Automatically generating column layouts in electronic documents

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10528217-B2
Application number	US-201916364096-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 25, 2019
Priority date	Feb 21, 2013
Publication date	Jan 7, 2020
Grant date	Jan 7, 2020

Abstract

A method for automatically generating column layouts comprises obtaining, by a page layout computer, source code of an electronic document comprising content, in response to a request to activate a page layout of the electronic document and before receiving a first input indicating a modification to a layout of the electronic document, automatically inserting, by the page layout computer, a coded hierarchy into the source code of the electronic document specifying a single section and a single column including the content, receiving, by the page layout computer, the first input indicating the modification to the layout of the electronic document, based on the first input and by the page layout computer, modifying the source code, causing, by the page layout computer, generating an updated editing view of the electronic document that graphically represents the modification to the layout.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented data processing method comprising:
obtaining, by a page layout computer, source code of an electronic document comprising content;
in response to a request to activate a page layout of the electronic document and before receiving a first input indicating a modification to a layout of the electronic document, automatically inserting, by the page layout computer, a coded hierarchy into the source code of the electronic document specifying one or more sections and one or more columns within which the content is automatically redistributed;
receiving, by the page layout computer, the first input indicating the modification to the layout of the electronic document;
based on the first input and by the page layout computer, modifying the source code;
causing, by the page layout computer, generating an updated editing view of the electronic document that graphically represents the modification to the layout.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the redistribution comprises removing a section or column of the electronic document and inserting content from the removed column into the one or more sections or one or more columns.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the source code comprises HTML and wherein the coded hierarchy comprises two or more nested sets of division (DIV) tags.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the sets comprise a first set of DIV tags that indicates a particular section from the one or more sections and a second set of DIV tags, nested within the first set, which indicates a particular column from the one or more columns within the section.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the first input is received using one of a plurality of page layout controls.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein each of the plurality of page layout controls is associated with a different page layout, and wherein each of the different page layouts is for a particular combination of a particular number of columns and a particular set of column widths.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein a particular page layout among a plurality of different page layouts includes two or more columns of non-equal widths.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the modification comprises adding a column.

9. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed using one or more processors, cause the processors to:
obtain source code of an electronic document comprising content;
in response to a request to activate a page layout of the electronic document and before receiving a first input indicating a modification to a layout of the electronic document, automatically insert a coded hierarchy into the source code of the electronic document specifying one or more sections and one or more columns within which the content is automatically distributed;
receive the first input indicating the modification to the layout of the electronic document;
based on the first input, modify the source code;
cause generating an updated editing view of the electronic document that graphically represents the modification to the layout.

10. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 9 , wherein the source code comprises HTML and wherein the coded hierarchy comprises two or more nested sets of division (DIV) tags.

11. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 10 , wherein the sets comprise a first set of DIV tags that indicates a particular section from the one or more sections and a second set of DIV tags, nested within the first set, which indicates a particular column from the one or more columns within the section.

12. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 9 , wherein the first input is received using one of a plurality of page layout controls.

13. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 12 , wherein each of the plurality of page layout controls is associated with a different page layout, and wherein each of the different page layouts is for a particular combination of a particular number of columns and a particular set of column widths.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 12 , wherein a particular page layout among a plurality of different page layouts includes two or more columns of non-equal widths.

15. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 9 , wherein the modification comprises adding a column.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 9 , wherein the redistribution comprises removing a section or column of the electronic document and inserting content from the removed column into the one or more sections or one or more columns.

17. A computer system comprising:
one or more processors;
one or more memories storing instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause:
obtain source code of an electronic document comprising content;
in response to a request to activate a page layout of the electronic document and before receiving a first input indicating a modification to a layout of the electronic document, automatically inserting a coded hierarchy into the source code of the electronic document specifying one or more sections and one or more columns within which the content is automatically distributed;
receiving the first input indicating the modification to the layout of the electronic document;
based on the first input, modifying the source code;
causing generating an updated editing view of the electronic document that graphically represents the modification to the layout.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the source code comprises HTML and wherein the coded hierarchy comprises two or more nested sets of division (DIV) tags.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the sets comprise a first set of DIV tags that indicates a particular section from the one or more sections and a second set of DIV tags, nested within the first set, which indicates a particular column from the one or more columns within the section.

20. The system of claim 17 wherein the first input is received using one of a plurality of page layout controls.

21. The system of claim 20 , wherein each of the plurality of page layout controls is associated with a different page layout, and wherein each of the different page layouts is for a particular combination of a particular number of columns and a particular set of column widths.

22. The system of claim 21 , wherein a particular page layout among a plurality of different page layouts includes two or more columns of non-equal width.

Assignees

• Atlassian Pty Ltd

Inventors

• Ryall Matt
• Arconati Bill
• Walser Wesley Atwood
• Petchell Craig Thomas

Classifications

• G06Q10/103

  Workflow collaboration or project management · CPC title

• G06F40/166

  Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting · CPC title

• G06F40/106

  Display of layout of documents; Previewing · CPC title

• H04L65/403

  Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences (data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15) · CPC title

• G06Q10/10

  Office automation; Time management · CPC title