System and method for maintaining text formatting consistency within an electronic document

• US 7,111,238 B1
• Filed: 06/23/2000
• Issued: 09/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Yap, Joe Keng, Helfrich, James Noel, Kuppusamy, Ashok, Taboada, Roberto C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Herndon, Heather R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN BA, PAUL H
• Application Number:
  US09/602,247
• Time in Patent Office: 2,279 Days
• Field of Search: 715530-533, 715/523, 715/540, 715/542, 715/500
• US Class Current: 715/269
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/103 Formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents automatic justification G06F40/189; automatic line break hyphenation G06F40/191
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/106 Display of layout of documents; Previewing

Abstract

A Format Consistency Checker (FCC) for monitoring and enhancing text formatting within a document. The FCC builds and maintains a data table tracking all formatting “runs” within a document. The FCC operates in combination with a formatting pane, for adding formatting to a document. The formatting pane provides a log, maintained in a user interface that can be displayed in the same window as a document being edited, of all formatting in the document. A format checker determines a minority case of formatting within a particular document and offers a user an opportunity to modify the minority case formatting to make it consistent with the majority case. A bullets and numbering component determines how bullets and/or numbering have been previously applied in the document. The current format of the bullets and/or numbering is then set to be consistent with the majority case of bullets and/or numbering formatting in the document.

Claims

1. A method for improving formatting consistency within a document, implemented at least in part by a computing device, comprising:

determining a formatting run within a document, wherein the formatting run is the smallest section of text within the document having the same formatting attributes;

comparing the formatting run to a consistency rule set;

determining whether an inconsistency of the formatting run exists relative to the consistency rule set;

in response to determining that an inconsistency exists, identifying a majority case and a minority case of inconsistencies, wherein;

a majority case is a set of formatting properties that is associated with the most formatting runs in the document having an analogous formatting property, And

a minority case is a set of formatting properties that is inconsistent with the majority case as the inconsistency is defined by the consistency rule set; and

revealing the minority case and the majority case to a user.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

in response to revealing a minority case to a user, offering a suggested case format to the user.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

determining whether the suggested case format is accepted by the user; and

in response to determining that the suggested case format is accepted, reformatting the minority case to the suggested case format.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the suggested case format is the majority case.