Abstract: A subset of markup elements used in an electronically published document can be defined as being "significant." For example, all titled elements may be called significant elements. The structure of the document defined by only the significant elements can be determined in the same manner as the structure of the document defined by all markup elements. For example, titled elements define a table of contents. A first representation of the document structure defined by all of the markup elements may be used in combination with a second representation of the document structure defined by only the significant elements to control selection of portions of the document such that previous and subsequent portions can be selected and rendered in a consistent and intuitive manner.

Abstract: A data processing system and method for generating a representation of an electronic document, for indexing the electronic document, for navigating the electronic document using its representation and for displaying the electronic document on an output device. The system and method are used with electronic documents having descriptive markup which describes the content or meaning of the document rather than its appearance. Such documents may be represented by a tree. Each markup element defines a node or element in a tree. The tree is represented by providing a unique identifier for each element and for accessing a descriptor of the element. An element descriptor preferably includes indications of the parent, first child, last child, left sibling, right sibling, type name and text location for the element. The document representation is used to facilitate navigation of the text for constructing navigational aids such as table of contents and full text indexing.

Abstract: A subset of markup elements used in an electronically published document can be defined as being, "significant." For example, all titled elements may be called significant elements. The structure of the document defined by only the significant elements can be determined in the same manner as the structure of the document defined by all markup elements. For example titled elements define a table of contents. A first representation of the document structure defined by all of the markup elements may be used in combination with a second representation of the document structure defined by only the significant elements to control selection of portions of the document such that previous and subsequent portions can be selected and rendered in a consistent and intuitive manner.

Abstract: A data processing system and method for generating a representation of an electronic document, for indexing the electronic document, for navigating the electronic document using its representation and for displaying the electronic document on an output device. The system and method are used with electronic documents having descriptive markup which describes the content or meaning of the document rather than its appearance. Such documents may be represented by a tree. Each markup element defines a node or element in a tree. The tree is represented by providing a unique identifier for each element and for accessing a descriptor of the element. An element descriptor preferably includes indications of the parent, first child, last child, left sibling, right sibling, type name and text location for the element. The document representation is used to facilitate navigation of the text for constructing navigational aids such as table of contents and full text indexing.

Abstract: A data processing system and method for generating a representation of an electronic document, for indexing the electronic document, for navigating the electronic document using its representation and for displaying the electronic document on an output device. The system and method are used with electronic documents having descriptive markup which describes the content or meaning of the document rather than its appearance. Such documents may be represented by a tree. Each markup element defines a node or element in a tree. The tree is represented by providing a unique identifier for each element and for accessing a descriptor of the element. An element descriptor preferably includes indications of the parent, first child, last child, left sibling, right sibling, type name and text location for the element. The document representation is used to facilitate navigation of the text for constructing navigational aids such as table of contents and full text indexing.