Method and apparatus for document processing

• US 20050251735A1
• Filed: 04/30/2004
• Published: 11/10/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Ternasky, Joseph D., Little, Robert A., Jazdzewski, Charles P., Anderson, Christopher L., Relyea, Rob, Foehr, Oliver, Dunietz, Jerry, Hillberg, Mike, Ornstein, David
• Granted Patent: US 8,661,332 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/255
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/197 Version control for software G06F8/71

Abstract

Modular content framework and document format methods and systems are described. The described framework and format define a set of building blocks for composing, packaging, distributing, and rendering document-centered content. These building blocks define a platform-independent framework for document formats that enable software and hardware systems to generate, exchange, and display documents reliably and consistently. The framework and format have been designed in a flexible and extensible fashion. In addition to this general framework and format, a particular format, known as the reach package format, is defined using the general framework. The reach package format is a format for storing paginated documents. The contents of a reach package can be displayed or printed with full fidelity among devices and applications in a wide range of environments and across a wide range of scenarios.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a document for processing;

identifying attributes contained in the document;

determining a default handling behavior associated with each attribute in the document;

when processing the document;

ignoring an attribute in the document if the attribute is not undertood and the attribute'"'"'s default handling behavior is set to ignore new features;

halting processing of the document if the attribute is not understood and the attribute'"'"'s default handling behavior is set to require understanding of attributes; and

processing attributes in the document if the attribute is understood.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein attributes include elements contained in the document.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the default handling behavior may vary when processing different parts of the document.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein ignoring an attribute includes:

maintaining the ignored attribute for future use if a carry along parameter is active; and

discarding the ignored attribute if a carry along parameter is not active.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein maintaining the ignored attribute includes storing the attribute for use in a later process.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the default handling behavior is set by a group of compatibility rules properties.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying behavior associated with ignorable content.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the default handling behavior is set by Ignorable and MustUnderstand parameters.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the document is processed by a reader application.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the attributes contained in the document are XML attributes.

11. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed, implement the method of claim 1.

12. A computing system embodying the computer-readable media of claim 11.

13. A method comprising:

receiving a document for processing;

determining a default handling behavior associated with elements in the document;

determining behavior for ignorable content;

when processing the document;

ignoring an elements in the document if the element is not understood and the element'"'"'s default handling behavior is set to ignore new features;

halting processing of the document if the element is not understood and the element'"'"'s default handling behavior is set to require understanding of the elements; and

continuing to process the document if the element is understood.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the default handling behavior may vary when processing different parts of the document.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the elements in the document are XML elements.

16. A system comprising:

one or more computer-readable media;

software instructions resident on the media which, when executed, are capable of representing a document with a markup representation comprising;

a first element that controls how an application reacts to an unknown attribute;

a second element that declares that an associated namespace is ignorable;

a third element that specifies behavior for ignorable content; and

a fourth element that reverses the effect of a namespace declared ignorable.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising a fifth element that specifies preferred content.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising a sixth element that specifies content that may be substituted for the preferred content.

19. The system of claim 16, further comprising a fifth element that specifies whether an ignored attribute is maintained or discarded.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the markup representation is an XML markup representation.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the markup representation is based on namespace uniform resource identifiers.

22. The system of claim 16, wherein the markup representation allows documents using new markup features to be handled by an application that does not understand the new markup features.

23. The system of claim 16, wherein the application is a reader application.

24. The system of claim 16, wherein the application is a parser.

25. The system of claim 16, wherein the behavior for ignorable content includes behavior that ignores all content associated with a particular attribute.

26. The system of claim 16, wherein the behavior for ignorable content includes behavior that:

ignores a particular attribute; and

ignores all content associated with the particular attribute.

27. The system of claim 16, wherein the behavior for ignorable content includes behavior that:

ignores content associated with a particular attribute; and

processes content nested within the particular attribute.

28. A method comprising:

creating a package that defines a document, wherein the document includes a plurality of parts that make up the document and wherein each of the plurality of parts has an associated name; and

including a markup representation associated with the plurality of parts, the markup representation comprising;

a preferred content that is used by applications capable of processing the preferred content; and

a fallback content that is used by applications incapable of processing the preferred content.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the markup representation further includes an element that controls how applications react to unknown attributes.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the markup representation further includes an element that declares a namespace as ignorable.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein the markup representation further includes an element that declares all elements and attributes associated with a namespace as ignorable.

32. The method of claim 28, wherein the markup representation further includes an element that specifies behavior for ignorable content.

33. The method of claim 28, wherein the markup representation further includes an element that reverses the effect of a namespace declared ignorable.

34. The method of claim 28, wherein the preferred content and the fallback content can be nested in an arbitrary manner.

35. The method of claim 28, wherein during processing the markup representation, if the preferred content indicates halting processing, the processing of the markup representation continues with the fallback content.

36. The method of claim 28, wherein the markup representation further includes an attribute that controls how applications react to unknown attributes.

37. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed, implement the method of claim 28.

38. A computing system embodying the computer-readable media of claim 37.