Text management software

• US 8,205,155 B2
• Filed: 02/27/2008
• Issued: 06/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Author-It Labs Limited
• Original Assignee: Author-It Labs Limited
• Inventors: Trotter, Paul Stewart
• Primary Examiner(s): RIES, LAURIE ANNE
• Application Number:
  US12/529,071
• Publication Number:
  US 20100100817A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,574 Days
• Field of Search: 715/255, 715/256, 715/260, 715/261, 715/264
• US Class Current: 715/261
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/131 Fragmentation of text files, e.g. creating reusable text-blocks; Linking to fragments, e.g. using XInclude; Namespaces

Abstract

Text management software system which stores and retrieves text as paragraph size Text Fragments. Each fragment is stored in a separate record in a text store. As text is created and is to be saved to a text store, the system is adapted to break the text into paragraph size text fragments. As or before text is stored the system runs statistical comparisons between text fragments and builds a matrix of similarity between the text fragments stored in the separate records and presents these to the author for substitution.

Claims

1. A method of substituting alternative text in an electronic input of an author'"'"'s work to a text management system, comprising:

storing text fragments of previous text;

indexing the stored text fragments on at least two different bases;

allowing the author to enter text;

comparing text fragments in the entered text to the stored text fragments, where one of the text fragments in the entered text is substantially similar on one of the at least two different bases to one of the stored text fragments;

displaying to the author a substitute text fragment for the one text fragment in the entered text; and

providing the author with the option of substituting the substitute text fragment for the one text fragment of the entered text,

wherein a first one of the at least two different bases is solely an edit distance basis and a second one of the at least two different bases combines a word occurrence algorithm, a word difference algorithm, and an edit distance algorithm, and the two bases contribute differently to a final similarity basis.

2. The method of substituting alternative text as claimed in claim 1, wherein when storing text fragments of previous text, any in-line text attributes in a text fragment are separated before determining if a similar text fragment already exists in text storage.

3. The method of substituting alternative text as claimed in claim 1, wherein when storing text fragments of previous text, related words are resolvable to a single normalized word form.

4. The method of substituting alternative text as claimed in claim 1, wherein the text fragments of previous text are stored in a database capable of storing paragraph size text fragments as separate records, each identical text fragment being represented as a single record.

5. The method of substituting alternative text as claimed in claim 1, wherein a single text fragment has multiple differing equivalents and a document is recreated in alternative differing forms from the differing equivalents.

6. The method of substituting alternative text as claimed in claim 5, wherein the document is recreated in a different language.

7. The method of substituting alternative text as claimed in claim 1, wherein differences in in-line tagging are stored as a separate layer linked to a context of re-use.

8. A text substitution apparatus comprising:

a store storing text fragments;

a viewer presenting text fragments appearing in an electronic document;

a comparer comparing the presented text fragments with the stored text fragments;

choice means for offering the stored text fragments to an apparatus user, where the presented text fragments differ from the stored text fragments by less than a definable quantity; and

substitution means for substituting one of the stored text fragments for one of the presented text fragments when chosen by the apparatus user,

wherein the choice means presents the stored text fragments in order of similarity to the presented text fragments and wherein the order of similarity is indicated by presentation color.

9. The text substitution apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the definable quantity is defined by the edit distance of the text fragments.

10. The text substitution apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the definable quantity is presented as a percentage of similarity in terms of edit distance of the presented text fragments to the stored text fragments.

11. The text substitution apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the definable quantity is presented as a percentage of similarity in terms of relevance of the presented text fragments to the stored text fragments.

12. A method of comparing and substituting text at text entry to a document comprising:

providing a store of text fragments each of one or more words;

entering text to the document;

comparing text fragments in the entered text to the stored text fragments;

presenting to the text enterer a list of those stored text fragments closely approximating the entered text fragments for immediate substitution with an entered text fragment;

preparing an amended text for storage by resolving each entered text fragment to a normalized form; and

comparing the normalized text fragments to the stored text fragments and presenting a list of those stored text fragments approximating the normalized text fragments for substitution prior to storage,

wherein the stored text fragments are presented in order of similarity to the entered text fragments and wherein the order of similarity is indicated by presentation color.

13. A text substitution apparatus comprising:

a store storing text fragments;

an indexer indexing the stored text fragments on a least two different bases, wherein a first one of the at least two different bases is solely an edit distance basis and a second one of the at least two different bases combines a word occurrence algorithm, a word difference algorithm, and an edit distance algorithm;

a viewer presenting text fragments appearing in an electronic document;

a comparer comparing the presented text fragments with the stored text fragments;

choice means for offering the stored text fragments to an apparatus user, where the presented text fragments differ from the stored text fragments by less than a definable quantity on the basis of a combination of the at least two different bases; and

substitution means for substituting one of the stored text fragments for one of the presented text fragments when chosen by the apparatus user,

wherein the choice means presents the stored text fragments in order of similarity to the presented text.