# US 7,412,094 B2 · System and method for editing a hand-drawn table in ink input

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- Number: US 7,412,094 B2
- Document ID: US7412094B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 11/095,452
- Filed: 2005-03-30
- Published: 2006-03-23
- Granted: 2008-08-12
- Earliest claimed: 2004-09-21
- Assignees: Microsoft Corporation
- Inventors: Tongxian Chen; Yantao Li; Youjun Liu; Jian Wang; Xianfang Wang
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7412094B2

## CPC

- G06V 30/1423: {the instrument generating sequences of position coordinates corresponding to handwriting (preprocessing or recognising digital ink G06V30/32)}
- G06F 3/03545: {Pens or stylus}
- G06F 40/171: by use of digital ink
- G06F 40/177: of tables; using ruled lines
- G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)

## Abstract

A system and method for editing ink objects recognized in ink input is provided. An ink parser may recognize an ink object in ink input and then an ink editing user interface may edit the ink object recognized by the ink parser. The ink parser may include a chart detector, shape recognizer, and various ink object recognizers such as a chart recognizer, a list detector and a table detector. The various ink object recognizers may recognize particular ink objects. The ink editing user interface may edit the ink object recognized by the ink parser. The ink editing user interface may include a chart editor, list editor, table editor, mode switcher, and a visualizer. The mode switcher may switch the ink editing system between inking mode and ink editing mode.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A computer system for editing ink input, comprising:
an ink parser for recognizing a hand-drawn table in ink input;
a table editor operably coupled to the ink parser for editing the hand-drawn table recognized by the ink parser;
an alignment detector for detecting the initial alignment of one or more elements within the recognized hand-drawn table, the initial alignment indicating the element's position within a cell of the table;
a receiver for receiving an indication that one or more elements within the recognized hand-drawn table is to be aligned in accordance with the indication, each element being aligned with respect to the element's position in a cell of the table;
an aligning module for aligning the one or more elements within the recognized hand-drawn table in accordance with the indication; and
a mode recognizer operably coupled to the table editor for switching between inking mode for receiving ink input and ink editing mode for editing the hand-drawn table recognized in the ink input.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein the ink parser comprises an operably coupled table detector for detecting the table within ink input.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein the ink parser comprises an operably coupled shape recognizer having a container recognizer and a connector recognizer.

### Claim 4

A method in a computer system for editing ink input, comprising:
receiving ink input;
parsing the ink input;
performing table recognition for an ink object in the ink input;
switching to an editing mode to edit the table;
editing the table by performing an ink editing operation;
detecting the initial alignment of one or more elements within the recognized hand-drawn table, the initial alignment indicating the element's position within a cell of the table;
receiving an indication that one or more elements within the recognized hand-drawn table is to be aligned in accordance with the indication, each element being aligned with respect to the element's position in a cell of the table;
aligning the one or more elements within the recognized hand-drawn table in accordance with the indication; and
regenerating the ink representing the edited table.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4 further comprising:
performing table detection to detect the table in the ink input;
performing cell detection to detect one or more cells in the ink input; and
creating a bounding box around one or more of the cells in the table.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4 wherein editing the table by performing an ink editing operation comprises resizing a cell in the table.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, wherein resizing a cell in the table further comprises resizing the strokes of each of the elements within the cell such that the strokes are resized proportionately to the change in cell size.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, wherein resizing a row in the table further comprises resizing the strokes of each of the elements within the row such that the strokes are resized proportionately to the change in row size.

### Claim 9 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, wherein resizing a column in the table further comprises resizing the strokes of each of the elements within the column such that the strokes are resized proportionately to the change in column size.

### Claim 10 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4 wherein editing the table by performing an ink editing operation comprises resizing a row in the table.

### Claim 11 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4 wherein editing the table by performing an ink editing operation comprises resizing a column in the table.

### Claim 12 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4 wherein editing the table by performing an ink editing operation comprises displaying a representation of each of the elements in the recognized table in a chart, each representation corresponding to an interpretation of the elements' contents.

### Claim 13 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4 further comprising switching to inking mode to receive additional ink input.

### Claim 14 (depends on 4)

A computer-readable memory having computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 4.

### Claim 15 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein at least one of the elements in the hand-drawn table has a different initial alignment than at least one other element.

### Claim 16 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5, wherein each of the elements in the table is aligned in accordance with the indication, regardless of the elements' initial alignment.

### Claim 17 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein the indication indicates that the one or more elements are to be vertically aligned within each element's respective cell in the table.

### Claim 18 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein the indication indicates that the one or more elements are to be horizontally aligned within each element's respective cell in the table.

### Claim 19 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein the indication indicates that the one or more elements are to be both vertically and horizontally aligned within each element's respective cell in the table.

### Claim 20

A computer system for editing ink input, comprising:
means for receiving ink input;
means for parsing the ink input;
means for performing table recognition for an ink object in the ink input;
means for switching to an editing mode to edit the table;
means for editing the table by performing an ink editing operation;
means for detecting the initial alignment of one or more elements within the recognized hand-drawn table, the initial alignment indicating the element's position within a cell of the table;
means for receiving an indication that one or more elements within the recognized hand-drawn table is to be aligned in accordance with the indication, each element being aligned with respect to the element's position in a cell of the table;
means for aligning the one or more elements within the recognized hand-drawn table in accordance with the indication; and
means for regenerating the ink representing the edited table.