Apparatus, system and method of importing data arranged in a table on an electronic whiteboard into a spreadsheet

• US 7,436,394 B2
• Filed: 07/13/2004
• Issued: 10/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/13/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kirkland, Dustin C., Rodriguez, Herman, Hall, Kylene Jo, Halcrow, Michael Austin
• Primary Examiner(s): Hjerpe; Richard
• Assistant Examiner(s): Abdin; Shaheda A
• Application Number:
  US10/889,782
• Publication Number:
  US 20060012568A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,554 Days
• Field of Search: 345/173, 345/175, 345/179, 345/474, 362/233, 362/85
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0421 by interrupting or reflecting a light beam, e.g. optical touch-screen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/18 of spreadsheets form-filling G06F40/174

Abstract

An apparatus, system and method of importing data arranged in a table on an electronic whiteboard into a spreadsheet displayed in a computer system are provided. Generally, the spreadsheet and the table each include a plurality of grid cells. To determine where in the spreadsheet to display the data in the table, the location of the cursor in the spreadsheet is first established. This grid cell is used as a reference point. That is, data in the left-most/top-most grid cell on the table is displayed in the grid cell of the spreadsheet in which the cursor is located.

Claims

1. A method of importing data arranged in a table on an electronic whiteboard into a spreadsheet displayed in a computer system, the spreadsheet and the table including a plurality of grid cells to contain data and a left-most/top-most grid cell, the method comprising the steps of:

drawing the table by activating a row of lights and a column of lights adjacent to the electronic whiteboard to form a grid of cells;

enabling a user to enter data into the grid of cells;

enabling the user to select a grid cell in the spreadsheet;

determining the selected grid cell;

importing the data in the table into the spreadsheet; and

entering the imported data into the spreadsheet using the selected grid cell as a reference point such that imported data entered in each grid cell of the spreadsheet is in a similar location in relation to data in the selected grid cell as data in each grid cell of the table is in relation to data in the left-most/top-most grid cell of the table.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein if the imported data is a bitmap image of information in the grid cells of the table, the bitmap image of information in each grid cell of the table is converted into machine-readable code.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein if there is more data to be imported than the table on the whiteboard can contain, after importing the data, the data in the table is erased in order to allow new data to be entered in the table, a new grid cell is selected in the spreadsheet as a new reference point to facilitate importing the new data into the spreadsheet.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining the selected grid cell includes the step of determining the number of grid cells in the table and the step of recording XY coordinates of each grid cell in the table.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein XY coordinates of each marking are recorded, the recoded XY coordinates of each marking for entering the marking into an appropriate grid cell in the spreadsheet.

6. A computer program product on a computer readable medium embodying code instructions, which when executed by a processor, import data arranged in a table on an electronic whiteboard into a spreadsheet displayed in a computer system, the spreadsheet and the table including a plurality of grid cells to contain data and a left-most/top-most grid cell, the code instructions comprising:

code instructions for drawing the table by activating a row of lights and a column of lights adjacent to the electronic whiteboard to form a grid of cells;

code instructions for enabling a user to enter data into the grid of cells;

code instructions for enabling the user to select a grid cell in the spreadsheet;

code instructions for determining the selected grid cell;

code instructions for importing the data in the table into the spreadsheet; and

code instructions for entering the imported data into the spreadsheet using the selected grid cell as a reference point such that imported data entered in each grid cell of the spreadsheet is in a similar location in relation to data in the selected grid cell as data in each grid cell of the table is in relation to data in the left-most/top-most grid cell of the table.

7. The computer program product of claim 6 wherein if the imported data is a bitmap image of information in the grid cells of the table, the bitmap image of information in each grid cell of the table is converted into machine-readable code.

8. The computer program product of claim 7 wherein if there is more data to be imported than the table on the whiteboard can contain, after importing the data, the data in the table is erased in order to allow new data to be entered in the table, a new grid cell is selected in the spreadsheet as a new reference point to facilitate importing the new data into the spreadsheet.

9. The computer program product of claim 6 wherein the code instructions for determining the selected grid cell includes code instructions for determining the number of grid cells in the table and code means for recording XY coordinates of each grid cell in the table.

10. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein XY coordinates of each marking are recorded, the recoded XY coordinates of each marking for entering the marking into an appropriate grid cell in the spreadsheet.

11. An apparatus for importing data arranged in a table on an electronic whiteboard into a spreadsheet, the spreadsheet and the table including a plurality of grid cells to contain data and a left-most/top-most grid cell, the apparatus comprising:

means for drawing the table by activating a row of lights and a column of lights adjacent to the electronic whiteboard to form a grid of cells;

means for enabling a user to enter data into the grid of cells;

means for enabling the user to select a grid cell in the spreadsheet;

means for determining the selected grid cell;

means for importing the data in the table into the spreadsheet; and

means for entering the imported data into the spreadsheet using the selected grid cell as a reference point such that imported data entered in each grid cell of the spreadsheet is in a similar location in relation to data in the selected grid cell as data in each grid cell of the table is in relation to data in the left-most/top-most grid cell of the table.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein if the imported data is a bitmap image of information in the grid cells of the table, the bitmap image of information in each grid cell of the table is converted into machine-readable code.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein if there is more data to be imported than the table on the whiteboard can contain, after importing the data, the data in the table is erased in order to allow new data to be entered in the table, a new grid cell is selected in the spreadsheet as a new reference point to facilitate importing the new data into the spreadsheet.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the means for determining the selected grid cell includes means for determining the number of grid cells in the table and means for recording XY coordinates of each grid cell in the table.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein XY coordinates of each marking are recorded, the recoded XY coordinates of each marking for entering the marking into an appropriate grid cell in the spreadsheet.

16. A system for importing data arranged in a table on an electronic whiteboard into a spreadsheet, the spreadsheet and the table including a plurality of grid cells to contain data and a left-most/top-most grid cell, the system comprising:

at least one storage device for storing code data; and

at least one processor for processing the code data to draw the table by activating a row of lights and a column of lights adjacent to the electronic whiteboard to form a grid of cells, to enable a user to enter data into the grid of cells, to enable the user to select a grid cell in the spreadsheet, to determine the selected grid cell, to import the data in the table into the spreadsheet, and to enter the imported data into the spreadsheet using the selected grid cell as a reference point such that imported data entered in each grid cell of the spreadsheet is in a similar location in relation to data in the selected grid cell as data in each grid cell of the table is in relation to data in the left-most/top-most grid cell of the table.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein if the imported data is a bitmap image of information in the grid cells of the table, the bitmap image of information in each grid cell of the table is converted into machine-readable code.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein if there is more data to be imported than the table on the whiteboard can contain, after importing the data, the data in the table is erased in order to allow new data to be entered in the table, a new grid cell is selected in the spreadsheet as a new reference point to facilitate importing the new data into the spreadsheet.

19. The system of claim 16 wherein the code data for determining the selected grid cell is further processed to determine the number of grid cells in the table and to record XY coordinates of each grid cell in the table.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein XY coordinates of each marking are recorded, the recoded XY coordinates of each marking for entering the marking into an appropriate grid cell in the spreadsheet.