Text Size

Apple patents 'data-driven' page layout app

updated 11:20 am EDT, Thu November 1, 2007

Apple page layout patent

Apple has filed an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office for a "data-driven" page layout application. The filing notes that writing custom pages in languages like XML can often take time, even if using templates, since these still require building the code, and knowing enough to fix it if the template is somehow broken. Apple's technology instead suggests a way of producing pages based on previously created ones, pulling out structural objects and "relationships" from them, while still allowing users to edit the new pages in a graphical interface.

This permits the quick creation of pages with transposed means of representing data, while letting users customize this information by adding or deleting elements. Copied graphs, for instance, could have points inserted or removed, and their information changed. To this Apple suggests adding an assortment of possible stock objects, similar to those found in current WYSIWYG web editors, such as bars, buttons, dividers and tables.

As an example of the concept Apple has supplied a sketch of an "Island Music" website, in which the layout of the main page could be quickly replicated for each sub-page, data changing to reflect the albums and songs of a particular genre.

 
Previous Comments

Will you guys EVER learn?

11/01, 12:12pm reply

An APPLICATION for a patent is NOT a patent. Apple hasn't "patented" anything yet. They have simply filed an application seeking a patent. They may or may not get one - filing an application is not a guarantee that you will actually get a patent.

Mrjinglesusa

Professional Poster

Joined: Feb 2002

0

iDatabase

11/01, 12:37pm reply

thats the new database "i" app for iwork

Bartman

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 1999

0

XML is not ideal

11/01, 12:50pm reply

They are already using XML for TextEdit, Pages, KeyNote and Numbers and I have noticed how readily the styling seems to fall apart.

This is really creating a house of cards and selling it as regular real estate to the unsuspecting.

rubaiyat

Dedicated MacNNer

Joined: Feb 2006

0

hey rubaiyat....

11/01, 04:21pm reply

what exactly do you mean the styling falls apart?

As for Text edit, Keynote, Pages and Numbers, my experience has been exceptional.

Using a non-clever analogy doesn't really state your case.

dwoodruff

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2006

0

re: xml is not ideal

11/01, 04:36pm reply

XML is an encoding format like any other. I'm not sure how it is a "house of cards" or how it is inherently more instable than a binary format. Less efficient, yes, but instable, how?

hayesk

Professional Poster

Joined: Sep 1999

0

Popular News