Patent ID: 7461340

Claim:
In a computing environment wherein decorative panels are displayed using cells of software tables, wherein cells of software tables have at least one of attributes of the individual cells specified or images displayed in the cells such that a plurality of cells of software tables appear as a single unit forming at least a portion of a decorative panel, a method of automatically updating at least one of attributes of individual cells or images in individual cells to change the appearance of a decorative panel, the method comprising: displaying a decorative panel by displaying cells of a software table, wherein the software table comprises HTML table code, where cells of the software table spatially correspond to spatial regions of the decorative panel, and wherein displaying a software table is performed such that cells of the software table are displayed as a single unit forming at least a portion of the decorative panel, by displaying cells with at least one of attributes specified for a cell, or images in cells displayed to form a single unit; receiving user input specifying a change in the appearance of the decorative panel; mapping changes in the appearance of the decorative panel to cells in the software table; automatically revising at least one of attributes of cells or images in cells, without a user needing to manipulate individual cells, to correspond to the changes in the appearance of the decorative panel; and evaluating the HTML table code against predetermined inference rules to determine if the HTML table code corresponds to a predefined pattern recognized as a valid decorative panel.