WO2002097608A2 - Method and system in an office application for providing content dependent help information - Google Patents
Method and system in an office application for providing content dependent help information Download PDFInfo
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- WO2002097608A2 WO2002097608A2 PCT/EP2002/006926 EP0206926W WO02097608A2 WO 2002097608 A2 WO2002097608 A2 WO 2002097608A2 EP 0206926 W EP0206926 W EP 0206926W WO 02097608 A2 WO02097608 A2 WO 02097608A2
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- entry field
- user entry
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- help information
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q50/00—Systems or methods specially adapted for specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F9/00—Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units
- G06F9/06—Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units using stored programs, i.e. using an internal store of processing equipment to receive or retain programs
- G06F9/44—Arrangements for executing specific programs
- G06F9/451—Execution arrangements for user interfaces
- G06F9/453—Help systems
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- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10S707/00—Data processing: database and file management or data structures
- Y10S707/99931—Database or file accessing
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10S707/00—Data processing: database and file management or data structures
- Y10S707/99931—Database or file accessing
- Y10S707/99932—Access augmentation or optimizing
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- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10S707/00—Data processing: database and file management or data structures
- Y10S707/99931—Database or file accessing
- Y10S707/99933—Query processing, i.e. searching
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10S707/00—Data processing: database and file management or data structures
- Y10S707/99931—Database or file accessing
- Y10S707/99933—Query processing, i.e. searching
- Y10S707/99934—Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10S707/00—Data processing: database and file management or data structures
- Y10S707/99931—Database or file accessing
- Y10S707/99933—Query processing, i.e. searching
- Y10S707/99935—Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
Definitions
- the present invention relates to the field of information processing by digital computers, more particularly to a method and system, in an office application such as an electronic spreadsheet, for providing help information which depends on the content of the current selected spreadsheet cell.
- spreadsheets With the advent of microcomputers, a solution was forthcoming in the form of "electronic spreadsheets.” Better known simply as “spreadsheets," these software programs provide a computerized replacement for the traditional financial modelling tools: the accountant's columnar pad, pencil, and calculator. In some regards, spreadsheet programs are to those tools what word processors are to typewriters. Spreadsheets offer dramatic improvements in ease of creating, editing, and using financial models.
- a typical spreadsheet program configures the memory of a computer to resemble the column/row or grid format of an accountant's columnar pad, thus providing a visible calculator for a user. Because this "pad” exists dynamically in the computer's memory, however, it differs from paper pads in several important ways. Locations in the electronic spreadsheet, for example, must be communicated to the computer in a format which it can understand. A common scheme for accomplishing this is to assign a number to each row in a spreadsheet, and a letter to each column. To reference a location at column A and row 1 (i.e., the upper-lefthand corner), for example, the user types in "Al". In this manner, the spreadsheet defines an addressable storage location or "cell" at each intersection of a row with a column.
- Electronic spreadsheets offer many advantages over their paper counterparts. For one, electronic spreadsheets are much larger (i.e., hold more information) than their paper counterparts; electronic spreadsheets having thousands or even millions of cells are not uncommon.
- Spreadsheet programs also allow users to perform "what-if scenarios. After a set of computational relationships has been entered into a worksheet, thanks to imbedded formulas and/or built-in functions for instance, the spread of information can be recalculated using different sets of assumptions, with the results of each recalculation appearing almost instantaneously. Performing this operation manually, with paper and pencil, would require recalculating every relationship in the model with each change made. Thus, electronic spreadsheet systems were invented to solve "what-if problems, that is, changing an input and seeing what happens to an output.
- Help information related to built-in functions, usually explains the purpose of the function, specifies which arguments are expected, may give some hints on classical misuse and finally illustrates the function through an example. All this information may be voluminous and sometimes difficult to understand by the "average user" for the most complex functions. This is specially the case when the example used to illustrate the function is really different from the practical case faced by the user. In such a case, the on-line Help information does not really help as it does not match one way or the other the data manipulated by the spreadsheet user.
- This problem is solved by the present invention which relates to data processing and more particularly to a user interface preferably in a spreadsheet, for providing an on-line content sensitive Help.
- This content sensitive Help concerns objects, like spreadsheet cells, whose content is entered and manipulated by the user.
- the content sensitive Help is different to the context sensitive Help (considered as the prior art) in that it is not related to a space-time environment - the space context being defined with means of physical/geographical coordinates on the user's screen, the time context being defined through the logical sequence of the different tasks and routines.
- the content of an object is entered by the user. As user's entry, the content of an object must satisfy to a particular rule, syntax, grammar or orthography.
- a user's entry can be a value, a formula, a code, or a programming language with predefined numeric numbers, parameters, keywords, or statements. It is a further object of the content sensitive Help to provide the user with examples that are not generic but are customized to be consistent with the set of objects already defined. The aim of such a function is to give the possibility to the user to import or to copy/paste these examples in the entry fields with the minimum amendments.
- the present invention discloses a system, method and computer program for providing on-line help information in an office application comprising one or a plurality of objects, said on-line help information being dependent on the content of a selected object.
- the method comprises the steps of:
- Figure 1A is a schematic view of a computer system in which the present invention may be embodied.
- Figure 1B is a schematic view a software system including an operating system, an application software, and a user interface for carrying out the present invention.
- Figure 1C illustrates the basic architecture and functionality of a graphical user interface in which the present invention may be embodied.
- Figure 2A shows a spreadsheet notebook interface according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
- Figure 2B shows the toolbar component of the notebook interface shown in Figure 2A.
- Figures 2C and 2D show page identifiers for rapidly accessing and manipulating individual pages of the notebook interface shown in Figure 2A.
- Figure 3 illustrates the structure of the "Content Dependent Keyword Table” (CDK Table), according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. .
- Figures 4 is a flow chart illustrating a preferred method for the content dependent Help information construction operation according to the present invention.
- Figures 5A and 5B show a preferred spreadsheet user interface illustrating the benefit of the invention in a preferred embodiment.
- Figures 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D and 6E show conventional dialog boxes used to display on-line Help information, and a preferred user interface original dialog box used to display content dependent on-line Help information according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
- the present invention may be embodied on a computer system 100 comprising a central processor 101 , a main memory 102, an input/output controller 103, a keyboard 104, a pointing device 105 (e.g., mouse, track ball, pen device, or the like), a display device 106, and a mass storage 107 (e.g., hard disk). Additional input/output devices, such as a printing device 108, may be included in the system 100 as desired. As illustrated, the various components of the system 100 communicate through a system bus 110 or similar architecture.
- the computer system 100 includes an IBM-compatible personal computer, which is available from several vendors (including International Business Machine - IBM Corporation of Armonk, N.Y.).
- a computer software system 150 is provided for directing the operation of the computer system 100.
- Software system 150 which is stored in system memory 102 and on disk memory 107, includes a kernel or operating system 151 and a shell or interface 153.
- One or more application programs, such as application software 152 may be "loaded 1 (i.e., transferred from storage 107 into memory 102) for execution by the system 100.
- the system 100 receives user commands and data through user interface 153; these inputs may then be acted upon by the system 100 in accordance with instructions from operating module 151 and/or application module 152.
- the interface 153 which is preferably a graphical user interface (GUI), also serves to display results, whereupon the user may supply additional inputs or terminate the session.
- GUI graphical user interface
- operating system 151 and interface 153 are Microsoft Win95, available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.
- Application module 152 includes a spreadsheet notebook of the present invention as described in further detail herein below.
- the system 100 includes a windowing interface or workspace 160.
- Window 160 is a rectangular, graphical user interface (GUI) for 5 display on screen 106; additional windowing elements may be displayed in various sizes and formats (e.g., tiled or cascaded), as desired.
- GUI graphical user interface
- At the top of window 160 is a menu bar 170 with a plurality of user-command choices, each of which may invoke additional submenus and software tools for use with application objects.
- Window 160 includes a client area 180 for displaying and manipulating screen objects, such 10 as graphic object 181 and text object 182. In essence, the client area is a workspace or viewport for the user to interact with data objects which reside within the computer system 100.
- Windowing interface 160 includes a screen cursor or pointer 185 for selecting and otherwise invoking screen objects of interest. In response to user movement signals
- the cursor 185 floats (i.e., freely moves) across the screen 106 to a desired screen location.
- the user may generate user-event signals (e.g., mouse button "clicks” and “drags") for selecting and manipulating objects, as is known in the art.
- Window 160 may be closed, re-sized, or scrolled by "clicking" (selecting) screen components 172,
- screen cursor 185 is controlled with a mouse device.
- Single-button, double-button, or triple-button mouse devices are available from a variety of vendors, including Apple Computer of Cupertino, Calif., Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., and Logitech Corporation of Fremont, Calif., 25 respectively.
- screen cursor control device 105 is a two-button mouse device, including both right and left "mouse buttons.”
- the spreadsheet notebook or workbook of the present invention includes a notebook workspace 200 for receiving, processing, and presenting information, including alphanumeric as well as graphic information.
- notebook workspace 200 includes a menu bar 210, a toolbar 220, a current cell indicator 230, an input line 231, a status line 240, and a notebook window 250.
- the menu bar 210 displays and invokes, in response to user inputs, a main level of user commands. Menu 210 also invokes additional pull down menus, as is known in windowing applications.
- Input line 231 accepts user commands and information for the entry and editing of cell contents, which may include data, formulas, macros, and the like.
- Indicator 230 displays an address for the current cursor (i.e., active cell) position, or the address or name of a selected named range (i.e. active selection).
- system 100 displays information about the current state of the workbook; for example, a "READY" indicator means that the system is ready for the user to select another task to be performed.
- the toolbar 220 comprises a row or palette of tools which provide a quick way for the user to choose commonly-used menu commands or properties.
- toolbar 220 includes file manipulation buttons 221 , printing buttons 222, an undo button 223, cut, copy, and paste buttons 224, information pop-up window buttons tool 225, a named range selection button 226, a style copy button 227, a column re-sizing button 228, and a sum button 229.
- the functions of these buttons are suggested by their names. For instance, buttons 224 cut, copy and paste data and objects to and from Windows' clipboard. The same actions are also available as corresponding commands in the Edit menu (available from menu bar 210).
- the notebook which provides an interface for entering and displaying information of interest, includes a plurality of spreadsheet pages.
- Each page may include conventional windowing features and operations, such as moving, re-sizing, and deleting.
- the notebook includes 256 spreadsheet pages, 5 all of which are saved as a single disk file on the mass storage 107.
- Workspace 200 may display one or more notebooks, each sized and positioned (e.g., tiled, overlapping, and the like) according to user-specified constraints.
- Each spreadsheet page of a notebook includes a 2-D spread.
- Page A from the notebook 200 for example, includes a grid in row and column format, such as row 3 10 and column F.
- a box or cell e.g., cell C4
- Each cell is addressable, with a selector being provided for indicating a currently active one (i.e., the cell that is currently selected).
- each page identifier is in the form of a tab member (e.g., members 261a, 262a, 263a) situated along a top edge of the notebook.
- Each tab member may include representative indicia, such as textual or graphic labels, including user selected titles representing the contents of a corresponding page.
- the tab members 20 260 are set to their respective default names.
- the first three tab members are respectively set to A, B, and C.
- Tab members are typically given descriptive names provided by the user, however. As shown in FIG.
- the first three tab members have now been set to "Contents” (tab member 261b), “Summary” (tab member 262b), and “Jan” (tab 25 member 263b).
- the remaining tabs are set to subsequent months of the year.
- the user associates the page identifiers with familiar tabs from an ordinary paper notebook.
- the user already knows how to select a page or spread of interest: simply select the tab corresponding to the page (as one would do when selecting a page from a paper notebook).
- the user-customizable page identifiers serve aid in the entry of spreadsheet named range addresses. For example, when entering a formula referring to a named range of cells on another page, the user may simply use the descriptive page name in the named range address, thus making it easier for the user to understand the relationship of the cell(s) or information being referenced.
- Conventional electronic spreadsheets include built-in means allowing spreadsheet users to easily display on their display device 106 on-line Help information.
- Typical examples of such means are push-button objects, or menu or sub-menu entries, or short-cut commands that a spreadsheet user can trigger by either clicking with the pointing device 105, or keying on the keyboard 104.
- the first range of cells 501 with address B3..E16 corresponds to a table recording European currency information, with: • the first leftmost column showing a country,
- This range 501 has received the name CURRENCY and can be referred to through formulas in some cells for determining an exchange rate from a country information.
- the second range 502 with address B19..F27 corresponds to a table showing European branch office revenue, as well as a cumulated revenue both in Euro and US Dollar.
- the first leftmost column shows the branch location city
- the second column shows the branch office country
- the third column shows the branch revenue expressed in local currency
- the fourth column shows the cumulated revenue expressed in Euro
- the fifth rightmost column shows the cumulated revenue expressed in US Dollar.
- the spreadsheet user For computing the cumulated revenue within the fourth column of range 502, the spreadsheet user first select through conventional means, such as the pointing device 105 or the keyboard 104, the cell 503 with address E21 , so that this cell becomes the currently selected cell. Then the spreadsheet user can use the keyboard 104 to fill the currently selected cell 503 with the relevant formula, as shown in the edit window 504.
- the content of the currently selected cell 503 corresponds to:
- the spreadsheet user can typically invoke the built-in on-line Help tool to understand what explains this "ERR" value.
- conventional means available in electronic spreadsheet tools such as pointing device 105 or keyboard 104, can be used for displaying on the display device 106 a first user interface dialog box 600, entitled “Help Topics” as shown by FIG 6A.
- This dialog box 600 contains three folders 601 , 602 and 603.
- the first folder 601 presents a "Table of Content” like interface allowing the spreadsheet user to navigate within all the on-line Help information as if he/she was reading a book.
- the third folder 603 presents a "Search Engine” interface allowing the spreadsheet user to locate all the occurrence of a user-specified character string within the whole on-line Help information.
- the second folder 602 presents an "Index" like interface allowing the spreadsheet user to navigate through the whole on-line Help information by specifying predefined index entries.
- This index entry specification can be done in two ways:
- the spreadsheet user can use the keyboard 104 to type the first letters of the index entry in a dedicated entry field 610, as shown on FIG 6B.
- the content of the window 605 is updated to show the resulting index entry selection.
- the spreadsheet user can directly use the pointing device 105 to select an entry within the window 605 or to navigate within this window 605 thanks to the elevator 609.
- an index entry 611 is selected within the window 605 of the dialog box 600.
- the spreadsheet user has selected "DGET” for the index entry as he/she suspects to have misused the "@DGET" built-in function in the content of the currently selected cell 503.
- the next step consists for the spreadsheet user to use the pointing device 105 to click on the push-button 606 entitled "Display”.
- a new dialog box 620 is displayed on the display device 106, as illustrated on FIG 6C.
- This new dialog box 620 contains several objects 621 , 622, 623, and 624 described hereafter:
- the push-button 622 entitled “Print” allows to print the content of the dialog box 620 on the printing device 108.
- the push-button 623 entitled “Go Back” allows to return back (if any) to the previously displayed content of the same dialog box 620.
- the window 624 shows the on-line Help information corresponding to the index entry selected at the previous step. This information may contain some hypertext references so that further information can be directly displayed. This is illustrated by the reference 625 which points to an example of the @DGET built-function. If the spreadsheet user clicks with the pointing device 105 on the hypertext reference 625, a new dialog box 630 is displayed on the display device 106, as shown in FIG 6D.
- This new dialog box 630 contains several objects 631 , 632, 633, and 634 described hereafter:
- the push-button 631 entitled “HelpTopics” allows to revert back to the preceding dialog box 600.
- the push-button 632 entitled “Print” allows to print the content of the dialog box 630 on the printing device 108.
- the push-button 633 entitled “Go Back” allows to return back (if any) to the previously displayed content of the same dialog box 630.
- window 634 shows the on-line Help information corresponding, in our scenario, to the example of the @DGET built-in function.
- This example is based on a dummy table 635, whose nature, content, size is fixed.
- the spreadsheet user is poorly armed to understand the reason of the ERR value. More generally, the spreadsheet user may easily encounter some similar situations where the on-line help information is of very little help (that is paradoxical%) because it does not assist the user to correct errors.
- the present invention offers a user-friendly solution to these problems by allowing the electronic spreadsheet user to receive a new mode of on-line Help information which provides an example directly derived from the content of the currently selected cell.
- the corresponding new on-line Help method will be referred to as the "Content Dependent Help" method.
- the display of on-line content dependent Help information on the display device 106 according to the Content Dependent Help method results from a spreadsheet user action.
- a common repository called “Content Dependent Keyword Table” (or CDK table for short)
- CDK Table is used to identify if the content of the currently selected cell comprises a keyword justifying to display the on-line Help information according to the present invention.
- This CDK Table is preferably saved on a non volatile memory (typically but not necessary as part of the spreadsheet disk file on the mass storage 107).
- the CDK Table 300 corresponds to a logical simple structure made of several records 301 , each of them corresponding to a keyword associated with content dependent Help information, according to the present invention.
- Each record includes three fields:
- the "Keyword” 302 field is used for recording the character string which uniquely identifies a keyword.
- the "Parameter Template” 303 field (also called “Argument Template”) is used for describing the formats and rules governing the specification of parameters, if any, associated with the keyword identified by the "Keyword' field 302.
- Several conventional notation techniques can be used for describing such parameter template. These notation techniques do not influence in any way the spirit of the present invention. Note that the terms “parameter' and “argument' will be used indifferently in the present description.
- a keyword can correspond to a build-in predefined function that must be invoked with a set of parameters according to predefined formats and/or predefined rules.
- the "TextPtr" 304 field is a reference pointing to the memory location where is recorded the Help information text associated to the keyword identified by the
- Key' field 302. This memory location can either be on the Mass storage 107, or on the main memory 102, or on other conventional memory repository means, without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
- the present invention provides a more powerful, user-friendly and interactive approach for providing on-line content dependent Help information, in a form of a so-called "Content Dependent Help" method.
- the present invention is used in two steps :
- the first step occurs when the spreadsheet user decides, based on some criteria not detailed here, to select a given cell and possibly to fill or update its content.
- the user first selects the relevant cell by using conventional means, such as but not limited to the pointing device 105 or the keyboard 104.
- the user can enter the cell edit mode for updating or filling the content of the selected cell by using conventional means (typically the keyboard 104).
- the second step occurs when the spreadsheet user decides, based on his or her own criteria not detailed here, to take advantage of the present invention for displaying content dependent Help information.
- the spreadsheet user invokes an original specific command called "Content Dependent on-line Help" thanks to conventional means available in spreadsheet environment, such as (but not limited to) dedicated push-buttons, keyboard entry short cuts, menu or sub-menu entries.
- the Content Dependent on-line Help command is invoked by using the same set of means as the one available in conventional electronic spreadsheets for displaying conventional on-line Help information, such as (but not limited to) clicking with the pointing device 105 on a "Help" menu entry, or keying the "F1" key on the keyboard 104.
- the spreadsheet user can typically invoke the built-in on-line Help tool to understand what means this "ERR” value.
- the conventional means available in electronic spreadsheet tools such as pointing device 105 or keyboard 104, can be used for directly triggering the display of an original on-line help information dialog box 640 on the display device 106, as shown in FIG 6E.
- the displayed information is tailored to the content of the currently selected cell 503.
- the present invention allows to directly display the on-line Help information pertinent to the content of the currently selected cell.
- the intermediary steps, as described in FIG 6A, 6B, 6C and 6D, are merged into a single step corresponding to the display of the dialog box 640.
- the dialog box 640 exhibits on-line Help information related to the @DGET built-in function.
- the information contained in the dialog box 640 is more relevant for the spreadsheet user than the conventional one as illustrated in the dialog boxes 620 and 630 of FIG 6C and 6D respectively.
- the dialog box 640 contains the same objects 621 , 622, 623, 624 as the dialog box 620, but in addition it also contains new fields as described hereafter.
- the new field 642 is a display window which is automatically filled according to the method of the present invention with a content derived from the content of the currently selected cell 503, but corrected according to the formats and rules related to the parameters associated with the @DGET built-in function.
- the correction applied to the working buffer content relates to the second parameter which should be a valid header of the range identified in the first parameter.
- the "ERR” value was resulting from the fact that the user has typed "RATE %XEU” which is unfortunately a misspelled header.
- the correction applied to the working buffer consists in using by default the second leftmost header in the table referenced in the first parameter, that is "RATE % XEU" in the depicted example.
- the new field 643 is a display window showing the value taken by a cell if its content corresponds to the display window 642.
- the new push-button 641 entitled “Copy” allows, when hit, to copy onto the currently selected cell the content of the new display window 642, so that it takes a value as shown by the display window 643.
- the spreadsheet user clicks on this "Copy" push-button with the pointing device 105 then the user interface displayed on the display device, as previously described in FIG 5A, is updated according to the FIG 5B.
- the content of the currently selected cell, as shown in the edit window 514 is the same as the one found in the display window 642 of the content dependent on-line Help information dialog box 640, and takes the same value, shown in 513, than the one found in the display window 643 of the content dependent on-line Help information dialog box 640.
- the method for building and then displaying content dependent on-line Help information to take advantage of the present invention can be summarised in flowchart 400 shown in FIG 4. This method can be seen as the processing of the Content Dependent on-line Help command.
- step 401 the method is in its default state, waiting for an event to initiate the process.
- the Content Dependent on-line Help command is detected, as a result of an user action.
- This action may be for instance a specific combination of key on the keyboard 104, or the click of the pointing device 105 on a specific button, or any other similar means not further specified here.
- a test is performed to check if the currently selected object comprises a user entry field.
- a test is performed to check if the currently selected object is a cell (and not a push-button, a graph or another object without user entry field). If it is the case, then control is given to step 404 ; otherwise control is given to step 418.
- step 404 the content of the currently selected object is copied onto a working buffer.
- step 405 a parsing operation is performed on the content of the working buffer to identify any keyword present in the first field "Keyword" 302 of the CDK table 300.
- Various parsing techniques can be used for this purpose; they are implementation dependent. It is only assumed that the parsing operation is done from the left to the right. If none keyword is found, then control is given to step 418 ; otherwise the corresponding record 301 of the CDK table 300 is memorized with its fields "Keyword” 302, "Parameter Template” 303 and "TextPtr” 304, before giving control to step 406.
- a local variable named "FieldUpdated” is initialised to the default value FALSE.
- a test is performed on the "Parameter Template” field 303 found at step 405 to check if it is empty or not. If it is the case, then control is given to step 412 ; otherwise control is given to step 408.
- step 408 the content of the working buffer is parsed against the "Parameter Template” field 303 found at step 405. This parsing resumes within the working buffer at the position resulting from the previous parsing operation done at step 405. This parsing operation identifies within the working buffer the one or plurality of parameters, if any, associated with the keyword and specified in the "Parameter Template” and verifies:
- step 411 If a format error is found (if one or a plurality of parameters, if any, does not satisfy the formats specified in the "Parameter Template"), then control is given to step 411. • At step 409, the parameter error identified at step 408 is corrected according to the "Parameter Template" field 303 found at step 405. Then control is given to step 411.
- step 410 the format error identified at step 408 is corrected according to the "Parameter Template" field 303 found at step 405.
- step 411 the method sets the local variable FieldUpdated to the value TRUE, and then control is given to the step 408 for continuing parsing the content of the working buffer until its end is reached.
- step 412 a test is performed to check if the local variable FieldUpdated is found equal to TRUE. If it is the case, then control is given to step 413 ; otherwise control is given to step 415.
- the content of the working buffer and the value it takes are copied in the Help text pointed by the "TextPtr" field 304, so that when displayed, they overwrite the default text (generally an hypertext reference pointing to a dummy example description).
- the "Copy" push-button 641 is enabled.
- an on-line Help information dialog box like 640 is displayed, which contains as Help information the text pointed by the "TextPtr" field 304, possibly updated according to the operations performed during step 413.
- step 416 a user action on the displayed dialog box like 640 is waited for. If a click on the "Copy" push-button 641 is detected, then control is given to step 417; otherwise control is given to step 419.
- control is given to conventional methods for letting the spreadsheet user navigate among conventional on-line Help information dialog boxes, until the user spreadsheet decides to close the on-line Help tool. Then control is given back to the initial step, waiting for a new Content Dependent on-line Help command.
- the Content Dependent Help method and system according to the present invention may be used advantageously in those environments where elements of information are organised as multidimensional tables having more than three dimensions. More generally, the present invention may be used advantageously in office and business environments and more particularly in relational databases, text editors, presentation tools, graphic suites, project management tools, integrated development and programming tools where elements of information can be edited by the user according to predefined rules and syntax.
Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (8)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
KR1020037014132A KR100627547B1 (en) | 2001-05-29 | 2002-05-23 | Method and system in an office application for providing content dependent help information |
AT02751061T ATE292302T1 (en) | 2001-05-29 | 2002-05-23 | APPARATUS AND METHOD IN AN OFFICE APPLICATION FOR PROVIDING CONTENT-DEPENDENT HELP INFORMATION |
AU2002344272A AU2002344272A1 (en) | 2001-05-29 | 2002-05-23 | Method and system in an office application for providing content dependent help information |
US10/478,120 US7363348B2 (en) | 2001-05-29 | 2002-05-23 | Method and system in an office application for providing content dependent help information |
JP2003500724A JP3944163B2 (en) | 2001-05-29 | 2002-05-23 | Method, program, and system for providing content-dependent help information in office applications |
DE60203525T DE60203525T2 (en) | 2001-05-29 | 2002-05-23 | DEVICE AND METHOD IN OFFICE APPLICATION FOR PROVIDING CONTENT-RELATED AID |
EP02751061A EP1425659B1 (en) | 2001-05-29 | 2002-05-23 | Method and system in an office application for providing content dependent help information |
US12/099,912 US7644133B2 (en) | 2001-05-29 | 2008-04-09 | System in an office application for providing content dependent help information |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
EP01480043.7 | 2001-05-29 | ||
EP01480043 | 2001-05-29 |
Related Child Applications (2)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US10478120 A-371-Of-International | 2002-05-23 | ||
US12/099,912 Continuation US7644133B2 (en) | 2001-05-29 | 2008-04-09 | System in an office application for providing content dependent help information |
Publications (3)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
WO2002097608A2 true WO2002097608A2 (en) | 2002-12-05 |
WO2002097608A8 WO2002097608A8 (en) | 2003-12-24 |
WO2002097608A3 WO2002097608A3 (en) | 2004-03-25 |
Family
ID=8183393
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/EP2002/006926 WO2002097608A2 (en) | 2001-05-29 | 2002-05-23 | Method and system in an office application for providing content dependent help information |
Country Status (9)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (2) | US7363348B2 (en) |
EP (1) | EP1425659B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP3944163B2 (en) |
KR (1) | KR100627547B1 (en) |
CN (1) | CN100345105C (en) |
AT (1) | ATE292302T1 (en) |
AU (1) | AU2002344272A1 (en) |
DE (1) | DE60203525T2 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2002097608A2 (en) |
Cited By (2)
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US9003285B2 (en) | 2006-01-19 | 2015-04-07 | International Business Machines Corporation | Displaying readme text inside an application |
US11238213B2 (en) | 2017-06-06 | 2022-02-01 | Beijing Kingsoft Office Software, Inc. | Method and apparatus for displaying function parameter in spreadsheet, and electronic device |
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Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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US7299415B2 (en) * | 2003-06-16 | 2007-11-20 | Fisher-Rosemount Systems, Inc. | Method and apparatus for providing help information in multiple formats |
JP2006039120A (en) * | 2004-07-26 | 2006-02-09 | Sony Corp | Interactive device and interactive method, program and recording medium |
JP4442902B2 (en) | 2005-07-06 | 2010-03-31 | キヤノン株式会社 | Information processing apparatus, method and program |
US7650316B2 (en) * | 2006-03-10 | 2010-01-19 | National Instruments Corporation | Automatic generation of help information for specified systems |
US8219923B2 (en) * | 2006-03-10 | 2012-07-10 | National Instruments Corporation | Automatic generation of documentation for specified systems |
CN100395701C (en) * | 2006-05-29 | 2008-06-18 | 无锡永中科技有限公司 | Realizing method for on-screen aid |
US8909799B2 (en) | 2006-07-13 | 2014-12-09 | International Business Machines Corporation | File system firewall |
US9047168B2 (en) * | 2009-05-14 | 2015-06-02 | National Instruments Corporation | Automatically generating documentation for a diagram including a plurality of states and transitions |
CN102081515A (en) | 2009-11-27 | 2011-06-01 | 国际商业机器公司 | Method and equipment for providing input data perceptible to context |
US8479151B2 (en) | 2010-05-12 | 2013-07-02 | National Instruments Corporation | Converting a statechart from a first statechart format to a second statechart format |
CN101853089A (en) * | 2010-06-01 | 2010-10-06 | 深圳市蓝韵实业有限公司 | Auxiliary input method for medicinal examination report |
US9069580B2 (en) * | 2011-06-13 | 2015-06-30 | International Business Machines Corporation | Application documentation effectiveness monitoring and feedback |
US9280253B2 (en) * | 2012-06-28 | 2016-03-08 | Findex Inc. | Application coordinating system, application coordinating method, and application coordinating program |
US9583097B2 (en) * | 2015-01-30 | 2017-02-28 | Google Inc. | Dynamic inference of voice command for software operation from help information |
KR102106098B1 (en) * | 2016-07-28 | 2020-04-29 | 주식회사 케이티 | Apparatus and Method for providing helpful comments |
CN111352676B (en) * | 2018-12-20 | 2023-09-29 | 深圳兆日科技股份有限公司 | Help information pushing method, help system and readable storage medium |
CN110147263A (en) * | 2019-05-17 | 2019-08-20 | 广东电网有限责任公司 | A kind of Online Help System |
CN110134903A (en) * | 2019-05-17 | 2019-08-16 | 广东电网有限责任公司 | A kind of online help method of application system |
Citations (1)
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-
2002
- 2002-05-23 AU AU2002344272A patent/AU2002344272A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2002-05-23 US US10/478,120 patent/US7363348B2/en active Active - Reinstated
- 2002-05-23 DE DE60203525T patent/DE60203525T2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2002-05-23 CN CNB028108337A patent/CN100345105C/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2002-05-23 EP EP02751061A patent/EP1425659B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2002-05-23 AT AT02751061T patent/ATE292302T1/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 2002-05-23 JP JP2003500724A patent/JP3944163B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2002-05-23 KR KR1020037014132A patent/KR100627547B1/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 2002-05-23 WO PCT/EP2002/006926 patent/WO2002097608A2/en active IP Right Grant
-
2008
- 2008-04-09 US US12/099,912 patent/US7644133B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Patent Citations (1)
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GB2348523A (en) * | 1998-12-14 | 2000-10-04 | Ibm | Self-diagnosing and self-correcting data entry components |
Non-Patent Citations (1)
Title |
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"EXPANDING A FIELD TO FILL IN MORE INFORMATION OR CLARIFY ITS CONTENT" IBM TECHNICAL DISCLOSURE BULLETIN, IBM CORP. NEW YORK, US, vol. 36, no. 6A, 1 June 1993 (1993-06-01), page 493 XP000373070 ISSN: 0018-8689 * |
Cited By (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US9003285B2 (en) | 2006-01-19 | 2015-04-07 | International Business Machines Corporation | Displaying readme text inside an application |
US11238213B2 (en) | 2017-06-06 | 2022-02-01 | Beijing Kingsoft Office Software, Inc. | Method and apparatus for displaying function parameter in spreadsheet, and electronic device |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
EP1425659A2 (en) | 2004-06-09 |
WO2002097608A3 (en) | 2004-03-25 |
JP2004532482A (en) | 2004-10-21 |
DE60203525D1 (en) | 2005-05-04 |
US7644133B2 (en) | 2010-01-05 |
WO2002097608A8 (en) | 2003-12-24 |
AU2002344272A1 (en) | 2002-12-09 |
DE60203525T2 (en) | 2006-03-16 |
CN100345105C (en) | 2007-10-24 |
EP1425659B1 (en) | 2005-03-30 |
CN1555523A (en) | 2004-12-15 |
US20040139073A1 (en) | 2004-07-15 |
US7363348B2 (en) | 2008-04-22 |
ATE292302T1 (en) | 2005-04-15 |
KR20040005939A (en) | 2004-01-16 |
JP3944163B2 (en) | 2007-07-11 |
US20080215977A1 (en) | 2008-09-04 |
KR100627547B1 (en) | 2006-09-21 |
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