Laying out markup language paragraphs independently of other paragraphs

A computer-readable recording medium configured with a structured document visual output program for a structured document processing system separately processing markup-language structured document information, and style information defining display style of the structured document information in terms of the markup language, said structured document visual output program for executing:

• obtaining, from structural elements of markup-language structured document information being processed for visual output in a display sequence by a structured document processing system, a paragraph-forming element that designates paragraph formation in corresponding style information available to the structured document processing system;
• determining whether complementary display information for an obtained current paragraph-forming element is present, and when complementary display information is not present, storing the current paragraph-forming element as a standby paragraph-forming element;
• executing a paragraph internal layout routine to determine relative layout, within a display information paragraph, of all display information for the current paragraph-forming element, independently of layout routines for other paragraph-forming elements;
• determining whether display information complementary to any of the standby paragraph-forming elements is present, and deleting the current paragraph-forming element from storage as a standby paragraph-forming element when complementary display information is present;
• and
• after the paragraph internal layout routine is completed for the current paragraph-forming element and for all paragraph-forming elements that are higher in rank in the display sequence than the current paragraph-forming element, visually outputting the display information processed in said obtaining a paragraph-forming element, in said determining whether complementary display information for an obtained current paragraph-forming element is present, in said executing a paragraph internal layout routine, and in said determining whether display information complementary to any of the standby paragraph-forming element is present, of said structured document visual output program for the current paragraph-forming element and for all paragraph-forming elements that are higher in rank than the current paragraph-forming element.

A structured document visual output system for separately processing markup-language structured document information, and style information defining display style of the structured document information in terms of the markup language, comprising:

• obtain paragraph-forming element means for obtaining, from structural elements of markup-language structured document information being processed for visual output in a display sequence by said structured document visual output system, a paragraph-forming element that designates paragraph formation in corresponding style information available to the structured document processing system;
• means for determining whether complementary display information for an obtained current paragraph-forming element is present, and when complementary display information is not present, for storing the current paragraph-forming element as a standby paragraph-forming element;
• layout means for executing a paragraph internal layout routine to determine relative layout, within a display information paragraph, of all display information for the current paragraph-forming element, independently of layout routines for other paragraph-forming elements;
• standby exclusion means for determining whether display information complementary to any of the standby paragraph-forming elements is present, and for excluding the current paragraph-forming element from storage as a standby paragraph-forming element when complementary display information is present;
• and
• output means for visually outputting the display information processed by the structured document visual output system for the current paragraph-forming element and for all paragraph-forming elements higher-ranking in the display sequence than the current paragraph-forming element, after the paragraph internal layout routine is completed for the current paragraph-forming element and for all paragraph-forming elements that are higher in rank than the current paragraph-forming element.

A structured document visual output method for a structured document processing system that separately processes markup language structured document information and corresponding style information, comprising:

• identifying paragraph-forming elements in the structured document information and obtaining display information for a current paragraph-forming element, the paragraph-forming elements defining paragraph formation according to the corresponding style information;
• executing a paragraph internal layout routine that determines, independently for each paragraph-forming element, positional relationships between items of the obtained display information, the paragraph internal layout routine being executed for the current paragraph-forming element after obtaining all items of display information for the current paragraph-forming element;
• determining display positions in a display area for the items of the display information for the current paragraph-forming element and one or more higher order paragraph-forming elements, after determining the positional relationships for the current paragraph-forming element and the one or more higher order paragraph-forming elements;
• and
• displaying the current paragraph-forming element and the one or more higher order paragraph-forming elements after determining the display positions in the display area for the current paragraph-forming element and the one or more higher order paragraph-forming elements.

A structured document visual output system for separately processing markup-language structured document information, and style information defining display style of the structured document information in terms of the markup language, comprising:

• an obtain paragraph-forming element unit obtaining, from structural elements of markup-language structured document information being processed for visual output in a display sequence by said structured document visual output system, a paragraph-forming element that designates paragraph formation in corresponding style information available to the structured document processing system;
• a complementary display information determining unit determining whether complementary display information for an obtained current paragraph-forming element is present, and when all items of the complementary display information are not present, storing the current paragraph-forming element as a standby paragraph-forming element;
• a layout unit executing a paragraph internal layout routine to determine relative layout, within a display information paragraph, of all display information for the current paragraph-forming element, independently of layout routines for other paragraph-forming elements;
• a unit deleting the standby paragraph-forming element from storage when all items of display information for the current paragraph-forming element are present;
• a unit determining whether display positions for the items of the display information can be calculated for the current paragraph-forming element after the paragraph internal layout routine is completed for the current paragraph-forming element, and calculating the display positions when calculation is possible;
• and
• a unit visually outputting the items of display information for the current paragraph-forming element after calculation of the display positions is completed.