Selecting Content in Ink Documents using a Hierarchical Data Structure

A computing system for selecting elements in an ink document, comprising:

• hardware logic circuitry that includes one or more hardware processors and/or one or more configurable gate units, and is configured to perform the operations of:
• displaying the ink document on a display device based on a data structure having a hierarchy of nodes that describes respective elements in the ink document;
• receiving an input signal that indicates that the user has selected at least one element of the ink document using an input device, said at least one element that is selected corresponding to an initial set of selected elements;
• identifying at least one node in the data structure that is associated with the initial set of selected elements, said at least one node that is identified corresponding to a set of currently-identified nodes, each node in the set of currently-identified nodes corresponding to an ink object having a smallest selectable semantic scope;
• highlighting a part of the ink document displayed on the display device that encompasses the set of selected elements, the part that is highlighted corresponding to a selection zone;
• receiving another input signal that indicates that the user has selected the selection zone;
• in a tree-traversal process, advancing upward in the hierarchy of nodes in the data structure from the set of currently-identified nodes towards a root node, to identify one or more new nodes that are linked by the data structure to the set of currently-identified nodes;
• updating the set of currently-identified nodes to include said one or more new nodes, to produce an updated set of currently-identified nodes;
• updating the selection zone to encompass an updated set of selected elements that correspond to the updated set of identified nodes;
• performing a supplemental search process, that is other than the tree-traversal process, by:
• establishing a bounding enclosure around the updated set of selected elements;
• creating a search region having a search region span defined by a span of the bounding enclosure, the search region including the bounding enclosure;
• searching the search region to find at least one supplemental element that is not within the updated set of selected elements, said at least one supplemental element that is identified by said searching corresponding to a set of spatially-related elements;
• and adding the set of spatially-related elements to the updated set of selected elements, to produce a further-updated set of selected elements and a further-updated selected zone;
• and
• repeating said receiving another input signal, advancing upward, updating the set of currently-identified nodes, updating the selection zone, and performing the supplemental search process at least one time.

A computer-readable storage medium for storing computer-readable instructions, the computer-readable instructions, when executed by one or more hardware processors, performing a method that comprises:

• displaying an ink document on a display device based on a data structure having a hierarchy of nodes that describes respective elements in the ink document;
• receiving an input signal that indicates that a user has used a selection implement to select at least two elements of the ink document using an input device in response to a single touch of the selection implement that spans said at least two elements, said at least two elements that are selected corresponding to an initial set of selected elements;
• identifying at least two nodes in the data structure that are associated with the initial set of selected elements, said at least two nodes that are identified corresponding to a set of currently-identified nodes, each node in the set of currently-identified nodes corresponding to an ink object having a smallest selectable semantic scope;
• highlighting a part of the ink document displayed on the display device that encompasses the set of selected elements, the part that is highlighted corresponding to a selection zone;
• receiving another input signal that indicates that the user has selected the selection zone;
• in a tree-traversal process, advancing upward in the hierarchy of nodes in the data structure from the set of currently-identified nodes towards a root node along at least two paths starting from at least two respective nodes of said currently-identified nodes, to identify one or more new nodes that are linked by the data structure to the set of currently-identified nodes;
• updating the set of currently-identified nodes to include said one or more new nodes, to produce an updated set of currently-identified nodes;
• and
• updating the selection zone on the display device to encompass an updated set of selected elements that correspond to the updated set of identified nodes.