Document composition system using named formats and named fonts

Abstract From the Canadian patent

An interactive data processing implemented method and apparatus for composing and editing a document in which a user is afforded great flexibility in defining the document geometry and in changing the data presentation characteristics associated with non-contiguous portions of the document. According to the present invention each, of the distinct line formats in the document is assigned an abstract format name (i.e. a Named Format) and each line in the document is associated with a distinct format. A Named Format is associated with each fragment of the text in the document. Likewise, an abstract name, referred to as a Named Font, is associated with a wide range of specifiable data …