Abstract:
Methods and computer software for generating Glidetext™—that is, text in which the word sequence in a first line of text is from left to right followed by a second line of text in which the word sequence is from right to left and continuing in this alternating fashion throughout a piece of text. The method comprises converting text in which the word sequence is the same in every line to text in which the word sequence in every other line is from right to left. Only the word sequence is reversed, the sequence and orientation of the letters in each word in all lines stays the same.

Description:
This is a division of application Ser. No. 09/650,243 filed Aug. 29, 2000 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,801 which is a continuation in part of application Ser. No. 08/935,005 filed Sep. 22, 1997 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,147 incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     BACKGROUND 
     Conventional text is normally read one line at a time from left to right. At the end of each line the reader disconnects the brain and eyes, returns the brain and eyes to the beginning of the next line, and reconnects with the first word on that line. The extra weight on the brain and eyes caused by one disconnect/reconnect per line of reading slows and strains the reader. A new type of text has been invented to overcome some of the difficulties reading conventional text. In this new text, which is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/935,005, the word sequence in every other line of text is reversed so the reader when finished reading one line from left to right drops her eyes directly below to begin reading the next line from right to left. The following paragraph is an example of this new text. 
     The new text eliminates the brain and eyes disconnect/reconnect interruption It .text structured traditionally of line each of end the at reader the by experienced does so by reversing the sequence of words on every other line of text thereby to appears format reading new different. This flow reading continuous a permitting be quickly grasped by beginning or capable readers of any age. 
     This new text is sometimes referred to herein for convenience as Glidetext™. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention is directed to methods and computer software for generating Glidetext™—that is, text in which the word sequence in a first line of text is from left to right followed by a second line of text in which the word sequence is from right to left and continuing in this alternating fashion throughout the text. The relevant “text” includes any of the various parts of an electronic or printed document. Each paragraph, page or other natural break in the words of a document may define the relevant text. If the relevant text is a paragraph, for example, the alternating word sequence begins anew with each paragraph so that the word sequence in the first line of each paragraph is from left to right. 
     In one embodiment of the invention, the method comprises converting text in which the word sequence is the same in every line to text in which the word sequence in every other line is from right to left. 
     In one embodiment, the method comprises converting text in which the word sequence in every line is from left to right to text in which the word sequence in every other line is from right to left. This conversion may be accomplished by reversing the word sequence in every other line of text. 
     The foregoing summary is not intended to be an inclusive list of all aspects and features of the invention nor should any limitation on the scope of the invention be implied from this summary. The summary is provided in accordance with the requirements of 37 C.F.R. §1.73 and the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) 608.01 (d) merely to apprise the public of the nature of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating one method for converting a conventional text document to a Glidetext™ document. 
     FIGS. 2A and 2B are a flow chart illustrating one method for converting conventional text to Glidetext™. 
     FIGS. 3A and 3B are a flow chart illustrating one method for reversing the word sequence in even numbered lines of text. 
     FIG. 4 is a graphical display illustrating a group of Glidetext™ menu selection icons such as might be displayed through a Windows™ operating system. 
     FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating one method for converting select portions of a conventional text document to Glidetext™. 
     FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating one method for creating a document in Glidetext™ using conventional word processing techniques that create conventional text and the conversion techniques illustrated in FIGS.  2 A and  2 B. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     “Computer software” or “software” as those terms are used in the Summary, Description and Claims mean any computer readable instructions in any form that when executed cause a computer to perform a desired act, task or operation. Software, therefore, includes but is not limited to computer readable instructions residing on or executable from a CD (compact disc), diskette, hard drive, RAM (random access memory), ROM (read only memory), firmware or ASIC (application specific integrated circuit). 
     In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that illustrate specific embodiments of the invention. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The following description and the drawings, therefore, are not to be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the invention is defined in the appended Claims. 
     Referring to FIG. 1, the process of converting a conventional text document to a Glidetext™ document and the software implementing that process will typically begin by breaking the document down into basic parts and defining those parts electronically as separate computer objects (step  10 ). The objects are to be used to identify and distinguish between parts of the document that will and will not be converted to Glidetext™. In a book, for example, the title page, table of contents and chapter headings (which will not be converted) and the text in each chapter or each paragraph within this text (which will be converted) would be defined as separate objects. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art of object oriented computer programming, a document could be broken down into many different objects. Headings, paragraphs, sentences or even words, page numbers and characters could be defined as separate objects. It is expected that for most conversions of conventional text documents to Glidetext™ documents, only the textual parts of the document will be converted to Glidetext™. Headings, tables and other short pieces of text usually will not be converted. Hence, the primary textual objects in most documents will not be smaller than a paragraph. 
     Software embodying the invention initially will likely be designed for use with conventional word processing software such as Microsoft Word or Corel Wordperfect™. It is envisioned that as Glidetext™ becomes a commercially viable alternative to conventional text, software embodying the invention will be incorporated into and become an integral part of word processing software packages. The basic parts of documents created with some conventional word processing or publishing software packages may already be broken down into objects such as those noted above. It may be possible for many such documents to use the predefined objects. Hence, defining objects in step  10  for converting a document may not be necessary separate and apart from the creation of the document itself. 
     Once the objects are defined, the publisher, editor or other user goes through the document and identifies or selects the objects that will be converted to Glidetext™ (step  12 ). The conversion objects may be selected manually or automatically through the use of predefined user preferences. Then, the text in the selected objects is converted to Glidetext™ (step  14 ). That is to say, for the selected objects, the conventional text in which the word sequence in every line is from left to right is converted to text in which the word sequence in every other line is from right to left. 
     One embodiment for converting a conventional text document to a Glidetext™ document is shown in more detail in FIGS. 2A and 2B. Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, starting at the beginning of the document, evaluate each object to determine if it is to be converted to Glidetext™ (steps  16 - 22 ). For objects that will not be converted, move to the next object (step  24 ). For objects that will be converted, keep words in the first line of text and in every other line thereafter (i.e., the odd numbered lines of text) in conventional left to right sequence (step  26 ). Then, reverse the word sequence in the second line of text and in every other line thereafter (i.e., the even numbered lines of text) (step  28 ). Only the word sequence is reversed—the sequence and orientation of the letters in each word in all lines stays the same. 
     In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, reversing the word sequence is accomplished through steps  30 - 52  as follows. For the each even numbered line, set one pointer on the first word in the line and a second pointer on the last word in the line (step  30 ). Then, swap the two words so that the first word on the line becomes the last word and the last word becomes the first word (step  32 ). Reset the pointers in one word towards the middle of the line, swap those words and repeat this process until all words on the line have been swapped (steps  34 - 40 ). 
     Punctuation is preserved in step  38  by associating the punctuation and its spacing with the immediately preceding word in the text but swapping the punctuation to the other side of the word. So, punctuation appears on the left side of the word in Glidetext™ rather than on the right side of the word as in conventional text. 
     It may be desirable in some texts to mark the first letter of each right to left line (step  42 ) to minimize any confusion for the reader as to the direction of the word sequence in that line. This may be accomplished, for example, with underline, bold print, italics or an oversize letter. 
     If the line is not that last even numbered line in the object, move to the next line and repeat steps  30 - 42  (steps  48  and  50 ). If the line is the last even numbered line in the object, end the reverse word sequence sub-routine (step  52 ) and proceed to the next object (steps  54  and  56 ). Once the last object has been completed, it may be desirable in some documents to mark transitions from one text format to another (step  58 ). This may be accomplished, for example, by placing a watermark or other symbol at the beginning of Glidetext™ formatted text and at the beginning of conventionally formatted text. Preferably, the symbols will be different to allow the reader to more readily determine the format of the text noted by the symbol. Alternatively, each object may be marked as it is converted to signify the transition from conventional text to Glidetext™ and from Glidetext™ to conventional text. 
     An alternative embodiment for reversing the word sequence is illustrated in the flow chart of FIGS. 3A and 3B. The embodiment shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B rewrites each even numbered line in a second document, temporary buffer or other work area and then replaces the original line with the rewritten line. Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, beginning with the first word in the line and proceeding from left to right, write the first word to a temporary buffer (step  31 ), move to the front of the buffer (step  33 ), write the next word to the buffer (step  35 ), preserve the punctuation and continue until each word in the line has been written to the buffer (steps  31 - 39 ). 
     The application of steps  31 - 39  is illustrated below for the following line of text. 
     This is an even numbered line of text. 
     
       
         
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
                 Step 31 
                 This 
               
               
                   
                 Steps 33 and 35 
                 is This 
               
               
                   
                 Repeat Steps 33 and 35 
                 an is This 
               
               
                   
                 Repeat Steps 33 and 35 
                 even an is This 
               
               
                   
                 Repeat Steps 33 and 35 
                 numbered even an is This 
               
               
                   
                 Repeat Steps 33 and 35 
                 line numbered even an is This 
               
               
                   
                 Repeat Steps 33 and 35 
                 of line numbered even an is This 
               
               
                   
                 Repeat Steps 33 and 35 
                 text of line numbered even an is This 
               
               
                   
                 Steps 33, 35 and 38 
                 .text of line numbered even an is This 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     In the above illustration, the punctuation and associated spaces are treated as a separate word that is transferred after the adjacent word (“text” in this example). Alternatively, punctuation and associated spaces may be treated as part of the adjacent word and transferred along with the word. Treatment of punctuation will typically vary depending on how punctuation is treated in the base word processing software. In Microsoft Word™, for example, punctuation is treated as an object or “word” distinct from the adjacent word. 
     Once the line has been rewritten in reverse word sequence, the rewritten line is substituted for the original line by, for example, pasting the new line on to the document using cutting and pasting techniques available in conventional word processing software (step  39 ). 
     The processes described above can also be used to convert a Glidetext™ document to a conventional text document. For example, performing steps  16 - 60  in FIGS. 2A and 2B on a Glidetext™ document will yield a conventional text document. The steps are the same except that first letters and transitions are unmarked steps  42  and  58 . 
     FIG. 4 illustrates a group of Glidetext™ menu selection icons such as might be displayed through a Windows™ operating system. The Convert All To Glidetext™ icon  62  is selected to convert a conventional text document to a Glidetext™ document using the process described above for FIGS. 2A and 2B. The Convert All From Glidetext™ icon  64  is selected to convert a Glidetext™ document back to a conventional text document using the process described above for FIGS. 2A and 2B. 
     The Convert Selection To Glidetext™ icon is selected to convert only selected portions of a document to Glidetext™ as shown in FIG.  5 . Referring to FIG. 5, open the document and select the section or sections for conversion to Glidetext™ (steps  82  and  84 ). Starting at the beginning a section, evaluate each object in the section to determine if it is to be converted to Glidetext™ (steps  86  and  88 ). For objects that will not be converted, move to the next object (step  90 ). For each object to be converted, apply steps  26 - 52  in FIGS. 2A and 2B (steps  92 - 96 ). If all selected objects have been converted, mark the transitions from one text format to another (step  98 ) and end the section conversion (step  100 ). 
     The Convert Selection From Glidetext™ icon is selected to convert only selected portions of a document from Glidetext™ to conventional text using the process of FIG. 4 as applied to sections of a document that include Glidetext™. 
     One method for creating a document in Glidetext™ is illustrated in FIG.  6 . This method for the direct entry of Glidetext™ uses conventional word processing techniques that create conventional text and the conversion techniques described above to generate the Glidetext™ document. Generating a Glidetext™ document may be initiated, for example, by selecting the Glidetext™ Direct Entry icon shown in the windows display of FIG.  4 . Referring to FIG. 6, the word sequence in each line of text typed or otherwise entered by the user is initially formulated left to right (step  104 ). Then, after each even numbered line is entered, the word sequence in that line is reversed by, for example, the process of steps  30 - 42  in FIGS. 2A and 2B (step  106 ). 
     Referring again to FIG. 4, other features of the invention might also be displayed to the user as selectable icons. For example, user preferences for exempting certain sections of a document from conversion to Glidetext™ can be entered by selecting icon  72 . Document objects can be exempted from conversion by selecting icon  74 . Those sections of a document the user wishes to identify as sections containing Glidetext™ can be marked by selecting icon  76 . Character marking style and Glidetext™ return characters can be set by selecting icons  78  and  80 .