Method and system for utilizing void regions in computer-generated areas of text
View Patent ↗A method and system are provided for inserting an object in a void region in an existing object. A user locates the void region by determining whether the insertion point for the object is outside of an edit region. If the insertion point is outside of the edit region, the user is in a void region. The user then inserts the object in the void region. The size of the void region dynamically changes based on the size of the inserted object. The object may be inserted using a computer keyboard or a pen. The inserted object may be text, ink, or any other type of object.
1. A method in a computer system for editing a word processing document having text boxes, the method comprising:
displaying on a display device the text boxes of the word processing document, the text boxes each having one or more edit regions, wherein an edit region includes an insertion area and text bounded by a rectangular box having a height and a width, and wherein the insertion area allows for an insertion of text by extending the width of the rectangular box of the edit region; and
in response to receiving from a user a selection of a location on the display device,
determining whether the selected location is within a void region of the word processing document, wherein a void region is any area of the word processing document that is outside of an edit region within the text boxes;
when the selected location is not within a void region of the word processing document, entering an edit mode so that the user can edit the text within the selected edit region; and
when the selected location is within a void region of the word processing document,
inserting a new text box at the selected location, the newly inserted text box being independent of the other text boxes, wherein when the newly inserted text box is larger than the void region, decreasing the width of at least one edit region of a text box so that the newly inserted text box does not overlap the boundaries of the at least one edit region; and
entering an edit mode so that the user can enter text for the newly inserted text box
so that new text boxes can be inserted at any location on the display device that is a void region of the word processing document.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein when the newly inserted text box is larger than the void region, decreasing width of a displayed text box to provide room for the newly inserted text box.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the text of the newly inserted text box is handwritten by the user.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the text of each text box is word wrapped independently.
5. The method of claim 1 provided by a pen computing application.
6. A system having a display device and a pointing device for performing a method of editing a document having text boxes, the method comprising:
displaying on the display device the text boxes of the document, the displayed text boxes each having a plurality of edit regions, wherein an edit region comprises text bounded by a rectangular box having a height and a width; and
in response to detecting a location of the pointing device on the display device,
determining whether the detected location is within an edit region of one of the displayed text boxes;
when the detected location is within an edit region of one of the displayed text boxes, entering an edit mode,
in response to an insertion of text in the edit region, increasing the width of the rectangular box of the edit region, the edit region having a maximum width such that the text of the edit region is word-wrapped when the width of the rectangular box equals the maximum width of the edit region;
in response to a deletion of text from the edit region, decreasing the width of the rectangular box of the edit region; and
when the detected location is not within an edit region of one of the displayed text boxes,
inserting a new text box at the detected location, the newly inserted text box being independent of the other text boxes; and
entering an edit mode
so that new text boxes can be inserted at any location on the display device that is not within an edit region of the displayed text boxes.
7. The system of claim 6 wherein an area not near text of an edit region of a displayed text box is a void region.
8. The system of claim 7 wherein when the newly inserted text box is larger than the void region, decreasing width of a displayed text box to provide room for the newly inserted text box.
9. The system of claim 6 wherein the pointing device is a stylus.
10. The system of claim 6 wherein text is entered into the newly inserted text box.
11. The system of claim 10 wherein the text of the newly inserted text box is handwritten by a user using the pointing device.
12. The system of claim 6 wherein the text of each text box is word wrapped independently.
13. The system of claim 6 wherein an object is entered into the newly inserted text box.
14. The system of claim 13 wherein the object is a picture object.