Text highlighting method in a text processing system

Abstract

 In a text processing system (10) an arrangement is provided which includes a function determining a block of characters in a text storage buffer (74), to be highlighted and subsequently deleted, moved or copied. The system (10) includes an operator controlled display cursor defined by a cursor pointer in a text storage buffer control block (75) for identifying the characters which bound the block to be highlighted. These characters may be identified while the operator is going forward or backward in the text, thereby providing the operator with greater flexibility in the operation of the machine. The highlighting of the block is always performed in the forward direction in the text so that a keystroke service routine (72) is provided for determining which character identified by the operator appears earliest in the text and using this character to initiate the highlighting function.

Description

[0001] This invention relates to a text highlighting arrangement in a text processing system and more particularly to an arrangement for the definition of a block of characters for deletion, moving or copying.

[0002] Heretofore text processing machines included hardware and controls that enabled an operator to highlight on a display screen a character or a block of characters in the text stored in the machine. One or more selected functions may then be applied to the character(s) within this block.

[0003] Typically, such functions include the delation, movement or copying of the highlighted character(s) contained within the block. However, the controls limited the operator to start the character highlighting definition by positioning a cursor at a starting point nearest the start of the character or characters to be highlighted and subsequently positioning the cursor to end the block definition at an end point nearest the end of the identified characters. This restriction reduces the productivity of the operator by placing an artificial constraint on the manner in which the operator defines the character or block of characters to be highlighted.

[0004] In accordance with the present invention, a text highlighting arrangement is provided for highlighting text stored in a text processing system, with the text to be highlighted being bounded by characters identified by the operator. The arrangement includes a text storage buffer for storing characters in a contextual array and a display screen for displaying characters stored in the storage buffer in a spatial array. A display control block is provided for highlighting a character or block of characters displayed on the display bounded by a character identified by a start pointer and a character appearing subsequent in the text and identified by an end pointer. A keystroke service routine provides control instructions for determining which character(s) to bound the text to be highlighted appears earliest and identifying this character with the start pointer, and identifying the highlighting subsequently appearing character identified by the operator with the end pointer.

[0005] In accordance with another feature of the present invention, a text storage buffer control block defines first and second location pointers and a cursor pointer for indicating individual characters in the text storage buffer. A display control block is provided which defines a display cursor for indicating individual characters displayed on the display. The operator determines the character to be indicated by the first location pointer by highlighting the character with the display cursor on the display screen. The operator subsequently determines the character to be indicated by the second location pointer with the display cursor. A keystroke service routine provides control instructions for highlighting characters between a start pointer and an end pointer in both the text storage buffer and the display. The keystroke service routine determines which character indicated by the first and second location pointers, respectively, appears earliest in the text and identifies this point with the start pointer. The keystroke service routine then identifies the latter character with an end pointer and the display control block highlights the text bounded thereby.

[0006] A more complete understanding of the invention may be had by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein :

FIGURE 1 is a block diagram of various components in a text processing system in which the present invention is employed;

FIGURE 2 is a block diagram of logic element components in the processor illustrated in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a logic flow chart of the block definition routine forming a portion of the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is a logic flow chart for a cursor up or down motion routine forming a portion of the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is a logic flow chart of a cursor movement routine for movement other than up and down; and

FIGURE 6 is a logic flow chart of the highlight routine forming a portion of the present invention.

[0007] Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout several views, FIGURE 1 illustrates a text processing 10 which prepares hard or printed-copies of text entered by operator controlled keys on the keyboard 12. The keyboard 12 drives a processor 14. The processor 14 is operably interconnected to a visual display 16, a diskette drive 18 and a random access memory 20 by a memory bus 22. A system clock 23 is provided for timing functions within the text processor system 10. Text is input to the system by an operator entering keystrokes on the keyboard 12, which includes a conventional typewriter keyboard with additional control keys. The text input by-the operator appears as a textual display on the display screen 16 and the keystroke and instruction data is placedrdnto a memory for future recovery in preparing hard copy.

[0008] One important control function in keyboard 12 is the definition or highlighting of a character or a block or group of sequential characters in the text stored in memory and displayed on display screen 16. Once a block of characters is defined, a number of functions are available for performance on this block. For example, the character or characters in the block may be deleted, moved to another part of the text in the memory, or copied at another location in the text. The present invention permits the operator to define the block by moving a cursor or other indication pointer either forward or backward in the text. This allows the operator to define the block in whichever direction is easiest, rather than placing an artificial constraint on the direction of cursor motion as required in previous systems. The text processing machine 10 then functions to highlight the character or characters within the block in preparation for a further function.

[0009] Referring to FIGURE 2, the processor 14 is further detailed to show typical logic hardware elements as found in such processors. The processor may be a commercially available unit, such as from Intel Corporation and identified by the Number 8086. Typically, the processor includes a control logic unit 30 which responds to interrupts on a device bus 21 from the keyboard 12. The control logic unit 30 is also connected to the data and address bus 34 interconnected to various other logic units of the processor 14.

[0010] In response to a fetch instruction from the random access memory 20, the control logic unit 30 generates control signals to other logic elements of the processor. These control signals are interconnected to the various other elements by means of a control line 36 which is illustrated directly connected to an arithmetic logic unit 38 and identified as a "control" line 36 to other elements of the processor. Synchronous operation of the control unit 30 with other logic elements of the processor 14 is achieved by means of clock pulses input to the processor from an external clock source 40. This instruction bus is also shown interconnected to other logic elements of the processor detailed in FIGURE 2.

[0011] Data and instructions to be processed in the processor 14 are input through a bus control logic unit 42. Data to be processed may also come from program input/output control logic 44. The bus control logic 42 connects storage elements of the memory 20 and receives instructions for processing data received from the data input/output control 44 or received from the random access memory 20. Thus, the input/output control 44 receives data from the keyboard 12 or the memory 20 while the bus control logic 42 receives instructions and/or.data from the same memory. Note that different storage sections of the random access memory are identifiable for instruction storage and data storage.

[0012] Device control information from the processor 14 is output through the program input/output controller 44 over a data bus (48,49). Input data on the data bus (48,49) from the keyboard 12 is processed internally through the processor by instructions on the bus 34 to the scratch register 52,. The arithmetic logic unit 38, in response to a control signal on line 36 and in accordance with instructions received on the memory bus 22, performs arithmetic computations which may be stored in temporary scratch registers 52. Various other transfers of data between the arithmetic logic unit 38 and other logic elements of the processor are of course possible. Such additional transfers may be to a status register 60, data pointer register 56 or a stack pointer register 58. Also in the data stream for these various logic elements by means of the bus 34 is a program counter 54.

[0013] A particular operating sequence for the processor 14 is determined by instructions and data on the memory bu 22 and input data on the bi-directional bus (48,49). As an example, in response to received instructions, the processor transfers data stored in the scratch registers 52 to one of the registers 56, 58 or 60, Such operations of processors as detailed in FIGURE 2 are considered to be well known and understood by one of ordinary skill in the data processing field. A detailed description of each operation of the processor of FIGURE 2 for the described invention would be useless to an understanding of the invention as claimed.

[0014] With reference again to FIGURE 1; the operator keystrokes are displayed on display screen 16 quite similar in nature to a conventional television receiver screen. This screen either displays a full page of text, a partial page or, in some systems, only a single line of text. The display not only provides a visual presentation to the operator of the text being prepared but also provides prompting instructions for the operator on how to interface with the machine.

[0015] The diskette drive 18 includes a magnetic disk for maintaining keystroke and instruction data in a semi-permanent manner in association with the text storage buffer (TSB) as a part to the random access memory 20 discussed hereinafter. Typically, parts of a single page of text or a complete page of text in a document stored in the machine 10 is stored in the text storage buffer while the remaining document is stored in the diskette drive.

[0016] The random access memory 20 represents a combination of electronic hardware and software to perform a number of discrete functions within the text processing system 10. The keystroke control service function 70 takes a keystroke from the keyboard 12 and determines which of the keystroke service routines 72 is to be used to process the keystroke. A routine may be found in keystroke service routines 72 to service every keystroke on the keyboard 12. If the keystroke represents a typed character for insertion in a text, a routine in keystroke service routines 72 will insert the keystroke in the data stream within the text storage buffer (TSB) 74 for display and eventual hard copy. Also within the keystroke service routines 72 are the block definition routine 76 and the highlight routine 100. These routines act to define a block of characters and perform the desired highlighting function on that block. The text storage buffer (TSB) 74 stores the text being displayed on the display screen 16. Routines are provided for handling and updating the text stored therein within a TSB control block 75. A display access method program 80 controls the formatting of text on the display screen 16 through display refresh buffer 82.

[0017] The text stored in the TSB 74 is in contextual array. In other words, the characters and the controls that format the characters in the text are stored in sequential order from the beginning to the end of the text. The information on display screen 16, in turn, is displayed in a spatial array, i.e., each graphic to be displayed is displayed at some spatial (X,Y) coordinate relative to the top left hand corner of the display 16. Therefore, to define a block of characters in both TSB 74 and on the display screen 16, a bi-directional character definition routine is stored as one of the keystroke service routines. A routine is provided in memory 20 for converting the contextual to the spatial for interaction between the TSB and the display to permit the bi-directional character definition.

[0018] One portion of the TSB control block 75 comprises a set of pointers which identify characters in the text stored in the TSB. The TSB manager 84 will be instructed by a keystroke service routine to set the first location pointer to identify a preselected character in the TSB. The TSB manager will also set the second location pointer to a preselected character stored in the TSB upon direction by the keystroke service routine. Whenever text is moved or altered within the text storage buffer, the location pointers will always indicate the preselected characters as long as the characters remain in the memory of the system 10. The location pointers will indicate the preselected characters even if they have moved out of the TSB and into the diskette drive 18 for storage. Typically, as noted above, the TSB will store a portion of or one entire page of text in a given document stored within the machine 10. The remainder of the document will be stored on magnetic disks in the diskette drive 18. The location pointers will also indicate whether the preselected characters are on that page or stored in the diskette drive. If stored in the diskette drive, the location pointers will indicate whether these characters are on a prior or subsequent page.

[0019] The TSB control block 75 also includes a cursor pointer which identifies a character stored in the TSB. A cursor key controlled display cursor identifies a character displayed on display screen 16 perceived visually by the operator. The cursor pointer and display cursor identify the identical character substantially continuously during the operation of system 10. The only time at which the indicated characters may not correspond is during an internal operation necessary to service an operator request, for example, the display cursor roving across the line of text displayed. Between the time the operator presses the cursor key and the time when the cursor moves on the display screen, there will be a very short time when the location cursor is not equal to the'display cursor because the routines have rot had time to execute.

[0020] With reference to FIGURE 3, the block definition routine 76 is represented by a series of logic sequences. The operator will first press a delete, move or copy key on the keyboard 12 as represented by sequence 90. The keystroke is transferred into the keystroke service routines 72 (KSR) for processing in sequence 92. When the delete, move or copy key is depressed, the position of the display cursor will identify the location of the first location pointer LP1 to identify one end of the character or block of characters to be enlighted. This function is represented by sequence 93. The operator may, depending on the key depressed, then employ either of two modes of highlighting. In one mode, the other end of the block of characters is determined by the location of the display cursor at a given moment. In the second mode, the other end of the block is defined by the second lcoation pointer, regardless of the position of the display cursor.

[0021] The operator activates the "highlight to cursor" mode by depressing a suitable key on the keyboard 12. If this mode is activated, the display cursor forms one boundary of the block and the first location pointer is the other, regardless of the other actions of the operator. This activation is represented as sequence 94. The operator can also activate the "highlight between pointers" rode represented by a sequence 96. In this mode, the operator positions the display cursor to identify the character which the operator desires to be identified by the second location pointer. The operator inputs a keystroke and the second location pointer (LP2) thereafter represents that character and defines the other end of the block of characters. Subsequently, the display cursor may be moved throughout the text without shifting the boundaries of the character block.

[0022] In general, the system 10 uses the "highlight to cursor" mode after the first end of the block of characters has been identified and until the other end of the block has been identified. After both ends have been identified, the system uses the "highlight between pointers" mode until the function has been completed or cancelled.

[0023] Without consideration of the particular mode, the block definition routine 76 disables any other highlights on the display screen 16, as represented by sequence 98. There are spelling functions, spelling check functions and other functions which also employ highlighting of the display screen. The deletion of the other highlighting avoids confusion for the operator because the only thing the operator sees highlighted on the display screen 16 is text to be deleted, moved or copied.

[0024] The block definition routine 76 then calls a highlight routine 100 (fig. 1), as represented by sequence 102. The purpose of the highlight routine is to determine where the beginning and end pointers of the block of text to be highlighted are to be located. This is necessary as system 10 builds the highlighted text beginning at the top of the display and moves downward in the text. However, in the highlight between pointers, the second location pointer is the second one used in time, but not necessarily in the text. The second pointer location may be prior to the first pointer location in the text, at a corresponding location or be positioned after the first pointer location. In the^*highlight to cursor"mode, the display cursor forming the final boundary on the block may, in turn, be positioned before at or after the first location pointer in the text.

[0025] The "BUILD" routine, represented by sequence 99, will be called if necessary to change the page or portion of a page stored in the TSB. Additional keystroke information may be input in the text during highlighting as desired, as represented by sequences 101 and 103. The system 10 awaits the depression of an enter key by the operator to determine the location of the location pointer or cursor pointer to fully define the character or block of characters to be highlighted. This function is represented by test 105 (fig. 6). If the highlight function is not active, the routine will disable the display highlight, represented by sequence 106, and return the highlight routine to the routine of FIGURE 3 at the return call.

[0026] If the highlighting is active, the routine will then determine whether the highlight to cursor or highlight between pointers node has been selected by the operator. This determination is represented by a test 108 (fig. 6). If the highlight between pointers mode is selected, the routine will then determine if the first location pointer lies beyond the second location pointer in the text as represented by test 110.

[0027] The internal registers of processor 14 maintain a start pointer (SP) and an end pointer (EP) for entry into the display control block 86 (fig. 1) so that at the next energization of the display access method program 80, the text display will be highlighted beginning with the topmost boundary and moving downward in the text. The principle function of highlight routine 100 is to determine which location pointer appears first in the text and make this the start pointer. The other location then becomes the end pointer.

[0028] If test 110 (fig. 6) is answered yes, i.e., the first location pointer lies beyond the second location pointer in the text, then the first location pointer is the end pointer and the second location pointer is the start pointer, as indicated by sequence 112. If the test 110 is answered no, then the second location pointer is the end pointer and the first location pointer is the start pointer as represented by sequence 114.

[0029] Once the starting point and ending point defining the boundary of the block is determined, the highlighting may be enabled to appear on the display screen 16 in most cases. However, while most characters stored in the TSB 74 occupy only one byte of information, some characters, such as control instructions, contain more than one byte per character on the display. To highlight a multiple byte character, the end pointer should indicate the last byte of the sequence of bytes representing that character. However, the operator can only position the display cursor or location pointer at the first byte of a multi-byte character.

[0030] Each multi-byte character is introduced by a sequence byte, a class byte, a count byte and a type byte. The sequence byte indicates the presence of a multi-byte character. The class byte and type byte together tell the machine 10 what type of control is represented by the multi-byte character.

[0031] For example, an instruction such as a format change or keyboard change may be be directed by these bytes. The count byte, which is the second byte of the sequence, indicates how long the sequence is, starting with and including the count byte.

[0032] The highlight routine 100 makes provisions for multi-byte character text controls. The routine determines if the end point is on a text control, represented by test 116. If so, the end pointer is automatically positioned at the end of the text control character by examining the count byte and moving the end pointer the appropriate number of bytes as represented by sequence 117. After sequence 117, or if the end pointer is not on a text control, the start pointer and end pointer are entered into the display control block 86 and the text is highlighted on the display screen 16 as represented by sequence 119.

[0033] If the "highlight to cursor" mode is elected, the test 108 will be answered yes. In the "highlight to cursor" mode, the highlight routine becomes somewhat more complex because the text stored in the TSB 74 is in a stream of continuous contextual characters while the text displayed on display screen 16 is in a spatial (X,Y) coordonate format. When the operator moves the display cursor up and down the text, the system 10 must translate the motion in the spatial array on the display screen 16 to a contextual array in the TSB 74. This translation is performed by a "MOVE" function. The "MOVE" function permits the cursor pointer within the TSB 74 to indicate the identical character as the display cursor.

[0034] The cursor pointer will be represented by a temporary pointer (TP) during the operation in the "highlight to cursor" mode as represented by sequence 115. If the display cursor is being moved up or down, test 118 will direct the routine, to call the "CONSP" routine (convert spatial to contextual) as represented by sequence 120.

[0035] The updated display cursor will update the cursor pointer in the TSB 74 through the "MOVE" function and the new location of the cursor pointer will form a temporary pointer (TP) in sequence 121. When this is done, or if there is no cursor up or down motion, the test 122 will determine whether the temporary pointer is beyond the first location pointer. If so, the temporary pointer represents the start pointer and the first location pointer represents the end pointer as represented by sequence 124. If the temporary pointer is not beyond the first location pointer, the first location pointer forms the start pointer and the temporary pointer forms the end pointer as represented by sequence 126. The start and end pointers may then be entered into the display control block 86 for display on the display screen 16 in a manner similar to the highlight between pointer mode.

[0036] Referring to FIGURE 4, the cursor up or down motion routine is illustrated by a series of sequences. Activation of the cursor up or down motion by the operator, represented by sequence 130, is processed in the appropriate key stroke service routine represented by sequence 132. The routine highlight is called, as indicated by sequence 134, which provides the pointers for highlighting on the display. The "MOVE" routine is called, represented by sequence 136, to update the display cursor and inform the system of the desired location of the cursor pointer in the TSB 74. The routine sets the cursor point in the TSB 74, as represented by sequence 138 before returning to the routine of FIGURE 6, represented by sequence 140.

[0037] During cursor up or down motion, the display cursor informs the cursor pointer within the TSB 74 of the proper location so that the cursor pointer is synchronous with the display cursor. Referring to FIGURE 5, a routine for other cursor motion is provided which is represented by a series of sequences. An operator may select a function on keyboard 12 which directs the cursor to go to a particular page of text. The keystroke of such a function is represented by sequence 152. The appropriate keystroke service routine, represented as sequence 154 processes the input keystroke. Internal calculations within the machine determine where the cursor pointer should be located in the TSB 74. Sequence 156 represents the motion of the cursor pointer within the TSB. It is then necessary to update the display cursor with reference to the location of the cursor pointer in the TSB 74. The function then calls the highlight routine, as represented by sequence 158.

[0038] There are two paths that may be taken. If the new cursor pointer location is on the same page of text stored in the TSB 74 but not displayed on display screen 16, the sequence 160 will be answered no. The routine update will be called, as represented by sequence 162, to update the display as it may be necessary to display different portions of the same page as stored in the TSB 74. If the new location of the cursor pointer is on a page prior to or subsequent to the present page stored in the TSB, it will be necessary to move the cursor pointer and build the text within the TSB 74 as represented by sequence 164.

[0039] In summary, the block definition routine permits the operator to begin at either end in defining a character or block of characters to be deleted, moved or copied. This feature enhances the productivity of the operator by defining the block in whichever direction is easiest, rather than placing an artificial constraint on the direction of cursor movement. In addition, depending on the function, the system 10 will activate either the "highlight to cursor" or "highlight between pointers" mode. The "highlight to cursor" node highlights the characters between the initial point of the cursor and the present position of the cursor, The "highlight between pointers" node permits the cursor to be moved on the display screen without affecting the block after definition of the block.

[0040] Although a single embodiment of the invention has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings described in the foregoing detailed description, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiment disclosed, but is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and substitutions of parts and elements without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims

1. Text highlighting arrangement in a text processing system, comprising :

a text storage buffer for storing characters in a contextual array, and a display for displaying characters stored in said text storage buffer means in a spatial array, the text to be highlighted being bounded by characters defined by the operator; said arrangement being characterized in that it comprises :

- display control block means for highlighting a block of characters stored in said text storage buffer between a character identified by a start pointer and a character appearing subsequent in the text identified by an end pointer; and

- keystroke service routine means for identifying the character defined by the operator to bound the text to be highlighted appearing earliest in the text by the start pointer and identifying the subsequently appearing character defined by the operator to bound the text to be highlighted by the end pointer so that the bounded text may be highlighted independent of the sequence of identification of the characters bounding the text by the operator.

2. Arrangement according to Claim 1 wherein said display control block means includes a display cursor for identifying characters displayed on said display, one character defined by the operator as bounding the text to be highlighted being determined by the initial position of the display cursor and the character defined by the operator forming the other boundary of the text to be. highlighted coinciding with the character identified by the present location of said display cursor.

3. Arrangement according to Claim 2 wherein the characters defined by the operator bounding the text to be highlighted are determined by said display cursor prior to highlighting the text so that the display cursor may be moved through the text without altering the text to be highlighted.

4. Arrangement according to Claim 2 or 3 wherein said display cursor is defined by a cursor pointer.

5. Arrangement according to any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein said keystroke service routine means further disables any highlighting of text other than that bounded by said start and end pointers.

6. Arrangement according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein the text to be highlighted is to be deleted, moved or copied.

Drawing