Keeping track of locations in electronic documents
AssigneeAdobe Systems Incorporated
InventorJeffrey E. Young
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and an apparatus that keeps track of locations in an electronic file that is represented as a hierarchical data structure, generate a point dictionary to store points that point to locations, and generate point identifiers to access the points in the point dictionary. Point identifiers are stored by ancillary routines and with components in the electronic file's data structure. The points in the dictionary change as locations in the electronic file change, but the point identifiers do not change. The point identifiers stored with the components in the electronic file's data structure enable the method and the apparatus to retrieve other points in the same component without conducting a search through the point dictionary.
Claims17
A computer-implemented method for keeping track of locations in an electronic file, comprising:
- storing, in a dictionary, a plurality of points each representing a location in an electronic file, the electronic file being comprised of a data structure having a hierarchy of components;
- representing each location by containing in each point a component designation and a location pointer which identifies a location within the designated component;
- producing a point identifier used by a routine to access a first point in the dictionary;
- using the point identifier to find the first point in the dictionary;
- and
- in response to a change in the electronic file, updating the first point to point to a current location.
A computer-implemented method for keeping track of locations in an electronic document, comprising:
- storing, in a list, a plurality of points representing locations in an electronic document comprised of a data structure having a hierarchy of components, as requested by a plurality of computer processes;
- using a component designation in each point to represent each location;
- generating a plurality of indices for the plurality of points;
- storing the plurality of indices with the respective computer processes to facilitate retrieval of the plurality of points;
- using the plurality of indices to retrieve one or more points of the plurality of points;
- and
- updating, in response to a change in the electronic document, the plurality of points as the locations change.
A computer program, residing on a computer-readable medium, comprising instructions causing a computer to:
- store, in a dictionary, a point for a location in an electronic file represented as a hierarchical data structure having components;
- designate a component with the point;
- produce a point identifier that a routine uses to access the point in the dictionary;
- use the point identifier to find the point in the dictionary;
- and
- in response to a change in the electronic file, update the point in the dictionary.
A computer program, residing on a computer-readable medium, comprising instructions causing a computer to:
- use an electronic document represented as a data structure having a hierarchy of components;
- store, in a list, a plurality of points representing locations in the electronic document by designating each location in terms of a component, as requested by a plurality of computer processes;
- generate a plurality of indices for the plurality of points;
- store the plurality of indices with the respective computer processes to facilitate retrieval of the plurality of points;
- use the plurality of indices to retrieve one or more points of the plurality of points in the list;
- and
- update the plurality of points in response to a change in the electronic document while not changing the plurality of indices.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.