U.S. patent application number 13/454578 was filed with the patent office on 2017-11-30 for editing electronic documents.
This patent application is currently assigned to INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION. The applicant listed for this patent is HARUMI ITOH, EISUKE KANZAKI. Invention is credited to HARUMI ITOH, EISUKE KANZAKI.
Application Number | 20170344522 13/454578 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43921855 |
Filed Date | 2017-11-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170344522 |
Kind Code |
A9 |
ITOH; HARUMI ; et
al. |
November 30, 2017 |
EDITING ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS
Abstract
A theme to be applied to a document to be edited can be
identified. The document and a preview of one or more components
insertable into the document can be displayed. The preview can be
formed and presented prior to the insertion of at least one of the
components by applying the identified theme to the components.
Inventors: |
ITOH; HARUMI; (KANAGAWA-KEN,
JP) ; KANZAKI; EISUKE; (KANAGAWA-KEN, JP) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
ITOH; HARUMI
KANZAKI; EISUKE |
KANAGAWA-KEN
KANAGAWA-KEN |
|
JP
JP |
|
|
Assignee: |
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
CORPORATION
ARMONK
NY
|
Prior
Publication: |
|
Document Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20120210210 A1 |
August 16, 2012 |
|
|
Family ID: |
43921855 |
Appl. No.: |
13/454578 |
Filed: |
April 24, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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PCT/JP2010/068377 |
Oct 19, 2010 |
|
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13454578 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 40/131 20200101;
G06T 11/60 20130101; G06F 40/106 20200101; G06F 40/117
20200101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/22 20060101
G06F017/22; G06F 17/21 20060101 G06F017/21; G06T 11/60 20060101
G06T011/60 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 29, 2009 |
JP |
2009-249279 |
Claims
1. A system comprising: one or more processors, one or more
computer-readable memories and one or more computer-readable,
tangible storage devices; program instructions, stored on at least
one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least
one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or
more memories, to identify a theme to be applied to a document to
be edited; and program instructions, stored on at least one of the
one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the
one or more processors via at least one of the one or more
memories, to display the document and a preview of one or more
components insertable into the document, wherein the preview is
formed and presented prior to the insertion of at least one of the
components by applying the identified theme to the components.
2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the preview is formed
by converting the one or more components according to at least some
of a set of one or more attribute parameters associated with the
identified theme.
3. The system according to claim 2, further comprising: program
instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage
devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors
via at least one of the one or more memories, to accept selection
of a position at which a component is inserted into the document,
wherein the set of attribute parameters is determined depending on
the selected position to display a preview of the component to
which at least some of the determined set of attribute parameters
have been applied.
4. The system according to claim 2, further comprising: program
instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage
devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors
via at least one of the one or more memories, to allow a user to
select some of the set of attribute parameters to be applied to the
document, wherein a preview of components to which some of the
selected attribute parameters have been applied is displayed.
5. The system according to claim 4, further comprising: program
instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage
devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors
via at least one of the one or more memories, to insert, into the
document, the components to which some of the selected attribute
parameters have been applied.
6. The system according to claim 1, further comprising: program
instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage
devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors
via at least one of the one or more memories, to apply the theme to
at least one of the one or more components in response to a
predetermined user action and inserting the component into the
document.
7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined user
action is drag-and-drop of the preview.
8. The system according to claim 1, further comprising: program
instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage
devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors
via at least one of the one or more memories, to, when at least one
of the one or more components is to be inserted, apply at least
some of a set of attribute parameters associated with the theme are
applied to convert the component.
9. The system according to claim 1, further comprising: program
instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage
devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors
via at least one of the one or more memories, to store a plurality
of themes, wherein the identifying means identifies a theme
selected by a user from the plurality of themes.
10. The system according to claim 2, wherein the set of attribute
parameters to be applied to the components to be inserted into the
document is stored in one or more files separately from the
document.
11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the separate one or
more files include definition of cascading style sheets called for
the document.
12. The system according to claim 1, wherein the components are
image components and the preview consists of thumbnails of the
image components.
13. The system according to claim 2, wherein the components are
image components and the set of attribute parameters include at
least one of parameters of theme color, theme background color,
color translation, shape transformation, conversion to add a frame,
contrast conversion, temperature conversion, and color temperature
conversion.
14. The system according to claim 1, wherein the document is a
multimedia structured document.
15. The system according to claim 1, wherein the document is
created in an HTML or XML format.
16. The system according to claim 1, wherein the components are any
of image data, animation data, vector data, text data, and HTML
data, or a combination thereof.
17. A method comprising: at least one processor, executing program
instructions stored in a storage device, identifying a theme to be
applied to a document to be edited; and at least one processor,
executing program instructions stored in a storage device,
displaying the document and a preview of one or more components
insertable into the document, wherein the preview is formed and
presented prior to the insertion of at least one of the components
by applying the identified theme to the components.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the preview is formed by
converting the one or more components according to at least some of
a set of one or more attribute parameters associated with the
identified theme, said method comprising: at least one processor,
executing program instructions stored in a storage device, applying
the theme to at least one of the one or more components in response
to a predetermined user action and inserting the component into the
document at least one processor, executing program instructions
stored in a storage device, when at least one of the one or more
components is to be inserted, applying at least some of a set of
attribute parameters associated with the theme are applied to
convert the component.
19. The method of claim 17, wherein the components are image
components and the preview consists of thumbnails of the image
components, wherein the document is a multimedia structured
document, wherein the document is created in an HTML or XML
format.
20. A computer program product comprising: one or more
computer-readable storage devices; program instructions, stored on
at least one of the one or more storage devices, to identify a
theme to be applied to a document to be edited; and program
instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage
devices, to display the document and a preview of one or more
components insertable into the document, wherein the preview is
formed and presented prior to the insertion of at least one of the
components by applying the identified theme to the components
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority of Japanese Application No.
2009-249279 entitled "SYSTEM, METHOD, AND PROGRAM FOR EDITING
ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT", filed on Oct. 29, 2009.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The present invention relates to a method, system, and
program for editing electronic documents.
[0003] With the recent widespread use of the Internet, companies
and individuals have created multimedia web contents and published
them on the Internet on a regular basis. In general, web contents
are created as multimedia structured electronic documents that
follow the format of HTML or XML.
[0004] In order to help with web content creation, authoring
software with an editor capable of outputting, as a web content
such as an HTML document, a content exactly as viewed on a display
screen during creation and editing of a content has been offered.
Such an editor is called a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get)
editor. For example, International Business Machines Corporation as
the applicant offers IBM WebSphere Studio Homepage Builder.RTM. as
software with WYSIWYG editor.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0005] One embodiment of the disclosure is for a method for editing
an electronic document. In the embodiment, a theme to be applied to
a document to be edited can be identified. The document and a
preview of one or more components insertable into the document can
be displayed. The preview can be formed and presented prior to the
insertion of at least one of the components by applying the
identified theme to the components.
[0006] One embodiment of the disclosure is for a system for editing
an electronic document. In the embodiment, the system includes one
or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories and one
or more computer-readable, tangible storage devices. The system can
also include program instructions that are stored on the at least
one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least
one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or
more memories. The program instructions can identify a theme to be
applied to a document to be edited. The program instructions can
display the document and a preview of one or more components
insertable into the document. The preview can be formed and
presented prior to the insertion of at least one of the components
by applying the identified theme to the components.
[0007] One embodiment of the disclosure is for a computer program
product for editing an electronic document. In the embodiment, the
computer program product includes one or more computer-readable
storage devices and program instructions, stored on at least one of
the one or more storage devices. The program instructions can
identify a theme to be applied to a document to be edited. The
program instructions can display the document and a preview of one
or more components insertable into the document. The preview can be
formed and presented prior to the insertion of at least one of the
components by applying the identified theme to the components.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 is a view showing an example of appearance of a data
processing system according to an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of hardware
configuration of an information processing apparatus suited to
implement the data processing system according to an embodiment of
the present invention.
[0010] FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of an authoring system
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0011] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the
authoring system according to an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0012] FIG. 5 is a flowchart (first half) illustrating the
operation of the authoring system in an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0013] FIG. 6 is a flowchart (second half) illustrating the
operation of the authoring system in an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0014] FIG. 7 is a flowchart (first half) illustrating the
operation of the authoring system in an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0015] FIG. 8 is a flowchart (second half) illustrating the
operation of the authoring system in an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0016] FIG. 9 is an illustration of an example of a graphical user
interface (with theme unset) of the authoring system of an
embodiment of the present invention.
[0017] FIG. 10 is an illustration of another example of the
graphical user interface (after theme is set and before material is
inserted) of the authoring system of an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0018] FIG. 11 is an illustration of an example of the graphical
user interface (after theme is set and after material is inserted)
of the authoring system of an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0019] FIG. 12 shows an example of a theme in an embodiment of the
present invention.
[0020] FIG. 13 shows an example of an HTML source (before material
is inserted) of an editing target document in an embodiment of the
present invention.
[0021] FIG. 14 shows the example of the HTML source (after material
is inserted) of the editing target document in an embodiment of the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0022] IBM WebSphere Studio Homepage Builder offers users the
function of inserting a material into an editing target document by
performing a material insert action to select a preview of the
material (a kind of document component) from a material view in a
drag-and-drop manner. In IBM WebSphere Studio Homepage Builder,
when a theme is selected for the editing target document, the theme
is applied to the material in response to the drag-and-drop
operation and inserted into the editing target document.
[0023] However, no user can recognize what the material looks like
at the end unless the material is inserted. Therefore, for example,
when the material to which an actually inserted theme has been
applied is different from the user's previous image, the user may
be forced to try to find an appropriate material many times. This
problem of reducing user's convenience cannot be solved by any of
the aforementioned related arts.
[0024] Therefore, there is a need discovered during the course of
developing embodiments of the invention to provide a system,
software, and method for efficiently supporting editing of an
electronic document.
[0025] More specifically in one embodiment, there is provided a
system, method, and computer program product for editing an
electronic document. This system includes means for identifying a
theme to be applied to a document to be edited, and means for
displaying the document and a preview of one or more components to
be inserted into the document. The preview is formed and presented
prior to the insertion of at least one of the components by
applying the identified theme to the one or more components. The
preview may be formed by applying a set of one or more attribute
parameters associated with the identified theme to the one or more
components.
[0026] In one embodiment, the system, method, and/or computer
program product further includes a means for identifying at least
one of the one or more components in response to a predetermined
user action and inserting the component into the document. An
example of the predetermined user action is drag-and-drop. The
system may further include means which, when at least one of the
one or more components is to be inserted into the document, applies
at least some of a set of attribute parameters are applied to
convert the component.
[0027] Further, the system, method, and/or computer program product
may include a means for selecting a position at which a
component(s) is inserted in the document, wherein a set of
attribute parameters is determined according to information on the
selected position and a preview of the component(s) to which the
determined parameters have been applied is displayed.
[0028] The system, method, and/or computer program product may
include a means for allowing a user to select some of the set of
attribute parameters to be applied to the document, wherein a
preview of components to which some of the selected attribute
parameters have been applied is displayed. In this case, the system
can further include means for inserting, into the document, the
components to which some of the selected attribute parameters have
been applied.
[0029] As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of
the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or
computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present
invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an
entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident
software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and
hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a
"circuit," "module" or "system." Furthermore, aspects of the
present invention may take the form of a computer program product
embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer
readable program code embodied thereon.
[0030] Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s)
may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer
readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A
computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not
limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,
infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any
suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a
non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would
include the following: an electrical connection having one or more
wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access
memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable
read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a
portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage
device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of
the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable
storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or
store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction
execution system, apparatus, or device.
[0031] A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated
data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein,
for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a
propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including,
but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable
combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any
computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage
medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program
for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,
apparatus, or device.
[0032] Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be
transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited
to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any
suitable combination of the foregoing. Computer program code for
carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be
written in any combination of one or more programming languages,
including an object oriented programming language such as Java,
Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming
languages, such as the "C" programming language or similar
programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the
user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone
software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a
remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In
the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the
user's computer through any type of network, including a local area
network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may
be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet
using an Internet Service Provider).
[0033] Aspects of the present invention are described below with
reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of
methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products
according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood
that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block
diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations
and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program
instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided
to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose
computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to
produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via
the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing
apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts
specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or
blocks.
[0034] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a
computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other
programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to
function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored
in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture
including instructions which implement the function/act specified
in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
[0035] The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a
computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other
devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on
the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to
produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions
which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus
provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in
the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
[0036] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described
with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted
that the following embodiment does not limit the inventions
described in the scope of claims, and not all the combinations of
features described in the embodiment are requisites as resolving
means of the present invention.
[0037] FIG. 1 shows an example of appearance of an authoring system
100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The
authoring system according to the embodiment of the present
invention includes a keyboard 6, a mouse 7, and a display device
11.
[0038] A user can operate input devices such as the keyboard 6 and
the mouse 7 through a window-based graphical user interface for
visually presenting information on working conditions and the like
onto the display device 11 of the authoring system to edit a web
page as a kind of electronic document in an interactive manner. A
WYSIWYG editor and a preview of multiple materials are displayed in
a window, and a material view for providing the user with the
function of inserting, into the editing target document, a material
selected from the preview is displayed simultaneously.
[0039] In an embodiment of the present invention, when a theme is
set for the editing target document, not only the document itself
displayed in the WYSIWYG editor but also the preview of the
multiple materials displayed in the material view are so converted
that the theme will also be applied thereto. The user selects a
material converted to be applied with the theme while viewing the
material preview images and performs an insert action. The example
of the material insert action in the embodiment of the present
invention is drag and drop from the material view of the material
preview images to an edit view. In an embodiment of the present
invention, an image after the material is inserted can be grasped
before the material is actually inserted into the document, thereby
improving user convenience.
[0040] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of hardware
configuration of an information processing apparatus suited to
implement the authoring system 100 according to an embodiment of
the present invention. The information processing apparatus
includes a CPU (central processing unit) 1 and a main memory 4,
both connected to a bus 2. Removable storages (an external storage
system capable of replacing recording media) such as hard disk
drives 13, 30, CD-ROM drives 26, 29, a flexible disk drive 20, an
MO drive 28, and a DVD drive 31 are connected to the bus 2 via a
floppy disk controller 19, an IDE controller 25, a SCSI controller
27, and the like.
[0041] Storage media such as flexible disk, MO, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM,
etc. are inserted into the removable storages. These storage media,
the hard disk drives 13, 30, and a ROM 14 can record the codes of a
computer program for giving instructions to the CPU and the like in
cooperation with an operating system to carry out embodiments of
the present invention. The computer program is loaded into the main
memory 4 and executed. The computer program can also be compressed,
or divided into two or more parts and recorded on two or more
media.
[0042] The information processing apparatus receives input from the
input devices such as the keyboard 6 and the mouse 7 via a
keyboard/mouse controller 5. The information processing apparatus
is connected to the display device 11 via a DAC/LCDC 10 for
presenting visual data to the user.
[0043] The information processing apparatus can be connected to a
network through a network adapter 18 (Ethernet.RTM. card or token
ring card) or the like to communicate with other computers and the
like. Though not shown, a printer and a modem can also be connected
through a parallel port and a serial port, respectively.
[0044] It is readily understood from the above description that the
information processing apparatus suited to implement the authoring
system according to an embodiment of the present invention is
implemented as an information processing apparatus such as a
general personal computer, workstation, mainframe computer, or the
like, or a combination thereof. It should be noted that these
components are just illustrative and not all the components are
requisites for all embodiments of the present invention.
[0045] Various changes, such as to combine two or more machines and
allocate functions among them, to implement each component in the
hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus used
in an embodiment of the present invention can, of course, be
readily contemplated by those skilled in the art. These changes are
to be naturally included in the concept of embodiments of the
present invention.
[0046] The authoring system of the embodiment of the present
invention employs an operating system for supporting a GUI
(graphical user interface) multi-window environment, such as
Windows.RTM. operating system offered by Microsoft corporation, Mac
OS.RTM. offered by Apple Computer Inc., or a UNIX.RTM. system with
an X Window System (e.g., AIX.RTM. offered by International
Business Machines Corporation).
[0047] From the above description, it can be understood that the
authoring system used in the embodiment of the present invention is
not limited to a specific multi-window operating system
environment.
[0048] FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the authoring system
100 of an embodiment of the present invention. Note that each block
in the functional block diagram of FIG. 3 can be implemented in the
information processing apparatus having the hardware configuration
illustrated in FIG. 2 by making the CPU 1 read computer programs
such as the operating system and the authoring software stored in
the hard disk drive 13 or the like after loaded to the main memory
4 to cooperate the hardware resources with the software.
[0049] The authoring system 100 of the embodiment of the present
invention includes an input/output device 310, editing page storage
320, a material data storage 330, a theme storage 340, and
authoring software 350. The input/output device 310 has the
function of displaying a graphical user interface or the like for
creating content on a desktop screen of the operating system in
accordance with instructions of the authoring software 350. The
input/output device 310 also has the function of receiving
operations and input of data for creating content from the user
operating the data processing system 100.
[0050] The editing page storage 320 of an embodiment of the present
invention stores data on editing target document 322 as a web page
created by the authoring software 350. In an embodiment of the
present invention, such an editing target document 322 is created
in HTML language format.
[0051] The material data storage 330 of the embodiment of the
present invention stores material data 332a . . . n as page
components (elements) to be inserted in the editing target document
332. In an embodiment of the present invention, the material data
can include, but is not limited to, any of image data, animation
data, vector data, text data, and HTML data, or a combination of
these data. The user of the authoring software 350 can
interactively select and insert, into the page, a material stored
in the material data storage 330.
[0052] The material data storage 330 of an embodiment of the
present invention also stores, for each of the material data 332a .
. . n, the material type (photo, graphic, or character), the
material category, information on the availability of shape
transformation of the material, and information on the availability
of color translation of the material. These pieces of information
are considered upon material conversion to be described later.
[0053] The theme storage 340 of the embodiment of the present
invention stores data on theme (color, layout, etc.) with a sense
of unity and to be applied to the editing target document. The user
of the authoring software 350 can interactively select, from themes
342a . . . n stored in the theme storage 340, a theme to be applied
to the editing target document 322, and apply the theme to the
page, creating a web content with a sense of unity.
[0054] FIG. 12 shows an example of theme ("pastel monotone" theme)
in the embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment of
the present invention, the theme consists of a set of parameters
specified in XML language format, and is created as a file (theme
file) separately from the editing target document. For example, the
file name of the theme file may be " . . . theme.xml." Two or more
themes the user can designate may be designated in a single file
alone or across two or more files. Each of tags <themecolor>,
<themebgcolor>, <themetrans_color>,
<themetrans_shape>, <themetrans_border>,
<themetrans_contrast>, <themetrans_temparature>,
<themetrans_colortemp> in the embodiment of the present
invention is used to designate an attribute parameter to be applied
to a material to be inserted. An applicable parameter determining
section 354 and a material data processing section 356 of the
authoring software 350 interpret at least some of these attribute
parameters, and apply the parameters to materials to convert the
materials, forming a preview of materials and instances insertable
into an editing target document along with a corresponding
theme.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 TAG DESIGNATED CONTENT DESIGNATION METHOD
<description> Description of theme Free text input <css
path> Location where CSS file to be File path/file name (e.g.,
referred to by editing target hpb9tm05_8.css) document resides
<preview path> Location where preview image File path/file
name (e.g., file representing impression of hpb9tm05_8.gif) theme
resides <button path> Location where button data File
path/file name (e.g., according to theme resides 05btn13.mif)
<logo path> Location where logo data File path/file name
(e.g., according to theme resides 051og15.mif) <themecolor>
Main color to represent theme Color name (e.g., red) or RGB# (e.g.,
#33FFAA) <themebgcolor> Main background color to Color name
(e.g., red) or RGB# represent theme (e.g., #33FFAA)
<themetrans_color> Color translation method Color translation
method name according to theme and value (e.g., monochrome, light)
<themetrans_shape> Shape transformation method Shape
transformation method according to theme name and value (e.g.,
round, light) <themetrans_border> Frame adding method
according Frame adding method name and to theme value (e.g.,
kabuki, medium) <themetrans_contrast> Contrast conversion
method Contrast name or value (ex. 1: according to theme high, ex.
2: 255) <themetrans_temperature> Temperature conversion
Temperature conversion method according to theme and temperature
name or value (ex. 1: hot, ex. 2: 35) <themetrans_colortemp>
Color temperature conversion Color temperature conversion according
to theme method and color temperature name or value (ex. 1:
daylight, ex. 2: 5600)
[0055] The above has described, with reference to FIG. 12, one
example of theme in the embodiment of the present invention, which
includes CSS file designation and other parameters set in
accordance with the XML specification. Since the XML and CSS
language specifications are well known from aforementioned
Non-Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 2 to those skilled in
the art, a person skilled in the art can implement the creation
process appropriately after reading this specification. Therefore,
further detailed description will be omitted.
[0056] Returning to FIG. 3, the authoring software 350 of an
embodiment of the present invention accesses the editing target
document 322 stored in the page storage 320, and provides the user
with the function of editing the content in an interactive manner
by showing, on the display device 11 of the authoring system 100, a
graphical user interface like a window 900 shown in FIGS. 9 to 11
to be described later. The authoring software 350 includes a theme
setting section 352, an attribute parameter determining section
354, a material data processing section 356, a preview cache 358, a
material view controller 360, and an edit view controller 362.
[0057] The theme setting section 352 of the embodiment of the
present invention has the functions of allowing the user to select,
from multiple themes stored in the above-mentioned theme storage
340, a theme to be applied to the editing target document 322 and
identifying the theme. It also has the function of setting an
additional sub-parameter for the selected theme, such as the degree
of reflecting the theme or which parameter in the theme should be
reflected.
[0058] The attribute parameter determining section 354 of the
embodiment of the present invention has the function of determining
a set of parameters finally to be applied to the material based on
the theme selected by the theme setting section 352 and the
sub-parameter. In an embodiment of the present invention, the
parameters determined by the attribute parameter determining
section 354 are applied to the material by the material data
processing section 356, resulting in converting the material.
[0059] The material data processing section 356 of the embodiment
of the present invention has the function of retrieving
corresponding material data from the material data storage 330 in
accordance with an instruction from the material view processing
section 360 (e.g., an instruction caused by a material insert
action such as to drag and drop the material displayed in the
material view to the page in the edit view), applying parameters
determined by the attribute parameter determining section 354 to
convert the material, and handing it over to the edit view control
section 362. The material data processing section 356 also has the
function of retrieving material data from the material data storage
330 to create preview data from the material data in accordance
with an instruction from the material view processing section 360
(e.g., an instruction to present a material preview into a material
view), applying at least some of the set of parameters determined
by the attribute parameter determining section 354 to convert the
material in order to create preview images, and handing them over
to the preview cache 358.
[0060] The preview cache 358 is a storage area for temporary
storage of preview data on respective materials converted by the
material data processing section 356. The preview data stored in
the preview cache 358 can be refreshed by a change in theme or the
like.
[0061] The material view control section 360 presents, as a
material box, the preview data stored in the preview cache 358, and
generates and sends an instruction to perform processing related to
the material data processing section 356 in response to the
material insert action such as to drag and drop a material
displayed in the material box to the page in the edit view.
[0062] The edit view control section 362 provides a content creator
with an edit view 920 used in editing the editing target document
322. In the embodiment of the present invention, the edit view 920
is a WYSIWYG editor, which has the function of being able to output
a web content such as an HTML document as it is seen on the display
screen.
[0063] FIG. 4 is a flowchart 400 illustrating the operation of the
authoring system 100 according to an embodiment of the present
invention. This processing starts at step 405, and the system is
initialized in step 410 such as to turn on the power supply and to
load BIOS and the operating system. Next, in step 415, the
authoring software 350 is activated in response to a user action to
run the application (e.g., double click on an icon representing the
authoring software 350 on the desktop). In response to the
activation of the authoring software 350, the operating system
generates a window corresponding to the activated authoring
software 350 on the desktop screen of the multi-window operating
system displayed on the display device.
[0064] Then, processing proceeds to step 420 in which the user
opens the editing target document 322. In the embodiment of the
present invention, the authoring software 350 reads data on the
editing target document 322 from the page storage 320 in response
to opening of the editing target document 332 as a web page, and
displays it on the screen. For example, step 420 can be executed by
double click on an icon corresponding to an existing document on
the desktop. Step 420 can also be executed by selecting "new
document creation" from a pull-down menu to create a new document.
In this case, new page data is formed in the page storage 320. In
either case, since this step is well known, those skilled in the
art can execute this step appropriately. Therefore, further
detailed description will be omitted here.
[0065] Then, processing proceeds to step 425 to determine whether
to use a theme. If it is determined in step 425 that no theme is
used, processing proceeds to step 445 according to the arrow of NO
without setting any attribute parameter to be applied, doing
interactive page editing using the material view and the like.
[0066] If it is determined in step 425 that the theme function is
used, processing proceeds to step 430 according to the arrow of
YES. In step 430, a theme is set by the user for the editing target
document 322 according to the navigation of the authoring software
350. The theme consists of a set of one or more attribute
parameters to be applied to elements (including materials) within
an editing target page, and the application of such a theme enables
the editing target page to have a sense of unity.
[0067] Next, processing proceeds to step 435 to apply a
sub-parameter. The sub-parameter indicates the degree of how much
the theme is applied to the material to be inserted into the
editing target document. Then, processing proceeds to step 440 to
determine, based on the theme set in step 430 and the sub-parameter
set in step 435, parameters finally to be applied to the material
to be inserted into the editing target document.
[0068] Next, processing proceeds to step 445 to edit a page
interactively using the material view and the like. In step 445,
the user can operate the window shown in FIG. 9 to carry on
creating content efficiently in an interactive manner. The details
of step 445 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 5 and
6. An example of the window corresponding to the authoring software
in step 445 will be described with reference to FIG. 9.
[0069] Processing proceeds to step 450. In step 450, it is
determined whether the editing the target page to be edited is
completed. If it is determined in step 450 that it is not
completed, processing returns to step 445 according to the arrow of
NO to continue editing the target document 322. If it is determined
in step 450 that editing is completed, termination processing such
as to store the edited content is performed, and processing
proceeds to step 455 according to the arrow of YES to end.
[0070] Next, an example of the processing for a page editing using
a material view 930 in step 445 of FIG. 4 will be described in
further detail with reference to flowcharts 500 and 600 of FIG. 5
and FIG. 6. Processing starts at step 505, and in step 510, it is
determined whether to use the material view 930.
[0071] If it is determined in step 510 that the material view 930
is not used, processing proceeds to step 515 according to the arrow
of NO to do page editing without the material view 930. Since
further detailed description of this page editing without the
material view 930 is unnecessary, it will be omitted here. Next,
processing proceeds to step 520 to end (go to step 450).
[0072] If it is determined in step 510 that the material view 930
is used, processing proceeds to step 525 according to the arrow of
YES. In the embodiment of the present invention, when an
instruction to display the material view 930 is given, the material
view 930 is determined to be used. In the embodiment of the present
invention, the instruction to display the material view 930 is
given by clicking a tab labeled "material" but this is just an
example and the way of giving the instruction is not limited to
this. For example, such an instruction may, of course, be given via
a menu bar 905 or a tool bar 910.
[0073] In step 525, a directory in which materials are stored is
browsed in a material explorer 935 to explore necessary materials
from material data stored in each directory of the material data
storage 330. In an embodiment of the present invention, it is
assumed that materials related to animals belonging to an
illustration category of image materials are explored. Processing
proceeds to step 530, and materials explored in step 530 are
retrieved from a material database.
[0074] Then, processing proceeds to step 535 to determine whether
there is a set of one or more attribute parameters to be applied to
a material to be inserted into the editing target page. In an
embodiment of the present invention, the set of attribute
parameters is determined in step 440. Therefore, if a theme is set
for the editing target page, it is determined that there is a set
of attribute parameters. On the other hand, if no theme is set for
the editing target page, it is determined that there is no set of
attribute parameters.
[0075] If it is determined in step 535 that there is a set of
attribute parameters, processing proceeds to step 540 according to
the arrow of YES, and the set of attribute parameters is applied to
the materials for preview clipped in step 530. As a result, the
materials for preview are converted (changed in color, frame added,
changed in brightness, etc.). After that, processing proceeds to
step 550 to store the converted materials for preview in the
preview cache 358.
[0076] On the other hand, if it is determined in step 535 that
there is no set of attribute parameter, processing proceeds to step
545 according to the arrow of NO, in which the materials for
preview clipped in step 530 are adopted intact as the final
materials for preview. After that, processing proceeds to step 550
to store the materials for preview in the preview cache 358.
[0077] Then, processing proceeds to step 555, in which the
materials for preview stored in step 550 in the preview cache 358
are put in a material box 940 as a list box and presented in such a
manner that the user can select any of them. After that, processing
moves to flowchart 600 shown in FIG. 6 via (A) 560.
[0078] Here, the user interface including the material view
according to the embodiment of the present invention will be
described. FIG. 9 shows an example (with theme unset) of the
graphical user interface of the authoring system of the embodiment
of the present invention. The window 900 includes the menu bar 905,
the tool bar 910, an editing target page display area 915, an edit
view 920, an HMTL source view 925, the material view 930, the
material explorer 935, and the material box 940.
[0079] The menu bar 905 provides the user with various functions
such as file operation and display control. Similarly, the tool bar
910 provides various functions, such as file operation and display
control, as button icons. An existing editing target page is opened
or a new page is created by using the menu bar 905 or the tool bar
910. Since these functions of the bars are well known, further
detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted here.
[0080] The page display area 915 is an area in which the editing
target page is displayed. The editing target page can be displayed
in the page display area as the edit view 920 that is a WISIWIG
editor or the HTML source view 925 that displays the editing target
page in HTML format. The edit view 920 has the function of updating
the display of the editing target page to the latest version in
response to editing of the editing target page.
[0081] The material view 930 presents the user page components
(image, animation, sound, and other page components) prepared in
advance so that user can use these materials to create a page
effectively. The material view 930 includes the material explorer
935 and the material box 940.
[0082] The user can use the material explorer 935 to browse the
directory in which material data are stored. The material box 940
presents the user material data residing in the directory specified
by the material explorer 935. Then, the user can select one of the
materials presented in the material box 940 and perform a material
insert action such as drag and drop to the page display area 915 of
the edit view 920 to insert the selected material, thereby enabling
effective creation of a content.
[0083] The user as a content creator can use the window 900 as an
interactive graphical user interface of the authoring software 350
including these user interface elements 905 to 940 to edit the
editing target document 322 in order to create a web content
effectively.
[0084] Note that since no theme is set via the graphical user
interface of the authoring system of an embodiment of the present
invention shown in FIG. 9, the preview of materials shown in the
material view consists of thumbnails of original materials
themselves.
[0085] Referring next to FIG. 10, another example of the graphical
user interface of the authoring system of an embodiment of the
present invention when a theme is set together with a template is
described. In the example shown in FIG. 10, it is assumed that
"pastel monotone" is selected as the theme to be applied to the
editing target page. Since the description of the theme "pastel
monotone" has already been made with reference to FIG. 12, detailed
description thereof will be omitted here. Note that since the theme
"pastel monotone" is set for the editing target page, each material
displayed in the material view 930 becomes more pastel monotone
than that shown in FIG. 9.
[0086] Flowchart 600 starts from (A)560. Next, in step 605, a
material to be inserted is selected in the material box 940. Then,
processing proceeds to step 610, in which a certain material insert
action is done, i.e., in the embodiment of the present invention,
the material displayed in the material view is dragged and dropped
onto the page in the edit view.
[0087] After the material insert action in step 610, processing
proceeds to step 615 to determine whether there is a set of
attribute parameters to be applied to the material within the
editing target page. As mentioned above, in the embodiment of the
present invention, this set of attribute parameters is determined
in step 440. Therefore, if a theme is set for the editing target
page, it is determined that there is a set of attribute parameters.
On the other hand, if no theme is set for the editing target page,
it is determined that there is no set of attribute parameters.
[0088] If it is determined in step 615 that there is a set of
attribute parameters, processing proceeds to step 620 according to
the arrow of YES, and the attribute parameters are applied to the
material selected in step 605. As a result, the material is
converted (changed in color, frame added, changed in brightness,
etc.). After that, processing proceeds to step 630 to insert the
converted material into the editing target document 322. Next,
processing proceeds to step 635 to end (go to step 450).
[0089] If it is determined in step 615 that there is no attribute
parameter, processing proceeds to step 625 according to the arrow
of NO, in which the material selected in step 605 is adopted and
copied as a material to be finally inserted as it is. After that,
processing proceeds to step 630 to insert the material into the
editing target document 322. Next, processing proceeds to step 635
to end (go to step 450).
[0090] FIG. 11 shows still another example of the window (after
inserting the material) corresponding to the authoring software 350
displayed on the display device of the authoring system 100
according to an embodiment of the present invention. Note that
since "pastel monotone" is selected as the theme to be applied to
the editing target page, the preview of materials displayed in the
material view 930 and the material newly inserted in the editing
target document displayed in the edit view 920 have become "pastel
monotone."
[0091] Referring next to flowcharts 700 and 800 of FIG. 7 and FIG.
8, another example of page editing processing using the material
view 930 and the like in step 435 of FIG. 4 will be described. In
this example, parameters to be applied can correspond to different
themes depending on the position at which a material is to be
inserted in the editing target page.
[0092] Flowcharts 700 and 800 are almost the same as flowcharts 500
and 600, and the processing content of each corresponding step is
essentially the same. However, note that selection of a material
inserting position in step 725, parameter determination depending
on the material inserting position in step 745, and parameter
determination depending on the material inserting position in step
820 are added in this example. In such steps, for example, the
material inserting position is selected by clicking a position at
which the material is expected to be inserted in the edit view. A
set of attribute parameters to be applied to the material is
determined depending on the selection. The determined set of
attribute parameters is applied to form a preview displayed in the
material view and the material to be inserted in the edit view.
[0093] As an example, in order to carry out these steps, a file
describing correspondences between positions in the editing target
document and attribute parameters to be applied is stored in the
system so that the file can be used to determine, in steps 745 and
820, attribute parameters to be applied to the material inserting
position selected in step 725. In the file, a position in the
editing target document can be specified using position information
on a tag configuration represented by XPath or the like, or a style
selector to select a style, such as class, ID, or tag, can be used
to specify the position. However, the way of specifying the
position is not limited to these.
[0094] FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 show an example of the editing target
document 322 created according to an HTML specification in the
embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 shows an HTML source
before a material is inserted and FIG. 14 shows the HTML source
after the material is inserted. Note that, in the editing target
document before the immaterial is inserted as shown in FIG. 13, a
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) file ("hpb9tm05_8.css") associated
with a selected theme (i.e., specified in a theme file) is
designated. The designation of the CSS file in this editing target
document can be changed by changing the theme.
[0095] In the embodiment of the present invention, a set of
attribute parameters of a theme file to be applied to the editing
target page is identified. Note that, in the page after the
material is inserted as shown in FIG. 13, the material
("file:///C:/Documentsand Settings/user/Application
Data/application/tmp/hb9tm05_8/ani016.gif") converted by applying
thereto the set of attribute parameters included in the theme file
is inserted.
[0096] As mentioned above, although the example of the editing
target document 322 as a web page created according to the HTML
specification in the embodiment of the present invention has been
described with reference to FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, the details of the
HTML specification are well known to those skilled in the art as
described in Non-Patent Document 3 and the like. Therefore, since
those skilled in the art who has read this specification can make
additions to and changes in the content, further detailed
description will be omitted.
[0097] As described above, according to an embodiment of the
present invention, there can be provided an authoring system,
software, and method for efficiently supporting editing and
creation of an electronic document (page) as a web content. It will
be readily appreciated that the productivity of users who operate a
content authoring system to create contents can be enhanced.
[0098] The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate
the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible
implementations of systems, methods and computer program products
according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this
regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent
a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more
executable instructions for implementing the specified logical
function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative
implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of
the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in
succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or
the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order,
depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted
that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart
illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams
and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special
purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions
or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer
instructions.
* * * * *