Visual document structure indicator system
Systems and methods for represent and manipulate (i.e., processing) the underlying structure of a structured document (e.g., a mark-up language document), while maintaining a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) environment. The traditional WYSIWYG editor view is paired with a Visual Document Structure Indicator (VDSI) pane to allow for both WYSIWYG and structure editing within a single interface. The VDSI pane includes left pane and upper pane, which are configured along the left and top borders, respectively. The document editor allows document content to be created, edited, and maintained in the WYSIWYG environment while keeping document structure information available to the user.
1. A computer for processing a structured document, the computer comprising:
a user interface configured to receive user input;
a document data storage configured to receive and store document data from the structured document;
a data manipulator configured to receive the document data and the user input, said data manipulator operating to manipulate the received document data according to the user input, and to store the manipulated document data in said document data storage; and
a data display unit configured to receive and process at least one of the user input and the document data, said data display unit operating to display different components of the processed document data in separate areas of a display pane,
wherein said data display unit includes:
a content display unit configured to display the content of the document data in a format appropriate for processing the content, said content display unit operating to display the content of the document data in a first area of the display pane; and
a structure display unit configured to display the underlying structure of the document data in a graphical format appropriate for processing the underlying structure,
wherein the display pane includes a visual document structure indicator pane, the visual document structure indicator pane including
a WYSIWYG processing area in the first area of the display pane for processing and displaying the content of the document data; and
a structure-based processing area in the second area of the display pane for processing and displaying the underlying structure of the document data, the underlying structure of the document comprising one or more blocks, each block comprising a portion of document content, each block being associated with one or more in-line elements, the structure based processing area including
a first sub-pane for graphically displaying formatting information about in-line elements associated with a current block and the current character in the current block of the WYSIWYG processing area where a cursor is located, wherein each character that has formatting information associated with that character has the formatting information displayed in the second area of the display pane; and
a second sub-pane for graphically displaying structural information about blocks being displayed in the WYSIWYG area, the structural information comprising information representing how the blocks are organized within the underlying structure of the document, wherein the structural information about the blocks being displayed in the WYSIWYG area is aligned with the corresponding block in the WYSIWYG area.
2. The computer of claim 1 , wherein the structured document includes a mark-up language document.
3. The computer of claim 1 , wherein the format appropriate for processing the content includes a format for a WYSIWYG environment.
4. The computer of claim 1 , further comprising at least one menu configured to process an in-line element of the current block of the WYSIWYG processing area when said in-line element is selected.
5. The computer of claim 1 , further comprising at least one menu configured to process an in-line element of the current block of the WYSIWYG processing area when a marker associated with said in-line element is selected.
6. The computer of claim 1 , further comprising at least one menu configured to process a selected block of the WYSIWYG processing area when an element of said second sub-pane corresponding to said selected block is selected.
7. The computer of claim 1 , wherein
said first sub-pane includes a first plurality of elements of a tabulated format corresponding to a table in the WYSIWYG processing area; and
said second sub-pane includes a second plurality of elements of a tabulated format corresponding to the table.
8. The computer of claim 7 , wherein said first plurality of elements displays formatting information corresponding to columns of a row in the table where the cursor is located.
9. The computer of claim 7 , wherein said second plurality of elements displays structural information corresponding to rows in the table.
10. The computer of claim 7 , further comprising at least one menu for processing the table.
11. The computer of claim 7 , further comprising at least one menu for processing said first and second plurality of elements.
12. A method for processing a structured document, the method comprising:
manipulating and storing document data from the structured document according to user input;
processing the document data to display different components of the processed document data in separate areas of a display pane;
displaying content of the document data in a first area of the display pane, in a format appropriate for processing the content; and
displaying an underlying structure of the document data in a second area of the display pane separate from the first area, in a graphical format appropriate for processing the underlying structure,
wherein displaying an underlying structure of the document data in a second area includes displaying the underlying structure of the document data in a graphical format appropriate for processing the structure, the underlying structure of the document comprising one or more blocks, each block comprising a portion of document content, each block being associated with one or more in-line elements, and
wherein displaying the underlying structure of the document also includes
graphically displaying on a first sub-pane formatting information about in-line elements associated with a current block of the content displayed in the first area where a cursor is located; and
graphically displaying on a second sub-pane structural information about blocks being displayed in the first area, the structural information comprising information representing how the blocks and inline elements organized within the underlying structure of the document.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein displaying content of the document data in a first area includes displaying the content of the document data in a WYSIWYG format appropriate for processing the content.
14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising highlighting a format element of said first sub-pane corresponding to an in-line element in which the cursor is located.
15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising providing at least one menu for processing an in-line element of the current block of the first area when said in-line element is selected.
16. The method of claim 12 , further comprising providing at least one menu for processing an in-line element of the current block of the first area when a marker associated with said in-line element is selected.
17. The method of claim 12 , further comprising providing at least one menu for processing a selected block of the first area when an element of said second sub-pane corresponding to said selected block is selected.
18. The method of claim 12 , wherein said first sub-pane includes a first plurality of elements of a tabulated format corresponding to a table in the first area; and
said second sub-pane includes a second plurality of elements of a tabulated format corresponding to the table.
19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising providing at least one menu for processing the table.
20. The method of claim 18 , further comprising providing at least one menu for processing said first and second plurality of elements.
21. A computer program, stored in a computer-readable storage medium, for processing a structured document, the program comprising executable instructions that cause a computer to:
manipulate and store document data from the structure document according to user input; process the document data to display different components of the processed document data in separate areas of a display pane;
display content of the document data in a first area of the display pane, in a format appropriate for processing the content; and
display an underlying structure of the document data in a second area of the display pane separate from the first area, in a graphical format appropriate for processing the underlying structure,
wherein the instructions to display an underlying structure of the document data in a second area includes instructions to display the underlying structure of the document data in a graphical format appropriate for processing the structure, the underlying structure of the document comprising one or more blocks, each block comprising a portion of document content, each block being associated with one or more in-line elements, and
wherein the instructions to display the underlying structure of the document also include instructions to
graphically display on a first sub-pane formatting information about in-line elements associated with a current block of the content displayed in the first area where a cursor is located; and
graphically display on a second sub-pane structural information about blocks being displayed in the first area, the structural information comprising information representing how the blocks and inline elements organized within the underlying structure of the document.
22. An apparatus, comprising:
means for manipulating and storing document data from the structure document according to user input;
means for processing the document data to display different components of the processed document data in separate areas of a display pane;
means for displaying content of the document data in a first area of the display pane, in a format appropriate for processing the content; and
means for displaying an underlying structure of the document data in a second area of the display pane separate from the first area, in a graphical format appropriate for processing the underlying structure,
wherein the means for displaying an underlying structure of the document data in a second area includes means for displaying the underlying structure of the document data in a graphical format appropriate for processing the structure, the underlying structure of the document comprising one or more blocks, each block comprising a portion of document content, each block being associated with one or more in-line elements, and
wherein the means for displaying the underlying structure of the document also includes
means for graphically displaying on a first sub-pane formatting information about in-line elements associated with a current block of the content displayed in the first area where a cursor is located; and
means for graphically displaying on a second sub-pane structural information about blocks being displayed in the first area, the structural information comprising information representing how the blocks and inline elements organized within the underlying structure of the document.