Apparatus and method for creating literary macrames

• US 20070204211A1
• Filed: 02/24/2006
• Published: 08/30/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dana W. Paxson
• Original Assignee: Dana W. Paxson
• Inventors: Paxson, Dana W.
• Granted Patent: US 7,810,021 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/205
• 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

By the use of program scripts, databases, and other software elements, taking as input a set of text files making up a work of literature of substantial size, converting the files to an electronically-readable form, linking the files to each other to provide readers with a rich set of associations to be explored within the work, muting the presentation of the links in order to preserve the immersive character of the reading process, and simplifying the user browsing interface to limit distractions that vitiate the immersive reading experience. By the richness and simplicity of carefully-designed outputs, offering the author a new range of opportunities for engaging the reader, offering the publisher a new opportunity for succeeding in purveying electronic literature, and presenting the reader with an “electronic literary macramé”: a new class of work permitting a level of immersive reading practice obtainable only in the world of electronic text.

Claims

1. A method for producing an electronic literary macramé

of texts from a literary work, comprising the steps of;

breaking the literary work down into files;

establishing a set of reference hypertext files;

establishing hypertext links among scene text files of the literary work and reference hypertext files;

establishing multiple sequences of reading for scenes;

converting the work into browser-compatible form;

incorporating supplementary hypertext links in each scene hypertext file;

incorporating special presentation features in one or more scene hypertext files;

linking the reference hypertext files back to the scene hypertext files of the work;

suppressing the conventional marking of browser links;

defining and using background, muted supporting windows to display reference hypertext files; and

generating a collection of interlinked browser-ready files comprising the literary macramé

.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of breaking the literary work down into files further comprises the steps of:

selecting a point of view, locale, and interval of time defining each scene in the literary work;

creating a scene text file containing the text of each scene in the literary work;

creating a scene characteristics table associating each scene text file with a title, a date and time, and a list of the characters in, and other focal aspects of, the scene;

writing the scene characteristics table into the scene text file;

copying the scene characteristics table from the scene text file to the POV spreadsheet.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of establishing a set of reference hypertext files further comprises the steps of:

collecting author'"'"'s terms of unique, innovative, or specialized usage in the literary work;

creating one or more text glossaries of said author'"'"'s terms;

creating expository texts concerning the author'"'"'s terms and contents of the literary work;

incorporating hypertext anchors to author'"'"'s terms in said text glossaries and expository texts;

constructing a list of said hypertext anchors.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of establishing hypertext links among scene text files of the literary work and reference hypertext files further comprises the steps of:

constructing an augmented term link list containing the author'"'"'s term, the name of the anchor to which it will link, the form of the author'"'"'s term to be displayed where the link is placed, the name of the file in which the anchor resides, the area in which the reference will be displayed, and any formatting information needed for the reference display

modifying the augmented term link list to eliminate unwanted references, change file names, or adjust other values and entries;

executing a generating program script of the invention to create a link installation script containing file modification editing instructions for inserting hypertext links wherever text references to items in the term link list appear;

applying the link installation script to each scene text file.

applying the link installation script to each reference file.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the step of applying the scene link installation script to each scene text file further comprises the steps of:

scene link installation script inserting links at points within each scene text file to anchors in the files of reference materials by the use of scripts containing all author'"'"'s terms for which anchors have been created in the reference files;

locating in each scene text file every occurrence of every such author'"'"'s term and replace the term in the scene text file with the link to that term'"'"'s anchor in a reference file, leaving the appearance of the term in the scene text file intact, and producing a linked scene text file;

locating in each reference file every occurrence of every such author'"'"'s term and replace the term in the reference file with the link to that term'"'"'s anchor in a reference file, leaving the appearance of the term in the reference file intact, and producing a linked reference file.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of establishing multiple sequences of reading for scenes further comprises the steps of:

presenting the author with a means for selecting sequencing criteria for creating each sequence of scenes;

compiling the author'"'"'s selections of criteria for creating each sequence of scenes into a sequence of identified scenes;

creating multiple sequences of identified scenes to create interwoven sequences of narrative.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of creating multiple sequences of identified scenes further comprises the steps of:

defining subset sequences of scenes to be read as a subset of the totality of scenes in the literary work;

defining a chronological sequence of scenes in the literary work;

defining a first sequence of reading of subset sequences of scenes for the reader of the literary work;

identifying shared data elements for establishing a sequence of links among scenes;

identifying subset sequences of scenes for which common elements may be used to link said scenes in a narrative sequence;

defining one or more alternative sequences of reading of subset sequences of scenes for the reader of the literary work;

identifying uniquely each alternative sequence of reading of scenes;

generating uniquely-identified hypertext links from each scene hypertext file in each alternative sequence of reading to the next scene hypertext file in said alternative sequence;

presenting unobtrusively all uniquely-identified hypertext links from each scene hypertext file in each alternative sequence of reading to the next scene hypertext file in a form allowing the reader to choose any presented alternative sequence upon finishing the reading of any scene hypertext file.

8. The method of claim 6 in which the step of creating multiple sequences of identified scenes to create interwoven sequences of narrative further comprises the steps of:

identifying common elements for establishing a sequence of links;

identifying a sequence of scenes for which common elements may be used to link said scenes in a narrative sequence; and

installing links for one or more narrative sequences in each of a series of scene text files to make each scene text file into a scene hypertext file.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of presenting the author with a means for selecting sequencing criteria for creating each sequence of scenes further comprises the steps of:

presenting scenes to an author for validating the sequences of the scenes; and

altering sequences of scenes by changing scene links as directed by the author.

10. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of defining a first sequence of reading of subset sequences of scenes for the reader of the literary work further comprises the steps of:

presenting visibly each uniquely-identified hypertext link to the next scene from each scene hypertext file in the first sequence of reading;

presenting visibly the next scene'"'"'s hypertext file upon the reader'"'"'s selection of the next scene'"'"'s hypertext link of the scene hypertext file;

presenting visibly each uniquely-identified hypertext link to the previous scene from each scene hypertext file in the first sequence of reading; and

presenting visibly the previous scene'"'"'s hypertext file upon the reader'"'"'s selection of the previous scene'"'"'s hypertext link of the scene hypertext file.

11. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of defining one or more alternative sequences of reading of subset sequences of scenes for the reader of the literary work further comprises the steps of:

defining one or more alternative sequences of reading of scenes based on a single character'"'"'s point of view in common among said scene text files;

defining one or more alternative sequences of reading of scenes based on a single locale in common among said scene text files;

defining one or more alternative sequences of reading of scenes based on one or more keywords appearing in common among said scene text files;

defining one or more alternative sequences of reading of scenes based on alternative chronological sequencing of scene text files;

defining one or more alternative sequences of reading of scenes based on the author'"'"'s desired effects upon the reader'"'"'s awareness of the content of the literary work.

defining one or more alternative sequences of reading of scenes based on combined sequencing criteria drawn from the scene characteristics table of each scene;

defining one or more alternative sequences of reading of scenes based on the author'"'"'s manual selection of a succession of scenes;

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of defining one or more alternative sequences of reading of scenes based on alternative chronological sequencing of scene text files further comprises the steps of:

defining one or more alternative sequences of reading of scenes based on reverse chronological sequencing of scene text files;

defining one or more alternative sequences of reading of scenes based on mixed reverse and forward chronological sequencing of scene text files;

defining one or more alternative sequences of reading of scenes based on mixed reverse and forward chronological sequencing of sequences of scene text files;

13. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of presenting unobtrusively all uniquely-identified hypertext links from each scene hypertext file in each alternative sequence of reading to the next scene hypertext file in a form allowing the reader to choose any presented alternative sequence upon finishing the reading of any scene hypertext file further comprises the steps of:

presenting invisibly each uniquely-identified hypertext links from each scene hypertext file in each alternative sequence of reading upon initial presentation to the reader;

presenting visibly each uniquely-identified hypertext links from each scene hypertext file in each alternative sequence of reading upon the reader'"'"'s selection of a defined region of the display of the scene hypertext file;

presenting visibly the linked scene hypertext file upon the reader'"'"'s further selection of a defined region of the display of the scene hypertext file;

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of converting the work into browser-compatible form further comprises the steps of:

converting each scene text file to a scene hypertext file;

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the step of converting each scene text file to a scene hypertext file further comprises the steps of:

removing unnecessary control information from the scene text file;

constructing a hypertext header for the scene text file;

constructing a hypertext body for the scene text file;

placing the scene text file in the hypertext body for the scene hypertext file;

adding hypertext links to the scene hypertext file.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of incorporating supplementary hypertext links in each scene hypertext file further comprises the steps of:

incorporating supplementary hypertext links to hypertext anchors in reference hypertext files in each scene hypertext file;

incorporating supplementary hypertext links to hypertext anchors in scene hypertext files in each scene hypertext file;

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of incorporating special presentation features in one or more scene hypertext files further comprises the steps of:

encrypting one or more portions of one or more scene hypertext files or reference hypertext files;

incorporating style features for displaying one or more portions of one or more scene hypertext files or reference hypertext files in one or more alternate typefaces;

incorporating software transformations for displaying one or more portions of one or more scene hypertext files or reference hypertext files as one or more graphical images or texts;

incorporating software components for displaying one or more portions of one or more scene hypertext files or reference hypertext files as successions of different images or texts; and

referencing one or more stylesheets to alter the presentation of one or more portions of one or more scene hypertext files or reference hypertext files.

18. The method of claim 1 in which the step of suppressing the conventional marking of browser links further comprises the steps of:

creating a literary macramé

stylesheet definition suppressing distinctions of appearance between plain text and linked text;

leaving in place the distinction that causes the mouse pointer to change its appearance when positioned over a link; and

applying the use of the literary macramé

stylesheet to each scene hypertext file in the work.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of defining and using background, muted supporting windows to display reference hypertext files further comprises the steps of:

reducing the level of text-to-background contrast in each background, muted window;

positioning a portion of each background, muted window behind the window containing the main narrative; and

suppressing the overlapping of the main narrative window by a backgroup, muted window unless such overlapping is explicitly directed by a user.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of generating a collection of interlinked browser-ready files comprising the literary macramé

further comprises the steps of;

listing all scene hypertext files to be included in the work;

generating a scene compilation control script for each scene included in the work;

generating a master compilation script to execute the collection of scene compilation control scripts;

compiling the scene hypertext files using the master compilation script and the collection of scene compilation control scripts to produce scene text files and reference files in browser-compatible form with linking capabilities;

storing the compiled scene hypertext files and reference hypertext files in an interlinked set of directories for the reader'"'"'s use.

21. The method of claim 20 in which the step of compiling the scene hypertext files using the master compilation script and the collection of scene compilation control scripts to produce scene text files and reference files in browser-compatible form with linking capabilities further comprises the steps of:

prepending a Web page header to each scene hypertext file;

appending a set of Web page links to each scene hypertext file; and

appending a Web page trailer to each scene hypertext file.

22. An apparatus for producing an electronic literary macramé

of texts from a literary work, comprising;

a computer;

input means for the computer;

display means for the computer;

information storage and retrieval means for holding data and instructions for the computer;

a repository for information connected to the computer;

a set of files residing in the repository for information;

a database program or spreadsheet program operating within the computer;

a database supported by the database program or spreadsheet program for holding information concerning the characteristics of one or more scenes presented in the literary work;

a set of processing control files residing in the repository for information, for linking the scenes of the literary work;

a set of scene text files residing in the repository for information and containing the literary work;

a set of reference text files residing in the repository for information and containing information supportive of the literary work;

a set of link records residing in the repository for information and containing link information interconnecting the contents of the scene text files and reference text files;

a set of utility programs and scripts operating within the computer for converting the set of scene text files and reference text files to interlinked hypertext files;

a browser program operating within the computer for displaying interlinked hypertext files; and

a set of display processing programs operating within the computer for adapting the presentation of interlinked hypertext files.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the repository for information comprises one or more of any combination of the following:

one or more hard disk drives;

one or more main random access memory (RAM) units;

one or more removable flash memory units; and

one or more removable disk units.

24. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the input means comprises a keyboard and a pointing device with one or more buttons for signaling selection.

25. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the display means comprises a display screen.

26. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the set of files further comprises:

one or more source text files containing one or more works of literature;

one or more scene text files each containing a component of a source text file; and

one or more reference text files each containing reference information; and

one or more hypertext files each containing one or more links to points within itself and one or more links to points in other hypertext files.

27. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein each hypertext file further comprises a scene hypertext file containing scene text.

28. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein a sequence of linked hypertext files comprises a narrative story sequence.

29. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein each hypertext file further comprises a reference hypertext file containing reference text.

30. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the database program or spreadsheet program comprises a computer program of a type selected from the following:

an electronic spreadsheet program;

an electronic database management program.

31. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the database comprises a repository of one or more types selected from a list consisting of the following:

the contents of an electronic spreadsheet;

one or more electronic files;

the contents of a relational database.

32. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the database contains one or more data elements comprising attributes of each scene of a story.

33. The apparatus of claim 32 wherein the one or more data elements comprise for each scene:

a scene title;

a scene locale;

a scene designator or identifier;

the point of view from which the scene is rendered;

the date and time of the scene within the narrative text;

the copyright year of the writing of the scene;

one or more keywords characterizing the scene;

a designator of the chapter in which the scene appears;

a designator of the section of the chapter in which the scene appears;

the source file from which the scene text file is taken;

the style of presentation required for the scene text; and

the location or window of presentation required for the scene text file.

34. The apparatus of claim 32 wherein the one or more data elements comprise for each scene:

a generated common scene identifier

a scene text file name;

a generated scene HTML file name;

a generated scene processing control file name;

a previous scene entry number;

a generated previous scene HTML file name;

a next scene entry number;

a generated next scene HTML file name;

a link class;

a next scene source file name;

a generated scene character list; and

a scene primary sequence number.

35. The apparatus of claim 32 wherein the one or more data elements comprise for each scene:

a scene file control record;

a scene content control record;

a scene source data control record;

scene base link control record;

scene keyword control record;

scene main link control record; and

one or more scene added link control records.

36. The apparatus of claim 32 wherein the one or more data elements comprise one or more alternative narrative order links for each scene, each alternative narrative order link further comprising:

linked scene entry number;

next alternate scene HTML file name;

scene link title; and

scene link class.

37. The apparatus of claim 32 wherein the one or more data elements comprise for each scene for each character in the work:

a character identifier;

an indicator of the character'"'"'s presence in the scene; and

an indicator of the use of the character'"'"'s point of view in the scene.

38. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the set of processing control files residing in the repository for information resides in the database.

39. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the set of processing control files residing in the repository for information further comprises:

one or more glossary link creation control files for identifying glossary anchor points and link points for inserting hypertext glossary links in a hypertext file;

one or more scene attribute files for identifying characteristics of each scene in a literary work;

one or more link order control files each for establishing a narrative sequence of scenes in a literary work; and

one or more scene processing control files each for directing the linking of a scene in multiple sequences of narrative.

40. The apparatus of claim 39 wherein a narrative sequence of a subset of the scenes in the literary work is defined by criteria selected from a set consisting of the following elements:

the chronological order of the narrative;

one or more character points of view;

one or more narrator points of view;

the locale within the narrative;

multiple points of view within the same scene;

reverse chronological order of the narrative;

one or more narrative orders defined by the author; and

one or more common thematic elements shared by different scenes.

41. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the set of utility programs and scripts operating within the computer for converting the set of text files to hypertext files further comprises:

one or more link determination programs for constructing a set of terms and objects for which hypertext links are to be installed in a text file;

a link installation program for inserting hypertext links into a text file to convert it to a hypertext file;

a Web page creation program for converting a hypertext file to a Web page;

one or more literary macramé

compilation scripts for invoking the link installation program and the Web page creation program for all text files to construct a complete linked literary macramé

; and

one or more manual scene link establishment scripts for enabling a user to link two scenes together using hypertext links.

42. The apparatus of claim 41 wherein one or more of the set of utility programs is written in a computer programming language selected from the set consisting of the following:

Visual Basic for Applications language,

awk script language,

sed script language,

Perl language,

Python language,

bash shell script language,

electronic spreadsheet formulas.

43. The apparatus of claim 41 wherein the set of terms and objects for which hypertext links are to be installed in a text file comprises one or more records each further comprising:

a glossary or reference term to be linked from a referring location in the text file;

a file reference identifying the glossary or reference in which the glossary term appears;

a glossary term anchor identifier specifying the location in the glossary at which the glossary term appears;

a term corresponding to the glossary or reference term to be displayed in the referring location;

a target window in which the glossary or reference term appears when linked; and

a class of reference defining the appearance of the reference in the referring location.

44. An apparatus for constructing a literary macramé

, comprising a scene text file further comprising;

scene narrative text; and

an array or list of identified attributes characterizing said scene narrative text;

a single hypertext link displayed prominently for reader selection to display to the reader the next scene in a narrative in a first sequence of reading;

a single hypertext link displayed prominently for reader selection to display to the reader the previous scene in a narrative in a first sequence of reading; and

one or more hypertext links displayed only when selected by a pointing device, for reader selection to display to the reader a next scene in a narrative in an alternative sequence of reading.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, in which the array or list of identified attributes characterizing said scene narrative text comprises:

a scene title identified as such;

a scene locale identified as such;

a scene designator or identifier, identified as such;

the point of view from which the scene is rendered, identified as such;

the date and time of the scene within the narrative text, identified as such;

the copyright year of the writing of the scene, identified as such;

one or more keywords characterizing the scene, identified as such; and

a format of presentation for links from the scene to other scenes, identified as such.

46. The apparatus of claim 44, in which the array or list of identified attributes characterizing said scene narrative text comprises:

a designator of the chapter in which the scene appears, identified as such;

a designator of the section of the chapter in which the scene appears, identified as such;

the source file from which the scene text file is taken, identified as such;

the style of presentation required for the scene text, identified as such; and

the location or window of presentation required for the scene text file, identified as such.