System for defining relationships among document elements including logical relationships of elements in a multi-dimensional tabular specification

Patent 5130924 Issued on July 14, 1992. Estimated Expiration Date:

July 14, 2009. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.

Abstract Claims Description Full Text

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Inventors

Application

No. 213429 filed on 06/30/1988

US Classes:

715/509, Table715/530Edit, composition, or storage control

Examiners

Primary: Lee, Thomas C.
Assistant: Mohamed, Ayni

Attorney, Agent or Firm

Dillon; Andrew J.

International Class

G06F 007/24

Abstract

A method is disclosed for defining the structure of a document by specifying the relationships between document elements in a data stream. A plurality of tabular specifications are provided, each of which includes a number of document elements. The logical relationship between each document element and all other document elements within each tabular specification is specified once for the entire tabular specification. The semantic interpretation for each tabular specification is associated with a named reference to that tabular specification so that multiple references to that tabular specification may yield different semantic interpretations. In this manner, it is possible to minimize the amount of specification to define a document by utilizing individual tabular specifications repeatedly. Additionally, a reference to a tabular specification may be utilized to modify the existing logical relationship between the document elements contained therein. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a range of allowable values for individual document elements within a tabular specification may be specified by the user.