IP Library › Granted Patent US 7,487,444

Granted Patent B2

US 7,487,444 · App. 10/307,417 · Granted Feb 3, 2009

Reformatting columns of content for display

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 7,487,444
App. No.: 10/307,417
Granted: Feb 3, 2009
Kind: B2

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Abstract

Viewing an electronic document in a display window of a display includes detecting a layout of the electronic document and comparing the layout of the electronic document to a width of the display window. The electronic document is reformatted into at least two columns, with each of the columns having a width that does not exceed a width of the display window.

Claims (203)

1. A method for viewing an electronic document on a display, the method comprising:

accessing an electronic document to be presented on a display, the electronic document including a header, a body, and a colophon, wherein the body includes multiple columns of electronic content;

identifying a first column of electronic content included in the electronic document;

identifying a second column of electronic content included in the electronic document;

detecting a horizontal alignment, in the electronic document, between the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content;

identifying a width of the first column of electronic content and a width of the second column of electronic content;

identifying a width of a portion of the display in which at least one of the multiple columns is to be presented;

comparing the width of the first column of electronic content to the width of the portion of the display;

comparing the width of the second column of electronic content to the width of the portion of the display;

accessing data reflecting the detected horizontal alignment between the first column and the second column in the electronic document; and

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising identifying a format code of the electronic document.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein identifying the format code includes identifying a HTML format code.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein identifying the HTML format code includes identifying a body tag.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the display is part of a client in a client/host architecture and identifying the width of the portion of the display further comprises notifying a host of the width of the portion of the display from information residing at the client.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising establishing a connection between the client and the host.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein notifying the host includes notifying the host upon establishment of a connection between the client and the host.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein notifying the host includes updating the host with information residing at the client at time intervals after establishing the connection between the client and the host.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the display is part of a client of a client/host architecture and reformatting the electronic document further includes requesting that the host reformat the electronic document in response to a command executed by the client.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the electronic document is coded in HTML.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein reformatting further includes recoding the electronic document in a language other than HTML.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying the reformatted electronic document on the display of an electronic device.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the electronic device is connected to the Internet.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the electronic device comprises a personal digital assistant.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the electronic device comprises a mobile phone.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein the electronic device comprises an Internet-enabled television set-top box.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein the electronic device comprises a portable computer.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the width of the first column of electronic content and the width of the second column of electronic content comprises identifying the width of the first column and the width of the second column based exclusively upon formatting information included in the electronic document.

19. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

identifying a body topology of the electronic document; and

identifying an arrangement of columns in the body of the electronic document based on the identified body topology.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein reformatting the electronic document comprises reformatting the electronic document based on the identified arrangement of columns such that the arrangement of the first and second columns in the reformatted electronic document corresponds to the arrangement of the first and second columns in the electronic document.

21. The method of claim 1 further comprising identifying a document topology of the electronic document, wherein the document topology includes header topology, body topology, and colophon topology.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein reformatting the electronic document comprises aligning the first and second columns in the reformatted electronic document to correspond with the document topology of the electronic document.

23. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing a navigation control that includes multiple column icons each corresponding to a column of information within the multiple columns of the reformatted electronic document such that actuating one of the multiple column icons horizontally scrolls and positions a display window on the column of information that corresponds to the actuated column icon.

24. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

identifying a number of the multiple columns and relative orientation between the first and second columns in the electronic document; and

configuring the reformatted electronic document to maintain the number of the multiple columns and relative orientation between the first and second columns to enable a user to horizontally scroll across the first and second columns of the reformatted electronic document that includes a web page.

25. The method of claim 1 further comprising enabling a user to use a scroll bar to horizontally scroll across the first and second columns of the reformatted electronic document.

26. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing a navigation control that includes a column icon representing at least one of the multiple columns of the reformatted electronic document such that activation of the column icon places a display window on one of the multiple columns.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the column icon represents at least one of the multiple columns having a predetermined absolute position within the reformatted electronic document.

28. The method of claim 26 wherein the column icon represents at least one of the multiple columns having a relative position within the reformatted electronic document.

29. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

separating the first column of electronic content from the electronic document; and

separating the second column of electronic content from the electronic document, wherein

formatting, based on the determination, the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content electronic document for presentation in the portion of the display comprises formatting the separated first column and the separated second column, and

30. The method of claim 1 wherein formatting, based on the determination, the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content for presentation in the portion of the display comprises maintaining an aggregate width of the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content greater than the width of the portion of the display.

31. The method of claim 1 wherein formatting, based on the determination, the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content for presentation in the portion of the display comprises formatting, based on the determination, the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content for presentation in the portion of the display such that an aggregate width of the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content is greater than the width of the portion of the display.

32. The method of claim 1 wherein determining, based on results of the comparisons, that the width of at least one of the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content exceeds the width of the portion of the display comprises:

determining that the width of the first column of electronic content exceeds the width of the portion of the display; and

determining that the width of the second column of electronic content exceeds the width of the portion of the display.

33. The method of claim 1 wherein reformatting the electronic document comprises reformatting the electronic document such that a width of the reformatted electronic document exceeds the width of the portion of the display.

34. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

identifying a first column of electronic content included in the electronic document comprises identifying a first column of electronic content included in a web page;

identifying a second column of electronic content included in the electronic document comprises identifying a second column of electronic content that is adjacent to the first column of electronic content in the web page;

detecting a horizontal alignment, in the electronic document, between the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content comprises detecting that the second column of electronic content is adjacent to the first column of electronic content in the web page;

identifying a width of the first column of electronic content and a width of the second column of electronic content comprises identifying a width of the first column of electronic content included in the web page and a width of the second column of electronic content that is adjacent to the first column of electronic content in the web page;

comparing the width of the first column of electronic content to the width of the portion of the display comprises comparing the width of the first column of electronic content included in the web page to the width of the portion of the display;

comparing the width of the second column of electronic content to the width of the portion of the display comprises comparing the width of the second column of electronic content that is adjacent to the first column of electronic content in the web page to the width of the portion of the display;

determining, based on results of the comparisons, that the width of at least one of the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content exceeds the width of the portion of the display comprises determining that the width of the first column of electronic content included in the web page and the width of the second column of electronic content that is adjacent to the first column of electronic content in the web page are both greater than the portion of the display;

formatting, based on the determination, the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content for presentation in the portion of the display such that the width of each of the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content is equal to or less than the width of the portion of the display comprises reducing the width of the first column of electronic content included in the web page and reducing the width of the second column of electronic content that is adjacent to the first column of electronic content in the web page;

accessing data reflecting the detected horizontal alignment between the first column and the second column in the electronic document comprises accessing data reflecting that the second column of electronic content is adjacent to the first column of electronic content in the web page; and

reformatting the electronic document for presentation in the portion of the display by aligning, in the reformatted document, the formatted first column of electronic content and the formatted second column of electronic content based on the detected horizontal alignment between the first column and the second column in the electronic document such that the horizontal alignment between the formatted first column and the formatted second column in the reformatted electronic document corresponds to the horizontal alignment between the first column and the second column in the electronic document comprises arranging the reduced first column of electronic content adjacent to the reduced second column of electronic content in a reformatted version of the web page and maintaining a total width of the reformatted version of the web page greater than the width of the portion of the display.

35. A system for viewing an electronic document, the system comprising:

a display; and

a processor connected to the display and programmed to:

access an electronic document to be presented on a display, the electronic document including a header, a body, and a colophon, wherein the body includes multiple columns of electronic content;

identify a first column of electronic content included in the electronic document;

identify a second column of electronic content included in the electronic document;

detect a horizontal alignment, in the electronic document, between the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content;

identify a width of the first column of electronic content and a width of the second column of electronic content;

identify a width of a portion of the display in which at least one of the multiple columns is to be presented;

compare the width of the first column of electronic content to the width of the portion of the display;

compare the width of the second column of electronic content to the width of the portion of the display;

determine, based on results of the comparisons that the width of at least one of the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content exceeds the width of the portion of the display;

access data reflecting the detected horizontal alignment between the first column and the second column in the electronic document;

display at least a portion of the reformatted electronic document in the portion of the display.

36. The system of claim 35 wherein the processor that is programmed to identify the width of the first column of electronic content and the width of the second column of electronic content includes a processor programmed to identify the width of the first column and the width of the second column based exclusively upon formatting information included in the electronic document.

37. The system of claim 35 wherein the processor is programmed to:

identify a body topology of the electronic document; and

identify an arrangement of columns in the body of the electronic document based on the identified body topology.

38. The system of claim 37 wherein the processor connected to the display and programmed to reformat the electronic document comprises a processor programmed to reformat the electronic document based on the identified arrangement of columns such that the arrangement of the first and second columns in the reformatted electronic document corresponds to the arrangement of the first and second columns in the electronic document.

39. The system of claim 36 wherein the processor is programmed to identify a document topology of the electronic document, wherein the document topology includes header topology, body topology, and colophon topology.

40. The system of claim 39 wherein the processor connected to the display and programmed to reformat the electronic document comprises a processor programmed to align the first and second columns in the reformatted electronic document to correspond with the document topology of the electronic document.

41. The system of claim 35 wherein the processor is further programmed to provide a navigation control that includes multiple column icons each corresponding to a column of information within the multiple columns of the reformatted electronic document such that actuating one of the multiple column icons horizontally scrolls and positions a display window on the column of information that corresponds to the actuated column icon.

42. The system of claim 35 wherein the processor is further programmed to:

identify a number of the multiple columns and relative orientation between the first and second columns in the electronic document; and

configure the reformatted electronic document to maintain the number of the multiple columns and relative orientation between the first and second columns to enable a user to horizontally scroll across the first and second columns of the reformatted electronic document that includes a web page.

43. The system of claim 35 wherein the processor is further programmed to enable a user to use a scroll bar to horizontally scroll across the first and second columns of the reformatted electronic document.

44. The system of claim 35 wherein the processor is further programmed to provide a navigation control that includes a column icon representing at least one of the multiple columns of the reformatted electronic document such that activation of the column icon places a display window on one of the multiple columns.

45. The system of claim 44 wherein the column icon represents at least one of the multiple columns having a predetermined absolute position within the reformatted electronic document.

46. The system of claim 44 wherein the column icon represents at least one of the multiple columns having a relative position within the reformatted electronic document.

47. The system of claim 35 wherein the processor is programmed to format, based on the determination, the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content for presentation in the portion of the display by maintaining an aggregate width of the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content greater than the width of the portion of the display.

48. The system of claim 35 wherein the processor is programmed to format, based on the determination, the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content for presentation in the portion of the display by formatting, based on the determination, the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content for presentation in the portion of the display such that an aggregate width of the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content is greater than the width of the portion of the display.

49. The system of claim 35 wherein the processor is programmed to determine, based on results of the comparisons, that the width of at least one of the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content exceeds the width of the portion of the display by:

determining that the width of the first column of electronic content exceeds the width of the portion of the display; and

determining that the width of the second column of electronic content exceeds the width of the portion of the display.

50. The system of claim 35 wherein the processor is programmed to reformat the electronic document by reformatting the electronic document such that a width of the reformatted electronic document exceeds the width of the portion of the display.

51. The system of claim 35 , wherein the processor is programmed to:

identify a first column of electronic content included in the electronic document by identifying a first column of electronic content included in a web page;

identify a second column of electronic content included in the electronic document by identifying a second column of electronic content that is adjacent to the first column of electronic content in the web page;

detect a horizontal alignment, in the electronic document, between the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content by detecting that the second column of electronic content is adjacent to the first column of electronic content in the web page;

identify a width of the first column of electronic content and a width of the second column of electronic content by identifying a width of the first column of electronic content included in the web page and a width of the second column of electronic content that is adjacent to the first column of electronic content in the web page;

compare the width of the first column of electronic content and to the width of the portion of the display by comparing the width of the first column of electronic content included in the web page to the width of the portion of the display;

compare the width of the second column of electronic content to the width of the portion of the display by comparing the width of the second column of electronic content that is adjacent to the first column of electronic content in the web page to the width of the portion of the display;

determine, based on results of the comparisons, that the width of at least one of the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content exceeds the width of the portion of the display by determining that the width of the first column of electronic content included in the web page and the width of the second column of electronic content that is adjacent to the first column of electronic content in the web page are both greater than the portion of the display;

format, based on the determination, the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content for presentation in the portion of the display such that the width of each of the first column of electronic content and the second column of electronic content is equal to or less than the width of the portion of the display by reducing the width of the first column of electronic content included in the web page and reducing the width of the second column of electronic content that is adjacent to the first column of electronic content in the web page;

access data reflecting the detected horizontal alignment between the first column and the second column in the electronic document by accessing data reflecting that the second column of electronic content is adjacent to the first column of electronic content in the web page; and

reformat the electronic document for presentation in the portion of the display by aligning, in the reformatted document, the formatted first column of electronic content and the formatted second column of electronic content based on the detected horizontal alignment between the first column and the second column in the electronic document such that the horizontal alignment between the formatted first column and the formatted second column in the reformatted electronic document corresponds to the horizontal alignment between the first column and the second column in the electronic document by arranging the reduced first column of electronic content adjacent to the reduced second column of electronic content in a reformatted version of the web page and maintaining a total width of the reformatted version of the web page greater than the width of the portion of the display.

52. A method for viewing an electronic document on a display, the method comprising:

accessing an electronic document to be presented on a display;

identifying a width of a portion of the display in which the electronic document is to be presented;

identifying a first component of the electronic document;

identifying a second component of the electronic document, the second component of the electronic document being different than the first component of the electronic document and a width of the second component of the electronic document being greater than the width of the portion of the display;

identifying a width of the first component of the electronic document;

comparing the width of the first component of the electronic document to the width of the portion of the display;

determining, based on results of the comparison, that the width of first component of the electronic document exceeds the width of the portion of the display;

formatting, based on the determination, the first component of the electronic document for presentation in the portion of the display such that the width of the first component of the electronic document is equal to or less than the width of the portion of the display; and

reformatting the electronic document for presentation in the portion of the display to include the formatted first component of the electronic document and the second component of the electronic document such that the width of the formatted first component of the electronic document is equal to or less than the width of the portion of the display and the width of the second component of the electronic document is greater than the width of the portion of the display,

wherein identifying a first component of the electronic document comprises identifying a column of electronic content included in a body of the electronic document;

wherein identifying a second component of the electronic document comprises identifying a header of the electronic document; and

wherein reformatting the electronic document for presentation in the portion of the display comprises reformatting the electronic document for presentation in the portion of the display to include the column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document and the header of the electronic document such that the width of the column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document is equal to or less than the width of the portion of the display and the width of the header of the electronic document is greater than the width of the portion of the display.

53. The method of claim 52 wherein the column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document is a first column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document further comprising:

identifying a second column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document;

identifying a colophon of the electronic document, a width of the colophon of the electronic document being greater than the width of the portion of the display;

identifying a width of the second column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document;

comparing the width of the second column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document to the width of the portion of the display;

determining, based on results of the comparison, that the width of second column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document exceeds the width of the portion of the display; and

formatting, based on the determination, the second column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document for presentation in the portion of the display such that the width of the second column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document is equal to or less than the width of the portion of the display, wherein

reformatting the electronic document for presentation in the portion of the display comprises reformatting the electronic document for presentation in the portion of the display to include the first column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document, the second column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document, the header of the electronic document, and the colophon of the electronic document such that the width of the first column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document and the width of the second column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document are each equal to or less than the width of the portion of the display and the width of the header of the electronic document and the width of the colophon of the electronic document are each greater than the width of the portion of the display.

54. The method of claim 53 wherein reformatting the electronic document for presentation in the portion of the display comprises:

maintaining a relative vertical arrangement between the header of the electronic document, the first column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document, the second column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document, and colophon of the electronic document; and

maintaining a relative horizontal alignment between the first column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document and the second column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document.

55. A method for viewing an electronic document on a display, the method comprising:

accessing an electronic document to be presented on a display;

identifying a width of a portion of the display in which the electronic document is to be presented;

identifying a first portion of the electronic document that includes logical columns;

determining that the first portion of the electronic document includes logical columns;

in response to determining that the first portion of the electronic document includes logical columns:

identifying a width of each of the logical columns included in the first portion of the electronic document,

comparing the identified width of each of the logical columns included in the first portion of the electronic document to the width of the portion of the display,

determining, based on results of the comparison, that the width of at least one of the logical columns included in the first portion of the electronic document exceeds the width of the portion of the display, and

formatting, based on the determination that the width of at least one of the logical columns included in the first portion of the electronic document exceeds the width of the portion of the display, the first portion of the electronic document such that a width of each of the columns included in the first portion of the electronic document is equal to or less than the width of the portion of the display;

identifying a second portion of the electronic document that does not include logical columns, the second portion of the electronic document being different than the first portion of the electronic document and a width of the second portion of the electronic document being greater than the width of the portion of the display;

determining that the second portion of the electronic document does not include logical columns;

in response to determining that the second portion of the electronic document does not include logical columns, maintaining a width of the second portion of the electronic document such that the width of the second portion of the electronic document is greater than the width of the portion of the display; and

reformatting the electronic document for presentation in the portion of the display to include the formatted first portion of the electronic document and the second portion of the electronic document such that the width of each of the columns included in the formatted first portion of the electronic document is equal to or less than the width of the portion of the display and the width of the second portion of the electronic document is greater than the width of the portion of the display.

56. The method of claim 55 further comprising:

formatting the second portion of the electronic document in a manner that maintains the width of the second portion of the electronic document greater than the width of the portion of the display, wherein

57. The method of claim 56 wherein:

formatting the second portion of the electronic document comprises reducing the width of the second portion of the electronic document such that the width of the formatted second portion of the electronic document is less than the width of the second portion prior to formatting and greater than the width of the portion of the display.

58. A system for viewing an electronic document on a display, the system comprising:

a display; and

a processor connected to the display and programmed to:

access an electronic document to be presented on a display;

identify a width of a portion of the display in which the electronic document is to be presented;

identify a first component of the electronic document;

identify a second component of the electronic document, the second component of the electronic document being different than the first component of the electronic document and a width of the second component of the electronic document being greater than the width of the portion of the display;

identify a width of the first component of the electronic document;

compare the width of the first component of the electronic document to the width of the portion of the display;

determine, based on results of the comparison, that the width of first component of the electronic document exceeds the width of the portion of the display;

format, based on the determination, the first component of the electronic document for presentation in the portion of the display such that the width of the first component of the electronic document is equal to or less than the width of the portion of the display; and

reformat the electronic document for presentation in the portion of the display to include the formatted first component of the electronic document and the second component of the electronic document such that the width of the formatted first component of the electronic document is equal to or less than the width of the portion of the display and the width of the second component of the electronic document is greater than the width of the portion of the display,

wherein the processor is programmed to identify a first component of the electronic document by identifying a column of electronic content included in a body of the electronic document;

wherein the processor is programmed to identify a second component of the electronic document by identifying a header of the electronic document; and

59. The system of claim 58 wherein the column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document is a first column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document wherein the processor is further programmed to:

identify a second column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document;

identify a colophon of the electronic document, a width of the colophon of the electronic document being greater than the width of the portion of the display;

identify a width of the second column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document;

compare the width of the second column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document to the width of the portion of the display;

determine, based on results of the comparison, that the width of second column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document exceeds the width of the portion of the display; and

format, based on the determination, the second column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document for presentation in the portion of the display such that the width of the second column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document is equal to or less than the width of the portion of the display,

wherein the processor is programmed to reformat the electronic document for presentation in the portion of the display by reformatting the electronic document for presentation in the portion of the display to include the first column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document, the second column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document, the header of the electronic document, and the colophon of the electronic document such that the width of the first column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document and the width of the second column of electronic content included in the body of the electronic document are each equal to or less than the width of the portion of the display and the width of the header of the electronic document and the width of the colophon of the electronic document are each greater than the width of the portion of the display.

60. The system of claim 59 wherein the processor is programmed to reformat the electronic document for presentation in the portion of the display by:

61. A system for viewing an electronic document on a display, the system comprising: