System for automatically detecting cyclical and recursive links between document components

A method for detecting the existence of a cyclic link structure in a document processor of a type which enables data in one component of a document to be linked to another component of a document, comprising the steps of:

• detecting a change in data which is linked from a source document component to a destination component;
• assigning a token to the detected change;
• updating a link associated with the changed data by initiating transmission of the data change to the destination component;
• comparing the assigned token to a token associated with a previous update of the link;
• presenting a user with an option to continue the link update or stop the link update if the two compared tokens are the same;
• interrupting the transmission of the data change to the destination component if the user elects to stop;
• setting a threshold value if the user elects to continue, wherein said threshold value identifies a number of successive link updates with the same token in which the user has elected to continue;
• counting the number of successive link updates associated with an identical token;
• inhibiting the presentation of said user options if the number of successive link updates associated with the identical token is not greater than said threshold value;
• and
• transmitting the data change to the destination component when the number of successive link updates associated with the identical token is not greater than said threshold value, to thereby complete the link update.

A method for detecting the existence of a cyclic link structure in a document processor of a type which enables data in one component of a document to be linked to another component of a document, comprising the steps of:

• detecting a change in data which is linked from a source document component to a destination component;
• assigning a token to the detected change;
• updating a link associated with the changed data by initiating transmission of the data change to the destination component;
• comparing the assigned token to a token associated with a previous update of the link;
• and
• interrupting the transmission of the data change to the destination component if the two compared tokens are the same.

A document processing system, comprising:

• means for linking data in a first document component to a second document component to cause the data to be displayed in said second component;
• means responsive to a change in said data for assigning a unique token to said data change and for initiating transmission of the token and the changed data to said second document component, to thereby update the display of data in said second component;
• means for comparing the token assigned to the update with a token assigned to a previous update;
• and
• means for causing an alert message to be displayed to a user if the two compared tokens are the same.

A linked data structure that is stored and executed in the memory of a computer, comprising:

• a first document component which contains data and is responsive to changes in said data to provide a notification of a change in said data;
• means for assigning a token to a change in said data;
• a link source object that is referenced by said first document component and receives said notification and said token;
• a link destination object that communicates with said link source object to receive said notification and said token;
• a second document component which references said link destination object and displays a copy of said data;
• and
• means associated with said link source object for storing a token received with a data change notification, comparing a received token with a stored token from a previous data change notification, and inhibiting the communication of a data change notification to said link destination object if the two compared tokens are identical.

A method for detecting the existence of a cyclic link structure in a document processor of a type which enables data in one component of a document to be linked to another component of a document, comprising the steps of:

• detecting a change in data which is linked from a source document component to a destination component;
• assigning a token to the detected change;
• updating a link associated with the changed data by initiating transmission of the data change to the destination component;
• comparing the assigned token to a token associated with a previous update of the link;
• displaying a user alert if the two compared tokens are the same;
• interrupting the transmission of the data change to the destination component when the user elects to stop the update;
• and
• setting an indicator when a user elects to continue with a link update, and transmitting the data change to the destination component to complete a link update.

A method for detecting the existence of a cyclic link structure in a document processor of a type which enables data in one component of a document to be linked to another component of a document, comprising the steps of:

• detecting a change in data which is linked from a source document component to a destination component;
• assigning a token to the detected change;
• updating a link associated with the changed data by initiating transmission of the data change to the destination component;
• comparing the assigned token to a token associated with a previous update of the link;
• displaying a user alert if the two compared tokens are the same, said user alert providing a user with options to stop the link update or continue with the link update;
• interrupting the transmission of the data change to the destination component when the user elects to stop the update;
• and
• setting an indicator when a user elects to continue with a link update, and transmitting the data change to the destination component to complete a link update.

A document processing system comprising:

• means for linking data in a first document component to a second document component to cause the data to be displayed in said second component;
• means responsive to a change in said data for assigning a unique token to said data change and for initiating transmission of the token and the changed data to said second document component, to thereby update the display of data in said second component;
• means for comparing the token assigned to the update with a token assigned from a previous update;
• means for causing an alert message to be displayed to a user if the two compared tokens are the same, said alert providing a user with options to stop the link update or continue with the link update;
• means for interrupting the transmission of the data change to the second component when the user elects to stop the update;
• and
• means for setting an indicator when a user elects to continue with a link update and for transmitting the data change to the second component to complete a link update.

A document processing system comprising:

• means for linking data in a first document component to a second document component to cause the data to be displayed in said second component;
• means responsive to a change in said data for assigning a unique token to said data change and for initiating transmission of the token and the changed data to said second document component, to thereby update the display of data in said second component;
• means for comparing the token assigned to the update with a token assigned from a previous update;
• means for causing an alert message to be displayed to a user if the two compared tokens are the same, said alert providing a user with options to stop the link update or continue with the link update;
• and
• means for setting an indicator when a user elects to continue with a link update and for transmitting the data change to the second component to complete a link update.