Overlaying electronic ink
View Patent ↗Overlaying electronic ink over a document. A typical scenario may be where one it would be useful to mark up a document with electronic ink, such as by making handwritten comments, drawings, and the like over the underlying document. In some embodiments, a developer may easily define an inking surface, such as a transparent or opaque window, over a document. The inking surface may act as an input interface such that a user may write onto the inking surface such that is appears that the document itself is being marked up.
1. A method for overlaying ink on a document, the method comprising the steps of:
displaying the document in a first window, the first window having a handle;
generating a transparent second window over the first window;
attaching the second window to the handle of the first window;
collecting ink data in the second window; and
rendering the ink data as rendered ink in the second window.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second window has an opaque border.
3. The method of claim 1 , further including the steps of:
generating a first event during the step of rendering; and
generating a second event upon the step of rendering being completed.
4. The method of claim 1 , further including the steps of:
receiving a request from a software application separate from the second window to delete at least a portion of the rendered ink;
generating a first event in response to the request;
deleting the at least the portion of the rendered ink; and
generating a second event upon the step of deleting being completed.
5. The method of claim 1 , further including the steps of:
receiving a request from a software application separate from the second window to select at least a portion of the rendered ink;
selecting the at least the portion of the rendered ink; and
storing a reference to the at least the portion of the ink.
6. The method of claim 1 , further including the steps of:
selecting at least a portion of the rendered ink;
receiving a request from a software application separate from the second window to change the at least the portion of the rendered ink;
generating a first event in response to the request;
changing the at least the portion of the rendered ink; and
generating a second event upon the step of changing being completed.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the step of changing includes changing an amount of the at least the portion of the rendered ink that is selected.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the step of changing includes changing the at least the portion of the rendered ink to another at least a portion of the rendered ink.
9. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 1 .
10. The method of claim 1 , further including a step of a software application that corresponds to the first window requesting generation of the second window.
11. The method of claim 1 , further including setting a property that is associated with the second window and that represents the handle of the first window.
12. The method of claim 1 , further including reading a property that is associated with the second window and that represents whether the second window is in an ink-only collection mode, a gesture-only collection mode, or a gesture-and-ink collection mode.
13. The method of claim 1 , further including a step of a software application separate from the second window selecting at least a portion of the ink data in the second window.
14. The method of claim 1 , further including a step of a software application separate from the second window requesting to modify at least a portion of the ink data in the second window.
15. A method for overlaying ink on a document, the document being displayed in a first window, the first window having a handle, the method comprising the steps of:
generating a second window, the second window being at least partially transparent and being generated over at least a portion of the document;
attaching the second window to the handle of the first window;
collecting ink data in the second window in a location over the at least the portion of the document; and
rendering the ink data as rendered ink,
wherein the ink data defines a command, and further including a step of modifying a content of the document in accordance with the command.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ink data defines a command, and further including a step of modifying a content of the document in accordance with the command.
17. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising:
displaying a document in a first window associated with a software application;
the software application using an application programming interface to request that a transparent second window be generated over the document;
receiving stylus input directed to the second window;
generating ink data from the stylus input; and
rendering the ink data as rendered ink in the second window over the document.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the stylus input is made on a touch-sensitive display, and wherein the step of rendering includes rendering the ink data on the touch-sensitive display.