DIGITAL PAPER-ENABLED SPREADSHEET SYSTEMS
A digital paper-enabled system includes a spreadsheet printed on digital paper and usable with a digital writing instrument, such as a digital pen. A method of using the system includes (1) designing a digital paper-enabled spreadsheet with a spreadsheet integration module; (2) printing the designed spreadsheet to receive writing from a digital pen (3) uploading data from the digital pen to a processing system; (4) reviewing the uploaded data using a display device associated with the processing system; and (5) storing the uploaded data, which may include exporting one or more portions of the uploaded data to another display or processing system.
1 . A digital paper-enabled spreadsheet system comprising:
a digital paper document bearing a digital pattern; and
a plurality of input cells in a spreadsheet form overlaid on at least a portion of the digital pattern, a first input cell of the plurality of input cells is operable to receive handwritten information that is translatable to digital information based on processing rules associated with the first cell.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the handwritten and digital information of a particular input cell are movable to a different location within the spreadsheet.
3 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a signature validation module operable within the first cell and within a second cell, the first cell receiving a printed name, the second cell receiving an actual signature, the signature validation module using the printed name to validate the actual signature.
4 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a signature validation module operable within the first cell and within a second cell, the first cell receiving a printed name, the second cell receiving an actual signature, the signature validation module using the actual signature to validate the printed name.
5 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
an evaluation module for analyzing a design of the spreadsheet as a digital paper input document.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the cells includes instructions to limit the handwritten information received in the cell using a drop down list.
7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein items from the drop down list are located in one or more cells and are selectable when writing is received in checkboxes located proximate the one or more cells.
8 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a formatting detection module operable to suggest a format to be applied to the cell when processing the digital information.
9 . A method of designing a digital paper-enabled spreadsheet in cooperation with a conventional spreadsheet program, the method comprising:
selecting a cell from a plurality of cells arranged to form the spreadsheet;
applying a desired formatting rule to the cell, the formatting rule selected from a set of formatting rules available from the conventional spreadsheet program; and
digitally enabling the cell to make the cell operable to receive written information from a digital pen, wherein digitally enabling the cell associates the written information received in the cell with a digital pattern underlying the spreadsheet after the spreadsheet is printed.
10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
toggling a display to show all cells at least within a viewable area of the spreadsheet that have been digitally enabled.
11 . The method of claim 10 wherein toggling the display includes highlighting cells that do not have a formatting rule applied thereto.
12 . A method of processing a digital paper-enabled spreadsheet, the method comprising:
writing information in a cell of the digital paper-enabled spreadsheet with a digital writing instrument;
uploading the data stored in the digital writing instrument that corresponds to the written information, wherein uploading includes transmitting the written information to a computational processing system;
interpreting formatting and validation rules applied to the cell;
processing the written information using a handwriting recognizer in cooperation with grammar rules that were generated based on the formatting and validation rules; and
converting the written information to digital information.
13 . The method of claim 12 wherein writing information with the digital writing instrument includes writing the instrument with a digital pen.
14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein uploading the data stored in the digital writing instrument includes placing the writing instrument in signal communication with a processing system.
15 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
determining an identifier of the digital writing instrument in which the identifier corresponds to a unique identifier for a particular user of the writing instrument; and
selecting a handwriting profile for the particular user based on the identifier of the writing instrument.
16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
selecting a dictionary for the particular user based on the identifier of the writing instrument, the dictionary customized for the particular user.