Document automatic pagination

Claim 1

A method for automatically paginating a data stream of text in a word processing system having a printer for creating a hard copy printout, comprising the steps of: formatting said data stream into logical pages in a memory, each logical page defined by a first and last typing line and having a plurality of line end codes; initializing a vertical tracking register for a first typing line of a logical page to be printed by said printer on a hard copy page; incrementing the vertical tracking register by a value representing a vertical displacement of a vertical print position of the printer when a line end code is encountered in the data stream; when said line end code is encountered in the data stream, interrogating a page overflow latch to determine whether a page overflow condition is pending, the pending page overflow condition indicating that the vertical tracking register has reached a predetermined value corresponding to a last typing line of a logical page; when a page overflow condition is pending, interrogating the next character in the data stream following the line end code to determine whether said next character is a graphic character; when the next character is a graphic character, copying a page end code into an output buffer ahead of said graphic character to indicate a page overflow condition, the completion of a hard copy page, and that printing of the data stream should continue on a next hard copy page; and when said next character is a nongraphic character, indicating in the output buffer that the page overflow condition remains pending until the next graphic character is reached.

Claim 2

A method for automatically paginating a data stream of text in a word processing system having a printer for creating a hard copy printout, comprising the steps of: formatting said data stream into logical pages in a memory, each logical page defined by a first and last typing line and having a plurality of line end codes; initializing a vertical tracking register for a first typing line of a logical page to be printed by said printer on a hard copy page; incrementing the vertical tracking register by a value representing a vertical displacement of a vertical print position of the printer when a line end code is encountered in the data stream; when said line end code is encountered in the data stream, interrogating a page overflow latch to determine whether a page overflow condition is pending, the pending page overflow condition indicating that the vertical tracking register has reached a predetermined value corresponding to a last typing line of a logical page; when a page overflow condition is pending, interrogating the next character in the data stream following the line end code to determine whether said next character is a graphic character; when the next character is a graphic character, copying a page end code into an output buffer ahead of said graphic character to indicate a page overflow condition, the completion of a hard copy page, and that printing of the data stream should continue on a next hard copy page; and when said next character is a nongraphic character, indicating in the output buffer that the page overflow condition remains pending until the next graphic character is reached.

Claim 4

A method for automatically paginating a data stream of text in a word processing system having a printer for creating a hard copy printout, comprising the steps of: formatting said data stream into logical pages in a memory, each logical page defined by a first and last typing line and having a plurality of line end codes; initializing a vertical tracking register for a first typing line of a logical page to be printed by said printer on a hard copy page; incrementing the vertical tracking register by a value representing the vertical displacement of a vertical print position of the printer when a line end code is encountered in the data stream; when said line end code is encountered in the data stream, interrogating a page overflow latch to determine whether a page overflow condition is pending, the pending page overflow condition indicating that the vertical tracking register has reached a predetermined value corresponding to a last typing line of a logical page; when a page overflow condition is pending, interrogating the next character in the data stream following the line end code to determine whether said next character is a graphic character; when the next character is a graphic character, copying a page end code into an output buffer ahead of said graphic character to indicate a page overflow condition, the completion of a hard copy page, and that printing of the data stream should continue on a next hard copy page; when said next character is a nongraphic character, indicating in the output buffer that the page overflow condition remains pending until the next graphic character is reached; when the next character is a graphic character, resetting said page overflow latch; interrogating said page overflow latch a second time to determine whether a page overflow condition is pending; and when a page overflow condition is not pending, copying the graphic character into the output buffer.

Claim 5

A method for automatically paginating a data stream of text in a word processing system having a printer for creating a hard copy printout, comprising the steps of: formatting said data stream into logical pages in a memory, each logical page defined by a first and last typing line and having a plurality of line end codes; initializing a vertical tracking register for a first typing line of a logical page to be printed by said printer on a hard copy page; incrementing the vertical tracking register by a value representing the vertical displacement of a vertical print position of the printer when a line end code is encountered in the data stream; when said line end code is encountered in the data stream, interrogating a page overflow latch to determine whether a page overflow condition is pending, the pending page overflow condition indicating that the vertical tracking register has reached a predetermined value corresponding to a last typing line of a logical page; when a page overflow condition is pending, interrogating the next character in the data stream following the line end code to determine whether said next character is a graphic character; when the next character is a graphic character, copying a page end code into an output buffer ahead of said graphic character to indicate a page overflow condition, the completion of a hard copy page, and that printing of the data stream should continue on a next hard copy page; when said next character is a nongraphic character, indicating in the output buffer that the page overflow condition remains pending until the next graphic character is reached; when the next character is a graphic character, resetting said page overflow latch; interrogating said page overflow latch a second time to determine whether a page overflow condition is pending; and when a page overflow condition is not pending, copying the graphic character into the output buffer.

Claim 10

A method for automatically paginating a data stream of text in a word processing system having a printer for creating a hard copy printout, comprising the steps of: formatting said data stream into logical pages in a memory, each logical page defined by a first and last typing line and having a plurality of line end codes; initializing a vertical tracking register for a first typing line of a logical page to be printed by said printer on a hard copy page; incrementing the vertical tracking register by a value representing the displacement of a vertical print position of the printer when a line end code is encountered in the data stream; when the line end code is encountered in the data stream, interrogating a page overflow latch to determine whether a page overflow condition is pending, the pending page overflow condition indicating that the vertical tracking register has reached a predetermined value corresponding to a last typing line of a logical page; when a page overflow condition is pending, interrogating the next character in the data stream following the line end code to determine whether said character is a graphic character; when the next character is a graphic character, resetting said page overflow latch; when the next character is a graphic character, initializing said vertical tracking register to a value equal to the vertical displacement of the first typing line of the logical page; when the next character is a graphic character, copying a page end code into an output buffer ahead of said graphic character to indicate a page overflow condition, the completion of a hard copy page, and that printing of the data stream should continue on a next hard copy page; when said next character is a nongraphic character, indicating in the output buffer that the page overflow condition remains pending until the next graphic character is reached; interrogating said vertical tracking register to determine whether the value of said register exceeds the predetermined last typing line of the logical page; when the value exceeds the last typing line, setting said page overflow latch; interrogating said page overflow latch a second time to determine whether a page overflow condition is pending; and when a page overflow condition is not pending, copying the graphic character into the output buffer.

Claim 11

A method for automatically paginating a data stream of text in a word processing system having a printer for creating a hard copy printout, comprising the steps of: formatting said data stream into logical pages in a memory, each logical page defined by a first and last typing line and having a plurality of line end codes; initializing a vertical tracking register for a first typing line of a logical page to be printed by said printer on a hard copy page; incrementing the vertical tracking register by a value representing the displacement of a vertical print position of the printer when a line end code is encountered in the data stream; when the line end code is encountered in the data stream, interrogating a page overflow latch to determine whether a page overflow condition is pending, the pending page overflow condition indicating that the vertical tracking register has reached a predetermined value corresponding to a last typing line of a logical page; when a page overflow condition is pending, interrogating the next character in the data stream following the line end code to determine whether said character is a graphic character; when the next character is a graphic character, resetting said page overflow latch; when the next character is a graphic character, initializing said vertical tracking register to a value equal to the vertical displacement of the first typing line of the logical page; when the next character is a graphic character, copying a page end code into an output buffer ahead of said graphic character to indicate a page overflow condition, the completion of a hard copy page, and that printing of the data stream should continue on a next hard copy page; when said next character is a nongraphic character, indicating in the output buffer that the page overflow condition remains pending until the next graphic character is reached; interrogating said vertical tracking register to determine whether the value of said register exceeds the predetermined last typing line of the logical page; when the value exceeds the last typing line, setting said page overflow latch; interrogating said page overflow latch a second time to determine whether a page overflow condition is pending; and when a page overflow condition is not pending, copying the graphic character into the output buffer.