Patent ID: 7791589

Claim:
An apparatus for displaying an electronic document, comprising: a display unit having a prescribed display area; a first reading unit configured to read a dynamic layout type electronic document from a prescribed storage medium; a second reading unit configured to read, from a prescribed storage medium, user data including shape data specifying the shape of handwritten data written to said electronic document, write area information specifying a position in said electronic document where said handwritten data was written, and layout information at the time of writing specifying a display layout of said electronic document when said handwritten data was formed, and related to the electronic document read by said first reading unit; and a layout calculating unit configured to calculate a layout of said electronic document read by said first reading unit and layout of the handwritten data read by said second reading unit, based on a display parameter set in said display unit; wherein said layout calculating unit includes a determining unit configured to determine, using said display parameter and said layout information at the time of writing, whether it is possible to give a display maintaining positional relation between the handwritten data and the electronic document in the vicinity of said handwritten data at the time when said hand written data was formed, if said electronic document were laid-out using said display parameter and said handwritten data were laid-out based on the layout information at the time of writing; a first layout unit configured to calculate, in response to a determination by said determining unit that said display maintaining the relation is possible, a layout to have said handwritten data overlapping said electronic document while maintaining the positional relation between said handwritten data and said electronic document in the vicinity of said handwritten data, using said display parameter and said layout information at the time of writing; and a second layout unit for calculating a prescribed layout to have said handwritten data and said electronic document not overlapping each other, in response to a determination by said determining unit that said display maintaining the relation is impossible.