| 摘要 |
A computer implemented method of editing a layout of areas on a page, for example for webpage design, includes displaying the layout in a user interface along with control elements operable via a user input device to manipulate user-variable attributes of the layout, the user-variable attributes including at least one of a number count of subdivisions in said layout, dimensions of said subdivisions in said layout, and border direction between each pair of adjacent subdivisions in said layout. Input via the user input device and the control elements is received to modify one or more of the user-variable attributes. Stored data representing the layout is updated based on the user input, and the display of the layout is updated based on the updated data to present a revised layout based on new values of the user-variable attributes. |
| 主权项 |
1. A computer-implemented method of displaying and editing a layout of areas, the method comprising:
(a) from a computer readable medium, retrieving serialized data representative of the page layout, the serialized data comprising a string of characters in which respective pairs of adjacent subdivisions of the layout are denoted by respective three-position representations in the string of characters, with a first position of each representation containing a single-character orientation indicator that denotes an orientation of the respective pair of adjacent subdivisions by adopting one of only two possible values that respectively denote horizontal and vertical orientations, and second and third positions of each representation containing content indicators that respectively denote contents of said respective pair of adjacent subdivisions, wherein each of the second and third positions of at least one respective pair of adjacent subdivisions is either occupied by a single-character empty-status indicator indicating that a respective one of said one respective pair of adjacent subdivisions is an empty subdivision that is empty of any further subdivisions therein, or occupied by a respective three-position representation of another pair of adjacent subdivisions to reflect that said other pair of adjacent subdivisions is contained within said respective one of said one respective pair of adjacent subdivisions, and wherein the serialized data lacks unique identifiers for the subdivisions, and the single-character empty-status indicator has only one possible value that is the same for each one of a plurality of empty subdivisions in the layout, whereby each and every character in the string of characters is has one of only three possible values; (b) parsing the serialized data to extrapolate data on the page layout and generate a binary tree data structure that is representative of the page layout and comprises at least one internal node representing a respective splitting of the layout or a subdivision of the layout into one of the pairs of adjacent subdivisions of the layout; (c) automatically generating a respective unique identifier for each empty subdivision by sequentially appending values read from a respective series of nodes located on a path between a root node of the binary tree and a respective leaf node of the binary tree into a respective string of digits, and assigning said respective string of digits to said empty subdivision as the respective unique identifier for said empty subdivision; and (d) using the automatically generated unique identifiers to present an on-screen display of the page layout together with on screen handles and/or icons operable via a user input device to manipulate user-variable attributes of the layout, including a number count of subdivisions in said layout and dimensions of said subdivisions in said layout; (e) based on user input through the user input device and the on screen handles and/or icons to perform a modification one or more of said user-variable attributes of the layout, creating a revised binary tree data structure that is representative of a revised layout including said modification; (f) performing a repetition of steps (c) and (d) using the revised binary tree data structure, thereby updating the on-screen display to show the revised layout; and (g) updating the serialized data to reflect the revised layout, and storing the updated serialized data on the computer readable medium without any subdivision unique identifiers for later retrieval of same for use in a subsequent layout display and/or editing session. |
