METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ELECTRONIC LITERARY MACRAME COMPONENT REFERENCING
An expansion of the construction and organization of the electronic literary macramé (ELM), the knowledge transfer tool (KTT), or any document of similar type to enrich the connections and associations for their readers, providing for manual author- or editor-defined links and directives for hypertext handling and navigation, easy-to-use indexing capabilities, structuring and presentation of information in a visually-organized form such as a table, list, matrix, tree, pyramid, or other two-dimensional arrangement, with all features integrated into an unobtrusive, and enriched referencing mechanism to assist authors, editors and readers of an ELM, KTT, or other electronic document of similar type.
This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/828,083 filed Jul. 25, 2007, now issued U.S. patent Ser. No. ______ issued on ______, and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/833,201, filed Jul. 25, 2006, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/909,197, filed Mar. 30, 2007, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference. This application also claims the benefit of PCT Application No. PCT/US2007/062801, filed Feb. 26, 2007, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Reference is also made to the following related applications: U.S. Nonprovisional application Ser. No. 11/361,439, filed Feb. 24, 2006, entitled “Apparatus and Method for Creating Literary Macramés” now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,810,021, issued on Oct. 5, 2010; U.S. Nonprovisional application Ser. No. 11/782,976, filed Jul. 25, 2007 now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,555,138, issued on Jun. 30, 2009, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Digital Watermarking for Electronic Literary Macramé,” Attorney Docket No. 305466.301883US02; U.S. Nonprovisional application Ser. No. 11/828,238, filed Jul. 25, 2007 now issued U.S. Pat. No. 8,010,897 issued on Aug. 30, 2011, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Presenting Electronic Literary Macramé on Handheld Computer Systems,” Attorney Docket No. 305466.301883US04; and U.S. Nonprovisional application Ser. No. 11/828,010 filed Jul. 25, 2007, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Electronic Literary Macramé Business Development,” Attorney Docket No. 305466.301883US05, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
AREA OF INVENTIONThis disclosure relates to the creation of texts readable on computers, and more specifically to the linking, indexing, and tabulation of interconnected narratives and references readable using browser programs such as those adapted for use on the World Wide Web.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONTo illustrate and provide background for the present method and apparatus, the patent application titled “Apparatus and Method for Creating Literary Macramés”, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/361,439, by the present inventor, is incorporated herein by reference. A literary macramé, also called here an ‘ELM’, or electronic literary macramé, is a form of text offering readers advantages over other forms of literature in referencing and tracing connections.
To provide further background and support for the present method and apparatus, the patent application titled “The Knowledge Transfer Tool: An Apparatus And Method For Knowledge Transfer”, International Application No. PCT/US2007/062801, also by the present inventor, is also incorporated herein by reference. The Knowledge Transfer Tool, also called here a ‘KTT’, combines ELM characteristics and capabilities with rule-based expert system and programmed-instruction components to allow authors to produce immersive learning programs in literary and textbook forms on electronic media.
To provide context for ongoing developments relating to the present method and apparatus, the patent applications titled “Method And Apparatus For Electronic Literary Macramé Business Development”, “Method For Presenting Electronic Literary Macramés On Handheld Computer Systems”, and “Method And Apparatus For Digital Watermarking For The Electronic Literary Macramé”, also by the present inventor, are additionally incorporated herein by reference.
The ELM and KTT allow great flexibility and productivity, and to accomplish their tasks effectively and with maximum utility to authors and readers, they interconnect the units or components to be consumed by readers. The profusion of routine hypertext links (hyperlinks, or links), the frequent use of visually-readable indices and tables, and the author's special associations of otherwise-disparate units or components create special challenges for the ELM and KTT technology, and indeed for any similar mechanisms and processes for interconnecting readable electronic document components. The present description hereinafter uses “ELM/KTT” to refer to all such classes of mechanisms and processes.
One opportunity for expanding ELM/KTT capabilities is in the realm of author- or editor-defined links and directives for hypertext handling and navigation. The variety and depth of literary and pedagogical effects achievable with the ELM/KTT would be considerably extended by addressing such linking and directive capabilities.
The addition of easy-to-use indexing capabilities constitutes a second opportunity for enhancement of the value of the ELM/KTT. The index to a literary or academic work is vital for readers seeking occurrences of special terms in the work, particularly if such an index can be provided so as to avoid impact of its use on the immersive experience of the reader. Such an index, in a possibly-expanded form, is highly useful to the author in the midst of developing an ELM/KTT product, especially when the author is learning or creating the terminology peculiar to the product and its realm of knowledge.
A third opportunity for extending the ELM/KTT capabilities arises when considering how authors and readers struggle with information in a visually-organized form such as a table, list, matrix, tree, pyramid, or other two-dimensionally-arranged presentation. Such structures can be integrated with links and indices in an ELM/KTT. Such structures can also be presented to readers in multiple forms, for example, each entry in a table may be shown in a glossary independently for readers who prefer such modes of presentation. Software for constructing and presenting tabular or other structured data in multiple modes would enhance the power and utility of the ELM/KTT.
All three opportunities center around a single theme: the referencing of separate components or units of the ELM/KTT from within other components or units without disrupting the work's immersive character for the reader.
The present method and apparatus exploit the construction and organization of the electronic literary macramé (ELM) and the knowledge transfer tool (KTT) to expand and enrich the reader's ability to reference one component of an ELM/KTT work while reading another component, smoothly and with minimal distraction.
First, the present method and apparatus provide for manual author- or editor-defined links and directives for hypertext handling and navigation, in forms which maintain the independent character of such links and directives, enabling authors and editors to adjust and maintain their definitions across all other changes to the underlying documents. Manually-provided links and directives enhance the variety and depth of literary and pedagogical effects achievable with the ELM/KTT.
Second, the present method and apparatus add easy-to-use indexing capabilities to the ELM/KTT, aiding readers seeking occurrences of special terms in the work, and supporting authors in the midst of developing an ELM/KTT product, especially when the author is learning or creating the terminology peculiar to the product and its realm of knowledge. The present method and apparatus provide such indices in such a way as to avoid impact of its use on the immersive experience of the reader.
Third, the present method and apparatus provide for structuring and presentation of information in a visually-organized form such as a table, list, matrix, tree, pyramid, or other two-dimensional arrangement The present method and apparatus further provide for presentation of such structures to readers in multiple forms, for example, each entry in a table may be shown in a glossary independently for readers who prefer such modes of presentation.
Finally, the present method and apparatus combine the three features described above—author-defined links and directives, enriched indexing capabilities, and structured-information presentation—into an integrated, unobtrusive, and enriched referencing mechanism to assist authors, editors and readers of an ELM or KTT.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONSee
The software applications 602 of the present apparatus comprise three hypertext linking programs: a first software application for generating and installing one or more hypertext link anchors in one or more of said components of each said electronic document, a second software application for generating and installing one or more hypertext links to said link anchors, in one or more of said components of each said electronic document, and a third software application for generating one or more lists of said hypertext links.
The software applications of the present apparatus further comprise two indexing programs: a fourth software application for defining, generating, and installing one or more indices in one or more components of an electronic document, and a fifth software application for defining and installing hypertext links between said indices and one or more components of an electronic document.
The software applications of the present apparatus still further comprise two programs for using author-supplied symbolic directives including symbolic links: a sixth software application for defining and installing one or more symbolic directives in one or more components of said one or more electronic documents, and a seventh software application for interpreting said one or more symbolic directives in one or more components of said one or more electronic documents.
The software applications of the present apparatus still further comprise an eighth software application for defining and installing one or more readable tables in one or more components of said one or more electronic documents.
Improvements to the ELM/KTT class of electronic documents require careful integration in order to preserve the essential immersive experience for readers. Referencing, or looking up information in the course of reading, is in conventional documents a process disruptive to concentration. In electronic documents, the availability of hypertext links simplifies and accelerates the lookup process, but introduces a different problem: the distraction presented by too many links displayed too prominently with too much irrelevance to any specific purpose of a reader. The improvements of the present method and apparatus—enriched linking and indexing, symbolic linking and directives, and structured-information management and presentation—all work together to elevate and intensify the reader's engagement with the overall work offered as an ELM or KTT output. Furthermore, considering authors as the first readers of their own works, the improvements of the present method and apparatus simplify the author's tasks in a work's preparation, and present the author with new opportunities for exploiting ideas in concerted and harmonious ways to improve the work for all other readers.
ELM/KTT Link GenerationThe ELM/KTT uses different classes of hypertext links as shown in
The principal links among components of the ELM/KTT are the links 510 from terms used in the narrative text units 51 to corresponding term definitions within the glossary units 52, the links 520 from terms used in the glossary units 52 to corresponding term definitions within the same or other glossary units 52, the links 524 from terms used in the glossary units 52 to corresponding index entries within index text units 54, the links 546 from index entries within index text units 54 to narrative text units 51, and the links 542 from index entries within index text units 54 to corresponding term definitions within the glossary units 52.
Glossary text units 52 contain additional links that enrich the connections among ELM/KTT components for a reader. A links 515 from a specific term in a glossary text unit 52 to a narrative text unit 51 grants a reader direct access to a narrative thread for which the term defines a theme, character, or other significant entity. A link 535 from a specific term in a glossary text unit 52 to an encyclopedia text unit 53 directs a reader to additional expository, tabular, or otherwise structured material concerning the term.
Encyclopedia text units 53 contain tabular or list material which is used in the KTT/ELM to generate textual explanations of terms presented therein in a table, along with their contexts as defined in the table. Said textual explanations are stored in glossary supplement text units 55. Links 537 direct a reader from a tabulated term to its textual explanation, and links 557 direct the reader from the textual explanation to the table in which the term appears.
The simplest form of link connects a unit of a given type to another unit of the same type. Narrative text units 51 are linked to one another for reading via links 513. Glossary text units 52 are likewise linked to one another for browsing using links 523. Encyclopedia (reference) text units 53 are likewise linked to one another for browsing using links 533. Index text units 54 are likewise linked to one another for browsing using links 543. In an enhanced-glossary-supplement embodiment, glossary supplement text units 55, containing terms tabulated or listed in the ELM/KTT and their meanings or definitions in the tabular or list context, are likewise linked to one another for browsing using links 553.
Links inserted by an author, also called symbolic links, may appear in any component of any type and may lead to any component of any type. In
The reader's attention to the sequential reading experience is supported by the lack of large numbers of diverse types of links from narrative text units 51 to other components 52, 53, 54, 55. Only the links 510 to terms in glossary text units 52 lead outside the narrative text units 51.
In Table 1 are identified the current classes of links used in the ELM/KTT, including both symbolic links used by authors, and generated links used to build lists of links for symbolic file inclusion in ELM/KTT output presentations for readers. Table 1 identifies the classes of symbolic links and generated links of the present method and apparatus. Table 2 identifies classes of links already supported in the ELM/KTT, and is included to show that the features of the present method and apparatus are significant enhancements of the basic ELM/KTT.
Linking and referencing have been essential features of the ELM/KTT from its beginning. Table 2 lists and describes the classes of links already described or now being defined elsewhere.
See
A second scene-to-scene link form is the point-of-view form, which is displayed as the title of the scene or unit to which the link takes the reader, followed by the name of a character or narrator in the scene/unit with the word ‘Viewpoint’ or similar indicator. This form of link takes the reader to the next (or previous) scene/unit in which the named character is the point-of-view character.
A third scene-to-scene link form is the character-present form, which is like the second form with the word ‘Present’ or similar indicator. This form of link takes the reader to the next (or previous) scene/unit in which the named character or narrator is present in the scene/unit.
A fourth scene-to-scene link form is the keyword form, which presents a thematic indicator or phrase to the reader. This form of link takes the reader to the next (or previous) scene/unit, in a temporal or otherwise canonical sequence, for which one or more keywords associated with the scene/unit are applicable.
The present method and apparatus provide for definition and use of other similar forms of narrative scene/unit links as needed.
Building and Installing Initial Thread LinksSee
See
See
See
See
See
The glossary supplement removes certain more-trivial entries from the glossary itself to reduce clutter for readers. Tabular data, when listed out entry by entry for presentation in the glossary, tend to produce a large number of glossary entries with routine data associated. Such entries may be useful to a reader seeking the meaning of a specific entry without doing a table lookup, but they get in the way of glossary readers who prefer to use the tables to find such data. Consequently, the glossary supplement of the present method and apparatus serves as a repository for tabular data and the explanations of such data in forms preferred by some readers, such as those who dislike scanning tables.
The glossary supplement links to the tables and other structures that generate it (see the paragraph titled “Structured-Information Management and Presentation” below.). The present method and apparatus include said tables and structures in its references using its symbolic-include feature, and incorporates in each such table and structure element a link back to the appropriate glossary supplement entry.
Different forms of terms and phrases require reference and linking to the same glossary entry. The present method and apparatus address the use of diverse forms for each term, so that the link-construction processes of the ELM/KTT covers the range of forms for each term.
Building and Installing Glossary Supplement-to-Reference LinksSee
Where tabulated terms in a reference generate both glossary and glossary supplement entries, the present method and apparatus provide for selection of either the link to the term's glossary entry or the link to the term's glossary supplement entry. At the time the present method and apparatus insert a reference's glossary and glossary supplement links, the present method and apparatus incorporate a pair of conventional event-processing requests in the reference's page. The present method and apparatus use, for example, the single-click selection event to initiate display of the glossary entry, and the double-click selection event to initiate display of the glossary supplement entry instead. With this feature, the reader can quickly and easily access either the glossary or the supplement for the term.
ELM/KTT Index Generation, Linking, and UseThe ELM and KTT presentation methods use the current glossary window to display either the glossary of terms or the glossary term index, as requested by the reader. The index contains the complete set of terms in the glossary, listed in their primary (anchor) form only. Following each term is a list of references, each reference a title for a scene or unit in which the term appears. An indexed term in a scene or unit may appear in any of the forms listed for it in the glossary. In the basic index embodiment, the displayed scene/unit title contains a link to the head of the scene, so that a reader can link from the glossary entry for a term to the index entry for that term, and then to any of the scenes/units in which the term appears in one or more of its glossed forms. Linking to a scene or unit from the index brings up that scene in the main (scene or unit) window, as for any scene.
The reader may link back from the index to the glossary by selecting the displayed name of the indexed term, which links to its corresponding glossary entry. Reciprocally, selecting the displayed name of the glossary term links to the corresponding index entry allows the reader to toggle back and forth between glossary and index without moving the mouse or other selection device.
A paragraph-level index embodiment for the index provides links to specific paragraphs or sections in scenes or units, in contrast to the links that lead only to the openings of the scenes/units. The paragraph-level embodiment addresses special needs for authors and readers needing links that focus more closely to the region of text in which the indexed term appears. The paragraph-level embodiment requires a manifold expansion of the index resulting from the generation of multiple links per scene and term used, and the inclusion of information to identify each indexed paragraph or section.
An expanded-index embodiment provides indexing for terms not stored in the glossary at all. In the expanded-index embodiment, the displayed scene titles and their associated links are presented in the index just as for terms appearing in the glossary. Selecting the displayed index entry name, however, returns the reader to the first entry in the glossary section containing terms with the same initial letter as the index entry selected.
In an expanded-scope embodiment, the present method and apparatus process both scene text files and reference text files to develop its list of indexed references for each term indexed. All embodiments may be combined as desired to accomplish any combination of the objectives of the present method and apparatus.
Building and Installing an ELM/KTT IndexSee
See
The present method and apparatus present each glossary term as a link to the corresponding index entry, so that a reader can navigate directly from the glossary term to the index and its list of scenes or units containing an occurrence of said term. Conversely, the present method and apparatus present each index term as a link to the corresponding glossary entry, so that a reader can navigate directly from the index term to the glossary and its definition of said term.
Symbolic Links and Symbolic AnchorsWhen a written work is prepared for presentation in electronic form, the preparer, who is usually an author or an editor, must decide how and where the work's parts are to be interconnected for the reader's use. The ELM/KTT is a process and a product which give preparers and readers a much-expanded range of possible ways to link and experience a narrative written work.
During compilation of a work, the ELM/KTT processes texts in detailed form, removing earlier HTML links and replacing them with new ones as the linked and linking texts undergo changes in the writing. HTML commands can be preserved through the compilation process for texts which previously contained HTML, but there is no such preservation for HTML originating in a word-processor file. The present method and apparatus provide exactly such a capability, and exploits said capability to provide support for related types of directives as well.
To support the capability, the present method and apparatus set up and maintains a pair of files: a symbolic-anchor file containing the names and filenames of all the symbolic anchor points an author creates for an ELM/KTT, and a symbolic-link file containing the names, filenames, and symbolic-anchor names for all the symbolic links the author creates for the same ELM or KTT. Both symbolic-anchor names and symbolic-link names are unique across the entire ELM/KTT.
See
See
The incorporation of generated links and generated lists of links into the outputs of the present method and apparatus as described above is supported by the file inclusion feature of the present method and apparatus. See
In extended embodiments, the present method and apparatus create, propagate, and convert symbolic references to additional hypertext features (e.g., HTML or XML features) to support an author's use of such features in an electronic text document without knowledge of the detailed coding requirements of said features, analogously to the method hereinabove described. In this way the present method and apparatus support the author's incorporation of image files, tables, and other hypertext features in a symbolic form to be resolved when all author-entered symbolic components are resolved into hypertext components as described hereinabove.
The present method and apparatus give the inserted symbolic anchors and links and the inclusion directives a distinctive form to mark them for later processing during ELM/KTT compilation. Each symbolic anchor or link is preceded by an escape sequence of one or more delimiting characters (the left mark, e.g., ‘[’ here) and followed by an escape sequence of one or more delimiting characters collectively distinct from those in the left mark (the right mark, e.g., ‘]’ here).
As shown in
Through later ELM/KTT processing, electronic text documents 91 become components of the ELM/KTT output. The present method and apparatus make the resulting converted links identifiably distinct from the links inserted in the basic ELM/KTT processing, in order to preserve the converted links during glossary and reference link rebuilding.
As shown in
Through the present method and apparatus, the ELM/KTT combines automated linking with author-defined manual linking in such a way as to avoid interference between the two processes by which links are implemented in the ELM/KTT for use by readers. In this way an author or editor can produce literary, rhetorical, or pedagogical effects not easily accomplished using conventional means.
Sets, Relationships, and Structured InformationA written narrative, whether literary or academic, engenders an environment or context in the mind of its reader. This context comprises a kind of conceptual or imagined ‘space’ in which events and entities interact. For the reader, such a space forms an inner reality in which the reader becomes, and stays, immersed. One principle authors try to follow is that of enrichment of the attributes of the inner reality without sacrificing narrative momentum and reader attention. The ELM/KTT offers unique support for such enrichment.
The ELM/KTT provides an author with methods for organizing the entities and elements of a narrative's conceptual or imagined space. Set membership, hierarchies of sets, family relationships, social groupings, rankings, even functional relationships definable as maps from one collection or set to another, all belong in a writer's conceptual space for a piece. Authors usually draw upon such organization in a piecemeal fashion, using members of a set to sketch the set's existence and generate a credible realm in which the narrative is situated.
A consequence of such piecemeal usage may be a certain thinness to the inner reality of the narrative. A browsing reader, immersing herself or himself more and more deeply in the world of the narrative, uncovers unanswered questions about the relationships and aggregates of things in the narrative's world. The present method and apparatus support both an author's construction of fuller sets of relationships and entities, and a reader's ability to engage with those sets to recreate individually the vivid reality of the author's generated realm.
The fields of database design and artificial intelligence supply many conventional methods of codifying relationships for computational use in automated reasoning. The present method and apparatus orchestrate the use of such conventional methods to give readers of a narrative some useful connections among the entities and processes an author develops, helping authors to integrate these entities and processes smoothly and easily into an ELM or KTT.
The following classes of structure exemplify the types of relationships to be defined:
-
- lists of entities that are members of a class in a many-to-one relationship, such as days of the week, or months of the year;
- members of a class in a many-to-many relationship, such as languages spoken in a province where a language may be spoken in many provinces;
- hierarchies of lists of entities, such as subclasses of subclasses of a class of vehicles; and sequences of theorems or definitions used in the proof of a mathematical proposition.
The glossary of the ELM/KTT itself is a form of list, with each entry in the glossary having many instances of the entry's use linked back to it. The enhanced indexing capability of the present method and apparatus, defined hereinabove as leading back from a glossary entry to all the instances of a term's use, comprises an inverse relationship vis-á-vis the glossary itself.
Elements of the narrative that contribute directly to a reader's sense of verisimilitude and immersion are of intense interest to readers of an ELM or KTT, much more so than for readers of a traditional, linear narrative. For example, an author who names a single day of the week in a created world suggests by that naming that the other days have other names, but doesn't want to interrupt the flow of the narrative to list them all. On the other hand, when that one day is named in the narrative, the reader may not remember how it relates to the other days of the week. The present method and apparatus augment the ELM/KTT glossary with links that immediately offer the reader some assistance as needed.
While browsing the created realm of an ELM or KTT, readers often want to delve into relationships among the entities of that realm as they read. For example, if the author mentions a musical instrument of a particular type, a reader might want to know about other instruments. The same is true of colors, languages, foods, and other organizations of elements.
The situation becomes more complex with familial relationships. Authors sometimes include genealogies as appendices in printed works. An ELM or KTT can incorporate genealogical relationships in a navigable form, so that a reader can locate siblings, parents, children, spouses, collateral relatives, ancestors, and descendants of a character whose place in the author's realm is made more vivid by such connections.
The ELM/KTT relies on the author to provide all tabular information along with some specifications of relationships, but provides means for converting the tables and text into readable components for the readers of the ELM/KTT output.
In the early stages of the development of a particular ELM or KTT, the author may only provide a few lists or tables of information. The dynamic character of the ELM/KTT, in which growth and change of its content and structure are essential parts, allows the repeated addition, refinement, and extension of the sets and relationships of the work. Each such added component serves as an attractant to the reader who wishes for more information from the world of the ELM or KTT. Attracted readers in turn provide commercial opportunity for the author and the publisher. This aspect of the ELM/KTT is further developed in the patent application titled “Method And Apparatus For Electronic Literary Macramé Business Development”, referenced hereinabove.
Structured-Information Management and PresentationTo address the needs for handling structured data in the ELM/KTT for readers and authors, a structured-information-handling embodiment of the present method and apparatus using tabulation methods is presented. Other embodiments produce similar output results. The method of the ELM/KTT described herein suppresses information overloads for the reader, and spells out in text form some kinds of structured information for readers preferring a narrative approach to that information. The described embodiment is presented simply as an illustration and instance of the class of such table-handling methods, and should not be considered as restricting the present method and apparatus to any limitations implied by the illustration.
Templates for standard sentences and phrases are useful in developing presentations, in text form, of elements and components of table content. The contents of any given table entry can then be presented to readers as narrative, which some readers find much easier to assimilate than tabular information. The present method provides for presentation of both the table itself as HTML and the narrative content of the table in glossary-entry format.
To avoid cluttering the glossary itself with table content narratives, the supplement to the glossary of the present method and apparatus contains just the template-derived texts representing and elaborating table entries. To reach the supplement, links are provided in the glossary itself. Each supplement entry then links to the generating table, if it exists, in the document containing the table.
Tabular entries may be fairly ordinary terms and phrases which have their special meaning only in certain contexts in the scenes or the reference documents. In order to avoid creating links from irrelevant scene or reference content, there are no links to the glossary supplement directly from the scenes or the reference documents.
Tables in the ELM/KTT generally take one of three forms: a simple list of items, such as names of days of the week; a list with data associations, such as the names of military units and their constituent units; and a two-dimensional table, such as the names of andro colors and their octaves of wavelength. Other forms are provided as needed. The three listed here exemplify the approach used.
Defining a table for the ELM/KTT uses a file in the following general form:
[TABLE]|<text-table-name>|<table-width>|<table-alignment>|<table-margin>|<table-class>|<table-reference-file-name>|<table-build-option>|
[TABLEHDR]|<table-header-text>|<table-definition-text
[COLUMNTTL]|<column-1-title-1>|<column-2-title-1>| . . . |<column-J-title-1>|
. . .
[COLUMNTTL]|<column-1-title-K>|<column-2-title-K>| . . . |<column-J-title-K>|
[COLUMNHDR]|<column-title-1-name>|<column-title-1-definition>|
. . .
[COLUMNHDR]|<column-title-K-name>|<column-title-K-definition>|
[COLUMNDATA]|<column-1-data-type>|<column-2-data-type>| . . . |<column-J-data-type>|
[COLUMNTYPE]|<column-1-content-type>|<column-2-content-type>| . . . |<column-J-content-type>|
[ROWHDR]|<column-1-title-1>|<row-header-1-definition-text>|
[ROWHDR] |<column-2-title-1>|<row-header-2-definition-text>|
. . .
[ROW]|<row-1-column-1-data>|<row-1-column-2-data>| . . . |<row-1-column-J-data>|
. . .
[ROW]|<row-I-column-1-data>|<row-I-column-2-data>| . . . |<row-1-column-J-data>|
[TEMPLATE]|text . . . {<column-A1-title-B1>} . . . {<column-A2-title-B2>} . . . text|
. . .
[TEMPLATE]|text . . . {Table Title} . . . {Table Link} . . . text|
HTML table definitions are not used because HTML offers little to assist the table-builder to identify relationships among the table's rows, columns, and their contents. The above type of file allows us to exploit the relationships of meaning to build useful narrative explanations for each table entry, a feature which many readers appreciate when facing the task of skimming through tabular data to find the term they want.
Following are the explanations for the table definition statements.
The [TABLE] Definition StatementThis statement defines the general characteristics of the table itself. The fields of this statement, separated by ‘|’ and ending with a ‘|’, are as follows:
- <text-table-name> the name of the table itself, alphanumeric with no spaces
- <table-width> the table width as specified for HTML
- <table-alignment> the alignment of the table on the Web page, as for HTML
- <table-margin> the HTML margin specification for the table
- <table-class> the CSS stylesheet for the table
- <table-reference-file-name> the name of the file containing the table
- <table-build-option> the word ‘yes’ if the table is to be constructed as an HTML table for storage and presentation, with any other value omitting the generation of the HTML table.
This statement defines the header for the table. The fields of this statement, separated by ‘|’ and ending with a ‘|’, are as follows:
<table-header-text> the text to appear in enhanced form as the title of the table
<table-definition-text> a text describing the table and its contents
This statement defines the title to be used for each column of the table. There may be several column title definitions, each requiring a row of the table to display. The fields of this statement, separated by ‘|’ and ending with a ‘|’, are as follows. The ‘X’, for the column, and ‘Y’, for the title row, are shown here for descriptive reasons, and are not a part of the title:
<column-1-title-1> the first title for column 1.
<column-2-title-1> the first title for column 2.
. . .
<column-X-title-1> the first title for column X
. . .
<column-1-title-Y> the Yth title for column 1<column-2-title-Y> the Yth title for column 2
. . .
<column-X-title-Y> the Yth title for column X
The [COLUMNHDR] Definition Statement This statement defines the characteristics of each column title row. There is one COLUMNHDR statement for each COLUMNTTL statement. The fields of the COLUMNHDR statement, separated by ‘|’ and ending with a ‘|’, are as follows:
<column-title-1-name> the name of the first column title row
<column-title-1-definition> a text describing the contents of the first column title row
. . .
<column-title-Y-name> the name of the Yth column title row
<column-title-Y-definition> a text describing the contents of the Yth column title row
This statement identifies the type of content for each column. Some tables present the same type of information in multiple columns, while others present different content in each column. There is only one [COLUMNDATA] statement per table. The terms found in this statement The fields of this statement, separated by ‘|’ and ending with a ‘|’, are as follows:
<column-1-data-type> a name or phrase for the kind of content in the first column
. . .
<column-X-data-type> a name or phrase for the kind of content in the Xth column
This statement defines the usage of the column content. Some columns contain entries for which narrative statements are constructed, while others contain only values associated with such entries. There is only one [COLUMNTYPE] statement per table. The fields of this statement, separated by ‘|’ and ending with a ‘|’, are as follows:
- <column-1-content-type> if column 1 contains only data to be associated with the narrative generated from another column, the word ‘data’ appears here. Otherwise empty.
- . . .
- <column-X-content-type> if column 1 contains only data to be associated with the narrative generated from another column, the word ‘data’ appears here. Otherwise empty.
This statement defines the presence and meaning of a row header, or an entry that serves to identify the row of the table to a reader. More than one column may be used as a row header. The fields of this statement, separated by ‘|’ and ending with a ‘|’, are as follows:
<column-1-title-1> the title of a first column in which the row header appears
<row-header-1-definition-text> text describing the first row header column
. . .
<column-Z-title-1> the title of the Zth column in which the row header appears
<row-header-2-definition-text> text describing the Zth row header column
This statement presents the actual table contents, with each statement defining a row of the table, and each field a column of that row. The fields of this statement, separated by ‘|’ and ending with a ‘|’, are as follows:
<row-1-column-1-data>
<row-1-column-2-data>
. . .
<row-1-column-X-data>
. . .
<row-Y-column-1-data>
<row-Y-column-2-data>
. . .
<row-Y-column-X-data>
This statement defines a text template for use in presenting a description or definition of an individual table entry. The fields of this statement, as for preceding statements, are separated by ‘|’ and end with a ‘|’. The template is filled in using references to table entries, row headers, column titles, or general table data. Each such reference is identified in the template by the structure
{<table-reference>}
with the curly braces as shown, and with <table-reference> referring to one of the following:
- $ A <column-N-data-type> as found in a [COLUMNDATA] statement. Use of this reference generates a text for each entry in the columns and rows under the name given, replacing this reference and the curly braces with the entry value.
- $ A <column-title-N-name> as found in a [COLUMNHDR] statement. Use of this reference replaces this reference and the curly braces with the named column header value.
- $ A <column-N-title-M> as found in a [ROWHDR] statement. Use of this reference replaces this reference and the curly braces with the named row header value.
- $ The reference {Table Title}. Use of this reference replaces this reference and the curly braces with the title of the table found in <table-header-text>.
- $ The reference {Table Link}. Use of this reference replaces this reference and the curly braces with the title of the table found in <table-header-text> in the [TABLEHDR] statement, as the display for an HTML link to the table itself. The <table-reference-file-name> and <text-table-name> are taken from the [TABLE] statement to construct the link's file and anchor.
- $ The reference {Table Description}. Use of this reference replaces this reference and the curly braces with the description of the table found in <table-definition-text> in the [TABLEHDR] statement.
The present method and apparatus produce outputs from the table definitions in two forms, using the definitions of form and content as defined above and supplied by the author. First is the XHTML table format, which uses the conventional markup language and stylesheet definitions to build, store, and make available to the reader a tabular display of the contents of the table as defined. Second is the table element narrative format, which uses string and text processing tools to generate a separate element text description for each data element of the table. The element text descriptions generated in this manner become the entries in the glossary supplement of the present method and apparatus.
See
The improvements described herein comprise a concerted set of enhancements to the ELM/KTT and its outputs. By its unconventional and synergistic use of ordinary and conventional methods, the present method and apparatus grant to readers and authors considerable navigational power and ease in moving from one location in the ELM/KTT to another, while preserving and enhancing the reader's attention on the topics and narratives of the author's intent.
While the present method and apparatus have been described with reference to preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the software and related arts that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof to adapt to particular situations without departing from the scope of the present method and apparatus. Therefore, it is intended that the present method and apparatus not be limited to any particular embodiments or combination of embodiments disclosed as the basic, primary, or best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope and spirit of the appended claims.
Claims
1. An apparatus for enhancing a reader's use of references in an electronic document, comprising:
- a computer system, further comprising one or more processors, a user display interface component, one or more user input interface components, and one or more memory components for holding an operating system, one or more software applications, and one or more electronic documents each comprising a plurality of components;
- a first software application for generating and installing one or more hypertext link anchors in one or more of said components of each said electronic document;
- a second software application for generating and installing one or more hypertext links to said link anchors, in one or more of said components of each said electronic document;
- a third software application for generating one or more lists of said hypertext links;
- a fourth software application for defining, generating, and installing one or more indices in one or more components of an electronic document; and
- a fifth software application for defining and installing hypertext links between said indices and one or more components of an electronic document.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each said electronic document comprises an electronic literary macramé (ELM).
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each said electronic document comprises a knowledge transfer tool (KTT).
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each said electronic document further comprises:
- one or more narrative components;
- one or more reference components;
- one or more glossary components; and
- one or more index components.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein each narrative component comprises:
- one or more scenes of a story;
- one or more units of a lesson; and
- one or more units of a presentation.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said third software application further comprises a software program for generating one or more lists of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more components of an electronic document;
7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the software program for generating one or more lists of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more components of an electronic document further comprises:
- a software program for generating a list of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more threaded narrative components of an electronic document; and
- a software program for installing said list of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more threaded narrative components of an electronic document in an introduction page of said electronic document.
8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the software program for generating one or more lists of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more components of an electronic document further comprises:
- a software program for generating a list of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more reference components of an electronic document; and
- a software program for installing said list of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more reference components of an electronic document in a reference menu page of said electronic document.
9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the software program for generating one or more lists of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more components of an electronic document further comprises:
- a software program for generating one or more lists of hypertext links to all of the starting points for reading one or more traces through narrative components of an electronic document; and
- a software program for installing said one or more lists of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more traces through narrative components of an electronic document in a starting point map page of said electronic document.
10. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the software program for generating one or more lists of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more components of an electronic document further comprises:
- a software program for generating one or more lists of hypertext links to all of the starting points for reading one or more traces through narrative components of an electronic document; and
- a software program for installing each item of said one or more lists of hypertext links to all of the starting points for reading one or more traces through narrative components into one or more glossary component entries of said electronic document, said glossary entries corresponding to said traces through narrative components.
11. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the software program for generating one or more lists of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more components of an electronic document further comprises:
- a software program for generating a list of hypertext links to every narrative component of an electronic document, said list further comprising a table of contents for said electronic document; and
- a software program for installing said list of hypertext links to every narrative component of an electronic document in an table of contents page of said electronic document.
12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said second software application further comprises:
- a software program for generating a list of hypertext link anchors to one or more named parts of one or more reference components of an electronic document;
- a software program for installing said list of hypertext link anchors to one or more named parts of one or more reference components of an electronic document in said reference component;
- a software program for identifying each glossary term in one or more glossary components of said electronic document which matches the name of said named parts of said one or more reference components of said electronic document; and
- a software program for installing a hypertext link to each of said hypertext anchors in said one or more parts of one or more reference components of an electronic document in text of said glossary term which matches said name.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a software program for using tabular data to generate one or more glossary terms in one or more glossary components of an electronic document.
14. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a software program for selecting one of two hypertext links from the display of a single hypertext link.
15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the software program for selecting one of two hypertext links from the display of a single hypertext link further comprises:
- a software program for selecting a first hypertext link from the display of said single hypertext link based on a first selection event; and
- a software program for selecting a second hypertext link from the display of said single hypertext link based on a second selection event.
16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said fourth software application further comprises:
- a software program for locating the first occurrence of each glossary term in each narrative component of said electronic document;
- a software program for creating an index list entry for each said first occurrence of each glossary term in each narrative component of said electronic document; and
- a software program for creating an index entry containing a hypertext link for each said index list entry, said hypertext link pointing to said first occurrence of a glossary term in said narrative component of said electronic document.
17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said fourth software application further comprises:
- a software program for locating the first occurrence of each glossary term in each paragraph of each narrative component of said electronic document;
- a software program for generating and installing a hypertext link anchor in said paragraph of said each narrative component of an electronic document;
- a software program for creating an index list entry for each said first occurrence of each glossary term in each paragraph of each narrative component of said electronic document; and
- a software program for creating an index entry containing a hypertext link for each said index list entry, said hypertext link pointing to said hypertext link anchor in said first occurrence of said glossary term in said each paragraph of said each narrative component of said electronic document.
18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said fifth software application further comprises:
- a software program for installing a glossary term hypertext anchor in each glossary entry for a term in each glossary in said electronic document.
- a software program for installing an index term hypertext anchor in each index entry for a term in each index in said electronic document.
- a software program for installing a hypertext link in each index entry in each said index in said electronic document for a term pointing to said glossary term hypertext anchor corresponding to said index term; and
- a software program for installing a hypertext link in each glossary entry for a term in each said glossary in said electronic document pointing to said index term hypertext anchor corresponding to said glossary term.
19. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
- a sixth software application for defining and installing one or more symbolic directives in one or more components of said one or more electronic documents;
- a seventh software application for interpreting said one or more symbolic directives in one or more components of said one or more electronic documents; and
- an eighth software application for defining and installing one or more readable tables in one or more components of said one or more electronic documents.
20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein said sixth software application further comprises:
- a software program for defining and installing one or more symbolic link anchors in one or more components of an electronic document;
- a software program for defining and installing one or more symbolic links in one or more components of an electronic document; and
- a software program for defining and installing one or more symbolic file inclusion directives in one or more components of an electronic document.
21. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the software program for defining and installing one or more symbolic link anchors in one or more components of an electronic document further comprises:
- a software program for validating a user-supplied symbolic link anchor definition;
- a software program for inserting said symbolic link anchor definition at a user-specified location in a component of an electronic document; and
- a software program for adding said symbolic link anchor definition to a list of all symbolic link anchor definitions for said electronic document.
22. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the software program for defining and installing one or more symbolic links in one or more components of an electronic document further comprises:
- a software program for validating a user-supplied symbolic link definition;
- a software program for inserting said symbolic link definition at a user-specified location in a component of an electronic document; and
- a software program for adding said symbolic link definition to a list of all symbolic link definitions for said electronic document.
23. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the software program for defining and installing one or more symbolic file inclusion directives in one or more components of an electronic document further comprises:
- a software program for validating a user-supplied symbolic file inclusion definition;
- a software program for inserting said symbolic file inclusion definition at a user-specified location in a component of an electronic document; and
- a software program for adding said symbolic file inclusion definition to a list of all symbolic link definitions for said electronic document.
24. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein said seventh software application further comprises:
- a software program for converting each symbolic link anchor definition in an electronic document to a corresponding hypertext link anchor;
- a software program for converting each symbolic link definition in an electronic document to a corresponding hypertext link;
- a software program for replacing each symbolic file inclusion definition in an electronic document with the contents of the file identified in the file inclusion definition;
- a software program for using symbolic file inclusion directives in one or more components of an electronic document to install one or more lists of hypertext links in said one or more components of said electronic document; and
- a software program for using symbolic file inclusion directives in one or more components of an electronic document to install one or more readable tables in said one or more components of said electronic document.
25. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein said eighth software application further comprises:
- a software program for constructing a readable data table of an electronic document from a user's tabulation definition inputs;
- a software program for constructing a textual entry from each datum of said readable data table; and
- a software program for creating a glossary component of an electronic document from all said textual entries from all data of all said readable data tables.
26. A method for enhancing a reader's use of references in an electronic document, comprising:
- generating one or more lists of hypertext links to one or more components of an electronic document;
- generating and installing one or more hypertext links in one or more components of an electronic document;
- generating and installing one or more hypertext link anchors in one or more components of an electronic document;
- defining, generating, and installing one or more indices in an electronic document; and
- defining and installing links between the one or more indices in an electronic document and one or more other components of the electronic document.
27. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of generating one or more lists of hypertext links to one or more components of an electronic document further comprises the step of generating one or more lists of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more components of an electronic document;
28. The method of claim 27, wherein the step of generating one or more lists of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more components of an electronic document further comprises the steps of:
- generating a list of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more threaded narrative components of an electronic document; and
- installing said list of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more threaded narrative components of an electronic document in an introduction page of said electronic document.
29. The method of claim 27, wherein the step of generating one or more lists of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more components of an electronic document further comprises the steps of:
- generating a list of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more reference components of an electronic document; and
- installing said list of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more reference components of an electronic document in a reference menu page of said electronic document.
30. The method of claim 27, wherein the step of generating one or more lists of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more components of an electronic document further comprises the steps of:
- generating one or more lists of hypertext links to all of the starting points for reading one or more traces through narrative components of an electronic document; and
- installing said one or more lists of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more traces through narrative components of an electronic document in a starting point map page of said electronic document.
31. The method of claim 27, wherein the step of generating one or more lists of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more components of an electronic document further comprises the steps of:
- generating one or more lists of hypertext links to all of the starting points for reading one or more traces through narrative components of an electronic document; and
- installing each item of said one or more lists of hypertext links to all of the starting points for reading one or more traces through narrative components into one or more glossary component entries of said electronic document, said glossary entries corresponding to said traces through narrative components.
32. The method of claim 27, wherein the step of generating one or more lists of hypertext links to the starting points for reading one or more components of an electronic document further comprises the steps of:
- generating a list of hypertext links to every narrative component of an electronic document, said list further comprising a table of contents for said electronic document; and
- installing said list of hypertext links to every narrative component of an electronic document in an table of contents page of said electronic document.
33. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of generating and installing one or more hypertext links in one or more components of an electronic document further comprises the steps of:
- generating a list of hypertext link anchors to one or more named parts of one or more reference components of an electronic document;
- installing said list of hypertext link anchors to one or more named parts of one or more reference components of an electronic document in said reference component;
- identifying each glossary term in one or more glossary components of said electronic document which matches the name of said named parts of said one or more reference components of said electronic document; and
- installing a hypertext link to each of said hypertext anchors in said one or more parts of one or more reference components of an electronic document in text of said glossary term which matches said name.
34. The method of claim 33, further comprising the step of using tabular data to generate one or more glossary terms in one or more glossary components of an electronic document.
35. The method of claim 26, further comprising the step of selecting one of two hypertext links from the display of a single hypertext link.
36. The method of claim 35 wherein the step of selecting one of two hypertext links from the display of a single hypertext link further comprises the steps of:
- selecting a first hypertext link from the display of said single hypertext link based on a first selection event; and
- selecting a second hypertext link from the display of said single hypertext link based on a second selection event.
37. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of defining, generating, and installing one or more indices in an electronic document further comprises the steps of:
- locating the first occurrence of each glossary term in each narrative component of said electronic document;
- creating an index list entry for each said first occurrence of each glossary term in each narrative component of said electronic document; and
- creating an index entry containing a hypertext link for each said index list entry, said hypertext link pointing to said first occurrence of a glossary term in said narrative component of said electronic document.
38. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of defining, generating, and installing one or more indices in an electronic document further comprises the steps of:
- locating the first occurrence of each glossary term in each paragraph of each narrative component of said electronic document;
- generating and installing a hypertext link anchor in said paragraph of said each narrative component of an electronic document;
- creating an index list entry for each said first occurrence of each glossary term in each paragraph of each narrative component of said electronic document; and
- creating an index entry containing a hypertext link for each said index list entry, said hypertext link pointing to said hypertext link anchor in said first occurrence of said glossary term in said each paragraph of said each narrative component of said electronic document.
39. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of defining, generating, and installing one or more indices in an electronic document further comprises the steps of:
- installing a hypertext link in each index entry in each said index for a term pointing to the glossary entry for said term in said electronic document; and
- installing a hypertext link in each glossary entry for a term in each glossary in said electronic document pointing to the index entry for said term in said electronic document.
40. The method of claim 26 further comprising the steps of:
- defining and installing one or more symbolic directives in one or more components of an electronic document; and
- interpreting said one or more symbolic directives in one or more components of said electronic document.
41. The method of claim 40 wherein the step of defining and installing one or more symbolic directives in one or more components of an electronic document further comprises the steps of:
- defining and installing one or more symbolic link anchors in one or more components of an electronic document;
- defining and installing one or more symbolic links in one or more components of an electronic document; and
- defining and installing one or more symbolic file inclusion directives in one or more components of an electronic document.
42. The method of claim 41 wherein the step of defining and installing one or more symbolic link anchors in one or more components of an electronic document further comprises the steps of:
- validating a user-supplied symbolic link anchor definition;
- inserting said symbolic link anchor definition at a user-specified location in a component of an electronic document; and
- adding said symbolic link anchor definition to a list of all symbolic link anchor definitions for said electronic document.
43. The method of claim 41 wherein the step of defining and installing one or more symbolic links in one or more components of an electronic document further comprises the steps of:
- validating a user-supplied symbolic link definition;
- inserting said symbolic link definition at a user-specified location in a component of an electronic document; and
- adding said symbolic link definition to a list of all symbolic link definitions for said electronic document.
44. The method of claim 41 wherein the step of defining and installing one or more symbolic file inclusion directives in one or more components of an electronic document further comprises the steps of:
- validating a user-supplied symbolic file inclusion definition;
- inserting said symbolic file inclusion definition at a user-specified location in a component of an electronic document; and
- adding said symbolic file inclusion definition to a list of all symbolic link definitions for said electronic document.
45. The method of claim 26 wherein the step of interpreting said one or more symbolic directives in one or more components of said electronic document further comprises the steps of:
- converting each symbolic link anchor definition in an electronic document to a corresponding hypertext link anchor;
- converting each symbolic link definition in an electronic document to a corresponding hypertext link;
- replacing each symbolic file inclusion definition in an electronic document with the contents of the file identified in the file inclusion definition;
- using symbolic file inclusion directives in one or more components of an electronic document to install one or more lists of hypertext links in said one or more components of said electronic document; and
- using symbolic file inclusion directives in one or more components of an electronic document to install one or more readable tables in said one or more components of said electronic document.
46. The method of claim 26 further comprising the step of defining and installing one or more readable tables in one or more components of an electronic document.
47. The method of claim 46 wherein the step of defining and installing one or more readable tables in one or more components of an electronic document further comprises the steps of:
- constructing a readable data table of an electronic document from a user's tabulation definition inputs;
- constructing a textual entry from each datum of said readable data table; and
- creating a glossary component of an electronic document from all said textual entries from all data of all said readable data tables.
48. A method for inserting hypertext anchors, links, and other directives in an electronic document, comprising the steps of:
- establishing an anchor list for storing names and locations of symbolic anchors for the electronic document;
- establishing a link list for storing names and locations of symbolic links and the associated anchors for the electronic document;
- prompting a user editing an electronic document text for the name of a symbolic anchor;
- comparing the user's response to the entries in the anchor list to insure that the anchor name entered by the user is distinct from all anchor names in the anchor list;
- storing the symbolic anchor in the electronic document text at a point determined by the user;
- adding the symbolic anchor's name and location to the anchor list;
- prompting a user editing an electronic document text for the name of a symbolic link and its associated anchor;
- comparing the user's response to the entries in the link list to insure that the link name entered by the user is distinct from all link names in the link list;
- storing the symbolic link in the electronic document text at a point determined by the user;
- adding the symbolic link's name, location, and the name of the associated anchor and the anchor's location to the link list;
- converting the symbolic links in the electronic document text to hypertext links distinguishable from other types of hypertext links in the electronic document;
- converting the symbolic anchors in the electronic document text to hypertext anchors distinguishable from other types of hypertext anchors in the electronic document;
- prompting a user editing an electronic document text for the name of a file to be included in the electronic document text;
- storing a directive to include the named file in the electronic document text at a point determined by the user;
- producing from the anchor list a report showing the complete list of user-created symbolic anchors and their locations; and
- producing from the link list a report showing the complete list of user-created symbolic links, their locations, their associated symbolic anchors, and the locations of the associated symbolic anchors.
49. The method of claim 48 wherein the step of storing the symbolic anchor in the electronic document text at a point determined by the user further comprises the steps of:
- inserting an identifier for the symbolic anchor;
- inserting the symbolic anchor name in the symbolic anchor;
- placing a distinctive left delimiter to the left of the symbolic anchor;
- placing a distinctive right delimiter to the right of the symbolic anchor; and
- inserting the left delimiter, the symbolic anchor, and the right delimiter in the electronic document text at the current cursor location.
50. The method of claim 48 wherein the step of storing the symbolic link in the electronic document text at a point determined by the user further comprises the steps of:
- inserting an identifier for the symbolic link;
- inserting the symbolic link name in the symbolic link;
- inserting the associated symbolic anchor name in the symbolic link;
- inserting the associated symbolic anchor name location in the symbolic link;
- placing a distinctive left delimiter to the left of the symbolic link;
- placing a distinctive right delimiter to the right of the symbolic link; and
- inserting the left delimiter, the symbolic link, and the right delimiter in the electronic document text at the current cursor location.
51. The method of claim 48 wherein the step of converting the symbolic anchors in the electronic document text to hypertext anchors distinguishable from other types of hypertext anchors in the electronic document further comprises the steps of:
- extracting the symbolic anchor name from the symbolic anchor;
- converting the symbolic anchor name to a hypertext anchor name unique within the compiled electronic document;
- placing the hypertext anchor name in a conventional hypertext anchor;
- adding hypertext identifying features to the hypertext anchor; and
- replacing the symbolic anchor in the electronic document text with the hypertext anchor.
52. The method of claim 48 wherein the step of converting the symbolic links in the electronic document text to hypertext links distinguishable from other types of hypertext links in the electronic document further comprises the steps of:
- extracting the symbolic link name from the symbolic link;
- converting the symbolic link name to a hypertext link name;
- placing the hypertext link name in a conventional hypertext link for display;
- extracting the symbolic anchor name from the symbolic link;
- converting the symbolic anchor name to a hypertext anchor name;
- placing the hypertext anchor name in a conventional hypertext link for use in linking to the named hypertext anchor;
- extracting the symbolic anchor location from the symbolic link;
- converting the symbolic anchor location to a hypertext anchor location;
- placing the hypertext anchor location in said conventional hypertext link for use in linking to the named hypertext anchor;
- adding hypertext identifying features to the hypertext link; and
- replacing the symbolic link in the electronic document text with the hypertext link.
53. The method of claim 48 comprising the additional step of producing an augmented electronic document.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 30, 2011
Publication Date: Mar 22, 2012
Inventor: Dana W. Paxson (Rochester, NY)
Application Number: 13/307,695
International Classification: G06F 17/00 (20060101);