Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1997-07-14
2001-01-30
Feild, Joseph H. (Department: 2776)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
active
06182092
ABSTRACT:
COPYRIGHT AUTHORIZATION
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to document format conversion. More particularly, the invention relates to converting between a structured language element and an object embeddable in the native format of a document editor.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Electronic documents may be composed according to a variety of document formats which differ in the way they represent a document. For example, two documents in two different formats may appear similar when displayed to the user. However, the internal representations of the documents may be very different. Since a document editor is typically able to load and save only those documents of a particular format (i.e., the document editor's “native” format), a common problem related to document formats is converting documents from one document format to another.
A particular type of document format is referred to herein as a structured language. Structured languages use plain text to denote how a document should be formatted and to indicate items within the document. Particular structured languages such as the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) are widely used on the Internet, a world-wide network of cooperating computer networks. However, structured languages can also be used for non Internet purposes.
HTML comprises plain text and HTML tags, the latter of which are comprised of HTML tag components (e.g., an HTML tag name, HTML attribute keyword or HTML attribute value). One function of the HTML tags is to format and organize the text of an HTML document. Another function of the HTML tags is to denote items within the HTML document. For example, a particular item called a hyperlink provides a link to another document and is denoted by a particular HTML tag. Hyperlinks can be thought of as cross references connecting HTML documents to facilitate traversal from one HTML document to another. As a result, a certain collection of interconnected HTML documents available on the Internet is often referred to as the World Wide Web (WWW). Although widely used on the Internet, HTML can also be used on non-networked machines or on intranets (networks separate from the Internet using Internet standards).
The text in an unrendered HTML document is sometimes referred to as “source” or “raw” HTML. Ordinarily, such source HTML is not viewed without the aid of an HTML document viewer (commonly called a web browser). The HTML document viewer interprets the unrendered HTML text to provide the user with a rendered HTML document. For example the “<B>” HTML tag causes text associated with it to appear in boldface type, and the “<HR>” HTML tag results in a horizontal rule. HTML includes numerous other tags to represent headings, numbered lists, and other items. Commercially available HTML document viewers include the Internet Explorer by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Washington, Netscape Navigator by Netscape Communications Corporation of Mountain View, Calif., and Mosaic by the National Center for Supercomputer Applications (NCSA) of Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
Originally, HTML consisted of only text and text-related tags. The limitations of a text only system were recognized, and new HTML tags were added to define images, forms, tables, and other items. As other limitations in existing tags are recognized, HTML is extended and enhanced. For example, new HTML tags are added, or existing tags are redefined. As a result, the definitions of HTML tags may change over time, and the rendering process evolves to accommodate the changes.
One or more HTML tags can be used to construct an HTML element. Certain HTML elements relating to forms are particularly useful because they can be used to collect information from users. For example, when the HTML document is rendered, an HTML element may appear as a text box or a graphical push button. A user can place identifying or search information in the text box and click on the push button (i.e., activate a user input device such as a mouse while pointing at the graphical push button) to send the information to a vendor. Such an arrangement has numerous uses, including conducting business over the Internet (e.g., using an HTML order form document), performing operations on non-networked computers (e.g., using an HTML form to search a database of personal contact information), or gathering information over an intranet (e.g., using an HTML form to collect information from a new employee).
A recurring problem associated with HTML is finding a convenient way to create and edit HTML documents. Many of the more powerful document editors (e.g., word processor, spreadsheet, or presentation programs) include a large set of useful features for editing and publishing a variety of documents, such as WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) editing, spell checking, and extensive on-line help. Document editors such as Microsoft Word 95 and Microsoft Excel 95 by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., offer these and many other useful features.
In addition, many document editors allow certain items to be embedded into documents. For instance, a word processor may permit an image or a video to be inserted into a text document. A certain item called an object may be embedded in a document if it is of a format recognized by the document editor as embeddable. Examples of embeddable objects are text boxes, pick lists, and graphical push buttons. A class identifier is used to identify like objects of a particular class.
Once embedded in the document, some document editors allow the user to manipulate the object within the document. For example, text boxes, pick lists, and graphical push buttons may be placed within a document to create a form. A user may define the appearance and behavior of the embedded objects by setting their properties. For example, Microsoft Forms
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by Microsoft Corporation provides the user with classes of objects relating to text boxes, push buttons, and other items that can be embedded in Microsoft Word 95 documents. Thus, the user may employ these document editors with embeddable object capability to create and edit forms.
However, using these editors to edit HTML documents presents two basic problems. First, the format these editors use to load or save documents (hereafter their “native” format) is typically not HTML, so the editors do not offer a way to create or edit rendered HTML documents. In other words, a document saved in the native format of one of these editors is typically not saved according to the HTML specification.
The second problem relates to embedding HTML into a document. Although some document editors allow items of various formats to be embedded into documents, HTML is generally not recognized as an embeddable format. In other words, document editors generally do not permit HTML elements to be embedded into a document.
Some document editors address the first problem by offering a mechanism for converting between the editor's native format and HTML, called a converter. However, these converters typically convert only a subset of the possible HTML tags and elements, such as simple ones relating to formatting and hyperlinks. In this way, the user can take advantage of the features within the document editor to edit some HTML documents and need not use a separate application to edit HTML documents. However, more complex HTML elements, such as those relating to forms cannot be converted to simple formatting or a hyperlink. Further, the second problem relating to the non-embeddable nature of HTML prevents such a simple converter from simply placing these HTML elements into a document.
To solve the conversion problem, a compre
Apfel Darren Alexander
Francis James Lee
Layman Andrew
Little Robert A.
Mantek Frank
Bourque Robert D.
Feild Joseph H.
Klarquist Sparkman Campbell & Leigh & Whinston, LLP
Microsoft Corporation
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