Patent ID: 7024623

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for placing an insertion point in an electronic document, the method comprising the steps of: (a) determining whether a location of a cursor in the electronic document is positioned over existing text; (b) collecting context information regarding the location of the cursor in the electronic document by: if the location of the cursor is positioned over existing text, then collecting context information associated with the existing text; if the location of the cursor is not positioned over existing text, collecting context information associated with the existing text that is proximate to the location of the cursor, wherein collecting context information comprises: examining an alignment of a line over which the cursor is positioned, examining whether there is text on the line over which the cursor is positioned, examining whether tab stops exist on the line over which the cursor is positioned, determining a horizontal position of the cursor on the line, determining a vertical position of the cursor in the document, determining the formatting of text above the cursor location when there is no text on the line over which the cursor is positioned, and determining the formatting of text below the cursor location when there is no text on the line over which the cursor is positioned and when there is no text above the cursor location; (c) determining whether the collected context information matches a trigger associated with a rule in a database of rules, wherein the rule is associated with formatting steps for placing the insertion point in the electronic document; (d) if the collected context information matches a trigger, changing a presentation of the cursor to indicate the type of formatting to be applied to text and objects inserted at the location of the cursor; (e) determining whether an indication has been received to place the insertion point in the electronic document; and (f) if an indication has been received, then performing formatting based on the formatting steps to place the insertion point in the electronic document at the location of the cursor.