Patent ID: 7424673

Claim:
A system for formatting a document, the system comprising: a source document having at least one document element having an associated formatting style; a target document having a corresponding formatting style; a formatting component operative to perform one of the following: cut and copy the document element from the source document and to paste the document element into the target document; and a formatting rules component containing a list of rules that describe events that can trigger an automatic re-formatting, the formatting rules component containing at least one cutting or copying formatting rule that is not associated with a section break or final paragraph mark in the source document and an associated formatting action the formatting rules component being operative to compare the associated formatting style of the document element of the source document and the corresponding formatting style of the target document, wherein the formatting rules component being operative to compare the associated formatting style of the document element of the source document and the corresponding formatting style of the target document comprises resolving conflicts between the corresponding formatting style and the associated formatting style, and wherein the formatting component formats the document element in accordance with the formatting action in response to a determination that the formatting rule has been triggered and in response to instructions from the formatting rules component and wherein the formatting component renames a second action in response to a determination that the formatting action in the list has been redefined in the target document and that the corresponding formatting style and the associated formatting style are not identical.