US5845299A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Draw-based editor for web pages
Assignee: Adobe Inc
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Filing: 1996-07-29
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Granted: 1998-12-01
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Expires: 2016-07-29
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for a draw-based Web page editor in which the user uses a "drag and drop" interface to add, delete, and move display elements to define the layout of a Web page. The present invention automatically generates an initial layout for each page. This initial layout contains display elements that represent the links between pages of the site. After the user has defined the layout of the Web page, the user "publishes" the page. The publish function automatically generates at least one HTML table for the page in accordance with the display elements of the page, yielding a true WYSIWYG page.
Inventors
- 👤 Samir Arora
- 👤 Gagan Arora
- 👤 Rajagopal Lakshminarayan
- 👤 Gregory Brown
- 👤 Martin Fried-Nielsen
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 17:24
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F40/00; G06F40/10; G06F40/12; G06F40/137; G06F40/103; G06F40/117; G06F40/14; G06F40/143; G06F40/166
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 40
Claim 1
Independent Claim
159 words
A method of allowing a user to define a World Wide Web page comprising the steps, performed by a data processing system, of: displaying a plurality of page display elements on a display device, the display elements forming a page layout on the display device; receiving an indication that the user wants to add a new display element to a page at a first position on the page; adding a new draw data structure in a memory of the data processing system for the new display element to a plurality of other draw data structures, the draw data structures corresponding to the plurality of page display elements, where the new draw data structure includes data representing the first position; and generating in response to an indication to create the Web page, at least one HTML table that substantially reflects a layout of the entire displayed page on a pixel by pixel basis in accordance with the draw data structures.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
159 words
A method of allowing a user to define a World Wide Web page comprising the steps, performed by a data processing system, of: displaying a plurality of page display elements on a display device, the display elements forming a page layout on the display device; receiving an indication that the user wants to add a new display element to a page at a first position on the page; adding a new draw data structure in a memory of the data processing system for the new display element to a plurality of other draw data structures, the draw data structures corresponding to the plurality of page display elements, where the new draw data structure includes data representing the first position; and generating in response to an indication to create the Web page, at least one HTML table that substantially reflects a layout of the entire displayed page on a pixel by pixel basis in accordance with the draw data structures.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
111 words
An apparatus allowing a user to define a World Wide Web page, comprising: a portion configured to receive an indication that the user wants to add a new display element to a page at a first position on the page as displayed on a display device; a portion configured to add the display element at the first position on the page as displayed on the display device and a portion configured to generate in response to an indication to create the Web page, at least one HTML table that substantially reflects a layout of the displayed page on a pixel by pixel basis where the displayed page includes the display element.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
111 words
An apparatus allowing a user to define a World Wide Web page, comprising: a portion configured to receive an indication that the user wants to add a new display element to a page at a first position on the page as displayed on a display device; a portion configured to add the display element at the first position on the page as displayed on the display device and a portion configured to generate in response to an indication to create the Web page, at least one HTML table that substantially reflects a layout of the displayed page on a pixel by pixel basis where the displayed page includes the display element.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
210 words
A computer program product, including: a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein for allowing a user to define a World Wide Web page, the computer program product comprising: computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect displaying a plurality of page display elements on a display device, the display elements forming a page layout on the display device; computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect receiving an indication that the user wants to add a new display element to a page at a first position on the page; computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect adding a new draw data structure in a memory for the new display element to a plurality of other draw data structures, the draw data structures corresponding to the plurality of page display elements, where the new draw data structure includes data representing the first position; and computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect generating in response to an indication to create the Web page, at least one HTML table that substantially reflects a layout of the entire displayed page on a pixel by pixel basis in accordance with the draw data structures.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
210 words
A computer program product, including: a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein for allowing a user to define a World Wide Web page, the computer program product comprising: computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect displaying a plurality of page display elements on a display device, the display elements forming a page layout on the display device; computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect receiving an indication that the user wants to add a new display element to a page at a first position on the page; computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect adding a new draw data structure in a memory for the new display element to a plurality of other draw data structures, the draw data structures corresponding to the plurality of page display elements, where the new draw data structure includes data representing the first position; and computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect generating in response to an indication to create the Web page, at least one HTML table that substantially reflects a layout of the entire displayed page on a pixel by pixel basis in accordance with the draw data structures.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
132 words
A method of allowing a user to define a World Wide Web page comprising the steps, performed by a data processing system, of: displaying a plurality of page display elements on a display device, the display elements forming a page layout on the display device; receiving an indication that the user wants to move one of the plurality of page display elements to a new position on the page; moving the one of the plurality of page display elements to the new position on the page; and generating in response to an indication to create the Web page, at least one HTML table that substantially reflects a layout of the displayed page on a pixel by pixel basis in accordance with the new position of the one of the page display elements.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
132 words
A method of allowing a user to define a World Wide Web page comprising the steps, performed by a data processing system, of: displaying a plurality of page display elements on a display device, the display elements forming a page layout on the display device; receiving an indication that the user wants to move one of the plurality of page display elements to a new position on the page; moving the one of the plurality of page display elements to the new position on the page; and generating in response to an indication to create the Web page, at least one HTML table that substantially reflects a layout of the displayed page on a pixel by pixel basis in accordance with the new position of the one of the page display elements.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
108 words
A method of allowing a user to define a World Wide Web page comprising the steps, performed by a data processing system, of: receiving an indication that the user wants to add a display element to the page at a first position on the page as displayed on a display device; adding the display element at the first position on the page as displayed on the display device; and generating in response to an indication to create the Web page, at least one HTML table that substantially reflects a layout of the displayed page on a pixel by pixel basis where the displayed page includes the display element.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
108 words
A method of allowing a user to define a World Wide Web page comprising the steps, performed by a data processing system, of: receiving an indication that the user wants to add a display element to the page at a first position on the page as displayed on a display device; adding the display element at the first position on the page as displayed on the display device; and generating in response to an indication to create the Web page, at least one HTML table that substantially reflects a layout of the displayed page on a pixel by pixel basis where the displayed page includes the display element.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 5, where the page display elements displayed on the display device are created via a tools menu displayed on the display screen.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 5, where the page display elements displayed on the display device include at least one of the group drawn images, audio, and video display elements.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 5, where the page display elements displayed on the display device represents a plug-in.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 5, where the page display elements displayed on the display device include at least one of the group: form, datalist, and datafield display elements.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of creating a page layout on the display device and a corresponding plurality of draw objects in the memory, where the page layout includes a header, a body, and a footer.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 10, where the header includes a banner and a plurality of navigator buttons.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 10, where the footer includes a plurality of text buttons.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 5, wherein the generating step is performed in response to the user activating a PREVIEW button on the display.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 5, wherein the generating step is performed in response to the user activating a PUBLISH button on the display.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of creating a page layout on the display device and a corresponding plurality of draw objects in the memory, where the page layout includes at least one of a header and a footer, the size of which can be adjusted by the user.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method of claim 5, wherein the step of receiving an indication that the user wants to add a new display element to the page at a first position on the page includes a step of: receiving an indication that the user has indicated a drawing tool on a tools menu on the display device.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 5, wherein the generating step includes the steps of: creating HTML for the page header; creating HTML for the page body; and creating HTML for the page footer.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of: creating initial HTML for the page.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of: creating final HTML for the page.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 5, wherein the generating step includes the step of generating HTML for a normal page.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 5, wherein the generating step includes the step of generating HTML for a plurality of stacked pages.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
86 words
The method of claim 5, wherein the generating step includes the substeps of: finding row edges of display elements on the page; finding column edges of display elements on the page; creating a matrix in a memory of the data processing system, where the matrix cells point to the draw data structures; finding the height and width of each column in the matrix; and generating the HTML table in accordance with the height and width of each column in the matrix and the draw data structures.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 5, wherein the generating step includes the steps of: generating a matrix representing the size and layout of the display elements; and generating an HTML table in accordance with the matrix.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 5, further including the steps of: viewing the HTML via a web browser, where the page displayed by the browser corresponds to the displayed page layout on a pixel by pixel basis.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method of claim 5, further including the steps of: receiving input by the user indicating a page style definition; and wherein the generating step includes the step of generating HTML in accordance with the page style input by the user.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
60 words
The method of claim 5, further including the steps of: allowing the user to specify a hotspot on the display layout; and allowing the user to specify an address associated with the hotspot, wherein the generating step includes the step of generating an HTML link in accordance with a location of the hotspot on the display layout and the address.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
65 words
The method of claim 5 further including the steps of: allowing the user to specify a link location on the display layout; and allowing the user to specify another page associated with the link; wherein the generating step includes the step of generating an HTML in accordance with a location of the link on the display layout and with the page specified by the user.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
61 words
The method of claim 5, further comprising the steps of: allowing the user to specify a link type that is one of a structural link, an internal link, or an external link; and allowing the user to specify a link location, wherein the generating step includes the step of generating an HTML link in accordance with the link type and location.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of: displaying a plurality of page display elements on the display device, the display elements forming a page layout on the display device.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
153 words
A computer program product, including: a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein for allowing a user to define a World Wide Web page, the computer program product comprising: computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect receiving an indication that the user wants to add a new display element to a page at a first position on the page as displayed on a display device; computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect adding a display element at the first position on the page as displayed on the display device; and computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect generating in response to an indication to create the Web page, at least one HTML table that substantially reflects a layout of the displayed page on a pixel by pixel basis where the displayed page includes the display element.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
153 words
A computer program product, including: a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein for allowing a user to define a World Wide Web page, the computer program product comprising: computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect receiving an indication that the user wants to add a new display element to a page at a first position on the page as displayed on a display device; computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect adding a display element at the first position on the page as displayed on the display device; and computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect generating in response to an indication to create the Web page, at least one HTML table that substantially reflects a layout of the displayed page on a pixel by pixel basis where the displayed page includes the display element.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
125 words
A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave and representing sequences of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause said processor to allow a user to define a World Wide Web page, by performing the steps of: receiving an indication that the user wants to add a new display element to the page at a first position on the page as displayed on a display device; adding a display element at the first position on the page as displayed on the display device; and generating in response to an indication to create the Web page, at least one HTML table that substantially reflects a layout of the displayed page on a pixel by pixel basis where the displayed page includes the display element.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
125 words
A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave and representing sequences of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause said processor to allow a user to define a World Wide Web page, by performing the steps of: receiving an indication that the user wants to add a new display element to the page at a first position on the page as displayed on a display device; adding a display element at the first position on the page as displayed on the display device; and generating in response to an indication to create the Web page, at least one HTML table that substantially reflects a layout of the displayed page on a pixel by pixel basis where the displayed page includes the display element.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
175 words
A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave and representing sequences of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause said processor to allow a user to define a World Wide Web page, by performing the steps of: displaying a plurality of page display elements on a display device, the display elements forming a page layout on the display device; receiving an indication that the user wants to add a new display element to the page at a first position on the page; adding a new draw data structure in a memory of the data processing system for the new display element to a plurality of other draw data structures, the draw data structures corresponding to the plurality of page display elements, where the new draw data structure includes data representing the first position; and generating in response to an indication to create the Web page, at least one HTML table that substantially reflects a layout of the entire displayed page on a pixel by pixel basis in accordance with the draw data structures.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
175 words
A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave and representing sequences of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause said processor to allow a user to define a World Wide Web page, by performing the steps of: displaying a plurality of page display elements on a display device, the display elements forming a page layout on the display device; receiving an indication that the user wants to add a new display element to the page at a first position on the page; adding a new draw data structure in a memory of the data processing system for the new display element to a plurality of other draw data structures, the draw data structures corresponding to the plurality of page display elements, where the new draw data structure includes data representing the first position; and generating in response to an indication to create the Web page, at least one HTML table that substantially reflects a layout of the entire displayed page on a pixel by pixel basis in accordance with the draw data structures.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2001-11-30 | 2002-06-01 | 2002-12-01 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2005-11-30 | 2006-06-01 | 2006-12-01 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2009-11-30 | 2010-06-01 | 2010-12-01 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |