Presentation of large objects on small displays

• US 7,516,402 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2005
• Issued: 04/07/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Teenshare Limited
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Koivisto, Antti J., Popescu, Andrei Radu, Geisler, Roland, Makela, Mikko K., Grassel, Guido, Roto, Virpi
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong; Stephen S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vaughn; Gregory J
• Application Number:
  US11/069,891
• Publication Number:
  US 20060195784A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,499 Days
• Field of Search: 715/200, 715/230, 715/204, 715/234, 715/236, 715/238, 715/240
• US Class Current: 715/238
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/106 Display of layout of documents; Previewing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/109 Font handling; Temporal or kinetic typography
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]

Abstract

This invention relates to a method, a computer program product, a device and a system for formatting an object to obtain a formatted object, wherein the object comprises a plurality of elements, and wherein the formatted object is affected by at least one constraint, wherein the constraint is scaled by a first scaling factor to obtain a scaled constraint; wherein at least one of the elements is scaled by a second scaling factor to obtain a scaled element; wherein a layout structure is generated for the plurality of elements including the scaled element under consideration of the scaled constraint; and wherein the layout structure is scaled by a third scaling factor to obtain the formatted object.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

scaling a constraint to obtain a scaled constraint, wherein said constraint affects a formatted object that is to be obtained from an object, which comprises a plurality of elements, by formatting;

scaling at least one of said elements to obtain a scaled element;

generating a layout structure for said plurality of elements including said scaled element under consideration of said scaled constraint; and

scaling said layout structure to obtain said formatted object, wherein a scaling factor representing said scaling of said constraint is greater than a reciprocal of a scaling factor representing said scaling of said layout structure.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said generating of said layout structure comprises:

determining a boundary for said scaled element;

checking if a dimension of said boundary violates a limit defined by said scaled constraint; and

formatting a content of said scaled element to said limit defined by said scaled constraint, if said dimension of said boundary violates said limit defined by said scaled constraint.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said generating of said layout structure is at least partially defined by a style sheet.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said object is a document, and wherein said elements of said document are defined by a markup language.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein scaling said constraint to obtain a scaled constraint comprises scaling said constraint by a first scaling factor, wherein scaling said at least one of said elements comprises scaling said at least one of said elements by a second scaling factor, and wherein scaling said layout structure comprises scaling said layout structure by a third scaling factor.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein said first and second scaling factors are larger than one, and wherein said third scaling factor is smaller than one.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein said first and second scaling factors are substantially equal, and wherein said third scaling factor is substantially a reciprocal value of said first scaling factor.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein in said generating of said layout structure, a hyphenation algorithm is applied to a text contained in said at least one element that is scaled by said second scaling factor.

9. The method according to claim 5, wherein said first scaling factor is a product of a fourth and a fifth scaling factor, and wherein said fourth scaling factor is substantially a reciprocal value of said third scaling factor.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein if there are horizontally overflowing text boxes in said scaled formatted object after the formatting process, a larger value for said fifth scaling factor is chosen and said scaled formatted object is reformatted.

15. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, perform the method steps of claim 1.

16. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein said instructions are related to a browsing application or to a part thereof.

11. An apparatus comprising:

means arranged for scaling a constraint to obtain a scaled constraint, wherein said constraint affects a formatted object that is to be obtained from an object, which comprises a plurality of elements, by formatting;

means arranged for scaling at least one of said elements to obtain a scaled element;

means arranged for generating a layout structure for said plurality of elements including said scaled element under consideration of said scaled constraint; and

means arranged for scaling said layout structure to obtain said formatted object, wherein a scaling factor representing said scaling of said constraint is greater than a reciprocal of a scaling factor representing said scaling of said layout structure.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said means arranged for scaling said constraint are arranged for scaling said constraint by a first scaling factor, wherein said means arranged for scaling said at least one of said elements are arranged for scaling said at least one of said elements by a second scaling factor, and wherein said means arranged for scaling said layout structure are arranged for scaling said layout structure by a third scaling factor.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said first scaling factor is a product of a fourth and a fifth scaling factor, and wherein said fourth scaling factor is substantially a reciprocal value of said third scaling factor.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said processor is further configured to choose a larger value for said fifth scaling factor and reformat if there are horizontally overflowing text boxes in said scaled formatted object after the formatting process.

17. An apparatus comprising

a processor configured to scale a constraint to obtain a scaled constraint, wherein said constraint affects a formatted object that is to be obtained from an object, which comprises a plurality of elements, by formatting,

said processor being further configured to scale at least one of said elements to obtain a scaled element,

said processor being further configured to generate a layout structure for said plurality of elements including said scaled element under consideration of said scaled constraint, and

said processor being further configured to scale said layout structure to obtain said formatted object, wherein a scaling factor representing said scaling of said constraint is greater than a reciprocal of a scaling factor representing said scaling of said layout structure.

18. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said apparatus is a mobile phone or a part thereof.

19. The apparatus according to claim 17,

wherein said processor is further configured to determine a boundary for said scaled element,

wherein said processor is further configured to check if a dimension of said boundary violates a limit defined by said scaled constraint,

and wherein said processor is further configured to format a content of said scaled element to said limit defined by said scaled constraint, if said dimension of said boundary violates said limit defined by said scaled constraint.

20. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said processor is further configured to generate said layout structure as at least partially defined by a style sheet.

21. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said object is a document, and wherein said elements of said document are defined by a markup language.

22. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the processor being configured to scale said constraint to obtain a scaled constraint comprises being configured to scale said constraint by a first scaling factor, wherein being configured to scale said at least one of said elements comprises being configured to scale said at least one of said elements by a second scaling factor, and wherein being configured to scale said layout structure comprises being configured to scale said layout structure by a third scaling factor.

23. The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein said first and second scaling factors are larger than one, and wherein said third scaling factor is smaller than one.

24. The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein said first and second scaling factors are substantially equal, and wherein said third scaling factor is substantially a reciprocal value of said first scaling factor.

25. The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein said processor is further configured to apply a hyphenation algorithm to a text contained in said at least one element that is scaled by said second scaling factor.

26. The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein said first scaling factor is a product of a fourth and a fifth scaling factor, said fourth scaling factor is substantially a reciprocal value of said third scaling factor and said fifth scaling factor is larger than one.