CA2151936A1 - Method for managing stacks of document pages - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus and method for an information processing system (Fig. 1) are disclosed for improved manipulation of documents consisting of multiple pages. In one embodiment (Fig. 3a), a multi-page document is depicted by a representation of a stack of pages and a request area through which an operator may navigate within the stack. In another embodiment (Fig. 3b), a multi-page document is depicted by static icon representing the stack and a dynamic miniature replica of a current page within the stack. Additional functions are disclosed such as adding one or more pages to a document, removing a page from a stack, rotating a page (Fig. 6) within a stack, and adding annotations to a page (Fig. 7).

Description

~jO 95/12193 21 51 9 3 ~ PCT/US94/12178 DESCRIPTION

Method For Managing stacks of Document Pages.

Terllni(~l Field The present invention relates in general to the manipulation of documents in an information processing system, and relates more particularly to a user interface for m~n~ging one or more document pages arranged in stacks and for navigating within the stacks of document pages.

Bal k~round Art There is considerable interest among those in the field of information processing to simplify the operation of processing systems used to manage information. Operational requirements have been simplified by the development of "interfaces" between a processing system and an operator which are easy to use. One well known type of system-operator interface is a so-called "graphical user interface" or GUl which displays a l~leselltation of a desktop and various objects on the desktop such as pages of documents and deskaccessolies. The r~,esentation of pages l~resel~t information and the l~l~sentation of desk acces~o,ies represent functions provided by the processing system which may be used to manage the information.
The term graphical user interface or GUI lacks a precise formal definition, but it is generally understood to refer to a system-operator interface which utilizes graphical capabilities of system displays. Examples of such GUIs are provided by software offered under the trademarks "Windows," "OS/2 Presçnt~tion Manager," "OSF/Motif" and "Macintosh Finder."
In contrast to these graphics-mode interfaces, some so-called text-mode interfaces offer many of the benefits of true GUIs. One example of such a text-mode interface is provided by software offered under the trademark "DESQview."
The term GUI as used herein refers to both graphics-mode and text-mode interfaces.
It will be a~arellt to those of ordinary skill in the art that some of the features described below are better implemented using graphics-mode interfaces; however, text-mode interfaces can closely simulate the a~ ce of true GUIs by using geometric-shapedcharacters. The emphasis herein is upon the way in which an operator may interact with WO 95112193 2 1 5 1 ~ 3 ~ ~ PCT/US94/12178 ~

an information processing system rather than upon details of technology implementing the interface.
The ~ sentation of desk accessories such as f~ccimile machines, in/out boxes andtrash cans are typically static images or "icons" which resemble co"c~s~onding real-life 5 tangible objects. The icons ,~lesellt system processes which perform functions similar to the functions pe,rolllled by the tangible objects suggested by the icons. For example, an icon suggesting a f~ imile machine ,~L"esents a system process which sends and/or receives a "fax" and an icon suggesting a trash can lep,esellts a system process for discarding or deleting information.
Pages of documents, which colles~ond to stored information, may be r~,esented by icons or they may be ,t;plesented by dynamic images which are mini~ture replicas of the information as it would appear on a printed page. The term "document" is used herein to refer to a wide variety of stored information which may be displayed or ,~,esellted on printed pages. Miniature replicas of document pages may rep,esellt text and/or graphical 15 information pri~ted by suitable processing software.
The use of mini~tllre replicas to leplesent pages of information is often prefe"ed even though more procçssing resources are required to generate and display the replicas.
Such use is preferred because it can simplify the task of identifying a document. The mini~ture replicas provide a direct means for identifying the contents of a document as 20 opposed to indirect means such as a static icon with a name or short title associated with the do~;l...-ellt. Docu",ents co~ h-in~ multiple pages can be repr~sented by a plurality of mini~ture replicas, one replica for each page.
An "Apparatus for Manipulating Documents in a Data Processing System Utilizing Reduced Images of Sets of Information which are Movable" is disclosed in U.S. patent 5,060,135, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The disclosure descAbes forming mini~hlre replicas, r~r~ d to therein as "stamps," and also describes arranging stamps into stacks. The re~,~sentation of each page in an aligned stack is offset slightly both vertically and holizonlally in a manner suggesting a stack of pages. The disclosure describes a GUI in which stacks may be managed as an entity; for example, the contents of all of the pages in a stack may be electronically mailed. The disclosure also describes a few functions which may be pe,rolllled with the top page in the stack such as removing the page from the stack or adding an annotation to the page.
A GUI can simplify the operations required to manage information in a processingsystem by allowing an operator to interact with ,~plese~ tions in a way which emulates 21~19 3 6 PCT/US94/12178 ~o 95/12193 f~mili~r activities with tangible objects. For example, the operator may transmit a document fA~simile by using the GUI to move a ~ sentation of the document to a f~r~imile rnachine icon. The operator may accomplish these interactions using a keyboard and/or a "pointing device" such as a mouse, a trackball, a joystick, a light pen, or a stylus with an electronic tablet. A display screen provides visual feedback to the operator.
Generally, the operator may use a pointing device and/or a keyboard to move a visible marker or "cursor" within the area shown by the screen, and the pointing device and/or the keyboard may be used to enter information or to make certain selections.
Despite the improvements offered by interfaces such as a GUI, the manipulation of multi-page documents is hindered by the lack of a way to easily move or navigate within a stack of pages and to pe,rolill functions with any given page within a stack.

Disclosure of Invention It is an object of the present invention to provide for a system-operator interface which simplifies the operations required to manage a stack of pages and to allow system processes to pelroll~l functions with any page within a stack.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for a system-operator interface which simplifies moving or navigating within a stack of pages.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide for a system-operator interface which requires fewer proces~ing resources to display a i~leselltation of a stack of pages.
These objects and other objects which are discussed throughout this desc,ipLion are achieved by the invention as claimed.
In accolJance with the teachings of one aspect of the present invention, a pLOC~ g system displays a l~lesell~tion of a stack of pages having an image of a "current page"
and having a navigation area by which an operator may specify any page in the stack to be the current page. In pr~rel,c~d embodiments, the current page is r~r~sented by a miniature replica of a printed r~,tsellt~Lion of that page. By providing a navigation area by which an operator may easily specify any page within the stack, the operations required to navigate within the stack are simplified.
In one embodiment, an operator is provided with a navigation area comprising a plurality of in-lic~tors by which a new current page may be specified. These indic~tors refer to the first page in the stack, the last page in the stack, the page preceding the current page and the page following the current page. In yet another embodiment, an operator W0 95/12193 21 ~ 6 PCT/US94/12178 may specify any page by its location within the stack. For example, an operator may specify the fifth page to be the current page.
In accordance with the teachings of another aspect of the present invention, a I.r~,ces~ g system displays a lc;L)lc~selltation of a stack of pages in which the stack is depicted by a static icon and a current page within the stack is le~)resented by a mini~tllre replica of a printed l~,~sentation of that page. In preferred embodiments, the replica of the current page is arranged such that it ap~ to lie on top of the stack. By depicting the stack with a static icon, fewer proc~scing resources are required than would be needed to depict each page in the stack, and particularly to depict each page with a dynamic image 10 or replica.
In accoldance with the teachings of yet another aspect of the present invention, a proces~ing system provides functions by which an operator may (1) assemble individual pages into a stack, (2) insert one or more individual pages into an existing stack at a spe~ified location, (3) insert the pages within a first stack into a second stack at a specified 15 location, (4) remove a selected page from a stack, (5) add notations to a selected page, (6) rotate the image and modify the colles~onding information in a selected page such that a printed l~lt;sentation of the information will also be rotated, and (7) extract information corresponding to a selected page. In a preferred embodiment, the ,ep,t;sel-tation of the stack is adjusted to reflect the maximum dimensions of the pages within the stack.
Por ease of discussion, much of the following discussion will assume an interface implemented as a GUI displaying a desktop, but it should be understood that aspects of the present invention may be incorporated into other implementations. More particular mention will be made of operations using a mouse. Por example, the term "clicking on"
an object is usually understood to refer to operator actions with a mouse to identify and 25 select the object. These actions often comprise moving a cursor with the mouse until it overlaps the desired object and briefly pressing or "clicking" a button on the mouse to select the object. As used herein, however, terms usually associated with mouse usage will refer generally to operator actions to y~,rol", similar functions using any device such as another type of pointing device or a keyboard. For example, an embodiment of an 30 interface may allow an opeldtor to "click on" an object using a keyboard according to a procedure such as pressing a "tab" key to highlight s~lccç~ive objects on the screen until the desired object is highlighted, and then pressing an "enter" or "return" key to select the highli~hted object. Similarly, an embodiment may allow an operator to move a cursor by ~o 95/12193 21 51 9 3 ~ PCT/USg4/12178 pressing keys with up/down and right/left arrows, and performing a click by pressing the "enter" key. Many variations are possible.
As another example, an operation known as "drag and drop" may be pelro",led with a mouse by moving a cursor to a desired object, pressing and holding down a button S on the mouse to select the object, "dragging" the object across the desktop by holding the button down while moving the cursor, and "dropping" the object at a desired location by rele~inE the button. An embodiment of an interface may allow an opel~tor to drag and drop an object with a keyboard using a procedure such as pressing a "tab" key to hi~hligllt an object, holding down a "control" key while pressing an "enter" key to select the object and while pressing keys with up/down and right/left arrows to move the selected object across the desktop to a desired location, and pressing the "enter" key after releasing the "control" key to drop the selected object.
A mouse may also be used to initiate system processes or to select options. Thismay be accomplished by clicking on a menu item or on a simulated button corresponding to the system process, or by clicking on a symbol corresponding to the option. An embodiment may also respond to a keyboard, particularly if each menu item, button and/or option is uniquely identified by a letter or number. For example, a menu item "select All"
with the letter "A" highlighted may r~,t;sellt a system process which selects all objects on the desktop. By clicking on the text in the menu, all objects on the desktop are selected.
The highli~htinE of the letter "A" is a reminder that the system process may also be initi~t~d by pressing the "A" key on a keyboard while the menu is displayed.
These activities may be supported using other devices and other operational steps.
These examples show that a variety of embodiments are possible. Although some operational efficiencies may be achieved by using certain devices and certain operations as opposed to others, the precise manner in which operations are carried out is not critical to the practice of the present invention.
A more det~iled description of several GUIs may be obtained by referring to "Microsoft Windows User's Guide, Operating System Version 3.1," 1993, Microsoft Corp., "Macintosh User's Guide for Desktop Macintosh Computers, 1992, Apple 30 Co",~.ller, Inc., and "GEOS System Software Overview," 2nd ed., 1993, Geoworks Inc., all of which are incol~ol~ted by reference in their entirety.
Other featules of the present invention and its plerel~ed embodiments may be better understood by referring to the following discussion and the acco".panying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements in the several figures. The contents of WO 95/12193 ~ $ PCT/US9.1112178 the following discussion and the drawings are set forth as examples only and should not be understood to lc;l)lesellt limitations upon the scope of the present invention.

Brief l~escription o~ Drawinpc Figure #01 is a schematic l~.eselltation of an information processing system.
S Figure #02 is a schematic illustration of a processing system screen display comprising a desktop with r~lcselltations of documents and system processes.
Figures #03a-#03c are hypothetical lepleselltations of a document stack according to various aspects of the present invention.
Figure #04 is a schematic illustration of a dialog box by which an operator may 10 specify a new current page.
Figure #05 is a schematic illustration of a proces~ing system screen display comprising a desktop with a r~lesentation of a stack according to one aspect of the present invention.
Figure #06 is a hypothetical ,~plt;sentation of a document stack with a rotated image 15 for the current page according to one aspect of the present invention.
Figure #07 is a schematic r~lrse'lt~tiQn of a processing system screen display with an enlarged representation of a page image with annotations.
Figure #08 is a flow diagram illustrating one example of logic flow in an interactive system which may incorporate various aspects of the present invention.
Figure #09 is a flow diagram illustrating one example of a process to manage mini~ture replicas.

Modes for Carryin~ Out the Invention A. ~c~ System Figure Y01 illustrates schematically a typical information processing system suitable 25 for incorporating various aspects of the present invention. Other types and combinations of equipment are possible. The structure or architecture of the system is not critical to the practice of the present invention.
Referring to the figure, processor 2 receives operator requests from keyboard 4 and/or from pointing device 6, performs a number of functions to service the requests, and 30 provides visual feed back to the operator using display 8. Memory 10, which is typically a random access memory, provides temporary storage for processor 2; storage 12, which may use magnetic or optical storage techniques for example, provides long-term storage.

21~193~
~o 9S/12193 PCT/USg4/12178 I/O 14 represel~ts various input/output peripherals such as modems, scanners, printers and nelwolk~.
Many variations are possible. For example, long-term storage may be provided els~. h~e such as by a network server and other devices may be used to provide fe~db~k to an operator such as sound generating devices. The screen may be a graphical device or a text device. No particular pointing device is required but a mouse is preferred. Devices such as so-called "touch screens" may be used as both a display screen and a pointing device. Processor 2 may be implemented with a single-chip microcomputer, a miclul)rûcGssor~ a large-scale main frame computer, special-purpose hardware or any other a~alus or method capable of preforming the functions needed to service operator requests.
The following fli~cu~sion first describes various ways in which an operator may interact with a system-opel~tor interface. The description is directed toward vari~ous fealulcs of an interface that convey information to an operator and receive information from an operator, and is directed toward operator actions which may be used to achieve desired results. Following the di~cussion of the interface description, some details of implementation are disclosed.
1~. Desktop Figure #02 is a schematic illustration of a graphical user interface (GUI) display known in the alt which comprises menu 102, "button bar" 104 in which designated portions or "buttons" col,cspond to system processes, icons 106a-106c r~,esçllting system ~r~cGsses and desktop 110. These features of the GUI are well known in the art and their use is not critical to the practice of the present invention. The three icons 106a-106c lG~lesGIlt system processes of sçn-ling/receiving document f~csirniles, printing documents, and sending/receiving documents by electronic mail, respectively. In many embodiments, the icons suggest tangible objects which pelrolu~ functions similar to the co-lGs~ollding system process. For example, a l~leselltation of an in/out box or a mail box can be used in an icon rGpl~sel~ g a system process for electronic mail.
On desktop 110 appear l~lGsentations of an individual page 112, an unaligned setof ov~la~ing pages 114, a set of pages assembled into a stack 116, and an aligned set of overlapping pages 118.
The set of pages assembled into stack 116 differ from other pages on the desktop in that they may be manipulated as a single entity. For example, the entire stack may be WO 95/12193 21~ PCT/US94/12178 selected by clicking on any page in stack 116. By contrast, clicking on any one page in ovt;,l~ping pages 118 will result in the selection of only that page.
The l~c;sentation of stack 116 has several deficiencies: (1) even though stack 116 and pages 118 are treated very differently, there is little or no visible distinction between 5 the two sets of pages; (2) the l~,esentation of stack 116 becomes unwieldy as the number of pages in the stack becomes large because a portion of each page is r~icsented; and (3) no facility is provided to easily navigate among the pages in the stack.
In the particular embodiment illustrated in Figure #02, the information c~ onding to each page image is ,~presented by a mini~tnre replica of the information 10 as it would appear on a printed page. Although considerable processing resources are required, the use of replicas is preferred in many embodiments because it assists an operator in identifying documents. Unfortunately, because each page is lt;presented by a replica, the proce~ing resour~;es required to display the l~esellt~tion of stack 116 increases as the number of pages in the stack increases.
C. Stack R~ .t~lion Figure #03a illustrates one embodiment of a repleselltation of a document stack according to one aspect of the present invention. The representation 200 comprises mini~ture replica 202 of only a current page, static icon 204 indicating that the object l~resents a stack, title 206 which provides additional identification of the document, and navigation bar 210 which displays the position of the current page in the stack and which may be used to control stack navigation. In the hypothetical example shown in Figure #03a, area 216 indicates that the first of three pages is the current page.
Navigation bar 210 comprises areas by which an operalor may direct navigation within the stack. By selecting area 212, the "previous" page preceding the current page will become the new current page and a mini~hlre replica 202 of the new current page will be shown. By selecting area 214, the "next" page following the current page will become the new current page and a mini~tllre replica 202 of the new current page will be shown.
In either case, the information displayed in area 216 will be updated to show the correct number of the current page.
In one embodiment, an opel~tor may "wrap around" the end of the stack by selecting the "next" page following the last page, or by selecting the "previous" page ~rece~ling the first page in the stack. In another embodiment, no wrap around is pell~.illed.
In this second embodiment, the lack of a wrap around feature may be indicated bychanging the apl)ea.~lce of area 212 or area 214 as al)p,up.iate to show that the ~Vo 95/12193 21 S 1 9 ~ ~ PCT/US94/12178 corresponding function is inactive, and/or by providing an audible alarm that the operator is attempting to move beyond the first or last page of the stack.
In a preferred embodiment, an operator may specify any page in the stack as the new current page by selecting area 216. In response to this selection, the interface pl`OIllptS
the operator to specify the desired page. A "dialog box" is one example of an interface embodiment which l~r~ ls for and receives operator specifit~tions. A schem~tic illustration of dialog box 220 is shown in Figure #04. Text 221 indicates the number of pages in the stack and the number of the current page. An operator may use a keyboard or other device to enter a page number in area 222 and move directly to that page by selecting "OK" button 224. Alternatively, the first or last page in the stack may be specified by selecting "First page" button 226 or "Last page" button 228, l~s~eclively. Alternatively, the request to specify a new page may be cancelled by selecting "Cancel" button 230.
~fter specifying a new page, the dialog box di~peal~ and the l~lesel~tation of the stack is updated to show a miniature replica of the new current page. The dialog box illustrated in the figure should be understood to be only one example of how an operator request may be received.
Numerous variations in the embodiment illustrated in Figure #03a are possible.
Navigator bar 210 may contain only one area in which an operator request may be received. For example, the one area may permit an opel~Lor to specify only the next page or, alternatively, to specify either the previous or the next page by pressing the left or right button on a mouse, respectively. In addition to all of the above, special keys on a keyboard such as a "home" key and an "end" key may be used to specify the first and last page in the stack, lesl,ecli~ely, provided stack l~reselltation is highlighted or a cursor overlaps the navigator bar.
Figures #03b and #03c illustrate other emboflimPnt~ which are variations of the embodiment illustrated in Figure #03a. Referring to Figure #03b, l~resentation 200 comprises mini~hlre replica 202 of the current page and static icon 204 indicating that the object r~lesellls a stack. Referring to Figure #03c, r~l~sentation 200 comprises static icon 204 indicating that the object ,~lesents a stack and navigation bar 210 which may be used to control stack navigation. In this embodiment, navigation bar 210 comprises areas 212 and 214 by which the "previous" page and the "next" page may be speci~led as the new current page, respectively.
Figure #05 is a schem~tic illustration of a GUI display similar to the illustration shown in Figure #02, but incorporating a r~pl~selltation of stack 117 according to various WO 95/12193 21~ 9 3 6 PCT/US94/12178 ~

features shown in Figure #03a. By using this ~ senLation, (1) the characteristics of stack 117 and overlapped pages 118 are easily distinguishable, (2) the r~lesentation is substantially the same regardless of the number of pages in the stack, but the size of the stack is readily ascertained, (3) a navigation bar is provided to easily navigate within the S stack, and (4) fewer processing resources are required to display this ~ sæ~ tion as opposed to the lep.eselltation shown in Figure #02. The amount of prcces~ing needed to display the ~ lese-~t~tion remains substantially constant for any size stack.
D. System I~ oce~
According to other aspects of the present invention, various system plocesses may 10 be pt;lrol,ned on the current page of a stack in response to an operator request. In the embodiment shown in Figure #05, a system process may be initiated by selecting an app.up-iate button on button bar 104 or by selecting an ap~lupliate menu item through menu 102.
Some examples of system processes are: "unstack" which removes the current page 15 from a stack and places the removed page on the desktop; "delete" which removes the current page from the stack and deletes it from the system; and "copy" which extracts information from the current page, generates a corresponding ~ æ~t~ion for the extracted information, and places the new l~leselltation on the desktop. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure #05, the current page may be removed from a stack and 20 placed upon the desktop by selecting the desired stack and then selecting the button labeled "Unstackl" on button bar 104.
Another system process rotates the current page. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure #05, the current page of a stack may be rotated by s~lecting the desired stack and then sçlPcting the button labeled "Rotate" on button bar 104. Figure ~f06 is a hypothetical 25 l~r~selltation of document stack 240 with a rotated image for current page 242. Rotation comprises two aspects. First, the information contents of the page col-e~onding to the screen image is modified such that a printed l~plesentation of the page information is rotated. Second, the screen ~presentation of the page is modified to show that rotation has occurred. Additional details are ~ cllssed below.
In a pr~felled embodiment, repleselltation 244 of the stack is adjusted to reflect the maximum dimen~ions of the pages within the stack. Referring to Figure #06, for example, the vertical ~iimçn~ion of the lt;l,lt;sentation is unchanged because other pages in the stack have a height equal to the height of the current page before rotation, but the horizontal I . ~
~0 95/12193 2 1 51 g 3 6 PCT/US94/12178 ~imen~ion of the l~resentation is adjusted according to the width of the miniature replica of the current page after rotation.
Yet another system process allows annotations to be added to and removed from a page. Figure #07 is a hypothetical l~r~se"tation of an interface for annotations which 5 shows an enlarged view of current page image 312 and provides for three types of annotations. A "transparent note" such as annotation 318 may added by clicking on button 308a. The annotation is contained within a transparent rectangular area which may be defined by clicking on image 312 to specify the upper-left comer of the rect~ngle and using a keyboard to enter desired text. Rec~nse of the transparent nature of this rectangular area, 10 underlying features on page image 312 are visible.
A "sticky note" such as annotation 316 may be added by clicking on button 308b.
The annotation is contained within an opaque rectangular area which may be defined by çlicking on the image to specify the upper-left corner of the rect~ngle and using a keyboard to enter desired text. The opaque character of this rectangular area obscures all underlying 15 features of page image 312.
A "highlight" such as annotation 314 may be added by clicking on button 308a.
The highlighted rectangular area is defined by clicking on the image to specify one comer of the rectangle and by dragging and dropping a cursor elsewhere on the image to specify the oppo~ite corner of the rect~ngle. Preferably, the rectangular area is displayed with 20 coloring or sh~-ling which contrasts with the color or shade of the page image background.
The enlarged representation of page image 312 illustrates a "page view" of a page image. Any page on the desktop may be viewed more closely by sel~cting the desired page or the stack cont~ining the current page of interest, and by then clicking on the "Page"
button in button bar 104. Conversely, a "desktop view" may be seen by selecting the 25 "Desktop" button in button bar 104.
In an alternate embodiment not shown, three bars are provided in page view whichare similar in appearance and in use to the navigation bar described above. A ~documen~
bar" allows another stack or individual page on the desktop to be displayed in page view.
By clicking on the left-hand or right-hand portion of the document bar, a previous . 30 document or a next document on the desktop, respectively, may be selected for view. The concept of document order on the desktop is discussed below. By clicking on the center portion of the document bar, any document on the desktop may be specified. A navigation bar is provided for navigating within a stack containing the page shown in page view. The use of this bar is identical to that described above. If the image shown in page view is an WO 95/12193 2151~ 3 B PCTIUS94/12178 ~

individual page, the navigation bar is inactive. A sizing bar is provided to adjust the size of the image displayed in page view. This is useful for viewing vary large or very small page images. The displayed image may be enlarged, reduce~, or set to actual size by c1icking on the app~ iate portions of the sizing bar. These functions facilitate the viewing and annotating of page images but are not required to practice the present nvention.
E. ~tack ~ tPnqnce 1. S~ Pages and Stacks The system processes and navigation facilities described above generally work 10 within the context of one selected stack. In one embodiment, an interface allows an opel~t~r to select a stack by clicking on any portion of the corresponding ,~pl~3e~ tion, or by defining a rectangular area on the screen which encomp~cces at least a portion of the re~lese~ .tion. In an alternative embodiment, a stack may be selected only if the corresponding l~r~sent~ion is completely enclosed by the rectangular area. Either 15 altelnati~e may be implemented in an embodiment incorporating the present invention.
Other system processes such as those described below may also operate with multiple stacks and/or individual pages. In one embodiment, multiple stacks and/or pages may be selç~te~ using any one of three methods. The first method invokes a "select All"
prucess which selects all stacks and pages on the desktop.
According to a "rect~ngle" method, mouse clicks are used to define opposite corners of a rectangular area. All stacks and pages which co,lt~ond to re~)lt;3e~ tions at least partially included within the rectangular area are selçctP~. Alternatively, for example, only stacks and pages which correspond to ~ sentations completely included within the rectangular area are sel~t~d.
According to a "multiple-click" method, an ope,~tor selects multiple stacks and/or pages by pressing either a "shift" key or a "control" key on a keyboard while using a mouse to click on the desired objects. Alternatively, for example, a right button on a mouse may be pressed to make multiple selections and a left button may be pressed for other operations. In plerelled embodiments, a sçlPctP~l page or stack may be unselected by 30 clicking on it again.
In a plere,l~d embo-1imçnt, the appearance of each selected stack and page is altered to provide an indication to the operator that the object has been selectP~. For example, this may be accomplished by changing the color or shade of some portion of the sent~tion.

~o 95~12193 2 1 ~ l 9 3 6 PCT/US94/12178 In addition to the three methods described above, certam system functions implicitly select stacks and/or pages. For example, a "Stack all" process selects all stacks and pages on the desktop and assembles them into one stack.
The concept of order is important for some system plucesses such as creating a stack, described below. A p~ucessing system may establish the order of selected stacks and pages according to the method used to select them. Pages selected using the "select All"
or rect~n~le methods may be ordered according to some priority ranking such as the relative pl~cement of col~es~onding r~r~sell~tions on the desktop. For example, priority may be ranked from left to right, top to bottom. Stacks and pages corresponding to rel)lesel~tations nearer the top edge of the screen will be ordered ahead of those co"t;~ollding to .epresel-tations lower on the screen. Within a given horizontal row of lep~e~entations arranged on the desktop, a stack or page corresponding to a ,~lesentation to the left of a second r~lesentation will be ordered ahead of the stack or pagecollt;~onding to that second representation. Stacks and pages selected using the multiple-click method are ordered according to the order in which they are selected. For any of the methods, the order of the pages within a selected stack is preserved.

2. Stack-Oriented E~ oc~
For ease of discussion, the term "selected pages" is used below to refer to bothselected individual pages and pages within selected stacks unless the context of the ~iccuscion makes it clear that only individual pages are intended.
Sele~tçd pages may be assembled into a new stack by invoking a system process for that purpose. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure #05, such a process is invoked by sel-octing the button labeled "Stack" on button bar 104. Preferably, the order of the s~lPct~d pages is preserved in the new stack.
Selected pages may be added to a "target" stack or page by dragging the selectedpages until a cursor overlaps the target stack or page and then dropping the selected pages onto the target stack or page.
Any of several fealllles are provided in ~lerelled embodiments: (1) the apl)ealance of the target object is altered while a cursor overlaps it to provide an indication to the opel~tor that the selected pages will be added to the target stack or page if the selected pages are dropped; (2) the order of the select~ pages is preserved in the stack resulting from the drag and drop operation; (3) if the selected pages are dropped onto a stack, the selected pages are inserted into the target stack just prior to the current page of that stack;

, 2l~l936 3 . - - ' PCT/US94112178 and (4) if the selected pages are dropped onto an individual page, the target page will become the last page in the resulting stack.
Selected stacks may be dissolved into individual pages by invoking a system process for that lJu~l~ose. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure #05, such a process is invoked 5 by selecting the button labeled "Unstack" on button bar 104. Preferably, the lln~ k~d pages will be arranged on the desktop in an order co"e~L~onding to the order they had within the stack.
Selectçd stacks may be duplicated by invoking a system process for that purpose.In the embodiment illustrated in Figure #05, such a process is invoked by selecting the 10 button labeled "Duplicate" on button bar 104. Preferably, an indication such as a name or title ~csoci~t~cl with the ~ sel-tation of the stacks will distinguish the original stack from the duplicate.
F. Impl~ .1;on Efforts to standardize the system-operator interface across a wide range of products 15 have contributed to the fAmili~rity of those skilled in the art with the implementation of products having such interfaces. For example, software conforming to conventionsestablished by products with the trademarks "Windows," "OS/2 Presentation Manager,"
and "Macintosh Finder" each offer a GUI comprising a desktop with icons and various system processes which provide for selecting a object by clicking on the object and 20 invoking system processes by drag and drop techniques. The use of features such as pull-down menus, button bars, and dialog boxes is commonplace. The implementation of visual effects such as altering the appearance of a s~-lected object or providing a three-dimen~ional a~ ce of a d~,t;ssed button by emulating a shadow when the button is selecte~ are practiced widely in the art. Additional details of implementation co.,-pa~ible with the 25 software products mentioned above may be obtained by referring to: "The Windows Interface: An Application Design Guide" for Microsoft Windows 3.1, 1992, Microsoft Corp.; Petzold, "P~ogl~---ming Windows", 2nd ed., 1990, Microsoft Press and "Inside Macintosh" developer reference manuals, Apple Computer, Inc., all of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety. The details of implementation discussed below 30 utilize feat~les which may be generic to a wide variety of environments; however, these details should be understood to r~lc;sellt one embodiment which is offered only as an example.

~o 95/12193 215 19 ~ 6 PCT/USg4/12178 1. Operator Interaction The flowchart in Figure #08 illustrates the logic flow in an interactive system which can incorporate various aspects of the present invention. This flowchart is only one example of a process which can (1) receive requests from an operator, (2) invoke5 proce.cs;ng to service the request, and (3) provide feedb~ck to the operator l~ga,ding the results of the proces~ing used to service the request. The particular structure of the plocess used to provide system-operator interaction is not critical to the practice of the present invention. Many desirable features of a commercial embodiment such as context-sensitive help or multi-tasking are not shown.
INIT 20 ensures that various elements are prepared for the following steps. For example, the desktop may be displayed or hardware devices may be initialized.
DISPLAY 22 generates a visual lepreselltation for each object according to theirstatus and current position on the desktop. Examples of status are whether an object has been selected and the number of the current page in a stack.
INPUT 24 receives requests from an operator. A variety of techniques may be usedto implement this step such as, for example, event or interrupt driven input, input device polling, or routines which halt execution while waiting for a request.
VALID 26 validates the request received from an operator. If the request is valid, QUIT 30 is performed, otherwise ERROR 28 is performed. One example of an invalid20 request is selecting a "Stack" command to form a new stack but having less than two docum~-nt objects selected on the desktop.
ERROR 28 provides an appl~,iate indication of an invalid request. The indicationmay be an audible tone, a message with or without provision for an operator to obtain additional information, and/or a suggested valid request. ERROR 28 may also provide no 25 indication for one or more errors, allowing the system to act as if the invalid request is ignored.
QUIT 30 inquires whether the operator requested termination. If so, TERM 34 is .rol.lled next.
PROCESS 32 identifies the request and invokes the processing needed to service the - 30 request.
TERM 34 performs all of the functions needed to terminate the process l~lt;sel~ted in Figure #08. This may include, for example, storing unsaved documents to disk, saving the configuration of the desktop, and/or clearing a display screen.

WO 95/12193 ~ , PCT/US94/12178 3~3 16-Other structures and implementations may be used without departing from the scope of the present invention. Examples of implementations may be obtained from the various references cited above.
2. Primary Functions Each of the steps discussed above, or comparable steps in other embo-limçnt~, utilize a number of primary functions such as creating and displaying objects such as icons or static page r~resP~lt~tions, receiving input from an operator, selecting objects for subsequent proces~in~, moving selected objects across the desktop, proces~in~ "drag and drop" requests, and providing feedback to an operator by altering the visual appearance of 10 the desktop and/or the objects on the desktop. These primary functions may beimplemented in many different ways, and the implementation will generally depend in part upon the environment in which the system is implemented. Several examples of environments mentioned above include those provided by products offered under the trade,-,a ks "Windows," "OS/2," "DESQview," "GEOS," or "Macintosh Finder." In 15 l)lefe.led embodiments for "Macintosh" computers, implementation of "drag and drop"
functions include proprietary techniques of Apple Computer, Inc. as described in the "Macintosh Drag and Drop Developers Kit" which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
3. Secondary Functions The step PROCESS 32, or co,llp~ble steps in other embodiments, utilize a number of secondary functions to service operator requests. No special significance need be ~tt~.he~ to the terms "primary" and "secondary" functions; primary functions pertain more directly to the system-operator interaction and secondary function pertain more directly to internal processes required to service operator requests.
a. Page and Stack Management In one embodiment, each object on the desktop is associated with a "descriptor"
block of information which includes a short name for the object, the type of object, the vertical and horizontal size of the object and its position on the desktop. If the object ~lc;sents a stack of pages, the descriptor block also includes the total number of pages in the stack, the number of the current page, and a link or pointer to the first page in the stack. Each page in the stack is associated with one another by a double-linked list structure with forward and backward linkages. Such a structure simplifies implementation of various stack management functions such as adding pages to the stack, removing pages ~0 95/12193 21 51 9 ~ 6 PCTIUS94112178 from the stack, and navigating within the stack. Other structures are possible and no particular implementation is critical to the practice of the present invention.
In this embodiment, the formation of a stack comprises initializing a descriptorblock for the stack and forming the linked list associating all of the pages in the stack. The 5 insertion of one or more pages into the stack comprises modifying the linked list to include links to the newly inserted pages. It should be appreciated that individual pages not in a stack have their own respective dese,i~tul blocks. Whether or not such dese.iplor blocks are retained with the respective pages after insertion into a stack is a detail of implementation which is not critical to the practice of the present invention.
In this embodiment, the removal of a page from a stack comprises modifying the linked list to exclude the removed page from the list and initializing a desc~iptor block for the removed page. The process to copy the current page in the stack comprises duplicating the information of the current page and initi~li7ing a des~;liplol block for the duplicate page.
In this embodiment, the dissolution of a stack into individual pages comprises initi~li7.ing a descliplor block for each page in the stack and discarding the desclilJtor block and the linked list for the stack.
As ~i~cu~ed above, the process of page rotation comprises two aspects:
(1) rotating the page itself and (2) generating a desktop object such as a mini~tllre replica to r~lesenl the effects of the rotation. The process used to rotate the page depends upon the nature of the coll~onding information and the system process used to generate a printed re~iesentation. If the co--~onding information is a drawing pl~,cessed by certain drafting programs, the page may be rotated by imbedding a code in the document specifying the ~im~nsions of the page. For example, the document would be modified to indicate that the page riimPncions are 11" x 8.5" instead of 8.5" x 11".
If the colles~nding information is a bit-mapped image of a printed page, the rotation may be accomplished by applying a suitable two--limen~ional transformation to the bit-mapped data. Additional information on two-.1imçn~ional transformations may be obtained from Foley and Van Dam, "Fundamentals of Interactive Computer Graphics,"
1983, Addison-Wesley, which is incol~ol~ted by reference in its entirety. An orthogonal rotation, however, may be accomplished by simply exchanging rows and columns of bits in the bit-ln~?ped image.
The second aspect of page rotation pertains to generating a suitable l~presentation to plovide feedback to the operator that the page has been rotated. If static icons are used to WO 95/12193 21 ~1 9 ~ ~ PCTIUS94/12178 ~

r~lcscnt pages, this may be accomplished by selecting an applupliate icon which ~rcsents the orientation of the page following rotation. If mini~hlre replicas are used to Ic~lcsent pages, then either the mini~ture replica may be rotated using a suitable tran~rolll-alion or a new replica may be formed from the rotated page. In plcfcllcd embodiments, a new replica is formed. An example of a process used to form replicas is cusse~ below.
b. Stack Navigation In the embodiment described above, navigation among pages in a stack may be accomplished by traversing the linked list. A process for responding to an operator request 10 to page forward to the next page comprises following the forward link in the list and incrementing the current page in the stack descriptor block. A process for paging backward comprises following the backward link in the linked list and decrementing the current page in the descriptor block. If a wrap-around feature is provided, attempts to page backward beyond the first page or page forward beyond the last page results in 15 wrapping aroui~d to the opposite end of the stack. This feature can be implemented efficiently if the stack descliplor block also contains a link to the last page in the stack.
The selection of a particular page in the stack can be accomplished by calculating the dirÇelcllce between the number of the desired page and the number of the current page and traversing the linked list in the appr~liate direction for an applopliate number of pages.
Many variations in implement~tion are possible. No particular embodiment is critical to the practice of the present invention.
c. Annotations The ~,locesses supporting hi~hlight~, sticky notes and transparent text may share many common features of implementation. In one embodiment, each annotation includes a 25 "specification block" for specifying the annotation type, the position of the annotation on the associated page rc~lcsentation, the dimensions and the orientation of the annotation. A
specification block for sticky notes and transparent text also provides for annotation text.
In this exemplary embodiment, a process for creating an annotation comprises initi~li7.inf~ a specification block and receiving size and location information from an 30 operator. As an operator moves and/or resizes an annotation, the contents of the respective specifi~tion block are modified to reflect the correct position and/or dimensions of the annotation. As an opcl~lor rotates a page, the specification blocks of associated annotations are modified to reflect the new position and/or orientation of the annotation. A
text editor is used to manipulate the text for sticky notes and transparent text. The removal ~10 95/12193 21519 3 6 PCT/US94/12178 of an annotation comprises discarding the respective specification block and releasing any storage used to store text or other information.
d. Miniature Replica In one embodiment, a mini~hlre replica of a page is formed by obtaining a bit-5 mapped r~,esentation of the page, spatially low-pass filtering the .~resentation and sampling the low-pass filtered result. For example, each pixel in a mini~hlre replica rt;~ponding to a l :N reduction of a bit-mapped ~-c sçnt~tion can be obtained from the average of NxN areas of bits in the r~.~;sellt~tion. Other forms of two--limensional low-pass filtering are possible, and many alternative processes known generally as anti~ in~
10 techniques may be used. A corrective process known geneMlly as gamma co--~ilion is applied to obtain a 4-level greyscale replica which more closely resembles the appeal~ ce of the corresponding page to the human eye. Additional information on anti~ cing and gamma correction can be obtained from Foley, Van Dam, Feiner and Hughes, "Computer Graphics," 2nd ed., 1990, Addison-Wesley, incorporated by reference in its entirety, and 15 from Foley and Van Dam, "Fund~mentals of Interactive Computer Graphics" cited above.
In embodiments providing annotations, applopliate icons are included at apl)-op-iate locations within a replica to re~re~ent the applu~imate positions of related annotations.
In embodiments with limited memory, a buffer can improve the efficiency of usingmini~ture replicas. In a prefelled embodiment, mini~ture replicas are formed when needed 20 and stored on a storage medium with the collc;sponding page represelltation. Preferably, the replicas are stored on a storage medium adjacent to the colles~,onding page ep~s~ntation to reduce the time ~c~luil~d to access the replica and r~lesç~t~tion. Storage can be used more efficiently by storing the replicas and the page l~lesentations in a run-length encoded (RLE) form. Additional information on RLE can be obtained from Foley 25 et al., "Computer Graphics" cited above.
The flc,wchall in Figure iY09 illustrates one plucess for using a replica buffer.
Many suitable alternative techniques are well known in the art.
BUFFER 42 inquires whether the desired mini~hlre replica is in the replica buffer.
If so, step RETURN 58 is performed next; otherwise, the process continues with step 30 FILE 44.
FILE 44 inquires whether the desired replica is stored in a file on disk. If so, the process continues with step LOAD 46, otherwise the process continues with PAGE 48.

WO 95/12193 21519 3 ~ PCT/US94/12178 ~

LOAD 46 loads the desired replica into the replica buffer from disk storage and decolllpresses it if it is stored in a compressed form such as RLE. The process continues with step RETURN 58.
PAGE 48 inquires whether the page l~lc~selltation col,~ollding to the desired S replica is in memory. If it is, step FORM 50 is performed next; otherwise, step COMPR 52 is ~lÇol",ed next.
FORM 50 forms a mini~ure replica from the page lepl~se"~tion and stores the replica in the replica buffer.
COMPR 52 inquires whether a page l~pleselltation in co",plessed form is in 10 memory. If it is, step DECOMPR 54 is performed next; otherwise, step READ 56 is ~r",ed next.
DECOMPR 54 decompresses the complessed form of the page r~,t;selltation and then continues with step FORM 50 described above.
READ 56 reads the appLopliate page l~lesentation in a col"plessed form from disk15 storage and continues with step DECOMPR 54.
RETURN 58 establishes the location of the desired replica in the replica buffer for subsequent use and terminates the process illustrated in Figure #09.
In one embodiment, a least-recently used technique is used to discard mini~hlre replicas from the replica buffer when sufficient unused buffer space is not available to load 20 a desired replica. No particular buffer management technique is critical to the practice of the invention; therefore, other techniques may be used.

Claims (66)

1. An information processing method comprising displaying a stack representation corresponding to a stack comprising a plurality of pages, said stack representation comprising a depiction of said plurality of pages and an image corresponding to a current page, and a request area by which an operator may specify a page in said stack to be a new current page, and receiving one or more operator requests.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein said depiction suggests a stack of pages and said image of a current page is arranged so as to appear on top of a stack of pages.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein said depiction is a static icon.

4. A method according to claim 1 wherein said image corresponding to a current page is a miniature replica of a printed representation of said current page.

5. An information processing method comprising displaying a stack representation corresponding to a stack comprising a plurality of pages, said stack representation comprising a static icon depicting said plurality of pages and a miniature replica of a printed representation of a current page, and receiving one or more operator requests.

6. A method according to claim 5 wherein said stack representation further comprises a request area by which an operator may specify a page in said stack to be a new current page.

7. A method according to claim 6 wherein said request area comprises a next indication and a previous indication, wherein a page following said current page in said stack is specified as said new current page in response to an operator request selecting said next indication, and a page preceding said current page in said stack is specified as said new current page in response to an operator request selecting said previous indication.

8. A method according to claim 1 wherein said request area comprises a next indication and a previous indication, wherein a page following said current page in said stack is specified as said new current page in response to an operator request selecting said next indication, and a page preceding said current page in said stack is specified as said new current page in response to an operator request selecting said previous indication.

9. A method according to claim 1, 6, 7 or 8 wherein said request area further comprises a page indication and, in response to an operator request selecting said page indication, a subsequent operator request may specify any page in said stack as said new current page.

10. A method according to claim 1, 6, 7 or 8 wherein said request area comprises a display of current page number and/or a total number of pages in said stack.

11. A method according to claim 1 or 6 wherein said request area allows an operator request to specify a page from the set of pages containing a first page, a last page, a next page following said current page and a previous page preceding said current page.

12. A method according to claim 1 or 5 further comprising displaying one or morepage representations each corresponding to a single page, selecting one or more of said page representations, and adding to said stack one or more pages corresponding to said selected page representations, wherein said selecting and said adding are performed in response to said one or more operator requests.

13. A method according to claim 12 wherein said one or more pages corresponding to said selected page representations are added by inserting said pages into said stack at a location just prior to said current page.

14. A method according to claim 12 wherein said one or more pages corresponding to said selected page representations are added by appending said pages after the last page of said stack.

15. A method according to claim 12 wherein said selected pages are added to saidstack in an order according to the order in which said representations were selected.

16. A method according to claim 12 wherein said selected pages are added to saidstack in an order according to a priority ranking of said selected representations.

17. A method according to claim 12 further comprising adjusting said depiction such that the horizontal dimension of said depiction corresponds to the maximum horizontal dimension of all pages in said stack and the vertical dimension of said depiction corresponds to the maximum vertical dimension of all pages in said stack.

18. A method according to claim 1 or 5 further comprising displaying one or more additional stack representations, each additional stack representation corresponding to a respective additional stack, each additional stack comprising a plurality of pages, selecting one or more of said additional stack representations, and adding to said stack all pages within said additional stacks corresponding to said selected additional stack representations, wherein said selecting and said adding are performed in response to said one or more operator requests.

19. A method according to claim 18 wherein all pages within said additional stacks corresponding to said selected additional stack representations are added by inserting said pages into said stack at a location just prior to said current page.

20. A method according to claim 18 wherein all pages within said additional stacks corresponding to said selected additional stack representations are added by appending said pages after the last page of said stack.

21. A method according to claim 18 wherein said selected plurality of pages are added to said stack in an order according to the order of said selected plurality pages in a respective stack and according to the order in which said corresponding representations were selected.

22. A method according to claim 18 wherein said selected plurality of pages are added to said stack in an order according to the order of said selected plurality pages in a respective stack and according to a priority ranking of said selected representations.

23. A method according to claim 18 further comprising adjusting said depiction such that the horizontal dimension of said depiction corresponds to the maximum horizontal dimension of all pages in said stack and the vertical dimension of said depiction corresponds to the maximum vertical dimension of all pages in said stack.

24. A method according to claim 1 or 5 further comprising removing said current page from said stack in response to said one or more operator requests.

25. A method according to claim 24 further comprising adjusting said depiction such that the horizontal dimension of said depiction corresponds to the maximum horizontal dimension of all pages in said stack and the vertical dimension of said depiction corresponds to the maximum vertical dimension of all pages in said stack.

26. A method according to claim 1 or 5 further comprising displaying a representation of a page after removing it from said stack.

27. A method according to claim 1 or 5 further comprising rotating said image ofsaid current page and modifying the page of information corresponding to said image so as to effect a similar rotation in a printed representation of said page, wherein said rotating and said modifying are performed in response to said one or more operator requests.

28. A method according to claim 27 further comprising adjusting said depiction such that the horizontal dimension of said depiction corresponds to the maximum horizontal dimension of all pages in said stack and the vertical dimension of said depiction corresponds to the maximum vertical dimension of all pages in said stack.

29. A method according to claim 1 or 5 further comprising adding annotations to said current page, wherein said adding is performed in response to said one or more operator requests.

30. A method according to claim 29 wherein said adding annotations further comprises displaying a larger image of said current page to facilitate operator actions.

31. A method according to claim 29 wherein said annotations may be text with an opaque background which obscures contents of said image, text with a transparentbackground which does not obscure contents of said image, or areas of color and/or shading which contrast with the color and/or shading of said image.

32. A method according to claim 4 or 5 further comprising adding annotations to said current page and modifying said miniature replica to include a replica of said annotation, wherein said adding and said modifying is performed in response to said one or more operator requests.

33. A method according to claim 1 or 5 further comprising extracting informationcorresponding to said current page, forming a new page containing said extractedinformation and displaying a representation of said new page, wherein said extracting, said forming and said displaying are performed in response to said one or more operator requests.

34. An information processor comprising a display, a keyboard and/or a pointing device, and processor means for receiving from said keyboard and/or said pointing device one or more operator requests and for displaying on said display a stack representation corresponding to a stack comprising a plurality of pages, said stack representation comprising a depiction of said plurality of pages and an image corresponding to a current page, and a request area by which an operator may select a page in said stack to be a new current page.

35. An information processor according to claim 34 wherein said depiction suggests a stack of pages and said image of a current page is arranged so as to appear on top of a stack of pages.

36. An information processor according to claim 34 wherein said depiction is a static icon.

37. An information processor according to claim 34 wherein said image corresponding to a current page is a miniature replica of a printed representation of said current page.

38. An information processor comprising a display, a keyboard and/or a pointing device, and processor means for receiving from said keyboard and/or said pointing device one or more operator requests and for displaying on said display a stack representation corresponding to a stack comprising a plurality of pages, said stack representation comprising a static icon depicting said plurality of pages and a miniature replica of a printed representation of a current page.

39. An information processor according to claim 38 wherein said stack representation further comprises a request area and wherein said processor meansestablishes a new current page in response to an operator request received by way of said request area.

40. An information processor according to claim 39 wherein said request area comprises a next indication and a previous indication, and wherein said processor means selects as the new current page a page following said current page in said stack in response to an operator request selecting said next indication, and selects a page preceding said current page in said stack in response to an operator request selecting said previous indication.

41. An information processor according to claim 34 wherein said request area comprises a next indication and a previous indication, and wherein said processor means selects as the new current page a page following said current page in said stack in response to an operator request selecting said next indication, and selects a page preceding said current page in said stack in response to an operator request selecting said previous indication.

42. An information processor according to claim 34, 39, 40 or 41 wherein said request area further comprises a page indication and wherein said processor means, in response to an operator request selecting said page indication, allows for a subsequent operator request to specify any page in said stack as the new current page.

43. An information processor according to claim 34, 39, 40 or 41 wherein said processor means displays with said stack representation a current page number and/or a total number of pages in said stack.

44. An information processor according to claim 34 or 39 wherein said processor means selects either a first page in said stack, a last page in said stack, a next page following said current page and a previous page preceding said current page in response to an operator request.

45. An information processor according to claim 34 or 38 wherein said processor means comprises means for displaying one or more page representations each corresponding to a single page, for selecting one or more of said page representations, and for adding to said stack one or more pages corresponding to said selected page representations, wherein said processor means performs said selecting and said adding in response to said one or more operator requests.

46. An information processor according to claim 45 wherein said processor means adds said one or more pages corresponding to said selected page representations by inserting said pages into said stack at a location just prior to said current page.

47. An information processor according to claim 45 wherein said processor means adds said one or more pages corresponding to said selected page representations by appending said pages after the last page of said stack.

48. An information processor according to claim 45 wherein said processor means adds said selected pages to said stack in an order according to the order in which said representations were selected.

49. An information processor according to claim 45 wherein said processor means adds said selected pages to said stack in an order according to a priority ranking of said selected representations.

50. An information processor according to claim 45 wherein said processor means comprises means for adjusting said depiction such that the horizontal dimension of said depiction corresponds to the maximum horizontal dimension of all pages in said stack and the vertical dimension of said depiction corresponds to the maximum vertical dimension of all pages in said stack.

51. An information processor according to claim 34 or 38 wherein said processor means further comprises means for displaying one or more additional stack representations, each additional stack representation corresponding to a respective additional stack, each additional stack comprising a plurality of pages, means for selecting one or more of said additional stack representations, and means for adding to said stack all pages within said additional stacks corresponding to said selected additional stack representations, wherein processor means performs said selecting and said adding in response to said one or more operator requests.

52. An information processor according to claim 51 wherein said processor means adds all pages within said additional stacks corresponding to said selected additional stack representations by inserting said pages into said stack at a location just prior to said current page.

53. An information processor according to claim 51 wherein said processor means adds all pages within said additional stacks corresponding to said selected additional stack representations by appending said pages after the last page of said stack.

54. An information processor according to claim 51 wherein said processor means adds said selected plurality of pages to said stack in an order according to the order of said selected plurality pages in a respective stack and according to the order in which said corresponding representations were selected.

55. An information processor according to claim 51 wherein said processor means adds said selected plurality of pages to said stack in an order according to the order of said selected plurality pages in a respective stack and according to a priority ranking of said selected representations.

56. An information processor according to claim 51 wherein said processor means comprises means for adjusting said depiction such that the horizontal dimension of said depiction corresponds to the maximum horizontal dimension of all pages in said stack and the vertical dimension of said depiction corresponds to the maximum vertical dimension of all pages in said stack.

57. An information processor according to claim 34 or 38 wherein said processor means removes said current page from said stack in response to said one or more operator requests.

58. An information processor according to claim 57 wherein said processor means comprises means for adjusting said depiction such that the horizontal dimension of said depiction corresponds to the maximum horizontal dimension of all pages in said stack and the vertical dimension of said depiction corresponds to the maximum vertical dimension of all pages in said stack.

59. An information processor according to claim 34 or 38 wherein said processor means displays a representation of a page after removing it from said stack.

60. An information processor according to claim 34 or 38 wherein said processor means comprises means for rotating said image of said current page and modifying the page of information corresponding to said image so as to effect a similar rotation in a printed representation of said page, wherein said processor means performs said rotating and said modifying in response to said one or more operator requests.

61. An information processor according to claim 60 wherein said processor means comprises means for adjusting said depiction such that the horizontal dimension of said depiction corresponds to the maximum horizontal dimension of all pages in said stack and the vertical dimension of said depiction corresponds to the maximum vertical dimension of all pages in said stack.

62. An information processor according to claim 34 or 38 wherein said processor means further comprises means for adding annotations to said current page, wherein said processor means performs said adding in response to said one or more operator requests.

63. An information processor according to claim 62 wherein said processor means further comprises means for displaying a larger image of said current page to facilitate operator actions.

64. An information processor according to claim 62 wherein said means for addingannotations may either add text with an opaque background which obscures contents of said image, add text with a transparent background which does not obscure contents of said image, or add areas of color and/or shading which contrast with the color and/or shading of said image.

65. An information processor according to claim 37 or 38 wherein said processor means further comprises means for adding annotations to said current page and for modifying said miniature replica to include a replica of said annotation, wherein said processor means performs said adding and said modifying in response to said one or more operator requests.

66. An information processor according to claim 34 or 38 wherein said processor means further comprises means for extracting information corresonding to said current page and for forming a new page containing said extracted information and displaying a representation of said new page, wherein said processor means performs said extracting, said forming and said displaying in response to said one or more operator requests.