Method and Apparatus for Maintaining Relationships Between Parts in a Package

• US 20060149785A1
• Filed: 01/25/2006
• Published: 07/06/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Shur, Andrey, Jones, Brian, Pollock, Josh, Foehr, Oliver, Sheth, Sarjana, Dunietz, Jerry, Hillberg, Mike, MacKenzie, Bruce, Paoli, Jean, Emerson, Daniel, Ornstein, David
• Granted Patent: US 7,752,235 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/103 Formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents automatic justification G06F40/189; automatic line break hyphenation G06F40/191
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/131 Fragmentation of text files, e.g. creating reusable text-blocks; Linking to fragments, e.g. using XInclude; Namespaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability

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. An application program interface embodied on one or more computer-readable media, comprising:

exposing a first method to create a package, wherein the package holds together a plurality of parts;

exposing a second method to create a relationship between the package and a particular part; and

exposing a third method to identify relationships between the plurality of parts.

2. An application program interface as recited in claim 1, further comprising a fourth method to delete existing relationships.

3. An application program interface as recited in claim 1, further comprising a fourth method to retrieve information regarding existing relationships.

4. An application program interface as recited in claim 1, further comprising a property that identifies a source part associated with a particular relationship.

5. An application program interface as recited in claim 1, further comprising a property that identifies a target uniform resource identifier associated with a particular relationship.

6. An application program interface as recited in claim 1, further comprising a property that identifies a name associated with a particular relationship.