System and method for formatting objects on a page of an electronic document by reference
View Patent ↗A method and system can format objects on a first page of an electronic document being created by applying the formatting from corresponding objects contained in a separate formatting source where these objects have been formatted using the existing tools of the application. In this way, when a page is created that has formatting information that is preferred by a user, subsequent pages can be created by referring to the page that has the preferred formatting information.
1. A method to be executed at least in part in a computing device for formatting objects in a page of an electronic document comprising:
receiving a first instance of an object as an input for the page in the electronic document, wherein the page is associated with a style sheet;
receiving formatting information associated with the first instance of the object;
setting formatting parameters for the first instance of the object in the page and in the style sheet based on the received formatting information;
receiving another instance of the object an input for the page in the electronic document;
tracking a position of the other instance of the object relative to the page;
calculating the position of the first instance of the object in the style sheet;
comparing the position of the first instance of the object to the position of the other instance of the object;
determining a format for the other instance of the object based on the position of the first instance of the object in the style sheet; and
applying the format to the other instance of the object, wherein the format includes at least one from a set of: a font, an indent position, a line spacing, a bullet style, a numbering style, a text flow around graphics, a color transparency of graphics, a horizontal placement of graphics, and a scaling of graphics relative to an absolute size of the graphics.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving input to change the style sheet that controls formatting of the page.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining if the position of the other instance of the object corresponds to a new level in the style sheet.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising creating the style sheet based on another existing electronic document comprising first instances of objects with preferred formatting.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying the other instance of the object with the determined format.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the format of the other instance of the object further comprises comparing a language identifier selected for the other instance of the object to existing language identifiers of objects in the style sheet, and determining a font of the other instance of the object based on a corresponding language identifier in the style sheet.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the style sheet is part of the electronic document.
8. A computer implemented method for controlling page formatting of an electronic document comprising:
receiving a first instance of an object as an input for the page in the electronic document, wherein the page is associated with a style sheet;
receiving formatting information associated with the first instance of the object;
setting formatting parameters for the first instance of the object in the page and in the style sheet based on the received formatting information;
receiving another instance of the object an input for the page in the electronic document;
tracking a position of the other instance of the object relative to the page;
calculating the position of the first instance of the object in the style sheet;
comparing the position of the first instance of the object to the position of the other instance of the object;
determining a format for the other instance of the object based on the position of the first instance of the object in the style sheet, wherein the format for a graphics object includes at least one from a set of: a text flow around graphics, a color transparency of graphics, a horizontal placement of graphics, and a scaling of graphics relative to an absolute size of the graphics, and wherein the format for a text object includes at least one from a set of: a font, an indent position, a line spacing, a paragraph alignment, a bullet style, and a numbering style determined based on a language identifier of the other instance of the object and a corresponding language identifier of the first instance of the object in the style sheet; and
applying the format to the other instance of the object.
9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising determining the format for the other instance of the object in the page based on the corresponding language identifier of a level in the style sheet.
10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising determining the format for the other instance of the object in the page based on the language identifier of the other instance of the object in and a script of a level in the style sheet.
11. A computer system for creating object in an electronic document comprising:
a processing unit;
a memory storage device coupled to the processing unit for displaying data; and
a program module stored in the memory storage device for providing instructions to the processing unit;
the processing unit responsive to the instructions of the program module operable for
monitoring a position of an instance of an object within an electronic document;
comparing the instance of the object to a style sheet for controlling a format of the electronic document based on first instances of one or more objects within the style sheet with predefined formatting wherein a position and a type of a first instance of an object in the style sheet is used to determine a format to be applied to the instance of the object for consistency of the format of the electronic document; and
formatting the instance of the object within the electronic document in response to identifying the format in the style sheet based on the corresponding position of the identified first instance of the object in the style sheet relative to the position of the instance of the object in the electronic document, wherein the format for the instance of a text object includes at least one from a set of: a font, an indent position, a line spacing, a paragraph alignment, a bullet style, and a numbering style determined based on a language identifier of the instance of the object and a corresponding language identifier of the first instance of the object in the style sheet.
12. The computer system of claim 11 , wherein the format for the instance of a graphics object includes at least one from a set of: a text flow around graphics, a color transparency of graphics, a horizontal placement of graphics, and a scaling of graphics relative to an absolute size of the graphics determined based on a language identifier of the instance of the object and a corresponding language identifier of the first instance of the object in the style sheet.