System and method for processing document information using password protected icons that represent document content

A method of processing information of a document, comprising the steps of:

• (a) displaying said document on a screen;
• (b) designating a partial area within said document, said partial area containing at least a portion of one of text and graphics of a page or pages;
• (c) associating said partial area with a corresponding icon;
• (d) removing the at least a portion of one of partial text and graphics contained within said partial area and displaying said icon on the screen;
• (e) copying the corresponding icon to create a second corresponding icon;
• (f) moving the second corresponding icon to a position within the document to copy the at least a portion of one of text and graphics within the partial area to the position within the document;
• (g) selecting either an area icon display mode or a position icon display mode;
• (h) removing all information within the partial area on the screen while maintaining the partial area on the screen, and displaying an area icon at any position within the partial area when the area icon display mode is chosen in step g;
• (i) removing all the information within the partial area on the screen and the partial area, and displaying a position icon at a position in the document where the partial area was previously present, when the position icon display mode is chosen in step g;
• and
• (j) protecting the partial area of the document by associating the icon corresponding to the partial area with a password to provide a secret icon.

A document processing system comprising:

• a display that displays a document on a screen;
• and
• an icon display control section that selects a partial area of the document, the partial area containing at least a portion of one of text and graphics of a page or pages of the document, the icon display control section associating the partial area with a corresponding icon symbolizing the partial area, and displaying the corresponding icon on the screen instead of the at least a portion of one of text and graphics contained within the partial area;
• an icon editing section that edits the document by moving, copying or deleting icons, including a section that copies the at least a portion of one of text and graphics within the partial area from a first position of the document to a second position of the document by copying the icon from the first position to the second position, wherein the icon display control section displays the corresponding icon in one of an area icon display mode and a position icon display mode such that in said area icon display mode the information within the partial area on the screen is removed while maintaining the partial area on the screen and an area icon is displayed at any position within the partial area, and such that in the position icon display mode all of the partial area is removed from the screen together with the information contained therein and a position icon is displayed at a position in the document where the partial area was previously present, the area icon display mode being intended to maintain an original layout of the document, and the position icon display mode being intended to change the original layout of the document;
• and
• an icon activation control section that restores the information within the partial region on the screen when the icon is activated, wherein the icon activation control section configures the icon as a secret icon and sets a password for the secret icon, the icon activation control section activating the secret icon only when a password specified for the secret icon coincides with the password.