Table editing apparatus

Details Table editing apparatus Table editing apparatus

1998-07-15

2001-06-12

Feild, Joseph H. (Department: 2176)

Data processing: database and file management or data structures

Database design

Data structure types

Reexamination Certificate

active

06247030

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus which allows a user to freely edit the table describing the data in correspondence to its heading using a mapping which is a set of pairs and each pair consists of H and D where H is a set of headings and D is data which corresponds to the headings.
2. Description of the Related Art
In these years, the table generating function is essential for the document processing apparatus. In a simplified apparatus of the related art, a user draws ruled lines with a segment of ruled line and arranges a text data to each cell of the divided table.
In this apparatus, since the ruled line is not isolated from the text in the cell, it is inevitable that redrawing of ruled line and edition of text in the cell are often generated at the time of edition of the table and thereby a user has expended useless time.
In regard to the table edition, following has respectively been known as a typical apparatus described in the Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. SHO 59-57326 in which the continuous regions in the vertical and horizontal directions (namely, rows and columns) divided during formation of the table are processed as one group and moving and deletion are conducted in unit of this region, the apparatus described in the Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. HEI 2-236773 in which when a couple of cells are selected, contents of these two cells are replaced with each other, and the apparatus described in the Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. HEI 2-289057 in which a table as a whole are structured by sequentially coupling the cells in the tables in one dimension and insertion, copying and deletion of cells are conducted by changing coupling relation of cells in the edition of table.
With the technology explained above, edition in unit of cell, row and column is possible but complicated procedures are required even for a little complicated edition of tables.
For example, when it is attempted to obtain the table shown in
FIG. 2
by changing the layout of the table shown in
FIG. 1
, a remarkable cost will be required for edition because there is no common rows and columns between these two tables and arrangement of texts in the cells is quite different.
The table having the row heading and column heading as shown in
FIG. 1
indicates, in place of mere uniform data arrangement on the matrix, the correspondence between set of items belonging to “heading” and items belonging to “data ” other than the heading, for example, correspondence between set of items of “Yamagata, Engineering, University” belonging to heading and the item of “Yamagata Engineering University” belonging to the data. Since the table indicates this correspondence, this correspondence is almost stored in the ordinary edition of table, unless the table is changed to the table indicating different data. In actual, layout is certainly different to a large extent but this correspondence is still stored between the table of FIG.
1
and the table of FIG.
2
.
However, in the table editing technology of the related art, since any consideration is not taken into account for storing of this correspondence, a user is required to maintain the correspondence in the course of the edition of table and thereby complicated manipulation has been left to a user side.
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been proposed considering the background explained above and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a table editing apparatus which supports table edition while keeping the correspondence between set of headings and the data corresponding to such set.
In the table editing apparatus of the present invention, a mapping for table (namely, “set including an element consisting of set of headings of table and data corresponding to the headings”) is stored and when a heading of the table is edited, the data to be arranged in a cell is determined for each cell of the data part, as a part other than the heading of the table, on the basis of such mapping.
Namely, the table editing apparatus of the present invention comprises a heading editing unit for accepting the heading editing designation to edit the heading of table, a mapping storing designating unit for designating storing of mapping, a mapping offering unit for accepting the mapping storing designation from the mapping storing designating unit to hold the mapping regarding the table when such designation is accepted, a data arrangement designating unit for designating data arrangement and a data arrangement unit for accepting the data arrangement designation from the data arrangement designating unit to determine how the data to should be arranged within a cell depending on the heading corresponding to such cell and mapping offered from the mapping offering unit.
Thereby, after a user has edited the heading during the table edition, the data arrangement unit arranges the data by referring to the mapping in such a timing that the mapping storing is designated. Therefore, user cost for keeping the correspondence in the course of editing may be alleviated.
Moreover, data arrangement by the data arrangement unit is detected by the mapping storing designating unit and after the data arrangement, the mapping storing designating unit designates storing of mapping to the mapping offering unit.
Thereby, after the first heading edition, the mapping in the table before edition is always held automatically, at the time of the heading edition, in the mapping offering unit. Therefore, the data arrangement unit can always refer to the latest mapping.
Moreover, the mapping storing designating unit detects the heading editing designation for the heading editing unit and the mapping storing designating unit designates the mapping storing to the mapping designating unit before edition of heading by the heading editing unit.
Thereby, since the mapping in the table before edition is always held in the mapping offering unit at the time of editing the heading, the data arrangement unit can always refer to the latest mapping.
Here, it is thought in the edition of heading that a certain heading is moved by a couple of editing processes of “cut” and “paste”. On the occasion of conducting this edition, in the apparatus where the mapping immediately before the edition is automatically held in a mapping offering unit, since the heading to be moved is already cut in the mapping to be held in the mapping storing unit after the editing process of pasting, the mapping regarding the heading which is already cut is no longer included and even when the heading which is already cut is pasted, the data corresponding to this heading can no longer be arranged.
Therefore, the mapping storing designating unit designates storing of the mapping by the mapping offering units to the mapping storing on request by a user. Thereby, the data arrangement unit can refer to the mapping at the timing which a user desires.
Moreover, the data arrangement designating unit detects edition of headings by the heading editing unit and the data arrangement designating unit designates, after edition of heading by the heading editing unit, data arrangement for the data arrangement unit.
Thereby, the data arrangement unit automatically conducts the data arrangement after edition of heading and a user can conduct data arrangement only by editing the headings.
Here, in the edition of headings, a plurality of editing processes are sometimes required to obtain the arrangement of the target heading, for example, as in the case where a couple of editing processes of “cutting” and “pasting” are conducted to move a certain heading. In this case, data arrangement is wasted because the table obtained is not the one finally required even when the data arrangement designating unit automatically executes the data arrangement after each editing process.
Therefore, data arrangement designation is made by the data arrangement designating unit, upon issuance of user request to the dat

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