WO2013010291A1

WO2013010291A1 - Rendering selected content objects for printing

Info

Publication number: WO2013010291A1
Application number: PCT/CN2011/001183
Authority: WO
Inventors: Huiman Hou; Zheng JIN; Shijun TIAN; Sukhwan Lim; Jiaguo LIAO; Hua Zhang; Jianming Jin; Liwei Zheng
Original assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
Priority date: 2011-07-20
Filing date: 2011-07-20
Publication date: 2013-01-24

Abstract

A method for rendering selected contents for printing includes, with a physical computing system, receiving input from a user indicating a number of content objects within a graphical user interface to be excluded, and with the physical computing system, rendering the content objects within the graphical user interface without including the excluded content objects using a rendering engine of an object presentation application to create an intermediate rendition.

Description

RENDERING SELECTED CONTENT OBJECTS FOR PRINTING

BACKGROUND

[0001] A wide variety of digital content is available to users through a variety of electronic devices. For example, users often browse digital content on their personal computers, mobile phones, and other types of computing systems. Digital content is typically displayed to users through graphical user interfaces. One type of graphical user interface is a web page. Web pages often include images, text, and other visual items. Web pages are often rendered and displayed to a user through an object presentation application such as a web browser. Rendering refers to the process of creating an image from a model framework that is used to digitally represent the image.

[0002] When content is displayed to a user, it is often accompanied by a set of undesirable or irrelevant content. For example, when a user is browsing content on a web page through a web browser, it is often the case that the user may have to sort through advertisements and navigational objects to find the desired or relevant portion of the content presented. A user may desire to print a physical copy of content from a web page that does not include any of the irrelevant content on the web page. Some applications allow the user may select content objects within the graphical user interface to be included or excluded from a print job. However, printing only the selected content can leave black spaces where the excluded content used to be. This consumes additional paper when printed on paper and takes up more storage space when printed to an electronic document. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0003] The accompanying drawings illustrate various examples of the principles described herein and are a part of the specification. The drawings are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the claims.

[0004] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an illustrative physical computing system, according to one example of principles described herein.

[0005] Fig. 2 is a flowchart showing an illustrative process for using the rendering engine of an object presentation application to render selected contents for printing, according to one example of principles described herein.

[0006] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an illustrative graphical user interface that includes a number of content objects, according to one example of principles described herein.

[0007] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an illustrative graphical user interface that includes both selected and unselected content objects, according to one example of principles described herein.

[0008] Fig. 5A is a diagram showing an illustrative printout of selected contents without re-rendering the selected objects, according to one example of principles described herein.

[0009] Fig. 5B is a diagram showing an illustrative printout of selected contents with a re-rendering of the selected objects, according to one example of principles described herein.

[0010] Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing an illustrative method for rendering selected content objects for printing, according to one example of principles described herein.

[0011] Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] As mentioned above, when a web page is displayed to a user, it is often accompanied by a set of undesirable or irrelevant content. A user may desire to print a physical copy of content from the web page without reproducing any of the irrelevant content on the web page. The user may select content objects within the graphical user interface to be included or excluded from a print job. However, printing only the selected content can leave black spaces where the excluded content used to be. This consumes additional paper when printed on paper and takes up more storage space when printed to an electronic document.

[0013] In light of this and other issues, the present specification discloses methods and systems for re-rendering the selected content objects of a graphical user interface so that there is no longer a large amount of blank white spaces. According to certain illustrative examples, the rendering engine of the object presentation application may be used to re-render only the content that has been selected by the user.

[0014] Content within a graphical user interface is typically

represented using a Document Object Model (DOM). A DOM is a convention for representing and interacting with objects within Hyper Text Markup

Language (HTML) or extensible Markup Language (XML) documents. The layout of objects within these documents may be represented by a tree data structure. A tree data structure includes a set of nodes that are linked together. Each node may represent an object. The position of a particular content object within a layout can depend on the position of its associated node within the tree structure. Such a tree structure within the DOM is referred to herein as a DOM tree.

[0015] An object presentation application such as a web browser typically uses information within the DOM, including the DOM tree, to render the content of a web page and display that content to a user. The browser may then allow a user to select content within the display for printing. After the user has selected which content should be included and excluded within the print job, the browser application may then create a new DOM tree using only the objects that have been selected by the user. Using the web browser's rendering engine, an intermediate rendition using the new DOM tree can be created. This intermediate rendition can then be printed to a print medium such as paper or to an electronic document.

[0016] Through use of methods and systems embodying principles described herein, a user is able to select content for printing and have that content printed without the blank spaces that would exist where the excluded content was originally positioned. This can save paper when printing to a physical medium. Additionally, it can provide a cleaner looking document. Furthermore, such methods may be embodied by an add-on application to an object presentation application. The add-on can then utilize the rendering functionality already inherent within the object presentation application to create the intermediate rendition used for printing.

[0017] In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present systems and methods. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present apparatus, systems and methods may be practiced without these specific details. Reference in the specification to "an example" or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with that example is included as described, but may not be included in other examples.

[0018] Throughout this specification and in the appended claims, the term "object presentation application" is to be broadly interpreted as an application designed to render and display content objects to a user. One type of object presentation application may be a web browser.

[0019] Throughout this specification and in the appended claims, the term "content object" is to be broadly interpreted as content represented as an object by a framework such as a DOM. Content objects may include, but are not limited to, text, images, navigational controls, and advertisements.

[0020] As used herein, the term "includes" means includes but not limited to, the term "including" means including but not limited to. The term "based on" means based at least in part on.

[0021] Referring now to the figures, Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an illustrative physical computing system (100) to be used for rendering content objects for display and printing. According to certain illustrative examples, the physical computing system (100) includes a memory (102) having machine readable instructions, such as software (104), and data (106) stored thereon. The physical computing system (100) also includes a processor (108) and a user interface (110). The types of physical computing systems that may embody principles described herein include, but are not limited to, laptop computers, desktop computers, tablet computers, and mobile smart phones.

[0022] There are many types of memory available. Some types of memory, such as solid state drives, are designed for storage. These types of memory typically have large storage volume but relatively slow performance. Other types of memory, such as those used for Random Access Memory (RAM), are optimized for speed and are often referred to as "working memory." The various forms of memory may store information in the form of machine readable instructions, such as software (104), and data (106).

[0023] The physical computing system (100) also includes a processor (108) for executing the machine readable instructions, including software (104), and using or updating the data (106) stored in memory (102). The machine readable instructions, such as software (104), may include an operating system. An operating system allows other applications to interact properly with the hardware of the mobile computing system. The other applications may include a content object presentation application such as a web browser. Additionally, the machine readable instructions, including software (104), may include add-on applications to provide additional functionality to the object presentation application. The data (106) stored within memory (102) may include content for display through the object presentation application.

[0024] A user interface (110) may provide a means for the user (112) to interact with the physical computing system (100). The user interface may include any collection of devices for interfacing with a human user (1 12). For example, the user interface (1 10) may include an input device such as a keyboard or mouse and an output device such as a monitor. Through the user interface, the user may interact with content objects being displayed through an object presentation application.

[0025] Fig. 2 is a flowchart showing an illustrative process (200) for using the rendering engine of an object presentation application to render selected contents for printing. The process (200) begins when an object presentation application such as a web browser renders (block 202) content to be displayed in a graphical user interface from a DOM tree.

[0026] As mentioned above, a DOM tree is used to represent the layout of content objects to be displayed within a graphical user interface such as a web page. The content objects may include text, images, navigational controls, and advertisements. A DOM tree is a data structure that includes a root node. A number of "child" nodes may then be connected to the root node. Furthermore, each of those child nodes may have child nodes of their own. In a DOM tree, each node may represent a particular object for display within a graphical user interface. The position of the node within the tree structure determines where its associated object is laid out when that DOM tree is rendered for display. Rendering refers to the process of creating an image for display to a human user. The image is created from a model framework that is used to digitally represent the image.

[0027] After rendering a graphical user interface such as a web browser, the object presentation application then presents (block 204) the graphical user interface to the user. The objects within the graphical user interface may be interactive. For example, some text objects may act as a link. When a user clicks on a link, he or she is taken to a different web page. Thus, the object presentation application renders a new graphical user interface associated with the new web page for the user.

[0028] In one example, the object presentation application provides (block 206) the user with a mechanism for selecting certain content objects for printing. For example, a user may wish to select certain text objects or certain image objects for printing while leaving out the rest of the objects. Specifically, the user may wish to exclude advertisements and navigational content. Additionally, there may be other objects within the web page in which the user is not interested.

[0029] In some cases, the function of providing a user with a means to select and unselect objects in a graphical user interface for printing may be done through an add-on application. Add-on applications, which are sometimes referred to as plug-ins, can be software programs that provide additional functionality to a larger application. For example, an add-on may be developed to work with commonly used web browser applications.

[0030] With the mechanism provided by an add-on application, the user can select and unselect (block 208) content objects for printing. In one example, and as described in more detail below, the object presentation application can visually distinguish between selected and unselected content objects. For example, either selected objects or unselected objects may be shaded. After the user has finished selecting the content objects that he or she wishes to print, the selection may be finalized (block 210).

[0031] The add-on application may then create (block 212) a new DOM tree using only the selected content objects. This new DOM tree represents a web page without the content that the user has excluded from printing. The add-on application may then render (block 214) an intermediate rendition of the selected content objects using the newly created DOM tree. This may be done by using the rendering engine that is already an integral part of the object presentation application.

[0032] This intermediate rendition may then be created as an intermediate file. In some cases, if the selected content is too large to fit onto a single sheet of standard size paper, then the intermediate file may be paginated. Pagination is the process whereby content is divided into a discrete set of pages. After pagination, the intermediate file may then be printed (block 216) to physical paper. Alternatively, the intermediate file may be printed to an electronic document such as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file.

[0033] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an illustrative graphical user interface (300). According to certain illustrative examples, the graphical user interface (300) is a web browser displaying content of a web page. The content includes navigational content (304), advertisements (310), text objects (306), and image objects (308). The user may also be provided with a toolbar (302) which provides a number of tools for performing operations relating to the web browser application.

[0034] Typical web pages include several content objects which are not relevant to a user when selecting content for printing. For example, a typical web page includes navigational content (304) which provides the user with a way to navigate between different web pages. Although the navigational content (304) serves a purpose for the user, it is typically not desired to be extracted for printing. Additionally, web pages often include advertisements (310). Advertisements (310) are also typically not relevant to a user when selecting content for printing or transferring content to another program.

[0035] A web page often contains several text objects (306). A text object may correspond to one paragraph of text. Various images may also be displayed on the web page. Some of these images may be useful to a user and some may not. For example, an image may be a pie graph or table relating to information in the text. This type of image may be useful to a user when selecting content for printing.

[0036] When a user desires to print content within the web page, the user may engage the selection function that allows the user to select contents for printing. This function may be available within the toolbar (202). As the user selects certain regions within the graphical user interface for printing, the web browser application can determine what objects correspond to the regions selected by the user by referring to the DOM for the current web page. In addition, the selected and unselected content may be shaded differently to indicate to the user which objects are currently selected for printing and which ones are not.

[0037] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an illustrative graphical user interface (400) that visually distinguishes between selected and unselected content objects. According to one illustrative example, content objects that a user has indicated should be included for printing can be displayed normally. These content objects are referred to as selected content objects (402). Contents objects that a user has indicated should be excluded from printing are given a darker shaded color. These content objects are referred to as unselected content objects (404). Alternatively, the selected content objects may be shaded while the unselected content objects remain normal. With the selected contents (402) and the unselected contents (404) shaded differently, a user can better keep track of which content objects have been removed and which have been added to the set of selected content objects (402).

[0038] In the example illustrated in Fig. 4, text object 2, (306-2), text object 4 (306-4), and image object 1 (308-1 ) have been selected and thus remain normal. The navigational content (304), advertisements (310), text object 1 (306-1 ), text object 3 (306-3), and image object 2 (208-2) have been excluded from printing and thus have been shaded.

[0039] Figs. 5A and 5B illustrate possible printouts of selected content objects of a graphical user interface. After the user is satisfied with the set of content objects which have been selected for printing, the user may then print the selected content objects. As mentioned above, simply removing the excluded content objects while leaving the remaining objects in their relative positions results in blank spaces. Fig. 5A illustrates such a printout (700) where the re-rendering of only the selected content objects does not occur. Thus, the content objects remain in their original relative positions. This can waste space and thus waste paper when the content objects are printed.

[0040] Fig. 5B is a diagram showing an illustrative printout of the selected content objects which have been re-rendered with a new DOM tree. As can be seen from Fig. 5B, there is no longer white space between the selected content objects. In this example, the selected contents are few enough that they may fit onto a single standard sized page. In some cases, the selected contents may be more than what can fit onto a single standard sized page. Thus, as mentioned above, a pagination process may be performed.

[0041] In some examples, the size of the text and image may be resized during the process of rendering the new DOM tree. This may result in the text within the text objects being wrapped differently. Text wrapping refers to the process of determining where to end a line of text and start a new line. Text wrapping is generally done according to layout positions so that the text wraps around other objects or within the designated region for that text.

[0042] Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing an illustrative method for rendering selected content objects for printing. According to certain illustrative examples, the method includes, with a physical computing system, receiving (block 602) input from a user indicating a number of content objects within a graphical user interface to be selected and rendering (block 604) the selected objects using a rendering engine of an object presentation application to create an intermediate rendition.

[0043] In conclusion, through use of methods and systems

embodying principles described herein, a user is able to select content for printing and have that content printed without the blank spaces that would exist where the excluded content was originally positioned. This can be used to save paper when printing to a physical medium. Additionally, it can provide a cleaner looking document. Furthermore, such methods may be embodied by an add-on application to a object presentation application. The add-on can then utilize the rendering functionality already inherent within the object presentation

application to create the intermediate rendition used for printing.

[0044] The preceding description has been presented only to illustrate and describe examples of the principles described. This description is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit these principles to any precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching.

Claims

CLAIMS WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method for rendering selected contents for printing, the method comprising:

with a physical computing system, receiving input from a user indicating a number of content objects within a graphical user interface to be excluded; and

with said physical computing system, rendering said content objects within said graphical user interface without including said excluded content objects using a rendering engine of an object presentation application to create an intermediate rendition.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said graphical user interface comprises a web page.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said object presentation application comprises a web browsing application.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving said input indicating content objects to be selected is done with an add-on application to said object presentation application.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said content presentation application creates a new DOM-tree using content objects that have not been excluded, said rendering engine, using said new Document Object Model (DOM) tree to create said intermediate rendition.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, with said physical computing system, providing a user interface to allow said user to select and deselect content objects within said graphical user interface, said object representation application maintaining a visual distinction between selected and non-selected content objects.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, with said physical computing system, paginating said intermediate rendition before printing said intermediate rendition.

8. A computing system comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, the memory comprising computer executable code that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to:

receive input from a user indicating a number of content objects within a graphical user interface to be selected; and

render said selected objects using a rendering engine of an object presentation application to create an intermediate rendition.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said graphical user interface comprises a web page.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein said object presentation application comprises a web browsing application.

1 1. The system of claim 8, wherein receiving said input indicating content objects to be selected is done with an add-on application to said object presentation application.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein said content presentation application creates a new DOM-tree using said selected content objects, said rendering engine, using said new Document Object Model (DOM) tree to create said intermediate rendition.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the computer executable code further causes the at least one processor to provide a user interface to allow said user to select and deselect content objects within said graphical user interface, said object representation application maintaining a visual distinction between selected and non-selected content objects.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the computer executable code further causes the at least one processor to paginate said intermediate rendition before printing said intermediate rendition.

15. A method for rendering selected contents for printing performed by a physical computing system, the method comprising:

with a web browsing application of said physical computing system, rendering a set of content objects from a web page represented as a Document Object Model (DOM) tree;

with an add on application to said web browsing application, providing a user with an interface to select a subset of said content objects for printing; with said add on application, creating a new DOM tree with only said subset of content objects selected by said user; and

with a rendering engine of said web browsing application, rendering said new DOM tree to create an intermediate rendition.