Patent Grant
7594171
The invention relates to digital typography.
In digital text composition, a spacing amount between adjacent characters must be set in order to arrange a series of characters in a line of text. In digital text composition, a large number of characters and types of characters are processed, and the spacing amount is typically set based on character attributes. In practice, however, each publishing company has its own rules, and setting the spacing amount between characters in existing electronic composition systems is complicated, leading to operations that are extremely difficult and hard to understand for a user.
Generally, when a computer program, e.g., desktop publishing (DTP) system, is laying out text, the space between a pair of characters is specified by the width of the characters specified in the font, which is typically adjusted by any kerning specified in the font and by any tracking that is applied. Tracking is the process of uniformly increasing or decreasing the space between all glyphs in a block of text and is sometimes called character spacing or letter spacing. Tracking is generally set manually by a user. Thus, when a conventional computer program needs to justify text on both margins, the user can specify the amount of space to add or subtract from between letters (letter spacing) and the amount of space to add or subtract between words (word spacing), but that is all.
The present invention, in one aspect, provides methods and apparatus, including programs, allowing a user to have more control in defining rules for character spacing and justification. For example, a user can define a set of rules that in say “always put ⅛ em before a colon and a semi-colon character” and apply them to text set in standard French. Similarly, a user can define a set of rules that in effect say “allow 1 pt space between words, and then 0.1 pts between letters, and then 2 pts more between words as necessary.”
In general, in another aspect, the invention provides a completely flexible classification scheme for grouping characters into classes coupled with prioritized justification rules that operate at the level of character classes.
In general, in another aspect, the invention features a computer program product, tangibly embodied on an information carrier, comprising instructions operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations. The computer program product includes receiving a spacing classification file for a character set, the character set including Arabic numbers, punctuation characters, and diacritical marks, the classification file being a text file containing in text form definitions of multiple character classes, each character class definition being structured to define a character class as having one or more arbitrary characters, the classification file further containing, in text form, multiple inter-class spacing definitions, each inter-class spacing definition defining, for an order pair of character classes, one or more spacing parameters for the ordered pair and an associated priority for each defined spacing parameter. The computer program product includes laying out a line of text comprising a sequence of character glyphs derived from a sequence of characters. If the line of text needs to be compressed, the computer program product includes compressing the line of text according to the inter-class spacing definitions for each sequential pairs of characters in the sequence of characters defined in the classification file according to their respective priorities. If the line of text needs to be expanded, the computer program product includes decompressing the line of text according to the inter-class spacing definitions for each sequential pairs of characters in the sequence of characters defined in the classification file according to their respective priorities.
The invention can be implemented to realize one or more of the following advantages. A user can easily and quickly set inter-character spacing amounts in digital composition. A user can create a text file, e.g., a file containing an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document, defining different character classes and the members of each class for use in setting inter-character spacing. The user can define character classes and spacing rules to fit a particular publishing application or to match different language spacing conventions for particular languages. The user can define a set of spacing rules for combinations of character classes as well as priority rules for justification processes. A spacing table can be generated from the text file. The generated spacing table can be stored in a settings file for use by a spacing amount setting routine. A user can select the inter-character spacing table to set the inter-character spacing for a string of characters. The technology can operate in the application domain where techniques can be applied to any font, so that individual fonts do not have to implement any features to enable use of the methods or apparatus of the invention. Moreover, in the application domain it is possible to allow user customization of the rules which offers great flexibility.
The details of one or more implementations of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.
Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.
The display device 3 can be any type of display device, e.g., a CRT or LCD. The input device 5 can be a keyboard, a pointing device (e.g., mouse, track ball, track pointer), a scanner, a communication interface, or a combination of them. The output device 6 can be, for example, a printer or an external memory device. The DTP processing control device 2 can include a processor or memory, such as a CPU, or an electronic composition processing program that includes various program routines, such as a composition control routine, layout and editing routine, that is loaded into a memory and processed by a processor. Alternatively, the DTP processing control device 2 can also include, in whole or in part, hardware including firmware.
Spacing Tables
The settings file 7b includes or specifies one or more spacing tables. The spacing tables can include predefined tables, user-modified tables, and user created tables. In one implementation, the settings file 7b includes one or more spacing classification files that can be used to create one or more spacing tables. In one implementation, the spacing classification file is an XML document. The character classifications and rules for setting inter-character of a spacing table can be applied when spacing a line of text. Processes for setting inter-character spacing in a DTP system, including selecting or modifying a spacing table, are discussed in detail below.
A user can define a classification system. A classification system defines a set of character classes and a set of spacing rules defined for particular class to class character sequences. The user can flexibly define any character class to include any arbitrary number of any arbitrary characters. For example, for each character class the user defines a class name and also designates one or more characters to populate each of the classes. In one implementation, the user can use Unicode code points to designate characters to be included in a class. In one implementation, the designated characters include Latin-based characters including Arabic numerals, punctuation characters, and diacritical marks.
For example, a user can define a character class that the user names “colons.” The user defines the “colons” class to include a “colon” character and a “semi-colon” character. Thus, both characters “:” and “;” are members of the “colons” character class, and any spacing rule defined for the “colons” character class will apply to all characters in the character class. The spacing rules can also define spacing rules for “whitespace” (i.e., the spacing between words) by defining a character class corresponding to characters indicative of a space between words (e.g., a “space” character). Thus, the classifications can define rules for spacing between characters within a word as well as the spacing between words. Character classes can include a large number of different characters. For example, an “all other characters” class can designate as members of the class all legal code points not included in another user-defined character class.
The classification system also includes a set of spacing rules. Spacing rules define spacing behavior between adjacent character classes. In one example rule, for a character class designated “period,” which includes the “.” character, a spacing rule for a period character followed by a second period character adds 0.1 em to the inter-character spacing between the periods (i.e., creating a typical spacing for ellipses). In another example, rule spacing for a character from the “all other characters” class followed by a character in the “colons” class is adjusted to add ⅛ em to the spacing between the two characters, corresponding to a French language typographic custom. The units of spacing can also be defined, for example, as fractions of spaces or em spaces.
Each spacing rule can also define justification parameters and a priority value for use during a line justification processes. The priority designates a place in order (with respect to other rules) in which the rule is applied to add or remove space from a particular rule-defined pair of character classes during a justification process. For example, in one implementation, spacing rules having a high priority are executed first in a justification process to compress or stretch the width of a line of text. The rules are applied in order of priority until the necessary justification is achieved.
The justification process can stretch or compress a composed line of text to achieve a target width. Each spacing rule defines a first justification parameter that sets a spacing value that can be added between a pair of characters when a line is to be stretched. The rule also defines a second justification parameter that sets a spacing amount that can be removed from between a pair characters when a line is to be compressed. For example, a rule can designate that the spacing value between the pair of characters can stretch by 0.33 em or be compressed by 0.20 em in response to a justification process. Thus, the justification parameters define an adjustable range of spacing between a particular pair of characters.
Table 1, below, illustrates an example portion of an XML document defining a classification system including character classes and spacing rules.
A user can create the classification as an XML document and store it as a file, for example, on hard disk 14 (
Setting Inter-Character Spacing in a DTP System
A user interface allows the user to generate a spacing table directly, from a selected XML document, or otherwise. In one implementation, a conventional XML editor can be used, for example, xmlspy or XMetaL to create the XML document.
Alternatively, a user interface can be provided within a program, e.g., DTP system, for rendering spacing tables from XML documents. In one implementation, the user interface includes one or more menu items allowing the user to select an XML document. For example, a pull-down menu can list XML documents that the user can select from. Alternatively, the user can import an XML document. The user interface can read the selected XML document to display a window including the spacing table in a tabular form. The window includes scrolling bars for the horizontal and vertical axes for displaying spacing tables of varying sizes within the window. The tables will have multiple columns and rows. The labels for the columns and rows identify the different character classes defined by the classification. The same character class labels can be used for both the rows and columns of the spreadsheet.
Each listed character class can be shown with a link or control that when selected displays definitional information for the selected character class, for example, in a new window. The definitional information identifies the member characters of the character class. Additionally, the definitional information can include a listing of the spacing rules associated with the selected character class which optionally can be edited by the user.
The intersection of a particular row and column in the table is the logical location for spacing rule data for the corresponding ordered pair of character classes. For example, the row labels can represent the first character class of a pair of character classes, while the column labels represent the second character class of a pair of character classes. Thus, the intersection data indicates the spacing rule for a pair of characters where the first character is a member of the character class indicated by the row and the next character is a member of the character class indicated by the column. The spacing rule data associated with the intersection can include the inter-character spacing value as well as the justification spacing range and priority for stretching and compressing the spacing between the two character classes. The table can be static or the user can directly edit the spacing rules through the spacing table presented in the user interface. The spacing table can be saved to the DTP system for later use.
A process 300 for using a spacing classification file (e.g., an XML document) to define inter-character spacing using a DTP system is shown in
After the desired spacing table is selected, the line composition control routine 7a applies the table to a sequence of character glyphs (step 330). The sequence of characters can be a line of characters, a paragraph, a page, or an entire electronic document. In a first iteration of the line composition control routine 7a, each character is mapped to a particular character classification in the selected spacing table. Once each of the characters is mapped to its respective character classification, the spacing between characters can be determined using the spacing rules defined by the table for the respective pairs of character classifications in the text. This can optionally be done in addition to, or in place of, spacing determined by font-specific kerning information. After applying the spacing rules, the process of setting the inter-character line spacing is complete if the line does not need justification or otherwise need to be adjusted to have a certain width or fall within a certain range of widths.
If it is necessary to justify, or adjust the width, of a line of text, for example, to meet line break preferences, a determination is made whether to stretch (expand) or compress the width of the line of text in order to satisfy the justification requirements (step 340). The justification parameters in each spacing rule, both for compression and stretching the spacing between a pair of rule-defined character classes, are ordered by the designated priority of each spacing rule. Beginning with the highest priority, the spacing modification defined by each spacing rule having a same priority is applied until the necessary compression or stretching of the line is accomplished. If all spacing rules for the highest priority have been applied without accomplishing the necessary result, the next highest priority spacing rules are applied. The process continues through reduced priority spacing rules until the necessary result is reached. If the line of text is to be compressed, spacing is removed from between pairs of characters according to the justification parameter values defined in the spacing rules according to priority (step 342). Similarly, if the line of text is to be stretched, spacing is added between pairs of characters according to the justification parameter values defined in the spacing rules according to priority (step 344). Once the necessary result is reached, the inter-character line spacing operation is complete for the string of characters (step 350).
The following example illustrates this process, where after the line has been correctly spaced, it has to be justified to achieve a necessary delta to its width, which delta may be positive or negative. Then, for each pair of characters, the justification values (stretch and compress) are put into a table keyed by priority. All justifications of the same priority are combined into one entry in this table. Starting with the highest priority, the maximum fraction (in the range 0.0-1.0) of each entry is selected until the necessary delta to the width is achieved. For example, if 3.5 pts are needed and the table has entries <priority 10, 2.5> <priority 5, 10.0>, . . . , the process would select fraction 1.0 for priority 10 and fraction 0.10 for priority 5. Then, for each pair, the amount added to achieve justification (which may be negative, if the line is to be compressed) is the justification value specified for the pair multiplied by the corresponding selected fraction for its priority or their sum if there is more than one.
An alternative DTP system, tailored for Japanese language typesetting, will now be described. In digital composition based on Japanese text, JISX 4051-1995 provides guidelines for line composition and describes inter-character spacing amounts, but does not address how a user can easily set inter-character spacing amounts.
The line composition control routine 7a refers to the text composition spacing amount when disposing a plurality of characters in a line, and if necessary the line composition control routine 7a disposes characters in the line while adjusting the spacing amount within the allowed range, so it is necessary to set the spacing amount for the characters used in advance. In addition, the spacing amount set for a plurality of characters disposed in a line may differ depending on the contents of an electronic document, or according to a user's preferences, so a user needs to be able to set the spacing amount. In one implementation, when the spacing amount is set based on user preferences or a standard used in a particular publishing industry, the spacing amount is sometimes not set frequently; once an appropriate value has been set, it is typically not reset. In addition, in line composition setting the spacing amount is usually not a fixed matter; sometimes a preset spacing amount is appropriately adjusted when doing forbidden processing, and so on. Therefore, it is not always necessary for the user to perform detailed spacing amount setting; sometimes setting a typical spacing amount is sufficient.
In electronic composition such as that described above, user setting of the text composition spacing amount is desirable. It is also desirable to have a DTP system provided with a spacing amount setting function with which a user can easily and quickly set the spacing amount. The specification provides a text composition spacing amount setting device and a text composition spacing amount setting program that can be used in a DTP system. In other words, the specification describes a text composition spacing amount setting function incorporated in a DTP processing system, and makes it possible to start a text composition spacing amount setting routine by selecting “text composition spacing amount setting” in a pull-down menu displayed by clicking “format (T)” in a menu bar on the screen (e.g., of display 13 shown in
The general processing for text composition spacing amount setting is shown in the
As shown in
The text composition spacing amount setting routine outlined above, based on one implementation, shown in
Furthermore, in the implementation shown in
As shown in
Character classes can be defined according to character composition attributes, such as the divisibility of characters such as text, and so on according to character width, character spacing and forbidden processing parameters. In one implementation, in addition to start of line, start of paragraph, and end of line, 16 character classes are defined for setting the inter-character spacing for Japanese characters as follows:
(1) Starting parenthesis
(2) Ending parenthesis
(3) Character that cannot appear at the start of a line
(4) Non-centered punctuation
(5) Centered punctuation
(6) Period
(7) Comma
(8) Repeating characters that cannot be broken across lines
(9) Preceding abbreviation code
(10) Following abbreviation code
(11) Full-width ideographic spaces
(12) Hiragana
(13) Japanese character other than (1) through (12) above
(14) Full-width numeral
(15) Half-width numeral
(16) Half-width Latin text
The characters are classified into 16 character classes as shown above and based on these character classes it is possible to set inter-character spacing, (i.e., the spacing amount between characters) according to whether a character disposed in a line is the start of a paragraph, the start of a line or the end of a line, or if the character is inside a line, according to which character classes a pair of adjacent characters belongs to. For example, if the previous character in a pair of adjacent characters inside a line is kanji and the next character is hiragana, the previous character's character class is “Japanese character other than above” and the next character's character class is “hiragana,” so the spacing amount between these characters can be set as 50%, for example (half the width of full-width spacing amount, i.e., one-half).
In one implementation, the spacing amount between a pair of adjacent characters is set based on the character class of the previous character and the character class of the next character, using the 16 character classes defined above in addition to the start of paragraph, start of line, and end of line as parameters.
The spacing table shown in
In the example shown in
As described above, in
The user can modify each setting value in the spacing table shown in
In one implementation, the user can select the basic settings mode to simply and quickly set spacing amounts. We have studied the various associations between the character class of the previous character and the character class of the next character in the
Furthermore, “non-punctuation” includes characters that cannot appear at the start of a line, non-centered punctuation, repeating characters that cannot be broken across lines, preceding abbreviation codes, following abbreviation codes, hiragana, Japanese characters other than the above, full-width numerals, half-width numerals, and half-width Latin text; these are character classes shown in the table in
Also, the 16 links correspond to input (setting) items shown in the 16 dialog boxes shown in
The invention and all of the functional operations described in this specification can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structural means disclosed in this specification and structural equivalents thereof, or in combinations of them. The invention can be implemented as one or more computer program products, i.e., one or more computer programs tangibly embodied in an information carrier, e.g., in a machine-readable storage device or in a propagated signal, for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple computers. A computer program (also known as a program, software, software application, or code) can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program does not necessarily correspond to a file. A program can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data, in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub-programs, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.
The processes and logic flows described in this specification, including the method steps of the invention, can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing one or more computer programs to perform functions of the invention by operating on input data and generating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performed by, and apparatus of the invention can be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit).
Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory or a random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer are a processor for executing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks. Information carriers suitable for embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.
To provide for interaction with a user, the invention can be implemented on a computer having a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.
The invention has been described in terms of particular embodiments. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. For example, steps of the invention can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results. Data used in the invention can be organized in data structures other than tables, for example, in lists and trees of various kinds. Computational steps can be performed in parallel, and the processing of a second step can be started using partial results before the processing of a first step is completed. Text files storing data in formats other than XML can be used; for example, data defining a classification and spacing rules can be organized in an electronic spreadsheet and stored in a comma-separated-value file.
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