US5956737A — Design engine for fitting content to a medium

Claim 1

Independent Claim 190 words

A computer-implemented method of fitting content elements of a composition to a media layout, said media layout having a content rendering space for presenting information contained in said content elements, said method comprising: a) initializing content scale factors that are indicative of a relative portion of said content rendering space utilized by said content elements, each of said content elements having an associated content scale factor; b) computing extent values for said content elements using said content scale factors, said extent values indicating a portion of said content rendering space occupied by said content element; and c) determining whether said content elements fit within said content rendering space of said media layout, wherein when it is determined that said content elements do not fit within said media layout, said method further includes determining associated non-fit factors for said content elements, recomputing said content scale factors based at least in part upon said non-fit factors, recomputing said extent values for each content element using the recomputed content scale factors, and repeating step (c) until it is determined that said content elements fit within said content rendering space of said media layout.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 190 words

A computer-implemented method of fitting content elements of a composition to a media layout, said media layout having a content rendering space for presenting information contained in said content elements, said method comprising: a) initializing content scale factors that are indicative of a relative portion of said content rendering space utilized by said content elements, each of said content elements having an associated content scale factor; b) computing extent values for said content elements using said content scale factors, said extent values indicating a portion of said content rendering space occupied by said content element; and c) determining whether said content elements fit within said content rendering space of said media layout, wherein when it is determined that said content elements do not fit within said media layout, said method further includes determining associated non-fit factors for said content elements, recomputing said content scale factors based at least in part upon said non-fit factors, recomputing said extent values for each content element using the recomputed content scale factors, and repeating step (c) until it is determined that said content elements fit within said content rendering space of said media layout.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 29 words

A method as recited in claim 1 wherein said extent values indicate a region within said content rendering space of said media layout reserved for each associated content element.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 39 words

A method as recited in claim 1 wherein said computing extent values includes: assigning tentative extent values to each content element; measuring each content element to determine its actual extent; and assigning final extent values to each content element.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 38 words

A method as recited in claim 1 wherein said computing extent values further includes creating a media tree representative of said media layout, said media tree having media components and a media division associated with each media component.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 39 words

A method as recited in claim 1 wherein said determining whether said content elements fit within said content rendering space of said media layout includes comparing the combined extent values for said content elements to said content rendering space.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 46 words

A method as recited in claim 1 wherein said recomputing said content scale factors is based upon in part said content scale factors, said associated non-fit factors, and the result of determining whether said content elements fit within said content rendering space of said media layout.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 127 words

A computer-implemented method of computing a layout of a composition in a recursive fashion using a design tree, said design tree including design components having associated content elements, said method comprising: determining whether a current component of said design tree is a primitive, wherein when it is determined that said current component is a primitive, returning an extent for said current component; identifying design children components of said current component; creating new media components between said current component and said identified design children components, each media component having an associated media division indicating a portion of said layout for each media component; and solving for the media division of said current component in order to return an extent for said current component by recursively calling said method.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 127 words

A computer-implemented method of computing a layout of a composition in a recursive fashion using a design tree, said design tree including design components having associated content elements, said method comprising: determining whether a current component of said design tree is a primitive, wherein when it is determined that said current component is a primitive, returning an extent for said current component; identifying design children components of said current component; creating new media components between said current component and said identified design children components, each media component having an associated media division indicating a portion of said layout for each media component; and solving for the media division of said current component in order to return an extent for said current component by recursively calling said method.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 26 words

A method as recited in claim 7 wherein said creating new media components operates to create a media tree representation of said composition indicating said layout.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 41 words

A method as recited in claim 8 wherein said media tree representation of said composition includes said media components and selected ones of said design components, each of said selected ones of said design components also having an associated media division.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 68 words

A method as recited in claim 7 wherein said solving for the media division of said current component includes: assigning tentative media regions to child media components of said current component; determining extent values for a content element associated with each of said child media components; assigning final extent values to said content elements; and combining said final extent values to determine said extent for said current component.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 185 words

A computer-implemented method of computing a layout of a composition for a chosen medium, said composition at least partially represented in a media tree, said media tree having a plurality of components and each component associated with a media region of said chosen medium, said method comprising: assigning a layout option to said composition, said layout option indicative of an arrangement for assigning media regions of said medium to said associated components; stepping down through said media tree of said composition and assigning tentative media regions to each of said components, said tentative media regions based in part upon said layout option; measuring the extent of said components to return a set of values for each component indicating a media region of said medium required by each component; and stepping up through said media tree of said composition and assigning new media regions to each of said components, each of said new media regions based in part upon said returned set of values for each component, whereby said new media regions of said components represent substantially said layout of said composition in said chosen medium.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 185 words

A computer-implemented method of computing a layout of a composition for a chosen medium, said composition at least partially represented in a media tree, said media tree having a plurality of components and each component associated with a media region of said chosen medium, said method comprising: assigning a layout option to said composition, said layout option indicative of an arrangement for assigning media regions of said medium to said associated components; stepping down through said media tree of said composition and assigning tentative media regions to each of said components, said tentative media regions based in part upon said layout option; measuring the extent of said components to return a set of values for each component indicating a media region of said medium required by each component; and stepping up through said media tree of said composition and assigning new media regions to each of said components, each of said new media regions based in part upon said returned set of values for each component, whereby said new media regions of said components represent substantially said layout of said composition in said chosen medium.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 28 words

A method as recited in claim 11 wherein said stepping down through said media tree and stepping up through said media tree are performed in a recursive fashion.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 49 words

A method as recited in claim 11 wherein said composition is at least partially represented in a design tree including selected ones of said components, and said stepping down through said media tree is performed by stepping down through said design tree and creating components of said media tree.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 46 words

A method a recited in claim 11 wherein said composition includes a plurality of content elements each in association with one of said components, and said measuring the extent of said components includes measuring the extent of the content element associated with one of said components.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2002-09-20	2003-03-22	2003-09-21	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2006-09-20	2007-03-22	2007-09-21	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2010-09-20	2011-03-22	2011-09-21	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Design engine for fitting content to a medium

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