GB2506193A

GB2506193A - Display of first and terminating sentences of a textual paragraph

Info

Publication number: GB2506193A
Application number: GB1217066.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andres Kruse; Elaine Kruse
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2012-09-25
Filing date: 2012-09-25
Publication date: 2014-03-26
Also published as: GB201217066D0

Abstract

An input module 2.2 receives textual input, an output module 2.4 displays the textual input and a processing module 2.3 is configured to identify from the received text a first sentence and a terminating sentence within the same paragraph. The processing module is configured to display the sentences in a different format or style. One or more sentences intermediate to the first and terminating sentences are preferably identified and are displayed in a different format or style from that of the first and terminating sentences of the same paragraph.

Description

Paragraph Structuring

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an apparatus and computer-implemented method for paragraph structuring.

Background of the Invention

A modern academic writing style follows a set of relatively simple rules. One such rule is that each paragraph of text follows a simple structure: the first sentence is the so-called topic sentence of the paragraph, which is then followed one or more sentences setting out the main argument, and the paragraph concludes with a final, concluding sentence or one which leads on to the next paragraph. Sometimes, there may be just a first sentence and concluding sentence, but more often than not there will be intermediate sentences.

In education, students find it difficult to follow this structure when entering text into computers, e.g. via word processing applications, and often get marked down in their written work for the use of unstructured text.

An aim is to provide a computer-implemented method and apparatus for presenting paragraph structures in an improved and more intuitive way.

Summary of the Invention

A first aspect of the invention provides apparatus, comprising: an input module for receiving textual input; an output module for displaying the textual input; and a processing module configured to identify from the received text a first sentence and a terminating sentence within the same paragraph, and to cause display of each sentence in a different format or style.

In this way, the component sentences of a given paragraph are indicated differently and serve to remind and/or train users to follow a required paragraph structure. Also, identification and segmentation of the different component sentences enables the assignment of user interaction functions to one or more of the component sentenoes which can provide improvements in terms of the amount of data to be displayed and processing requirements. In one preferred embodiment, for example, only the initial sentence of a given paragraph is displayed and this sentence Is assigned to an interaction function whereby user selection of the initial sentence causes the rest of the paragraph, i.e. the terminating sentence, and any intermediate sentence(s) to be displayed. Thus, a single document having a plurality of paragraphs can be collapsed down to a series of initial sentences from which the reader can discern paragraphs of interest which they may then select and expand. The amount of data reguired to be processed and displayed to an appropriate GUI for a given document is therefore reduced.

The phrase different formats or styles" is intended to cover any visual way of presenting text in a distinguishing way, and includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the use of one or a combination of different fonts, different size fonts, different font colours, different underlining styles (e.g. underlining colours, dash-dot, dot-dash) or different

background highlighting.

The processing module may further be configured to identify one or more intermediate sentences between the first and terminating sentences, and to cause display of the intermediate sentence(s) in a different format or style than the first and terminating sentences of the same paragraph.

The processing module may be configured to detect the end of the first sentence and cause display of characters of the second sentence in the different format or style as they are inputted. The processing module may be configured to identify one or more predetermined punctuation marks corresponding to the end of a sentence and identify the individual sentences of the paragraph, e.g. the first, last and the or each intermediate sentence.

The processing module may be configured to cause display in the different formats or styles by means of using different text colours or text with a different background colour. The processing module may be configured to cause display in the different formats or styles by means of using different fonts.

As mentioned above, different underlining styles may be used.

Any combination can be used.

The processing module may be further configured to identify based on a punctuation mark within the first sentence one of a plurality of first sentence types and to cause display of said sentence in a different format or style than for other types.

For example, if the first sentence terminates with a question mark, the sentence may be displayed in a style that is different than if the first sentence terminates with a full stop.

The processing module may be further configured to: identify a plurality of said paragraphs for display; display only the first sentence of each paragraph; and responsive to user action in relation to a selected one of the displayed first sentences, to display the remaining sentences of the selected paragraph.

A second aspect of the present invention provides a computer-implemented method of presenting textual input, the method comprising: receiving inputted text; identifying a first sentence and a terminating sentence in the same paragraph; and displaying each sentence in a different format or style.

The identifying step may further comprise identifying, between the first and terminating sentences, one or more intermediate sentences, and the displaying step fjrther comprises displaying the intermediate sentence(s) in a different format or style than the first and terminating sentences.

A third aspect of the present invention provides a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-readable code, which, when executed by computing apparatus, causes the computing apparatus to perform a method comprising: receivinG inputted text; identifying a first sentence and a terminating sentence in the same paragraph; displaying each sentence in a different format or style; identifying a plurality of said paragraphs for display; displaying only the first sentence of each paragraph; responsive to user action in relation to a selected one of the displayed first sentences, displaying the remaining sentences of the selected paragraph.

A fourth aspect of the present invention provides apparatus, the apparatus having at least one processor and at least one memory having computer-readable code stored thereon which when executed controls the at least one processor: to receive inputted text; to identify a first sentence and a terminating sentence in the same paragraph; to display each sentence in a different format or style; to identify a plurality of said paragraphs for display; to display only the first sentence of each paragraph; and responsive to user action in relation to a selected one cf the displayed first sentences, to display the remaining sentences of the selected paragraph.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of functional components of a computer system; Figure 2 is a flow diagram showing processing steps for presenting text according to the invention; Figure 3 is a flow diagram showing in more detail processing steps for presenting text according to the invention; Figure 4 is a flow diagram showing processing steps for presenting text in a second embodiment of the invention; Figure 5 is a GUI example which is useful for understanding the invention; Figure 6 is a GUI example which is useful for understanding the second embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments

Embodiments described below relate to computer-implemented methods and apparatuses for identifying sentences in a given paragraph, effectively segmenting them for display in a particular format or style and, in a refined embodiment, for assignment of a user-interaction function whereby each paragraph is collapsed-down so that only the initial sentence of a paragraph is displayed on a GUI and is selectable so as to expand the paragraph in response to user action.

Referring to Figure 1, the main functional components of a computer system apparatus 1 are shown, comprising a controller 3, a memory 5 storing programs 7 and data 9, RAN 11, an output display 13, a keyboard 15 and a mouse 17.

The apparatus 1 may take any suitable form, e.g. a PC, laptop or PDA. It may also be a smart phone or data tablet (which will include data communications functionality) and may have a touch-screen interface with the display 13 instead of a mouse input device. It will be understood that the keyboard 15 may be a hard key device or one which is presented as a GUI on the display 13 for touch screen interaction.

The controller 3 is connected to each of the other components to control operation thereof, and is typically a microprocessor or plural microprocessors but may also be a microcontroller.

The memory 5 may be a non-volatile memory such as read only memory (RON), a bard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD) . The memory 5 stores amongst other things an operating system program and other software programs, including a paragraph structuring program. The paragraph structuring program is hereafter represented by module block 7. RAM 11 is used by the controller 3 for the temporary storage of data 9.

The operating system and paragraph structuring program 7 contain code which, when executed by the controller 3 in oonjunotion with the RAN ii, controls operation of at least some of the hardware components.

The paragraph structuring program 7 is configured to be run either as a stand-alone application or as an add on' application for use with conventional text editor programs (e.g. Microsoft Word) . In the case of the former, the paragraph structuring program 7 is executed from the operating system and presents a text editing GUI for users to enter text using the keyboard 15, or import text from an existing file, which text is displayed on the display 13. In the case of the latter, the paragraph structuring program 7 is coded or otherwise configured to be enabled and disabled from within the host text editor program's GUI, for example through a special icon or item on a drop-down menu.

In either case, when running, the paragraph structuring program 7 is configured to monitor text input through the keyboard 15, to identify paragraphs, and to display different sentences in a given paragraph in a particular format or style according to predetermined rules.

Referring to Figure 2, the basic processing steps are indicated. The process starts in step 2.1 with the start of a new paragraph. A new paragraph can be identified if it is at the very start of a document, if it follows a double carriage-return input, or if it starts on a new line and has a tabbed input, for example. In step 2.2 inputted text is received.

In step 2.3, from the text is identified within a given paragraph an initial sentence, a terminating sentence and, if present, one or more intermediate sentences. In step 2.5, these two or three different sentence classes' are displayed on the GUI in respective different formats or styles.

It will be understood that the initial sentence is the first sentence of a paragraph and the terminating sentence is the last. Intermediate sentence(s) is or are the sentences in-between the initial and terminating sentences. Detection of sentences involves detecting predetermined punctuation characters in step 2.3. These punctuation characters may be considered sentence terminators, and include full-stops (periods), question marks and exclamation marks. Other characters may be defined into the paragraph structuring program 7.

The different formats or styles used to display each sentence class differently can use one or any combination of: different fonts, different sizes, different font colours, different underlining styles and different background highlighting. In this way, for a given paragraph, a reader and quickly and conveniently see the segmented structure of the paragraph in a more intuitive way and which can indicate good or bad form for academic or research reports and also helps train users to follow the appropriate form.

The overview method shown in Figure 2 can be performed in a number of ways. One way is to wait until the complete paragraph has been entered before performing sentence segmentation/identification and/or displaying the sentences in their respective styles or formats. An alternative method performs sentence identification in real time as text is input so that, at the end of a sentence when a sentence terminator is identified, the subsequent sentence is displayed in a different format or style. This real-time method makes certain assumptions. In particular, where two or more intermediate sentences are entered, the method may present the second intermediate sentence in the format or style of the terminating sentence, but this can be corrected when the paragraph is completed so that the intermediate sentences are shown in a common style or format.

Figure 3 shows the more detailed steps in the method performed by the paragraph structuring program 7, following the above-described real-time method. Steps 3.1 and 3.2 correspond to steps 2.1 and 2.2 in Figure 2. In step 3.3, the initial sentence of the paragraph is displayed in format or style #1.

In step 3.4 a terminating punctuation mark is identified and in step 3.5 the next sentence is displayed in format or style #2 as it is entered. In step 3.6 the terminating sentence is identified, usually by detecting a double-return (new line) input and/or a tab input on a new line, and that sentence is displayed in format or style #3 in step 3.7.

The paragraph structuring program 7 may be further configured to identify based on a punctuation mark within the first sentence one of a plurality of first sentence types and to cause display of said sentence in a different format or style than for other types. For example, if the first sentence terminates with a question mark, the program may consider it a question type and the sentence may be displayed in a style that is different than if the first sentence terminates with a full stop or one that has a colon in it. This may be an optional feature that the user selects to run using the proGram GUI. The user may also set the assignment of different punctuation marks to the different format/styles.

In a further embodiment of the paragraph structuring program 7, the program is configured to assign to one of the sentence classes a user interaction function. Specifically, the program 7 is configured to hide on the GUI all but the initial sentenoe of the or eaoh paragraph. Said initial sentence is made selectable through the GUI in order to re-display the other sentences of the same paragraph. Selection of the initial sentence is made by moving the pointer controlled by the mouse 17 over said sentence on the GUI, although in other embodiments it may be necessary to hard-click the mouse button when the pointer is over the initial sentence. Where the display 13 includes a touch screen interface, user touch can be used to expand the paragraph in the above manner.

Figure 4 indicates the processing steps involved in this second embodiment. Steps 4.1 to 4.7 correspond to steps 3.1 to 3.7 in Figure 3. Step 4.8 involves collapsing the paragraph, once the program 7 detects completion of that paragraph, so that only the initial sentence is displayed on the GUI. Step 4.9 involves receiving user selection of the paragraph via the initial sentence, and step 4.10 involves expanding said paragraph in response to said selection.

Figure 5 shows an example GUI 21 in which the paragraph structuring program 7 is utilized. Referring to the first paragraph, the initial sentence 23 is displayed in a different font than the intermediate sentence 25 and both are displayed differently from the terminating sentence 27. The same principle of operation is followed for the other paragraphs displayed on the GUI 21. It will be noted that the penultimate paragraph 29 has only two sentences, in which situation the format/style of the initial and terminating sentence classes are used with no intermediate sentence style being used.

Figure 6 shows the top portion of the GUI 21 of Figure 5 in which the second embodiment method of Figure 4 is operating.

Figure 6a shows the GUI 21 when collapsed with only the initial sentence 23 presented. A mouse pointer 29 is indicated also. Figure 6b shows the GUI 21 when the mouse pointer 29 is hovering over the initial sentence 23 and the resulting expansion of this paragraph so that the other sentences are shown in their respective fonts. Other paragraphs (not shown) remain collapsed.

The collapse and expand method provides advantages in terms of reducing the amount of data and processing power that is necessary to display the document. A user is usually able to identify from just the initial sentences which paragraph or paragraphs are pertinent to their interest and they may then select paragraphs to cause their expansion. This embodiment is particularly useful for smart phones and tablets where the display size is limited and hence collapsing paragraphs enables more of them to be displayed at once.

It will be appreciated that the above described embodiments are purely illustrative and are not limiting on the scope of apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reading the present application.

Moreover, the disclosure of the present application should be understood to include any novel features or any novel combination of features either explicitly or implicitly disclosed herein or any generalization thereof and during the prosecution of the present application or of any application derived therefrom, new claims may be formulated to cover any such features and/or combination of such features.

Claims

CLAIMS1. Apparatus, comprising: an input module for receiving textual input; an output module for displaying the textual input; and a processing module configured to identify from the received text a first sentence and a terminating sentence within the same paragraph, and to cause display of each sentence in a different format or style.
2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing module is further configured to identify one or more intermediate sentences between the first and terminating sentences, and to cause display of the intermediate sentence(s) in a different format or style than the first and terminating sentences of the same paragraph.
3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the processing module is configured to detect the end of the first sentence and cause display of characters of the subseguent sentence in the different format or style as they are inputted.
4. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the processing module is configured to identify one or more predetermined punctuation marks corresponding to the end of a sentence and identify the individual sentences thereafter.
5. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the processing module is configured to cause display in the different formats or styles by means of using different text colours or text with a different background colour.
6. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the processing module is configured to cause display in the different formats or styles by means of using different fonts.
7. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the processing module is configured to cause display in the different formats cr styles by means of using different underlining styles.
8. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the processing module is further configured to identify based on a punctuation mark within the first sentence one of a plurality of first sentence types and to cause display of said sentence in a different format or style than for other types.
9. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the processing module is further configured to: identify a plurality of said paragraphs for display; display only the first sentence of each paragraph; responsive to user action in relation to a selected one of the displayed first sentences, to display the remaining sentence(s) of the selected paragraph.
10. A computer-implemented method of presenting textual input, the method comprising: receiving inputted text; identifying a first sentence and a terminating sentence in the same paragraph; and displaying each sentence in a different format or style.
11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the identifying step further comprises identifying, between the first and terminating sentences, one or more intermediate sentences, and the displaying step further comprises displaying the intermediate sentence(s) in a different format or style than the first and terminating sentences.
12. A method according to claim 10 or claim 11, wherein the method comprises detecting the end of the first sentence and displaying characters of the subsequent sentence in the different format or style as they are inputted.
13. A method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the identifying step comprises identifying one or more predetermined punctuation marks corresponding to the end of a sentence and identifying from the individual sentences of the paragraph the first, terminating and, if applicable, the or each intermediate sentence.
14. A method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein the different format or style for the sentences comprises different text colours or text with a different background colour.
15. A method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein the different format or style for the sentences comprises different fonts.
16. A method according to any one of claims 10 to 15, wherein the different format or style for the sentences comprises different underlying styles.
17. A method according to any one of claim 10 to 16, further comprising identifying based on a punctuation mark within the first sentence one of a plurality of sentence types and to cause display of said sentence in a different format or style than for other types.
18. A method according to any one of claims 10 to 17, further comprising: identifying a plurality of said paragraphs for display; displaying only the first sentence of each paragraph; respcnsive tc user action in relation to a selected cne of the displayed first sentences, displaying the remaining sentence(s) of the selected paragraph.
19. A computer program comprising instructions that when executed by a computer apparatus control it to perform the steps of any one of claims 10 to 18.
20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-readable code, which, when executed by computing apparatus, causes the computing apparatus to perform a method comprising: receiving inputted text; identifying a first sentence and a terminating sentence in the same paragraph; displaying each sentence in a different format or style; identifying a plurality of said paragraphs for display; displaying only the first sentence of each paragraph; responsive to user action in relation to a selected one of the displayed first sentences, displaying the remaining sentence(s) of the selected paragraph.
21. Apparatus, the apparatus having at least one processor and at least one memory having computer-readable code stored thereon which when executed controls the at least one processor: to receive inputted text; to identify a first sentence and a terminating sentence in the same paragraph; to display each sentence in a different format or style; to identify a plurality of said paragraphs for display; to display only the first sentence of each paragraph; responsive to user action in relation to a selected one of the displayed first sentences, to display the remaining sentence(s) of the selected paragraph.