Patent ID: 7392469

Claim:
A method of reducing the effort required to annotate a computer document with comments, comprising: (i) providing a memory which is able to store a series of characters and binary-information in said memory, (ii) providing a primary character and binary-information input means configured to enable a human operator to create and store a document consisting of characters and binary-information in said memory, (iii) storing said document in said memory, (iv) providing a secondary character and binary-information input means configured to enable the human operator to create comments consisting of characters and binary-information that describe parts of said document while said human operator simultaneously continues uninterrupted to use said primary input means to create said document, such that the human operator does not have to pause the secondary input means to use the primary input means to create said document, or pause the primary input means to use the secondary input means to create comments, (v) providing a memory controller which will: (a) segment said secondary series of characters and binary information into individual comments, (b) determine parts of said document to which each said comment refers, said determination being performed automatically and based on execution of program steps by the memory controller to interpret information input by the human operator and timing of said input of said information using the primary character and binary-information input means and the secondary character and binary-information input means, (c) determine the locations in said memory of said parts of said primary information to which said parts of said secondary information refer, (vi) storing said comments in said memory, (vii) storing links in said memory between said comments and said parts of said document to which said comments refer, such that said comments are automatically assigned to portions of said document without a human operator having to separately identify said portions of said document to which said comments should be assigned, and (viii) providing a document output means operatively connected to said memory configured to enable the human operator to view said document and said comments, whereby said links between said comments and said parts of said document are visually apparent.