Methods and apparatus for formatted entry of electronic ink
First Claim
1. A method of entering formatted electronic ink data provided in association with a user on a handwriting system, the method comprising the steps of:
- positioning one or more pieces of writing medium to substantially overlay at least a portion of a digitizing surface associated with the handwriting system;
physically entering handwritten data on the one or more pieces of writing medium using a stylus associated with the handwriting system such that, substantially simultaneous therewith, the electronic ink data representing the physically entered handwritten data is entered at the digitizing surface;
wherein the one or more pieces of writing medium are configured to have a predefined format including one or more fields associated with the predefined format such that the electronic ink data entered at the digitizing surface is computer-parseable based on the one or more fields, and further wherein a field comprises a delimited area of the writing medium; and
providing one or more user-specified indications to indicate that electronic ink data entered in association with the one or more user-specified indications is to be associated with the one or more fields, so as to permit a transition between the entry of electronic ink data in accordance with the one or more fields and entry of electronic ink data that is not associated with the one or more fields.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Several methods, and related apparatus, are provided for the entry of formatted ink data (i.e., electronic ink) such that individual items in the data may be parsed and recognized more effectively. Each method allows users to enter formatted ink data in-line, which can then be recognized with constraints and parsed for use in other application programs or databases. In addition, a method is provided for allowing user-specialization of any of these entry methods (or other similar) methods. Note that in any of these methods, the user may send the formatted ink either to the default ink-processing application, or else directly to another application or database.
53 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A method of entering formatted electronic ink data provided in association with a user on a handwriting system, the method comprising the steps of:
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positioning one or more pieces of writing medium to substantially overlay at least a portion of a digitizing surface associated with the handwriting system;
physically entering handwritten data on the one or more pieces of writing medium using a stylus associated with the handwriting system such that, substantially simultaneous therewith, the electronic ink data representing the physically entered handwritten data is entered at the digitizing surface;
wherein the one or more pieces of writing medium are configured to have a predefined format including one or more fields associated with the predefined format such that the electronic ink data entered at the digitizing surface is computer-parseable based on the one or more fields, and further wherein a field comprises a delimited area of the writing medium; and
providing one or more user-specified indications to indicate that electronic ink data entered in association with the one or more user-specified indications is to be associated with the one or more fields, so as to permit a transition between the entry of electronic ink data in accordance with the one or more fields and entry of electronic ink data that is not associated with the one or more fields. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of entering formatted electronic ink data provided in association with a user on a handwriting system, the method comprising the steps of:
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positioning one or more pieces of writing medium to substantially overlay at least a portion of a digitizing surface associated with the handwriting system;
physically entering handwritten data on the one or more pieces of writing medium using a stylus associated with the handwriting system such that, substantially simultaneous therewith, the electronic ink data representing the physically entered handwritten data is entered at the digitizing surface; and
providing one or more user-specified indications to indicate that electronic ink data entered in association with the one or more user-specified indications is to be associated with one or more fields of a predefined format, wherein a field comprises a delimited area of the writing medium, such that the electronic ink data entered in association therewith at the digitizing surface is computer-parseable based on the one or more fields, and such as to permit a transition between the entry of electronic ink data in accordance with the one or more fields and entry of electronic ink data that is not associated with the one or more fields. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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22. A handwriting system for entering formatted electronic ink data provided in association with a user, the system comprising:
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a digitizing surface;
a stylus; and
one or more pieces of writing medium;
wherein the one or more pieces of writing medium are positioned to substantially overlay at least a portion of the digitizing surface such that handwritten data can be physically entered on the one or more pieces of writing medium using the stylus such that, substantially simultaneous therewith, the electronic ink data representing the physically entered handwritten data is entered at the digitizing surface;
further wherein the one or more pieces of writing medium are configured to have a predefined format including one or more fields associated with the predefined format such that the electronic ink data entered at the digitizing surface is computer-parseable based on the one or more fields, wherein a field comprises a delimited area of the writing medium, such that one or more user-specified indications can be provided to indicate that electronic ink data entered in association with the one or more user-specified indications is to be associated with the one or more fields, so as to permit a transition between the entry of electronic ink data in accordance with the one or more fields and entry of electronic ink data that is not associated with the one or more fields. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A handwriting system for entering formatted electronic ink data provided in association with a user, the system comprising:
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a digitizing surface;
a stylus; and
one or more pieces of writing medium;
wherein the one or more pieces of writing medium are positioned to substantially overlay at least a portion of the digitizing surface such that handwritten data can be physically entered on the one or more pieces of writing medium using the stylus such that, substantially simultaneous therewith, the electronic ink data representing the physically entered handwritten data is entered at the digitizing surface;
further wherein one or more user-specified indications can be provided to indicate that electronic ink data entered in association with the one or more user-specified indications is to be associated with one or more fields of a predefined format, wherein a field comprises a delimited area of the writing medium, such that the electronic ink data entered in association therewith at the digitizing surface is computer-parseable based on the one or more fields, and such as to permit a transition between the entry of electronic ink data in accordance with the one or more fields and entry of electronic ink data that is not associated with the one or more fields. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42)
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Specification