Computer aided authoring, electronic document browsing, retrieving, and subscribing and publishing

A method for browsing electronic documents, comprising:

• reading topic summary information saved in correspondence with the electronic document, wherein said topic summary information contains one or more topics and their corresponding topic summaries;
• presenting said topic summary to a user;
• and
• presenting the content of said electronic document when the user confirms said topic summary.

An apparatus for aided authoring, comprising:

• an electronic document editing unit for editing an electronic document;
• a summary generation unit for extracting a topic summary from said electronic document according to an input topic;
• and
• a summary storing unit for saving the topic summary information generated by said summary generation unit in correspondence with said electronic document.

A method for retrieving electronic documents, comprising:

• extracting multiple pieces of topic summary information corresponding to a plurality of electronic documents, respectively, wherein each piece of said topic summary information contains one or more topics and their corresponding topic summaries;
• indexing the topics in said extracted topic summary information;
• inputting a query by a user;
• searching said topic index for one or more topics that are closest to the user input query;
• presenting said one or more closest topics and corresponding topic summaries to said user;
• and
• providing said user with the electronic document or its link corresponding to a topic summary selected by the user.

A method for retrieving electronic documents, comprising:

• when one or more electronic documents are found according to an user's query, reading topic summary information corresponding to the found electronic documents, wherein each piece of said topic summary information contains one or more topics and their corresponding topic summaries;
• presenting the user with the topic summary corresponding to one topic that is closest to said user's query, for each piece of said topic summary information;
• and
• providing said user with the electronic document or its link corresponding to a topic summary selected by said user.

A system for retrieving electronic documents, comprising:

• a topic summary information extraction means for extracting multiple pieces of topic summary information corresponding to a plurality of electronic documents, respectively, wherein each piece of said topic summary information contains one or more topics and their corresponding topic summaries;
• topic indexing means for indexing the topics in said extracted topic summary information;
• a topic index library for storing the topic index prepared by said topic indexing means;
• a topic searching means for searching said topic index for one or more topics that are closest to a user input query;
• a topic summary presentation means for presenting said user with said one or more topics found by said topic searching means and their corresponding topic summaries;
• and
• an electronic document providing means for providing said user with a electronic document or its link corresponding to a topic summary selected by said user.

A system for retrieving electronic documents, which is capable of retrieving one or more electronic documents in response to a query of a user, comprising:

• topic summary reading means for reading topic summary information corresponding to said retrieved electronic documents, wherein each piece of the topic summary information contains one or more topics and their corresponding topic summaries;
• topic summary presentation means for presenting said user with the topic summary of one topic that is closest to said user's query, for each piece of the topic summary information;
• and
• electronic document providing means for providing said user with an electronic document or its link corresponding to a topic summary selected by said user.

A method for subscribing and publishing electronic documents, comprising:

• setting a profile for a subscriber, which contains a subscribed topic desired by said subscriber;
• extracting topic summary information corresponding to a plurality of electronic documents, respectively, wherein each piece of said topic summary information contains one or more topics and their corresponding topic summaries;
• selecting related topics and their corresponding topic summaries based on the subscribed topic in said subscriber's profile;
• and
• publishing the selected topic summaries to said subscriber.

A system for subscribing and publishing electronic documents, comprising:

• subscriber profile storage means for storing a profile for a subscriber, which contains a subscribed topic desired by said subscriber;
• topic summary information extraction means for extracting topic summary information corresponding to a plurality of electronic documents, respectively, wherein each piece of said topic summary information contains one or more topics and their corresponding topic summaries;
• topic selecting means for selecting related topics and their corresponding topic summaries based on the subscribed topic in said subscriber's profile;
• and
• publishing means for publishing the topic summaries selected by said topic selecting means to said subscriber.