Patent · US Expired

Menu-less system and method for interactively manipulating and reformatting data entered in a tabular format in a data processing application

US7236979B2 · kind B2 · utility

2Cited by
11References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 26, 2002
Grant dateJun 26, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 12, 2023

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S707/99942
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The present invention is directed at a simplified system and method for manipulating data in a data processing application. The system and method allow the user to manipulate data in a table-like manner without resorting to other data entry screens or windows to define a table-like structure. Rather, the table-like structure is defined by interactively monitoring inputs received from a user. For example, if a user enters a tab following data on a same line, the present invention will manipulate that data as two columns of information. Thus, without performing additional tasks tangential to inputting data, the user is provided with table-like features, such as wrapping text, adjusting column width, and the like. In another embodiment, the table-like structure is determined by scanning contiguous lines for lines with identical horizontal alignment in relation to a first line.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.