The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 07, 1999
Filed:
May. 28, 1991
Alan M Bush, Capitola, CA (US);
Borland International, Inc., Scotts Valley, CA (US);
Abstract
A system and method for producing context sensitive prompts to assist the user with entry and editing of formulae in an electronic spreadsheet comprises a display device, a processing unit, an input device and memory. The display device preferably has a plurality of segregated viewports for displaying a general prompt and a context sensitive prompt. The memory further comprises function tables, a prompt generator, a prompt stack, and other routines. The prompt generator uses the function tables, the prompt stack, the cursor position and the string on the edit line to construct prompts for presentation on the display device. The preferred method for creating and displaying context sensitive prompts comprises the steps of: detecting movement of the cursor; scanning the string on the edit line until the cursor position is reached; pushing a function record on the prompt stack for each function invocation identified in the edit line; popping a function record from the prompt stack as the end of each function invocation is identified; producing a context sensitive and general prompt string; displaying the prompt strings in viewports on the display device.