Systems and methods of displaying and re-using document chunks in a document development application

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

at a computer having memory, a display, and one or more processors,

receiving one or more search keywords from a user of the computer;

identifying a set of documents stored at a plurality of data sources, wherein each document includes one or more chunks that match at least one of the one or more search keywords;

displaying in a search results window a set of search results in a text-based display format, wherein each search result includes at least one chunk retrieved from a respective document and the at least chunk includes at least one instance of a highlighted search keyword indicating its relative location within the chunk with respect to portions of the chunk that have not been highlighted;

in response to a user selection of a first search result in the search results window:

launching a first document preview-only window adjacent to the first search result; and

displaying within the first document preview-only window a portion of a first document in a display format consistent with a document type of the first document, wherein the displayed portion includes the at least one chunk associated with the first search result and cannot be modified through the first document preview-only window.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the search keywords in the displayed portion of the first documents are not highlighted in the first document preview-only window.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to a user request to duplicate the displayed portion of the first document:

launching a document authoring window adjacent to the search results window; and

duplicating an instance of the displayed portion of the first document in the document authoring window, wherein the duplicated instance of the displayed portion is displayed in a display format consistent with the document type of the first document.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to a user selection of the displayed portion of the first document:

replacing the first document preview-only window by launching a document display window adjacent to the search results window; and

displaying the displayed portion of the first document in the document display window in a display format consistent with the document type of the first document.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the displayed portion of the first document in the document display window includes two distinct instances of the one or more search keywords.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the set of search results includes a first chunk retrieved from a first document having a first document type and a second chunk retrieved from a second document having a second document type that is different from the first document type and the first chunk and the second chunk are both displayed in the text-based display format regardless of their associated document types.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to a user selection of a second search result in the search results window:

replacing the first document preview-only window by launching a second document preview-only window adjacent to the second search result; and

displaying within the second document preview-only window a portion of a second document in a display format consistent with a document type of the second document, wherein the displayed portion includes the at least one chunk associated with the second search result.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of plurality of data sources include at least one local storage device accessible to the computer.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of plurality of data sources include at least one remote website accessible to the computer via Internet.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein instances of different search keywords within one search result are highlighted in visually different manners and instances of the same search keyword within different search results are highlighted in the same manner.

11. A computer system, comprising:

memory;

a display;

one or more processors;

one or more programs stored in the memory and configured for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:

receiving one or more search keywords from a user of the computer system;

identifying a set of documents stored at a plurality of data sources, wherein each document includes one or more chunks that match at least one of the one or more search keywords;

displaying in a search results window a set of search results in a text-based display format, wherein each search result includes at least one chunk retrieved from a respective document and the at least chunk includes at least one instance of a highlighted search keyword indicating its relative location within the chunk with respect to portions of the chunk that have not been highlighted; and

in response to a user selection of a first search result in the search results window:

launching a first document preview-only window adjacent to the first search result; and

displaying within the first document preview-only window a portion of a first document in a display format consistent with a document type of the first document, wherein the displayed portion includes the at least one chunk associated with the first search result and cannot be modified through the first document preview-only window.

12. The computer system of claim 11 , wherein the search keywords in the displayed portion of the first documents are not highlighted in the first document preview-only window.

13. The computer system of claim 11 , further comprising instructions for:

in response to a user request to duplicate the displayed portion of the first document:

launching a document authoring window adjacent to the search results window; and

duplicating an instance of the displayed portion of the first document in the document authoring window, wherein the duplicated instance of the displayed portion is displayed in a display format consistent with the document type of the first document.

14. The computer system of claim 11 , further comprising instructions for:

in response to a user selection of the displayed portion of the first document:

replacing the first document preview-only window by launching a document display window adjacent to the search results window; and

displaying the displayed portion of the first document in the document display window in a display format consistent with the document type of the first document.

15. The computer system of claim 14 , wherein the displayed portion of the first document in the document display window includes two distinct instances of the one or more search keywords.

16. The computer system of claim 11 , wherein the set of search results includes a first chunk retrieved from a first document having a first document type and a second chunk retrieved from a second document having a second document type that is different from the first document type and the first chunk and the second chunk are both displayed in the text-based display format regardless of their associated document types.

17. The computer system of claim 11 , further comprising instructions for:

in response to a user selection of a second search result in the search results window:

replacing the first document preview-only window by launching a second document preview-only window adjacent to the second search result; and

displaying within the second document preview-only window a portion of a second document in a display format consistent with a document type of the second document, wherein the displayed portion includes the at least one chunk associated with the second search result.

18. The computer system of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of plurality of data sources include at least one local storage device accessible to the computer.

19. The computer system of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of plurality of data sources include at least one remote website accessible to the computer via Internet.

20. The computer system of claim 11 , wherein instances of different search keywords within one search result are highlighted in visually different manners and instances of the same search keyword within different search results are highlighted in the same manner.

21. A non-stationary computer readable storage medium having stored therein instructions, which when executed by a computer system having memory, a display, and one or more processors cause the computer system to:

receive one or more search keywords from a user of the computer system;

identify a set of documents stored at a plurality of data sources, wherein each document includes one or more chunks that match at least one of the one or more search keywords;

display in a search results window a set of search results in a text-based display format, wherein each search result includes at least one chunk retrieved from a respective document and the at least chunk includes at least one instance of a highlighted search keyword indicating its relative location within the chunk with respect to portions of the chunk that have not been highlighted; and

in response to a user selection of a first search result in the search results window:

launch a first document preview-only window adjacent to the first search result; and

display within the first document preview-only window a portion of a first document in a display format consistent with a document type of the first document, wherein the displayed portion includes the at least one chunk associated with the first search result and cannot be modified through the first document preview-only window.

22. The computer readable storage medium of claim 21 , wherein the search keywords in the displayed portion of the first documents are not highlighted in the first document preview-only window.

23. The computer readable storage medium of claim 21 , further comprising instructions for:

in response to a user request to duplicate the displayed portion of the first document:

launching a document authoring window adjacent to the search results window; and

duplicating an instance of the displayed portion of the first document in the document authoring window, wherein the duplicated instance of the displayed portion is displayed in a display format consistent with the document type of the first document.

24. The computer readable storage medium of claim 21 , further comprising instructions for:

in response to a user selection of the displayed portion of the first document:

replacing the first document preview-only window by launching a document display window adjacent to the search results window; and

displaying the displayed portion of the first document in the document display window in a display format consistent with the document type of the first document.

25. The computer readable storage medium of claim 24 , wherein the displayed portion of the first document in the document display window includes two distinct instances of the one or more search keywords.

26. The computer readable storage medium of claim 21 , wherein the set of search results includes a first chunk retrieved from a first document having a first document type and a second chunk retrieved from a second document having a second document type that is different from the first document type and the first chunk and the second chunk are both displayed in the text-based display format regardless of their associated document types.

27. The computer readable storage medium of claim 21 , further comprising instructions for:

in response to a user selection of a second search result in the search results window:

replacing the first document preview-only window by launching a second document preview window adjacent to the second search result; and

displaying within the second document preview-only window a portion of a second document in a display format consistent with a document type of the second document, wherein the displayed portion includes the at least one chunk associated with the second search result.

28. The computer readable storage medium of claim 21 , wherein the plurality of plurality of data sources include at least one local storage device accessible to the computer.

29. The computer readable storage medium of claim 21 , wherein the plurality of plurality of data sources include at least one remote website accessible to the computer via Internet.

30. The computer readable storage medium of claim 21 , wherein instances of different search keywords within one search result are highlighted in visually different manners and instances of the same search keyword within different search results are highlighted in the same manner.