Method for requesting and viewing a preview of a table attachment on a mobile communication device
A process is set forth for previewing a table attachment on a mobile communication device, and upon identifying table content of interest viewing and/or retrieving the entire table from an attachment server. In one embodiment, a small 4×4 row/column preview is presented on the device of every table found in a document attachment, with the cell content textual information limited to the requesting device display capabilities. This limitation avoids any requirement to download large amounts of individual cell content to the device. Thus, the user is able to quickly identify which tables are of interest and then request a full table download from the attachment server in an on-demand fashion. In this regard, the preview table itself preferably also functions as a link to the full table stored at the server to facilitate easy retrieval to the device for viewing in a spreadsheet view.
1. A process for previewing on a mobile communication device at least one table embedded in a document stored in a server, comprising:
building a graph structure within said server representing a map of said document, including a table component representing each said table;
issuing a request for said document from said mobile communication device to said server including an indication of display capabilities for said device;
iterating said graph structure within said server and for each said table component constructing and adding a preview table component as an attribute to an external component reference command, wherein said preview table component includes a predetermined number of rows and columns of said table with cell content textual information limited to said display capabilities;
downloading and displaying said document from said server to said mobile communication device with said preview table component embedded in said document at the location of said table, wherein said preview table component displays a portion of the table without any additional requests to said server; and
wherein said iterating further comprises iterating said preview table component and for each iterated table row command, table cell command and text segment command within said predetermined number of rows and columns and limited cell content textual information, creating a new table row command, new table cell command, and new text segment command respectively with attributes copied from each said iterated table row command table, cell command and text segment command and adding said new table row command, new table cell command, and new text segment command to said preview table component in said graph structure.
2. The process of claim 1 , wherein said predetermined number of rows does not exceed four, said predetermined number of columns does not exceed four, and said cell content textual information is limited to no more than thirty-two characters.
3. The process of claim 2 , further comprising incrementing an index associated with each of said new table row command, new table cell command, and new text segment command, and repeating said iterating until any said index exceeds said predetermined number of rows and columns and limited cell content textual information.
4. The process of claim 1 , wherein said downloading and displaying further includes downloading a document ID associated with said table in said graph structure from said server to said device.
5. The process of claim 4 , comprising generating a menu selection at said mobile communication device for initiating one of either user retrieval or viewing of said table in response to which said device transmits said document ID to said server and said server downloads said table to said device.
6. A server process comprising:
building a graph structure representing a map of a document having at least one embedded table;
iterating said graph structure and for each said table constructing and adding a preview table component as an attribute to an external component reference command, wherein said preview table component includes a predetermined number of rows and columns of said table with limited cell content textual information relative to said embedded table;
transmitting said document with said preview table component embedded in said document at the location of said table for external viewing on a mobile communication device, wherein said preview table component displays a portion of the table without any additional requests to said server; and
wherein said iterating further comprises iterating said preview table component and for each iterated table row command, table cell command and text segment command within said predetermined number of rows and columns and limited cell content textual information, creating a new table row command, new table cell command, and new text segment command respectively with attributes copied from each said iterated table row command table, cell command and text segment command and adding said new table row command, new table cell command, and new text segment command to said preview table component in said graph structure.
7. The server process of claim 6 , wherein said predetermined number of rows does not exceed four, said predetermined number of columns does not exceed four, and said cell content textual information is limited to no more than sixteen characters.
8. The server process of claim 6 , further comprising incrementing an index associated with each of said new table row command, new table cell command, and new text segment command, and repeating said iterating until any said index exceeds said predetermined number of rows and columns and limited cell content textual information.
9. The server process of claim 6 , wherein said downloading and displaying further includes downloading a document ID associated with said table in said graph structure.