S.
• Application Number:
  US08/764,815
• Time in Patent Office: 1,628 Days
• Field of Search: 707/520, 707/530, 707/531, 707/539, 707/540, 345/333, 345/339, 345/348
• US Class Current: 715/210
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting

Abstract

Multiple blocks of noncontiguous text displayed in a user interface may be selected by a user and simultaneously manipulated. Actuation of the multiple text selection control by the user creates an array of buffers, with each buffer allocated for one of the noncontiguous blocks of text selected by the user. A paste operation results in the contents of the buffers being concatenated and pasted together as one block. A delete operation results in all selected blocks of text being simultaneously deleted. Other operations may also be performed simultaneously on the multiple blocks of noncontiguous text selected by the user.

Claims

1. A method for improved text selection of text displayed on a display in a data processing system, comprising:

displaying a continuous text segment within a word Processor user interface;

responsive to selection of a first block of text within the continuous text segment, indicating the selection of the first block of text on the display;

responsive to an occurrence of a command for multiple text selection, creating an array of buffers each capable of storing a text string of an arbitrary size in a memory in the data processing system;

responsive to selection of a second block of text within the continuous text segment which is not contiguous with the first block of text, indicating the selection of the second block of text on the display; and

storing data relating to each block of selected text in a different buffer within the array of buffers.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to the occurrence of the command for multiple text selection, storing a copy of the first block of selected text in a first buffer within the array of buffers.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

responsive to a second occurrence of the command for multiple text selection, storing a copy of the second block of selected text in a second buffer within the array of buffers.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of creating an array of buffers further comprises:

creating an array having a number of buffers equal to a number of blocks of previously selected text plus one.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

responsive to each occurrence of the command for multiple text selection, increasing the number of buffers in the array of buffers and storing a copy of a last-selected block of text in a last buffer within the array of buffers.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

responsive to a paste command, concatenating copies of blocks of selected text within the array of buffers and displaying the concatenated blocks of selected text on the display.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of storing data relating to each selected block of text within a different buffer within the array of buffers further comprises:

storing, in a first buffer within the array of buffers, a start address in a system memory and an end address in the system memory for the first block of selected text.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of storing data relating to each selected block of text within a different buffer within the array of buffers further comprises:

storing, in a first buffer within the array of buffers, a copy of the first block of selected text, a start address in a system memory for the first block of selected text, and an end address in the system memory for the first block of selected text.

9. A data processing system for improved selection of text displayed on a display in the data processing system, comprising:

display means for displaying a continuous text segment within a word processor user interface;

indication means, responsive to selection of a first block of text within the continuous text segment, indicating the selection of the first block of text on the display;

creation means, responsive to an occurrence of a command for multiple text selection, creating an array of buffers each capable of storing a text string of an arbitrary size in a memory in the data processing system;

indication means, responsive to selection of a second block of text within the continuous text segment which is not contiguous with the first block of text, indicating the selection of the second block of text on the display; and

storage means for storing data relating to each block of selected text in a different buffer within the array of buffers.

10. The data processing system of claim 9, further comprising:

memory means, responsive to the occurrence of the command for multiple text selection, for storing a copy of the first block of selected text in a first buffer within the array of buffers.

11. The data processing system of claim 10, further comprising:

memory means, responsive to a second occurrence of the command for multiple text selection, for storing a copy of the second block of selected text in a second buffer within the array of buffers.

12. The data processing system of claim 9, wherein the creation means further comprises:

means for creating an array having a number of buffers equal to a number of blocks of previously selected text plus one.

13. The data processing system of claim 12, further comprising:

memory means, responsive to each occurrence of the command for multiple text selection, for storing a copy of a last-selected block of text in a last buffer within the array of buffers.

14. The data processing system of claim 13, further comprising:

display means, responsive to a paste command, for concatenating copies of the blocks of selected text and displaying the concatenated blocks of selected text on the display.

15. The data processing system of claim 9, further comprising:

memory means for storing, in a first buffer within the array of buffers, a start address in a system memory and an end address in the system memory for the first block of selected text.

16. The data processing system of claim 9, further comprising:

memory means for storing, in a first buffer within the array of buffers, a copy of the first block of selected text, a start address in a system memory for the first block of selected text, and an end address in the system memory for the first block of selected text.

17. A storage device readable by a data processing system and encoding executable instructions for improved selection of text displayed on a display in the data processing system, comprising:

first instruction means for displaying a continuous text segment in a word processor user interface;

second instruction means, responsive to selection of a first block of text within the continuous text segment, indicating the selection of the first block of text on the display;

third instruction means, responsive to an occurrence of a command for multiple text selection, creating an array of buffers each capable of storing a text string of an arbitrary size in a memory in the data processing system;

fourth instruction means, responsive to selection of a second block of text within the continuous text segment which is not contiguous with the first block of text, indicating the selection of the second block of text on the display; and

fifth instruction means for storing data relating to each selected block of text in a different buffer within the array of buffers.

18. The storage device of claim 17, wherein the storage device is a hard disk drive.

19. The storage device of claim 17, wherein the storage device is a ROM for use within the data processing system.

20. The storage device of claim 17, wherein the storage device is a floppy diskette.