Determining fields for presentable files

• US 7,818,668 B2
• Filed: 04/19/2005
• Issued: 10/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Michelstein, Jennifer P, Yap, Joe K
• Primary Examiner(s): Hutton; Doug
• Assistant Examiner(s): BURKE, TIONNA M
• Application Number:
  US11/109,415
• Publication Number:
  US 20060236234A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,009 Days
• Field of Search: 715/523, 715/249
• US Class Current: 715/249
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/154 Tree transformation for tree-structured or markup documents, e.g. XSLT, XSL-FO or stylesheets
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes

Abstract

Fields for presentable files can be determined by an application (i) based on a field type and at least one parameter of the fields and (ii) responsive to raw data and a separate transformation engine, even when the application is unaware of the mechanics of the separate transformation engine. In a described implementation for a given field, the field type indicates that the given field is to be evaluated based on raw data that is referenced by the at least one parameter of the given field. The transformation engine is applied to the referenced raw data to produce a result for the given field that is suitable for presentation. In an example implementation, the transformation engine includes multiples sets of presentation rules that may be selectively established for application to the fields. In an example embodiment, respective presentation rule subsets target respective types of raw data.

Claims

1. A method for transforming bibliographic data via an application, the method comprising:

interpreting a field via a field interpreter by;

ascertaining a field type of the field, the field type including a transform reference configured to indicate that a raw data reference parameter points to raw data to be extracted by a raw data extractor and transformed by a transformation engine prior to presentation to a user; and

acquiring a plurality of parameters of the field, the plurality of parameters including at least the raw data reference parameter and a parameter to identify the transformation engine;

extracting, via the raw data extractor, the raw data for the field from a first file portion responsive to the interpreting, wherein the raw data is configured in accordance with an extensible markup language (XML);

transforming, via the transformation engine, the raw data prior to presentation of the field using a second file portion for presentation into a first citation style via a first set of presentation rules; and

replacing the first set of presentation rules with a second set of presentation rules after presentation via the first citation style by using the second file portion for presentation into a second citation style;

wherein the first file portion and the second file portion are separate from the application and are part of a word processing document file that contains a change history including at least a record of previous changes to the presentation rules; and

wherein the field represents a bibliographic citation for a source;

the raw data includes bibliographic data for the source; and

transformed raw data produced by the transforming comprises at least a portion of the bibliographic data after filtering, ordering, and formatting by the transforming.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

presenting the transformed raw data as part of a data stream presentation of a presentable file;

wherein the transforming is effectuated without direct control by the application; and

wherein the first file portion and the second file portion each comprise a part of the presentable file.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the interpreting comprises:

ascertaining a field type of the field being interpreted; and

acquiring at least one parameter of the field being interpreted.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the extracting comprises:

locating the raw data responsive to the acquired at least one parameter, the acquired at least one parameter comprising a reference to the first file portion having the raw data; and

retrieving at least a portion of the raw data from the first file portion as indicated by the reference to the raw data.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the transforming comprises:

identifying a transformation engine of the second file portion; and

applying the identified transformation engine to the raw data to produce transformed raw data as presentation data for the field.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the identifying comprises:

acquiring an identification of the transformation engine from at least one of;

(i) at least one parameter of the field, (ii) additional information in a file having the field embedded therein, (iii) a setting of an application performing the method, or (iv) an operating system on which the application is running.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the interpreting comprises;

determining that a field type of the field indicates that referenced raw data is to be transformed prior to presentation of the field; and

acquiring at least one parameter from the field, the at least one parameter comprising a reference to a data item of the raw data;

the extracting comprises;

retrieving at least a portion of the data item of the raw data from a location referenced by the at least one parameter; and

the transforming comprises;

applying a transformation engine to the referenced data item of the raw data, the transformation engine including multiple sets of presentation rules;

wherein the application is unaware of internal mechanics of the multiple sets of presentation rules.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the applying comprises:

applying a presentation rule subset that targets a type of raw data corresponding to the referenced data item.

9. One or more processor-accessible storage media comprising processor-executable instructions that include an application that is capable of processing embedded fields, the application adapted to:

interpret a field by;

ascertaining a field type of the field, the field type including a transform reference configured to indicate that a raw data reference parameter points to raw data to be extracted by a raw data extractor and transformed by a transformation engine prior to presentation to a user; and

acquiring a plurality of parameters of the field, the plurality of parameters including at least the raw data reference parameter and a parameter to identify the transformation engine;

retrieve raw data, via the raw data extractor, for a field of a file responsive to at least one parameter of the field, the at least one parameter referencing the raw data, the raw data being configured in accordance with an extensible markup language (XML);

transform the referenced raw data in accordance with a selected set of bibliographic citation presentation rules of the transformation engine without being aware of internal mechanics of the selected set of presentation rules, the transformation engine being part of a work processing file;

establish the selected set of bibliographic citation presentation rules of the transformation engine on a global level for at least one of the file or the application; and

re-purpose multiple embedded fields of the file responsive to the user selection of another selected set of bibliographic citation presentation rules.

10. The one or more processor-accessible storage media as recited in claim 9, wherein the referenced raw data comprises a data item of a particular data item type, and the selected set of presentation rules includes a particular presentation rule subset that targets the particular data item type;

and wherein the application and/or the transformation engine is adapted to apply the particular presentation rule subset, which targets the particular data item type, to the referenced data item.

11. The one or more processor-accessible storage media as recited in claim 9, wherein the application is capable of enabling a user to create an embedded field for the file, the embedded field comprising an indication that the embedded field is intended to be presented based on one or more parameters of the embedded field and responsive to the selected set of presentation rules of the transformation engine;

and wherein the application enables the user to cause the one or more parameters of the embedded field to reference a data item of the raw data.

12. A device comprising:

a processor; and

memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising computer-program instructions executable by the processor, the instructions comprising;

raw data comprising multiple data items that include a particular data item being of a particular data item type, the raw data being configured in accordance with an extensible markup language (XML);

a presentable file having a field that includes a field type and at least one parameter, that references the particular data item; and

a field interpreter to (1) ascertain a field type of the field, the field type including a transform reference configured to indicate that a raw data reference parameter points to the raw data to be extracted by a raw data extractor and transformed by a transformation engine prior to presentation to a user; and

(2) acquire a plurality of parameters of the field, the plurality of parameters including at least the raw data reference parameter and a parameter to identify the transformation engine;

the transformation engine comprising multiple sets of bibliographic citation presentation rules, the multiple sets of presentation rules including at least one set of presentation rules having a particular presentation rules subset that targets the particular data item type, wherein the transformation engine is configured to repurpose a bibliography from a first citation style to a second citation style by replacing a first set of bibliographic presentation rules with a second set of bibliographic presentation rules, wherein the transformation engine exists as part of an operating system and separately from an application that is capable of applying the transformation engine to at least the particular data item.

13. The device as recited in claim 12, wherein the transformation engine is configured in accordance with an extensible stylesheet language (XSLT).

14. The device as recited in claim 12, wherein the field further includes a result that is suitable for presentation, the result representing the particular data item after application of the particular presentation rules subset that targets the particular data item type of the particular data item.

15. The device as recited in claim 12, wherein a filtering capability of the particular presentation rules subset is applied to the particular data item prior to extraction thereof such that filtered out tag-data couplets are not extracted by the raw data extractor.

16. The device as recited in claim 12, wherein the transformation engine is capable of being modified without using the application.