KR20080003333A - An authoring tool and method for creating an electronic document - Google Patents

Abstract

An authoring tool for creating an electronic document, a method for creating the electronic document, a data storage medium for instructing a computer to execute the method for creating the electronic document and a data storage medium for instructing a computer to display the electronic document. The authoring tool comprises: a template module for selecting a template for the electronic document, the template comprising one or more display pages; a content management module for arranging one or more media files on each display page with selected interrelationships between the media files; a generating module for creating an electronic page file for each display page, wherein the media files are embedded in the respective electronic page files based on the selected interrelationships and in a manner such that each electronic page file includes interrelationship data defining the interrelationships of the embedded media files in said each electronic page file with other media files in said each electronic page file and with other media files in other electronic page files of the electronic document; and a binding module for electronically binding the respective electronic page files so as to create the electronic document.

Description

{AN AUTHORING TOOL AND METHOD FOR CREATING AN ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT}

The invention broadly relates to an authoring tool and method for creating an electronic document, a data storage medium storing computer code means for instructing a computer to execute a method for creating an electronic document, and an electronic document to a computer. Computer code means for instructing a display to be displayed.

Conventional electronic "books" ("e-books") are mainly printed books that have been "migrated" in electronic form. Existing e-book authoring tools typically provide word processing and simple insertion or import to include objects such as pictures in the flow of text. As a result, current e-books retain the features of printed books. In other words, existing e-books are a nearly "direct" conversion from a medium provided in printed form to a medium provided in electronic form with some inherent functionality such as a search function.

On the other hand, the attractiveness of books in both printed and electronic form largely depends on the simulation in which the content is provided to the reader, such as creating a visible perception of the content in the reader's mind. However, existing e-books and related authoring tools have so far failed to significantly increase the general appeal of books. As a result, printed books can maintain desirable options for many readers because the added features of traditional e-books over printed books appear to be out of weight by the greater portability, portability, and usefulness of printed books. have.

Accordingly, there is a need to provide e-books and related authoring tools that have attempted to address at least one of the aforementioned disadvantages of existing e-books.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an authoring tool for creating an electronic document, comprising: a template module for selecting a template for an electronic document, wherein the template includes one or more display pages; A content management module for arranging one or more media files on each display page having selected correlations between the media files; A generating module for creating an electronic page file for each display page; And a binding module for electronically binding each electronic page file to create an electronic document; The media file defines an interrelationship between each electronic page file embedded in the electronic page file and another media file in each electronic page file and another media file in another electronic page file of the electronic document. An authoring tool is provided that embeds each electronic page file based on the selected correlation to include the correlation data.

The interrelationship may include dynamic and static interrelationships between media files.

The dynamic correlation may include trigger event reference correlation, wherein one or more possible actions associated with one media file may be invoked based on the trigger event.

The trigger event may include at least one group consisting of a time criterion, a mouse click criterion, a media file or part of a media file detection criterion, and a key stroke criterion trigger event.

The media file may include at least one group consisting of a text file, a picture file, an image file, a 3-D graphic file, a sound file, and a multimedia file.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of creating an electronic document, comprising: selecting a template for an electronic document, wherein the template includes one or more display pages; Arranging one or more media files on each display page having selected correlations between the media files; Creating an electronic page file for each display page; And electronically binding each electronic page file to create an electronic document; The media file defines an interrelationship between each electronic page file embedded in the electronic page file and another media file in each electronic page file and another media file in another electronic page file of the electronic document. A method of creating an electronic document embedded in each electronic page file based on the selected correlation is provided so as to include the correlation data.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in a data storage medium storing computer code means for instructing a computer to perform a method for creating an electronic document, the method comprises a template for an electronic document (wherein the template is Including one or more display pages); Arranging one or more media files on each display page having selected correlations between the media files; Creating an electronic page file for each display page; And electronically binding each electronic page file to create an electronic document; The media file defines an interrelationship between each electronic page file embedded in the electronic page file and another media file in each electronic page file and another media file in another electronic page file of the electronic document. A data storage medium is provided which is to be embedded in each electronic page file based on the selected correlation to contain the correlation data.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a data storage medium stores computer code means for instructing a computer to display an electronic document, the electronic document comprising: one or more display pages; And an electronic page file for each display page, wherein the media file includes an electronic page file in which each electronic page file is embedded, another media file in each electronic page file, and another electronic document in the electronic document. Embedded in each electronic page file based on the selected correlation to include correlation data defining correlations with other media files in the page file; Each electronic page file is provided with a data storage medium that is bound together to form an electronic document.

1 illustrates a graphical user interface of an e-book authoring tool;

FIG. 2A illustrates the main processing platform of the electronic authoring tool while illustrating the data flow between each of the platform components;

2B is a schematic diagram of a media filtering module and a media presentation module of an electronic authoring tool;

3 illustrates a hierarchy of book characteristics and a hierarchy of book data structures provided by a book-type generation module for storing electronic document information;

4A-4E show several uses of a book-type generation module, respectively;

5A-5C illustrate how the document layout tool of the book-type generation module can create a new electronic document template or change an existing electronic document template through the use of a vertex cage;

6 is a flowchart of an algorithm employed when a loading and formatting module is invoked for the purpose of converting the loaded external medium into a data format used by an electronic authoring tool;

7 is a schematic diagram of a basic element file type converted to each PEM data object;

8 is a schematic diagram of a compound file type decomposed into a basic element file type;

9 illustrates one use of a media loading and formatting module;

Fig. 10 illustrates the placement of a multimedia object on a display page of an electronic document through the content management module.

11 illustrates a lower content layer provided by a content management module;

12 illustrates actions and events associated with objects in an electronic document;

13 illustrates some uses of an action and event management module;

14 illustrates how the media filtering module works in conjunction with an operation and event management module;

15 is a flow chart of an algorithm used by an operation and event management module.

FIG. 16 illustrates how the Viewing Enhancement Module of the Media Presentation Module enlarges text; FIG.

17A-17C illustrate a method of performing fish-eye zoom using the viewing enhancement module of the media presentation module;

17D and 17E illustrate how fish-eye zoom can be combined with parallel zoom to enlarge text;

18A illustrates a fast multi page flip style of the media presentation module in use;

18B is a flowchart of the algorithm employed by the AI data filter of the loading and formatting module.

19A-19D illustrate how the page flipping module of the media presentation module is used to adjust how each electronic document display page is flipped through weighted vertex manipulation. drawing;

20 illustrates a graphical user interface provided by a content management module;

FIG. 21 illustrates a graphical user interface depicting a visual electronic storage object in the form of an electronic library; FIG.

FIG. 22 is a graphical user interface depicting visual storage objects in the form of electronic tables; FIG.

FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram illustrating a computer system for executing the authoring tool of FIG. 2A. FIG.

Detailed Description of Embodiments of the Invention

Some portions of the description below are presented explicitly or implicitly by functional or symbolic representations and algorithms of operations on data in computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and functional or symbolic representations are meant by those skilled in the art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the data processing arts. The algorithm is generally assumed here to be a consistent sequence of steps that yields the desired result. These steps are those requiring physical manipulation of physical quantities such as electrical, magnetic or optical signals that can be stored, transported, combined, compared and otherwise manipulated.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, as is apparent from the following description, throughout this specification "load", "embed", "create", "render", Descriptions using terms such as "import", "export", "action", "effect", and "invoke" refer to data expressed as physical quantities within a computer system. It will be understood that this refers to the operation and processing of a computer system or similar electronic device that is manipulated and transformed into a computer system or other data similarly represented as a physical quantity in a storage, transmission or display device.

The present disclosure also discloses an apparatus for performing the operation of the method. Such a device may be specifically configured for the required purpose or may comprise a general purpose computer or other device which is selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. The algorithms and displays provided herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other device. Various general purpose machines may be used with the program in accordance with the teachings herein. Alternatively, a more specialized configuration of the apparatus may be suitable for carrying out the steps of the required method. The structure of a typical general purpose computer will become apparent from the description below.

In addition, the present specification implicitly discloses a computer program in that it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the individual steps of the methods described herein may be effected by computer code. Computer programs are not intended to be limited to any particular programming language and execution thereof. It will be appreciated, however, that various programming languages and their coding may be used to perform the teachings of the teachings contained herein. In addition, the computer program is not intended to be limited to any particular control flow. There are many other variations of computer programs, which may use different control flows without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Also, one or more steps of a computer program may be performed in parallel rather than in sequence. Such computer program may be stored on any computer readable medium. The computer readable medium may include a storage device such as a magnetic or optical disk, a memory chip, or other storage device suitable for interfacing with a general purpose computer. The computer readable medium may also include a hard-wired medium such as that exemplified in an internet system or a wireless medium such as that exemplified in a GSM mobile telephone system. A computer program is effectively brought about in an apparatus that performs the steps of the preferred method when placed and executed on such a general purpose computer.

1 illustrates a graphical user interface 100 provided by an electronic authoring tool 200 (FIG. 2) constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

The graphical user interface 100 includes a main window 101 having an upper toolbar 104 and a lower toolbar 106 arranged above and below the display window 102, respectively. Upper and lower toolbars 104 and 106 include a plurality of icons 114. Each icon 114 provides access to the functions performed by the various modules of the electronic authoring tool 200 (FIG. 2). In this way, when a command is executed through the operation of the icon 114, the module associated with the icon 114 is invoked, and a predetermined perceptible response is displayed on the display window 102.

Referring now to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the electronic authoring tool 200 includes a book-type generation module 206, a loading and formatting module 208, a content management module 210, an action and event management module 212. ), Media embedding and page binding module 218, send module 220, import module 222, media filtering module 232, and media presentation module 234.

Electronic authoring tool 200 provides an electronic document in a PEM data format. The electronic authoring tool 200 provides the tool through the use of the appropriate module mentioned in the previous paragraph to create an interactive electronic document by creating interrelationships between objects (text elements, pictures and video files, etc.). . Existing data file formats that are imported (ie, imported) by the electronic authoring tool 200 and converted into the PEM data format may incorporate additional functionality beyond the original characteristics of the existing data file format. These additional functionality include sub-content layers that allow merging of interrelationships between different PEM data objects, filters, and functionality in objects within electronic documents. Electronic authoring tool 200 also reduces the amount of computer processing resources used by facilitating more efficient presentation of information, such as high speed multipages, for quickly accessing the content of electronic documents.

Invoke one or more modules of the electronic authoring tool 200 to create a portion of the electronic document 226. For example, a loading and formatting module 208 for placing and inserting external media files 228 such as text and multimedia files, sound and video clips, and pictures in each display page 110 (FIG. 1) being created. Media embedding and page binding module 218 will then be invoked. Typical external media 228 that can be mounted and embedded

electronic picture files having data formats such as "jpg", "bmp", "png", and "gif";

text files having data formats such as "doc", "pdf," xml "," html "," txt "and" rtf ";

image files having data formats such as "avi" and "mpg";

sound files having data formats such as "wav", "mp3" and "midi"; And

3D animation files with data formats such as "3ds" and "x"

It includes.

The embedding is carried out via a multilayer approach. The controls acted upon by the media presentation module 234 can be used to adjust the transparency level, superposition, rendering, and shading effects applied to each layer. Recognizing that two media are "blended" with each other by controlling the rendering level applied to the first medium on the first layer, such as the first picture, and the rendering level applied to the second medium on the second layer, such as the second picture. Can be.

Electronic authoring tool 200 may be performed on computer system 2300 schematically depicted in FIG. 23. This may be performed in computer system 2300 and may be performed as software, such as a computer program, to send instructions to computer system 2300 to perform the method of the present embodiment.

The computer system 2300 includes a computer module 2302, an input module such as a keyboard 2304 and a mouse 2306, and a plurality of output devices such as a display 2308 and a printer 2310.

Computer module 2302 is connected to computer network 2312 via a suitable transceiver device 2314, for example, to enable access to the Internet or other network systems such as a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN). .

The computer module 2302 in this embodiment includes a processor 2318, a random access memory (RAM) 2320, and a read only memory (ROM) 2322. Computer module 2302 also includes a number of input / output (I / O) interfaces, such as I / O interface 2324 to display 2308, and I / O interface 2326 to keyboard 2304.

The components of computer module 2302 are typically connected in a manner known to those skilled in the art via interconnected bus 2328.

The application program is typically supplied to a user of a computer system 2300 encoded on a data storage medium such as a CD-ROM or flash memory carrier and read using the corresponding data storage medium drive of the data storage device 2330. The application is read and controlled in its execution by the processor 2318. Intermediate storage of program data may be accomplished using RAM 2320.

Returning to FIG. 1, as an example of how the electronic authoring tool is used, book template 108 is loaded using book-type generation module 206 (FIG. 2) and displayed on display 102. The book template 108 includes one or more display pages 110. Figures 112a, 112b and 112c are displayed on the left display page 110 using the loading and formatting module 208 (FIG. 2). Plots 112b and 112c are on a layer higher than the layer on which plot 112a exists. The multimedia file 120 (invoked by the upload and formatting module 208 of FIG. 2), which is operated in real time by a person among several stages of motion, is displayed on the right display page 110. . For each stage of movement different transparency is applied using the media presentation module 234 (FIG. 2A).

After the overall layout of each display page 110 of the book template 108 has been determined, the media embedding and page binding module 218 (FIG. 2) is invoked to fit all media onto their respective display pages 110. FIG. And then bind the display pages 110 all together. Finally, send module 220 (FIG. 2) is invoked to obtain completed electronic document 226. Send module 220 is also configured by the author of book template 108, for example, a person who wants to read the completed electronic document and instruct text 122, where text 122 is a different portion. Makes it easy to make editable.

In this manner, in the manner described above, the electronic authoring tool provides a mechanism for generating an electronic document that includes a template 108. The template may have several display pages 110 with the ability to place media items such as pictures 112a, 112b and 112c and multimedia files 120 on each display page 110, for example. will be.

2A shows the main processing platform of the electronic authoring tool 200 and shows the data flow between each platform component.

The main platform components of the electronic authoring tool 200 include the content editing cluster 202 and the authoring and binding cluster 204.

The content editing cluster 202 further includes a book-type generation module 206, a loading and formatting module 208, a content management module 210, and an operation and event management module 212.

The create and bind cluster 204 further includes a media embedding and page binding module 218.

Other components of the electronic authoring tool 200 include a export module 220, an import module 222, a media filtering module 232 (FIG. 2B), and a media presentation module 234 (FIG. 2B).

The book-type-generating module 206, loading and formatting module 208, content management module 210, action and event management module 212, media insertion and page binding module 218, send module ( 220, and import module 222 is for creation of electronic document 226.

Media filtering module 232 (FIG. 2B) and media presentation module 234 (FIG. 2B) are for presentation of electronic document 226.

The book-type generation module 206 provides two authoring tools and a document layout tool for the user 224.

The first authoring tool, referred to as a document template writer, allows the user 224 to create a new template for his electronic document 226.

The second authoring tool of the book-type generation module 206, referred to as the document template selector, allows the user 224 to select a predefined electronic template and thus focus on the creation of the electronic document 226 content. . It will also be understood that new templates created by the document template builder tool are also available for the document template selector tool.

The document template selector tool will maintain the layout used when the user 224 creates the electronic document 226 in the electronic document 226 the book-type generation module 206 finally created, so that the user 224 reports. This is especially useful if you are primarily interested in making a. Thus, the user 224 can concentrate on recording his report without worrying about whether there is a change in content arrangement in the final created electronic document. If desired, the document template selector tool may also provide step-by-step guidance to assist the user 224 in sorting and formatting the content on each page of the electronic document 226 to be created.

For example, a "poem" template will guide the user 224 to write a poetry, while a "recipe" template will guide the user 224 to easily create a cooking guide.

The document layout tool of the book-type generation module 206 allows the user 224 to customize a predefined template.

If the final template of the electronic document 226 is selected, the user 224 may use the book-type generation module 206 to further customize, such as how each page of the electronic document 226 proceeds next.

The loading and formatting module 208 of the electronic authoring tool 200 allows the external media 228 of different file types to be loaded by the electronic authoring tool 200 when the external media 228 is loaded by the electronic authoring tool 200. Switch to a file type that is compatible with. Hierarchies, dynamic links, and other unique media characteristics are added, and certain original media properties are corrected.

Since the hierarchy is a priority level that can be applied to an object, a group of objects or even a portion of an object, different parts of the same object may have different hierarchies. By appropriate application of hierarchies to different objects in electronic documents, real-time media processing becomes more effective. By assigning different hierarchies to different objects in an electronic document, dynamic interrelationships can be created between the different objects involved. For example, a higher hierarchy is assigned to a first picture, a lower hierarchy is assigned to a second picture, and movement of the first picture will result in corresponding movement of the second picture. However, the movement of the second image will not result in the movement of the first image.

Dynamic linkage acts as a signal embedded in the object in computer communication that, once activated, generates a separate pre-programmed event. Dynamic linking is used by the operation and event management module 212 and will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 12-15.

The intrinsic media characteristic refers to the characteristic added to the original data structure of the object imported into the electronic document. For example, an animated 2D media file can have a "speed" property included as part of its new data structure, so if an animated media file is embedded in an electronic document, its animation speed is its new unique "speed" "Can be controlled by the property.

As another example of how the loading and formatting module 208 corrects the original media characteristics, an electronic picture file having a data format " bmp " If passed through 208, it is no longer a data format "bmp", but rather remains data with a texture format with surface modulation characteristics.

In this way, the loading and formatting module 208 of the electronic authoring tool 200 may, for example,

electronic picture files having data formats such as "jpg", "bmp", "png", and "gif";

text files having data formats such as "doc", "pdf," xml "," html "," txt "and" rtf ";

image files having data formats such as "avi" and "mpg";

sound files having data formats such as "wav", "mp3" and "midi"; And

3D animation files with data formats such as "3ds" and "x"

Putting an external medium including a, and provides a mechanism for converting these formats into a format compatible with the electronic authoring tool 200.

As mentioned above, embedding of external text files and multimedia files 228 is performed through a multi-layered approach, where control can be used to adjust the level of transparency, overlay, rendering and shading effects applied to each layer. The loading and formatting module 208 enables this multi-layer capacity by allowing the layers to be arranged in a hierarchical relationship. The loading and formatting module 208 also provides an index for the rendering and transparency levels applied to each layer.

The content management module 210 of the electronic authoring tool 200 is provided to the user 224 by the graphical user interface 230. Graphical user interface 230 allows user 224 to manage and place external media 228 that will be placed in electronic document 226.

The content management module 210 also allows the user 224 to add other objects, such as text-boxes, drawing pads, and 3D models, to place these objects on any of the display pages as he wishes. do.

Other functions provided by the content management module 210 include text editing tools, such as word error checking, change tracking, selection of different text font sizes, book marking, text alignment and picture zooming. These other functions may be used by the user 224 when creating a new electronic document template or when creating an electronic document from an existing template.

Typically, at this stage where the user 224 places and arranges the external medium 228 on each page of the selected document template, the book-type generation module 206, the loading and formatting module 208 and the content The management module 210 is invoked in parallel.

After managing and arranging the external medium 228 that will be placed in the electronic document 226, the user 224 can select all the files in the electronic document 226 such as display of a video clip when a specific word in the electronic document 226 is selected. Correlation between targets can be created. These interrelationships work through the action and event management module 212 to allow the selected objects in the completed electronic document 226 to interact. The operation and event management module 212 is described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 12-15.

At this stage, the loaded media 228 placed on each display page of the electronic document 226 are all still separated from the display page and still exist as separate data files. The media embedding and page binding module 218 of the electronic authoring tool 200 is used to embed and merge all display page content on each of their respective display pages of the electronic document 226. Next, the characteristics associated with each display page content are fixed on each display page.

According to the sending module 220 of the electronic authoring tool 200, the user outputs the electronic document 226 as a data file type "pmb" which can be opened and edited on another computer with the electronic authoring tool 200 installed. It becomes possible. Each created electronic document 226 can be separated into several electronic documents 226, or vice versa, several electronic documents 226 can be combined into one single electronic document 226. Import module 222 is used to open electronic document 226.

2B is a schematic diagram of the media filtering module 232 and the media presentation module 234 of the electronic authoring tool 200 (FIG. 2A).

The media filtering module 232 of the electronic authoring tool 200 (FIG. 2A) scans all of the content present inside the electronic document to find out which of these content has associated actions and events. If the media filtering module 232 does not find a match, all the content of the electronic document will simply pass through without taking any action. The concepts of actions and events will be described below with reference to FIGS. 12-15 with appropriate examples.

The media presentation module 234 of the electronic authoring tool 200 (FIG. 2A) further includes three modules (not shown), rendering components, viewing enhancements, and page flippers.

The rendering component module allows the user to adjust the rendering level values of all multimedia objects placed in the electronic document to be created. In this regard, the rendering component module provides tools such as vertices and pixel shaders to control the rendering of three-dimensional graphics, and color channels (e.g. alpha to control the loaded picture or electronic external multimedia files). Channel). These tools allow users to control, overlay, and apply shadow effects to transparency on external multimedia files. The rendering component module can also blend external multimedia files in real time.

The viewing enhancement module of the media presentation module 234 allows the user to magnify text in the electronic document.

The page flipper module of the media presentation module 234 is applied to each page of the electronic document to function to simulate the actual coordination of the pages of the physical book. Under the page flipper module, two page flipping styles of slow single page flip and multi page flip can be used.

The slow single page style is used when the electronic document is read at the first time, where the details of each page may all be important to the reader.

The fast multi-page flip style is used when specific information or a specific page is to be placed.

3 illustrates a hierarchy of book features 310 and a hierarchy of book data structures 300 provided by book-type generation module 206 (FIG. 2A) for storing electronic document information.

The book data structure 300 includes electronic document information, such as a book page 302, a book spine 304, an index 306, and a network topology 308.

Book properties 310 are electronic, such as dimensions 312, shapes 314, titles 316, authors 318, creation date 320, book information 322, page number 324, and movement 326. Contains document information.

Each book page 302 further includes a media destination 328 and embedded application 330. Media object 328 may include two-dimensional shapes, three-dimensional shapes, text, images, textures, images, sound, voice, music, three-dimensional scenes, animations, special effects, borders, advertisements, and controls. For example, embedded applications 330, such as Internet web brochures and two-dimensional and three-dimensional viewers, may be used to navigate the Internet and open two-dimensional and three-dimensional files, respectively. These media objects 328 and embedded applications 330 are on layers combined to form a bidirectional electronic document.

Each book page 302 may also have a page ID 334, session 336, page number 338, dimensions 340, shape 342, margins 344, texture / material 346, layer 348. ) And properties 332 including electronic document information such as opacity 350.

By indexing the electronic document information as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the retrieval of the electronic document information becomes more effective and faster.

4A-4E illustrate several uses of the book-type generation module 206 (FIG. 2A), respectively. The book-type generation module 206 (FIG. 2A) allows the user to have an electronic document 400 with a scroll template, an electronic document 404 with a sliding card template, an electronic document 408 with a "traditional" book template, or an upright. An electronic document 412 with a calendar template will be invoked if desired. The book-type generation module 206 (FIG. 2A) also includes the respective pages 402, 406, 410, and 414 of the electronic documents 400, 404, 408, and 412. You can customize your pace to the next page. Further customization of the book-type generation module 206 (FIG. 2A) is shown in FIGS. 4A, 4C, and 4D, where each page 402, 410, and 414 is a respective page 402. ), The angle of bending when the 410 and 414 change can be adjusted. This customization can be done in real time. In contrast to existing prior art electronic authoring tools, "real-time" customization is not available.

Although three-dimensional electronic documents 400, 404, 408, and 412 are provided in FIGS. 4A-4D, the electronic authoring tool 200 (FIG. 2A) is also shown in FIG. 4E and a two-dimensional electronic document. It can be seen that the writing of the book 416 is allowed.

5A-5C illustrate how the document layout tool of the book-type generation module 206 (FIG. 2A) can create a new electronic document template or change an existing electronic document template through the use of a vertex cage. To illustrate.

5A shows a vertex cage 502 created over an entire frame 506 of an electronic document template 500. Vertex cage 502 defines a control point 504 over the entire frame 506. The user can then act on the control point 504 to modify the original shape of the frame 506. The book-type generation module 206 (FIG. 2) also enables the procedure by which the edges 508 and 510 are folded and changed.

5B shows a further example of the shape of the electronic document 516 being transformed through the use of the vertex cage 514. The user is acting on a control point on the edge 512 of the electronic document 516 such that the resulting electronic document 516 'has an edge 512' with a different shape.

5C illustrates how a vertex cage 518 can be created on each portion of an electronic document 520 with any network structure. The network structure of the electronic document 520 includes a base 524, a support 528, and a page display segment 530. Each page 526 of the electronic document 520 has a central axis 522, which lies along the center of the page display segment 530. Both ends of the central axis 522 are engaged with the page display segment 530 so that each page 526 can rotate about the central axis 522.

5A-5C show vertex cages 502, 514, and 518 created in a three-dimensional context, but vertex cages 502, 514, and 518 are also two-dimensional (not shown). Can be simulated.

FIG. 6 illustrates an algorithm employed when the loading and formatting module 208 (FIG. 2A) is invoked for the purpose of converting the loaded external medium into a data format used by the electronic authoring tool 200 (FIG. 2). 600 is shown.

The loading and formatting module 208 (FIG. 2A) is invoked when the user loads the external medium in step 602. In step 604, it is determined whether the loaded external medium is a known file type or an unknown (ie, unknown) file type. Known file types further include files of basic element types or complex file types.

The loaded external medium of the basic element type is a file with only a single format of data such as "jpg", "bmp" or "x". A loaded external medium of the compound file type is a file containing one or more basic elements. If the basic element file type is detected in step 606, the algorithm 600 proceeds to step 608. In step 608, the base element file type is directly converted to the PEM data object, and the data format is used by the electronic authoring tool 200 (FIG. 2A). Next, the user can change the content of each PEM data object or place one or more PEM data objects on the electronic document to be created accordingly in step 620.

Returning to step 606, the algorithm 600 proceeds to step 610 when the compound file type is detected. In step 610, the compound file type is sent to a suitable importer, such as a useful application programming interface (API). Next, the appropriate importer will determine in step 612 whether the compound file type is a valid data format. If the compound file type is an invalid data format, then the user will be notified at step 614. On the other hand, if the compound file type is a valid data format, then the compound file type will be decomposed into its basic elements in step 616.

The first output of step 616 is the basic element file type. Each of the basic element file types is switched to the corresponding PEM data object in step 608.

The second output of step 616 is information about the original spatial placement of the content within the original compound file type, as indicated by step 618. This original spatial placement of the content information can be used in algorithm 600 to have a spatially placed PEM data object in the same manner as the original compound file type. It will be appreciated that the user can maintain the original spatial arrangement or change the spatial arrangement at step 620, if desired by the user.

Returning to step 606, the algorithm 600 proceeds to step 614 when an unknown file type is detected. In this way the user will be notified.

After step 620 is executed, the algorithm 600 ends at step 622.

7 illustrates a schematic diagram 700 of a basic element file type converted to each PEM data object.

The basic element file types such as graphic data 702, text data 706, video and audio data 710, three-dimensional model and animation file 714 are placed and formatted in step 608 (FIG. 6), respectively. Module 208 (FIG. 2A) switches to PEM data objects of image object 704, text object 708, video and audio object 712, and three-dimensional model object 716, respectively.

Compared to the original base element file type, additional features such as three-dimensional spatial characteristics (eg effects, lighting and shading), hierarchies, and dynamic connections along motion and events can be integrated into the PEM data target. .

For example, after the "bmp" graphic data 702 is converted to the image object 704, the obtained image object 704 has the ability to support bump mapping, shadowing, and three-dimensional animation.

8 shows a schematic diagram 800 of a compound file type 802 decomposed into a basic element file type.

In step 608 (FIG. 6) the decomposition is executed by the loading and formatting module 208 (FIG. 2A), where the graphic data 806, text data 808, video and audio data 810, and formatting data ( Create a basic element file type, such as 812).

Specifically, importer 804 performs decomposition. Importer 804 is a PDF importer 804a, PPT importer 804b, Word importer 804c and is used to open files of data types "pdf," ppt "," doc "and" html "respectively. Useful APIs such as the HTML importer 804d.

To illustrate how the importer 804 works, the decomposition of complex file types, such as Microsoft PowerPoint documents (data file type "ppt"), is described in detail. Microsoft PowerPoint documents can include slides with content such as images and text. The picture and text will be decomposed by the PPT importer 804b into graphic data 806 and text data 808, which are the basic element file types, respectively. The spatial arrangement of the image and text will be stored as formatting data 812. Graphic data 806 and text data 808 will then be converted to PEM data objects.

9 illustrates one example use of the Placement and Formatting Module 208 (FIG. 2A). After the picture is placed on the electronic document 900 by the loading and formatting module 208 (FIG. 2A), the loaded picture is converted into a texture format that conforms to the surface shape of the electronic document 900, thereby , Figure 902 'with an adjusted shape. The adjusted portion 904 may also be defined as having a flat shape, ie, a flat surface 902.

10 illustrates the placement of a multimedia object on a display page 1006 of an electronic document via the content management module 210 (FIG. 2A).

In FIG. 10, the graphical user interface 1000 provided by the content management module 210 (FIG. 2A) is used to display an electronic document 1010 that includes at least two display pages 1006. The content management module 210 (FIG. 2A) uses an object-oriented selection method for managing the objects 1002, 1004, and 1008 on these two display pages 1006.

These objects 1002, 1004 and 1008 are three-dimensional models, pictures and text boxes, respectively. These objects 1002, 1004 and 1008 are each present on layers with an associated depth z in three-dimensional space.

The layers are arranged hierarchically, and when the user selects objects 1002, 1004 and 1008 for placement, the objects on the top layer will be selected first. In addition, the user can change the order of the layers.

11 shows the lower content layer 1102 provided by the content management module 210 (FIG. 2A). Lower content layer 1102 allows additional programming for existing book objects (eg, text boxes, pictures, and pictures). As shown in FIG. 11, a user can read a word 1104 on a display page 1100 of an electronic document with a set of related functions such as text-to-speech transitions and recording of voice clips present in the lower content layer 1102. ) (Word "album"). Subsequently, if word 1104 is selected, lower content layer 1102 appears. Thus, in this method, the lower content layer 1102 provides a tool for the user to associate functionality with the selected object on the page of the electronic document.

12 illustrates an operation 1204 and an event 1206 associated with an object 1202 in an electronic document. Action and event management module 212 (FIG. 2A) provides for the use of dynamic linking to give a user the ability to associate actions 1204 and events 1206 for all objects 1202 present in the electronic document to be created. Provide mechanisms. These objects 1202 include multimedia files such as pictures, text, and images, 3D models, and dummy objects. Action 1204 is a set of predefined "actions" such as playback and stop of a video clip provided by object 1202, and "action" is invoked by event 1206 from another object 1202. . An event 1206, such as using a mouse pointer to select an object 1202, or when an image has finished playing, is a set of triggers that will invoke a related action 1204 for another object 1202. . Although only some operations 1204 and events 1206 are shown in FIG. 12, other operations 1204 and events 1206 may be created and associated with the desired object 1204.

13 illustrates several uses of the operation and event management module 212 (FIG. 2A). The subject 1302, that is, the phrase “wildlife reserve”, can be defined to trigger an event via OnWordDetected () effect trigger 1206 (FIG. 12). The event that occurs is the showing of the picture 1304. If the picture 1304 is selected using the mouse pointer, the OnMouseClick () effect trigger 1206 (FIG. 12) will trigger the start of playback of the image 1308 and will also result in the display of another picture 1306. After the image 1308 is activated for a certain period of time, the OnTimer () effect trigger 1206 (FIG. 12) will be invoked and the second display page 1310 will be loaded. In this way, objects 1302, 1304, 1306, 1308, and 1310 will have the ability to interact with each other while creating bidirectional and dynamic electronic documents.

14 illustrates how the media filtering module 232 (FIG. 2B) works in concert with the operation and event management module 212 (FIG. 2A). The media filtering module 232 (FIG. 2B) will scan all the content present in the electronic document to find out which of these content has associated actions and events. If a match is found, the associated action and event will be executed. In FIG. 14, the media filtering module 232 (FIG. 2B) passes through all the content of the text string 1406 to find that the object 1404, that is, the word “raining”, has associated actions and events. In FIG. 14, the actions and events are for placing a multimedia file 1402 depicting rain on a swan figure 1408.

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart of an algorithm 1500 used by operation and event management module 212 (FIG. 2A).

After the algorithm 1500 is initiated 1502, the algorithm 1500 determines whether any of the following two events 1504, 1506 have occurred, that is, user interaction 1506 or asynchronous object 1504. Check it.

The user interaction event 1506 means input from a user, such as selecting a subject in an electronic document or typing text.

Asynchronous target event 1504 means the presence of a target with a pre-programmed event, that is, a "self-generating" event, that is executed automatically without further user intervention. The image 1308 (FIG. 13) is an example of an asynchronous object, where the loading of the second display page 710 (FIG. 7) occurs automatically after the image 1308 has been played for a certain period of time.

When a user interaction event 1506 occurs, the algorithm 1500 checks at step 1508 all other objects in the electronic document for event triggering, i.e., which of the other objects is triggered based on this particular user interaction. We will check whether we have an event. If there is no associated event, the algorithm 1500 returns to the beginning 1502 of the algorithm 1500 via step 1510 and then repeatedly performs the checks of events 1504 and 1506.

On the other hand, if there is an associated event, the algorithm 1500 proceeds through step 1510 to step 1512, where the algorithm 1500 determines the target object of the associated event.

If the target object does not exist, the user will thus be notified at step 1514. On the other hand, if the target object exists, the corresponding action associated with the target object will be activated in step 1516. The target subject may be another subject present in the electronic document or may even be a subject with the associated event itself.

Returning to the occurrence of user interaction event 1506, it can be seen that steps 1506, 1508, and 1510 are not needed because the user interaction event 1506 related event is "self-generating" (described above). will be. The algorithm will simply proceed to step 1512 and follow the same procedure described in detail with reference to steps 1514 and 1516.

After step 1516 is executed, algorithm 1500 will return to initiation 1502 if the user still invokes motion and effects module 600 (FIG. 6). Otherwise, algorithm 1500 will end at step 1518.

16 illustrates how the viewing enhancement module of the media presentation module 234 (FIG. 2B) enlarges text. The viewing enhancement module allows three ways to magnify text: parallel zoom 1602, fish-eye zoom 1604 and modular zoom (not shown).

Parallel zoom 1602 enlarges all of the text on one or more lines 1604 selected by the mouse and renders the enlarged text again on a new layer.

The fish-eye zoom 1606 enlarges the text in such a way that the center 1608 of the selected text has the maximum magnification while the magnification applied to the rest of the selected text decreases as the text moves further away from the center. do. In this way, the viewing of the enlarged text is enhanced because there is no sudden change from the normal sized text on the left and right sides of the selected text to which the fish-eye zoom 904 is applied.

The modular zoom enlarges the text of the selected paragraph or any preselected area by the user.

17A-17C illustrate how fish-eye zoom is performed using the viewing enhancement module of the media presentation module 234 (FIG. 2).

17A illustrates two display pages 1702, 1704 of an electronic document 1700. Vertex cage 1706 is created on two display pages 1702 and 1704. Text 1708 is embedded into pages 1702 and 1704 using media embedding and page binding module 218 (FIG. 2).

When fish-eye zoom is used, the point 1710 selected by the mouse pointer (not shown) forms the center of the zoom, as shown in FIG. 17B. The radius of the fish-eye zoom from point 1710 can be adjusted. The shape of the portion 1712 of the vertex cage 1706 around the point 1710 will be deformed according to the distance at which each edge of the portion 1712 is disposed from the point 1710, where the deformation is at the point Inversely proportional to the distance from (1712).

Another way to achieve fish-eye zoom is to define the rows 1714 or columns 1716 of the vertex cage 1706 as the center of the fish-eye zoom rather than the point 1710.

17D and 17E illustrate how fish-eye zoom can be combined with parallel zoom to enlarge text. Rows 1917 and 1718 are defined to be rows to which fish eye zoom and parallel zoom are applied. As each line is further away from lines 1917 and 1718, the magnification applied to each line of text is reduced, while the same respective magnification will be used for all text in the same line.

Another way of enlarging text (not shown) is to take each page of the electronic document closer to the "virtual camera" performed by the viewing enhancement module of the media presentation module 234 (FIG. 2B). The visual field and projection matrix are used to define points on the "virtual" plane near the electronic document. Next, the point on the "virtual" plane becomes the viewing position where the user sees the text on the page. Thus, there is a distance between the viewing position and the text and the direction in which the viewing takes place. In order to enlarge the text, the field of view matrix value and the projection matrix value are adjusted accordingly.

18A illustrates the fast multi-page flip style of media presentation module 234 (FIG. 2B) in use. The fast multi-page flip style is used when certain information or specific pages are desired to be placed. For a fast multi-page flip style, artificial intelligence data filters that operate in conjunction with the loading and formatting module 208 (FIG. 2A) are used to identify key information on the page needed for immediate page recognition. The determination of this information reduces the computing resources needed to access electronic documents with substantial page numbers.

18B shows a flowchart of an algorithm 1806 used by the AI data filter of the loading and formatting module 208 (FIG. 2A).

Algorithm 1806 begins at step 1808 by placing each page of the electronic document.

In step 1810, the information on the current page is put. The page is scanned at its original resolution 1802 (FIG. 18A) to determine which parts, such as titles and prominent pictures, are imported and which parts are not.

In step 1812, the algorithm 1806 checks whether any object on the page has been manually marked with the degree of import by the user who created the electronic document. If such manual marking is present, algorithm 1806 proceeds to step 1828 where a page priority ranking is assigned to the current page and a preview of the page according to the page priority ranking. If there is no such manual marking, the algorithm 1806 proceeds to step 1816.

In step 1816, the algorithm 1806 removes areas with uniform color contrast and low color saturation while maintaining areas with high color contrast and high color saturation. Thus, an index is assigned to each of these areas.

In step 1818, the assigned index is compared with the default index. If the assigned exponent exceeds the default exponent, a high resolution 1802 (FIG. 18A) preview picture or a low resolution 1804 (FIG. 18A) preview picture is rendered and stored at step 1820, or a low resolution (based on the test exponent value). The preview image is rendered and stored. On the other hand, if the assigned index is smaller than the default index, the preview image is displayed using the simulated picture.

In step 1822, the algorithm determines whether the preview image has been created for all pages in the electronic document. If there is still a page for which no preview image has been created, the algorithm 1806 proceeds to start step 1808. Otherwise, algorithm 1806 ends at step 1824.

19A-19D illustrate a method of controlling how each electronic document display page 1902 is flipped through weighted vertex manipulation using the page flipping module of the media presentation module 234 (FIG. 2). have.

The vertex cage 1904 is created on the display page 1902. Vertices n1, w1, (n2, w2), ..., and (n16, w16) are defined on the vertex cage 1904 of the right display page 1902 (indicated by a circle).

Each vertex has a corresponding "weight". The "weights" associated with each vertex define how the right display page 1902 is flipped.

One way to assign a "weight" to each vertex is by the following function:

w _x  = f ( h _x )

Where w is the assigned "weighting" and h is the vertical distance 1910, 1912, 1914 where the vertices are located from the paths 1906 and 1908 tracked across the right display page 1902 by the mouse pointer. ) Is the size. The subscript "x" means the vertices (n1, w1), (n2, w2), ... and (n16, w16). The weight assigned by the function w _x = f (h _x ) is also affected by the length of the tracked paths 1906 and 1908. Next, the function f can be adapted as desired by the user.

As an example, FIG. 19B illustrates how the right display page 1902 is flipped when the path 1906 is used to assign weights to vertices on the right display page 1902. 19C shows how the right display page 1902 is flipped when the path 1908 is used to assign weights to vertices on the right display page 1902.

19D illustrates how the right display page 1902 is flipped when all vertices have equal weights. Next, the right display page 1902 will be flipped according to the following function:

a = f (t)

Where a is rotation angle 1916 and t is elapsed time. The elapsed time depends on the "frames per second" (FPS) of the computer screen, ie the speed at which graphics are rendered on the computer screen. Elapsed time is the time difference between the currently rendered frame and the previously rendered frame. For example, if the computer screen renders the graphics at 25 FPS, the elapsed time would be 0.04 seconds (one second divided by 25).

19E illustrates another method of adjusting the manner in which the right display page 1902 can be flipped. In this alternative method, curved path 1920 is drawn using a mouse pointer to define an interpolated moving flipping path 1922 for the right display page 1902. As the right display page 1902 is flipped, the right display page 1902 is curved along its width 1901, so that the edge of the right display page 1902 follows a curved path 1902. A side view of the resulting curved right display page 1902 is indicated by reference 1918.

20 illustrates a graphical user interface 2000 provided by the content management module 210 (FIG. 2A). Flipping book electronic document 2002 and folding book electronic document 2004 are shown. Electronic authoring tool 200 (FIG. 2A) allows a user to transfer content from flipping book electronic document 2002 to folding book electronic document 2004 by simply performing a " drag and drop " transfer of the mouse. To make it possible. Similarly, the electronic authoring tool 200 (FIG. 2A) allows the user to simply perform a " drag and drop " transfer of the mouse to content from the flipping book electronic document 2004 to the folding book electronic document 2002. Enables the transfer of "Drag and drop" transfer is achieved by an electronic authoring tool 200 (FIG. 2A) that copies the entire page structure and page information from the source electronic document 2002, 2004 to the target electronic document 2004, 2002. do.

Electronic authoring tool 200 (FIG. 2A) also provides a means for transporting an electronic document created by creating a visual electronic storage object. 21 and 22 illustrate these two electronic storage objects as described below.

21 illustrates a graphical user interface 2100 depicting a visual electronic storage object in the form of an electronic library 2102. The electronic library 2102 acts as an electronic archive for storing the created electronic document 2106. Any electronic document 2106 can be recovered through the use of a mouse pointer.

22 illustrates a graphical user interface 2200 depicting visual storage objects in the form of an electronic table 2202. The electronic table 2202 serves as an electronic holder for placing the created electronic document 2204. Although only one electronic document 2204 is shown, several electronic documents 2204 can be placed on the electronic table 2202, where any electronic document 2204 can be retrieved through the use of a mouse pointer. I can understand what can be.

Accordingly, various other modifications and adaptations of the present invention are apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the above description without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and it is apparent that all such modifications and adaptations are within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (12)

In the authoring tool for creating an electronic document, A template module for selecting a template for an electronic document, the template module including one or more display pages; A content management module for arranging one or more media files on each display page having selected correlations between the media files; A generating module for creating an electronic page file for each display page; And A binding module for electronically binding each electronic page file to create an electronic document; The media file defines an interrelationship between each electronic page file embedded in the electronic page file and another media file in each electronic page file and another media file in another electronic page file of the electronic document. Authoring tool embedded in each electronic page file based on the selected correlation to include correlation data. The authoring tool of claim 1, wherein the correlations include dynamic and static correlations between media files. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the dynamic correlation may comprise a trigger event based correlation, wherein one or more of the possible actions associated with one media file may be invoked based on a trigger event. Authoring tool that is invoked. 4. The authoring tool of claim 3, wherein the trigger event comprises at least one group consisting of a time criterion, a mouse click criterion, a media file or part media file detection criterion, and a key stroke criterion trigger event. The authoring tool according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the media file comprises one or more of a group consisting of a text file, a picture file, a video file, a 3-D graphic file, a sound file, and a multimedia file. Selecting a template for an electronic document, the template comprising one or more display pages; Arranging one or more media files on each display page having selected correlations between the media files; Creating an electronic page file for each display page; And Electronically binding each electronic page file to create an electronic document; The media file defines an interrelationship between each electronic page file embedded in the electronic page file and another media file in each electronic page file and another media file in another electronic page file of the electronic document. And a method for creating an electronic document embedded in each electronic page file based on the selected correlation to include correlation data. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the correlation comprises dynamic and static correlation between media files. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the dynamic correlation may comprise trigger event criteria correlation, wherein one or more of the possible actions associated with one media file are invoked based on a trigger event. . The method of claim 8, wherein the trigger event comprises one or more of a group consisting of a time criterion, a mouse click criterion, a media file or part of a media file detection criterion, and a key stroke criterion trigger event. The electronic document of claim 6, wherein the media file comprises one or more of a group consisting of a text file, a picture file, a video file, a 3-D graphic file, a sound file, and a multimedia file. How to write. A data storage medium storing computer code means for instructing a computer to perform a method of creating an electronic document, the method comprising: Selecting a template for an electronic document, the template comprising one or more display pages; Arranging one or more media files on each display page having selected correlations between the media files; Creating an electronic page file for each display page; And Electronically binding each electronic page file to create an electronic document; The media file defines an interrelationship between each electronic page file embedded in the electronic page file and another media file in each electronic page file and another media file in another electronic page file of the electronic document. A data storage medium embedded in each electronic page file based on the selected correlation to contain correlation data. A data storage medium storing computer code means for instructing a computer to display an electronic document, The electronic document may include at least one display page; And Include an electronic page file for each display page, The media file defines an interrelationship between each electronic page file embedded in the electronic page file and another media file in each electronic page file and another media file in another electronic page file of the electronic document. Embedded in each electronic page file according to the selected correlation to include correlation data; Wherein each electronic page file is bound together to form an electronic document.

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