CA 02416098 2006-07-07
METHOD OF FAST TYPING TWIN SPECIAL CHARACTERS
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
The present invention is directed towards a character entry system
and method for electronic devices, particularly small mobile devices such as
wireless communications devices. -
Zhere is generally a need to keep the size of portable electronic
devices such as personal wireless communications devices small so that the
devices can be worn on the body of the_ user_or otherwise easily carried by-
the
user. As a result, the input mechanism for the portable communications device
needs to be small and have a minimal number of keys optimized for use with a
minimai number of keystrokes. An example of a hand-held electronic device
having a keyboard optimized for use with the thumbs is described in U.S.
Patent
No. 6,396,482 issued May 28, 2002, to Griffin et. W. and assigned to the
assignee of the present invention.
In written communication, there are a number of special characters
that are typically "paired" or "twinned" with other characters. For example,
left or
bracket characters such as "1'; "(";A{"; and "[" are typically paired with
respective
right bracket characters ">"; ")"; "}" and "]", with the left and right
bracket
characters (also often referred to as open and close brackets, respectively)
enclosing other characters. Similarly, quote characters (") are typically
paired
together enclosing other characters. In the compressed physical keyboard
designs or virtual on-screen keyboard designs of portable electronic devices,
entry of such characters can be cumbersome and may require a sequence of
entry steps to be taken for each character. Additionally, in a problem not
just
limited to portable devices, users frequently forget to include the closing or
right
character of a character pair. There are also situations when an opening
sequence of characters is paired with a closing sequence of characters with
information nested between. For example HTML source code is structured using
paired opening and dosing sequences as: <HEAD> opening character sequence
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paired with the </HEAD> closing sequence, or opening <TITLE> paired with
closing </TITLE>, or <TABLE> with <lTABLE>.
Thus, there is a need for a method and system that optimizes user
input of commonly used character pairs or character sequence pairs,
particularly
in the context of mobile communications devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION -
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a method
for inputting characters in an electronic device having a user input device, a
display for displaying characters input through the user input device, and a
memory for storing characters input through the user input device, including
(a)
receiving a character input through the user input device; and (b) determining
if
the input character is an opening character of a predefined character pair,
and if
so adding to the memory and displaying on the display, automatically and
without
further user input, both the opening character and a corresponding dosing
character of the predefined character pair. Preferably, if previously input
text has
been text selected, the opening character and the closing character are added
with the selected text framed therebetween, otherwise an input cursor is
located
so that subsequently input characters will be inserted between the opening and
closing characters in the memory and on the display. The method may also be
used to automatically insert a closing character sequence when an opening
character sequence of a predetermined character sequence pair is entered
through the input device.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an
electronic device that includes a user input device for allowing a user to
input
characters, a display for displaying input characters, a memory for storing
input
characters, and a processor connected to the display screen, the user input
device and the memory, for receMng an input signal from the user input device,
determining if the input signal corresponds to an opening character of a
predefined character pair and if so, causing a corresponding closing character
of
the character pair to be automatically inserted on the display screen and in
the
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memory in addition to and after the opening character. The processor may also
be configured to locate an input cursor so that subsequently input characters
input
through the user input device will be located between the opening and closing
characters.
In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for inputting
characters in an electronic device having a user input device, a display for
displaying characters input through the user input device, and a memory for
storing characters input through the user input device, comprising (a)
receiving a
character input through the user input device; and (b) determining if the
input
character is an opening character of a predefined character pair, and if so
adding
to the memory and displaying on the display, automatically and without further
user input, both the opening character and a corresponding closing character
of
the predefined character pair; wherein step (b) includes determining if any
previously input text has been selected, and if the input character is the
opening
character of the predefined character pair and text has been selected, then
adding
to the memory and displaying on the display the opening character and the
closing character with the selected text framed therebetween, and if no text
has
been selected, locating an input cursor so that subsequently input characters
will
be inserted between the opening and closing characters in the memory and on
the
display.
In another embodiment, there is provided an electronic device comprising a
user input device for allowing a user to input characters; a display for
displaying
input characters; a memory for storing input characters; and a processor
connected to the display screen, the user input device and the memory, for
receiving an input signal from the user input device, determining if the input
signal
corresponds to an opening character of a predefined character pair and if so,
causing a corresponding closing character of the character pair to be
automatically inserted on the display screen and in the memory in addition to
and
after the opening character; the processor also determining if any text was
selected prior to receiving the input signal corresponding to the opening
character
pair, and if text was selected, then adding to the memory and displaying the
opening character and the closing character with the selected text framed
therebetween, and if no text was selected, locating an input cursor so that
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subsequently input characters will be inserted between the opening and closing
characters in the memory and on the display.
In yet a further embodiment, there is provided a computer program product
comprising a computer readable medium carrying program code means for
inputting characters in an electronic device having a user input device, a
display
for displaying characters input through the user input device, and a memory
for
storing characters input through the user input device, the program code means
comprising means for (a) receiving a character input through the user input
device; and (b) determining if the input character is an opening character of
a
predefined character pair, and if so adding to the memory and displaying on
the
display, automatically and without further user input, both the opening
character
and a corresponding closing character of the predefined character pair; and
means for determining if any previously input text has been selected, and if
the
input character is an opening character of the predefined character pair and
text
has been selected, then adding to the memory and displaying on the display the
opening character and the closing character with the selected text framed
therebetween, and if no text has been selected, locating an input cursor so
that
subsequently input characters will be inserted between the opening and closing
characters in the memory and on the display.
Other aspects and features of present invention will be come apparent to
shoes ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description
of
specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying
Figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of
example only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:
Figure 1 is a block diagram of mobile communication device to which the
present invention may be applied;
Figure 2 is frontal view of the mobile communication device of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a general block diagram showing the major software systems of
the communications device.
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Figure 4 is a general flow diagram showing the operation of the
communications device according to embodiments of the present invention;
Figure 5 is a pseudo code representation of a method for locating an
opening character of a character pair;
Figure 6 is a pseudo code representation of a method for locating a closing
character of a character pair; and
Figure 7 is a flow diagram showing exemplary information displayed on a
display screen of the mobile communication device of Figure 1 according to
embodiments of the invention.
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pETIAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1 is a block diagram of a
mobile communication device 10 in which the present invention may be
implemented. The mobile communication device 10 is preferably a hand-held
two-way communication device having at least data communication capabilities.
The device preferably has the capability to communicate with other computer
systems on the Int$rnet. Depending on the functionality provided by the
device,
the device may be referred to as a data messaging device, a two-way pager, a
cellular telephone with data messaging capabilities, a wireless Internet
appliance
or a data communication device (with or without telephony capabilities).
Where the device 10 is enabled for two-way communications, the
device will incorporate a communication subsystem 11, including a receiver 12,
a
transmitter 14, and associated components such as one or more, preferably
embedded or internal, antenna elements 16 and 18, local oscillators (LOs) 13,
and a processing module such as a digital signal processor (DSP).20. As will
be
apparent to those skilled in the field of communications, the particular
design of
the communication subsystem 11 will be dependent upon the communication
network 19 in which the device is intended to operate. Network access
requirements will also vary depending upon the type of network 19.
Signals received by the antenna 16 through the communication
network 19 are input to the receiver 12, which may perform such common
receiver functions as signal amplification, frequency down conversion,
filtering,
channel selection and the like, and in the example system shown in Fgure.1,
analog to digital conversion. Communication functions such as demodulation and
decoding are performed by DSP 20. In a similar manner, signals to be
transmitted are processed, including modulation and encoding for example, by
the DSP 20 and input to the transmitter 14 for digital to analog conversion,
frequency up conversion, filtering, amplification and transmission over the
communication network 19 via the antenna 18.
The DSP 20 not only processes communication signals, but also
provides for receiver and transmitter control. For example, the gains applied
to
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communication signals in the receiver 12 and transmitter 14 may be adaptively
controlled through automatic gain control algorithms implemented in the DSP
20.
The device 10 preferably includes a microprocessor 38 that controls
the overall operation of the device. Communication functions, including at
least
data communications, are performed through the communication subsystem 11.
The microprocessor 38 also interacts with further device subsystems such as
the
,...
display 22, flash memory 24, random access memory (RAM) 26, auxiliary
input/output (I/O) subsystems such as a thumb wheel 28, serial port 30,
keyboard
32 and any other device subsystems.
Some of the subsystems shown in Figure 1 perfomn
communication-related functions, whereas other subsystems may provide
"resident or on-device functions. Notably, some subsystems, such as keyboard
32 and display 22 for example, may be used for both communication-related
functions, such as entering a text message for transmission over a
communication network, and device-resident functions such as a calculator or
task list.
Operating system software used by the microprocessor 38 is
preferably stored in a persistent store such as flash memory 24, which may
instead be a read only memory (ROM) or similar storage element (not shown).
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the operating system, spec'rfic
device
applications, or parts thereof, may be temporarily loaded into a volatile
store such
as RAM 26. It is contemplated that received communication signals may also be
stored to RAM 26, after processing by communications subsystem 11.
The microprocessor 38, in addition to its operating system
functions, preferably enables execution of software applications on the
device. A
predetermined set of applications that control basic device operations,
including
at least data communication and input/output applications for example, will
normally be installed on the device 10 during manufacture. Further
applications
may also be loaded onto the device 10 through the network 19, serial port 30
or
any other suitable subsystem and installed by a user in the RAM 26 or
preferably
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a non-volatile store such as flash memory 24 for execution by the
microprocessor
38.
In a data communication mode, a received signal such as a text
message or web page download will be processed by the communication
subsystem 11, stored in RAM 26, and input to the microprocessor 38, which will
preferably further process the received signal for output to the display 22,
or
alternatively to an auxiliary I/O device. A user of device 10 may also compose
data items such as email messages for example, using the keyboard 32, which is
preferably a complete alphanumeric keyboard or telephone-type keypad, in
conjunction with the display 22 and possibly thumbwheel 28. Such composed
items may then be transmitted over a communication network through the
communication subsystem 11.
Fig. 2 is a front view of a handheld device 10 in which the present
invention may be implemented. The keyboard 32 of device 10 preferably includes
a plurality of letter or alphanumeric keys 40, which may be arranged in a
conventional QWERTY layout or some other layout. The keyboard 32 also
includes specialized keys 42, 44, 46, 48 and a space bar 50. In one
embodiment, key 42 is the "Alt" key, key 44 is the "Shift" key, key 46 is the
"enter/line feed" key and key 48 is the "backspace" key. Thumbwheel 28 is
shown in a vertical association next to screen 22. The thumbwheel 28 and
keyboard 32 may each include associated logic circuitry for converting the
signals they generate to a format suitable for application to the
microprocessor
38. The keyboard 32 and thumbwheel 28 are arranged such that they can be
manipulated by the thumbs of a user while the device 10 is held in the palms
of
the user's hands.
According to embodiments the invention, the microprocessor 38 is
configured to recognize when the first character of a number of predefined
character pairs is entered by a user, and then automatically generate the
second
character of the pair and place an input cursor to input data between the two
characters of the character pair. The microprocessor 38 may also be configured
to recognize when a the first character of a character pair is entered at the
same
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time that text has been selected, and automatically cause the selected text to
be
framed by the first character and the corresponding closing character of the
character pair., Figure 3 is a general block diagram of the major software
subsystems involved in the autotext function of the present invention.
Operating
system 60 and various specialized applications 65 contain instructions for
microprocessor 86. The operating system 60 includes or communicates with
various drivers that act as interfaces between the operating system and the
hardware I/O subsystems of device 10. For example, the operating system 60
may include a keyboard driver 62 for receiving input signals from keyboard 32
and logic circuitry associated with the thumbwheel 28, and a video driver 70
for
outputting signals to display 22. The operating system 60 is responsible for
accepting user inputs from the keyboard 32 and thumbwheel 28 and dispatching
those inputs to selected specialized applications 65 that are provided on
device
for managing different major features of the device. For example, among other
things, the device could include a graphical ribbon application, a message
compose application, a transport application, an address book application, a
device options application, a cryptographic application and a database
application, at least some of which are enabled to employ the autotext feature
of
the present invention.
According to one embodiment of the invention, at least one of the
specialized applications 65 (for example, a text message compose application)
includes a text input. application 66 that is enabled to use the automatic
pair
character generation feature of the present invention. The text input
application
66 is preferably enabled to perform conventional text input and editing
functions,
including receiving and processing user inputs from the operating system 60
and
sending display information back to the operating system 60. According to
embodiments of the present invention, the text input application 66 includes
an
autotext module 68 for facilitating character pair insertions according to the
present invention. A display field or buffer 72 is maintained in RAM 26 by the
text
input application 66. The display field 72 includes a number of memory
locations
71(1) ...72(k) for storing successive characters that the text input
application 66
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has received from the keyboard 32 via the operating system 60. When in an
active display mode, the text input application 66 causes operating system 60
to
display, in sequence, the content of the display field 72 in successive
display
locations on device display 22, and also to display an input cursor to
indicate a
current input location both on the screen and in the corresponding display
field
72. More particularly, as known in the art, the text input application
maintains as
a variable in a memory location an electronic pointer 74 to indicate where the
next character input should be placed in the display field 72, and the cursor
is
displayed on the display 22 in a location that corresponds to the location
indicated by the pointer 74 in the display field 72 - the on-screen cursor is
a
visual representation of the electronic pointer 74. The text input application
66
also maintains other conventional pointers for conventional functions such as
"text select" in which a block of text can be highlighted for copying or
deletion or
case change or other type block processing. In a preferred embodiment, the
text
input application 66 also maintains LIFO stacks 76, for tracking character
pairs as
explained in greater detail below.
Figure 4 is a general flow diagram 400 of the major steps of the
autotext feature of the present invention. The process begins with keyboard
event, namely an input from the depression of a key on the keyboard 32 or
manipulation of the thumbwheel 28 of the device 10 (step 402). Keyboard driver
62 detects a keyboard event using methods known in the art, for example, by
periodically polling the electrical lines of the keyboard or by receiving a
hardware
interrupt, and maps the particular electrical signal to a codes stored in a
look up
table or other buffer. Keyboard events may be mapped to "input character
codes
or to "control character" codes. "Input characters" are those characters that
are
added to the display field 72 and displayed on the screen 22, for example
alphanumeric characters and right and left bracket characters, among other
things. In one embodiment, the input character code references used may
include the standard Unicode Set "Control characters" correspond to keyboard
events that are used to control the operating system 60 and/or specialized
applications such as the text input application 66, for example commands to
open
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menus and dialog boxes, and commands to navigate in the text in the display
field such as move the display cursor, select text, delete text, etc.
Once a keyboard event is mapped to its corresponding code, the
code is passed to the text input application 66, where the autotext module 68
determines if the keyboard event corresponds to a control character or,
alternatively, to an input character (step 404). If the keyboard event
corresponds
to a control character, the control character is processed by a control
character
processing routine that is discussed further below. If the keyboard event
corresponds to an input character code, the input character is processed as
follows. The autotext module 68 determines if the Input character corresponds
to
the first or opening character in a character pair (step 406). In particular,
the
autotext module has access to a-predefined list of special pair character
codes
that correspond to the special characters that are typically the opening
character
in a character pair. The autotext module also has access to a list of closing
characters codes that correspond to the opening characters. By way of example,
Table 1 below shows an exemplary list of opening characters and corresponding
closing characters (aligned undemeath the opening characters) according to a
preferred embodiment of the invention. For ease of explanation, the list in
Table
1 shows that actual characters rather than the character codes (for example,
the
closing bracket ")" is shown in Table 1 rather than its corresponding
character
code Unicode(Hex) 007D). Part or all of the lists may be hard coded as part of
the autotext module 68, or could be a user configurable list stored in semi-
persistent memory such a flash memory 24.
TABLE 1: LIST OF PREDETERMINED CHARACTER PAIRS
OPENING CHARACTER ( { [ <
CLOSING CHARACTER ) } ] >
If the autotext module 68 determines that the input character is not
one of the predetermined opening characters, then the input character is added
to the display field 72 (step 408), and the text input application 66
instructs the
operating system 60 to display the input character on an input display area of
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screen 22 followed by a cursor indicating the next input location, after which
the
device waits for the next key depression (step 402).
In one embodiment of the invention, in the event that the input
character is determined in step 406 to be a first or opening character in a
character pair, the autotext module 68 then checks to see if the opening
character is part of a sequence of characters that would not normally require
the
corresponding closing character (step 410). For example, electronic body
language such as ":( ", commonly recognized by committed e-mail users as a
frown face, would not require a closing character. In this regard, the
autotext
module 68 has access to a predefined list of character code sequences that do
not normally require a closing character. The list of excluded sequences
could, in
some embodiments, be user configurable. In step 410, the autotext module 68
looks at the just entered character code of the opening character in
combination
with previously input character or characters (which are stored in display
field 72)
and determines if the combination results in a character code sequence in the
predetermined list of excluded sequences (i.e. those that do not require a
closing
character. If a determination is made that a closing character is not needed,
then
the opening character is added to the display field 72 (step 408), and text
input
application 68 instructs the operating system 60 to display the opening
character
on an input display area of screen 22 followed by a cursor indicating the next
input location, after which the device waits for the next key depression (step
402).
Retuming now to step 410, if a determination is made that the
opening character will require a corresponding closing character, then the
autotext module 68 checks the appropriate pointers maintained by the text
input
application 66 to determine if any previously input text in the display field
72 has
been highlighted for block processing - or "selected", as commonly known in
the
art. (Step 412) In the event that no text is selected, the autotext module 68
adds
both the opening character and its corresponding closing character to the
display
field 72 and the operating system 60 is instructed to display the opening
character followed by the corresponding closing character on the display 22
(step 414). In a preferred embodiment, the autotext module 68 then
automatically
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adds a trailing space character after the closing character of the character
pair to
the display field 72 and causes the space to be displayed on the screen 22
(steps
416). The autotext module 68 then causes the cursor position pointer 74 to
point
to a location in the display field 72 (and the cursor to be located on display
22) so
that the next character input through the keyboard will be inserted between
the
opening and closing characters of the character pair (step 418). In addition
to
positioning the cursor, the autotext module ensures that the text input
application
66 is in what is commonly known as "INSERT' mode, such that subsequently
input characters will be inserted at the cursor location, pushing trailing
characters
(including the closing character) to the right without overwriting them. After
step
418, the autotext module 68 retums to step 402 to wait for the next keyboard
event.
Turning again to step 412, in the event that previously input
characters have been selected, the autotext module 68 causes the input opening
character to be inserted into the display field 72, and on screen 22, into a
location
preceding the first character of the selected text, and causes the
corresponding
closing character to be inserted into the display field 72, and on screen 22,
into a
location immediately after the last character of the selected text (step 420),
thereby framing the selected text within the character pair without requiring
the
user to enter the closing character. In a preferred embodiment, a space
character
is added after the closing character. The cursor location (and cursor position
pointer 74) is updated so that the next character will be added to the
immediate
right of the space that trails the closing character (step 422), after which
the
autotext module loops back step 402 to wait for the next keyboard event.
Turning again to step 404, control character processing will now be
explained in greater detail. In embodiments of the invention, special delete
processing for character pairs may be provided. In such embodiments, if a
keyboard event corresponds to a control character, the autotext module 68
checks to see if the keyboard event was the depression of the delete key (step
424), and if so, performs a delete processing routine, indicated generally by
reference 425, which will be described in greater detail below..
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When a user wants to exit from inside a character pair, they can
use conventional scroll key inputs to move the input cursor until visual
feedback
from the screen 22 indicates that the input cursor is positioned after the
closing
character and the trailing space. For example, in one embodiment of device 10
depression of the "aft" key combined with a single increment downward roll of
discrete thumbwheel 28 is interpreted as the control character for moving the
input cursor (and, in the figurative sense, the corresponding cursor location
pointer) a single location to the right. Some embodiments, such as that shown
in
Figure 4, may be configured to permit a user to automatically skip to the end
of a
character pair (and all text between the character pair) upon entry of a key
stroke
or key stroke combination that is associated w(dh a predetermined "quick e)(ir
control character. For example, in one embodiment, the predetermined "quick
exit" control character could be mapped to the depression of the "cntrl" key
and
the "alt" key simultaneously. Having a quick exit function may be particularly
useful in a situation where the user has retumed to edit previously entered
text
within a character pair, as it can save the user the time of having to scroll
over
several characters to get to the end of the character pair. In embodiments
configured for a "quick exit" from a character pair, the autotext module 68 is
configured to check if the control character generated by a keyboard event
corresponds to the predetermined "quick exit" character (step 426). If it does
not
then the control character is processed by the text input application 66
according
to its predetermined function (step 430).
It is possible that a "quick exit" character may have a different
function associated with it when it is not entered within a character pair,
and
accordingly, if in step 426 it is determined that the "quick exiY' character
has been
entered, the autotext module then performs a check to see if the input cursor
is
actually within a character pair at the time that the "quick exit" entry is
made (step
428). If the "quick exit" character has been entered outside of a character
pair,
the "quick exit" character is processed according to its altemative function,
or
ignored as an incorrect entry if it has no altemative function (step 430).
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If in step 428 a determination is made that the "quick ext" character
was made within a character pair, the input cursor location and corresponding
cursor position pointer are relocated to after the closing character of the
character pair (in particular, to after the space character that trails the
closing
character) (step 429). -
One possible method according to embodiments of the invention
for detecting if the input cursor is located within a character pair in step
428 will
now be discussed. In such an embodiment, the autotext module 68 uses Last In
First Out (LIFO) stacks 76 in memory. In step 428, with cursor position
pointer
acting as a starting point reference, the autotext module first scans the
characters in the display field 72 preceding the input cursor to locate the
opening
character, and then scans the succeeding characters to locate the
corresponding
closing character. Using the LIFO stacks 76, the autotext module 68 can track
nested character pairs to ensure that it associates the correct opening
character
with the correct closing character, and can also be configured to detect
incorrect
character pairings and generate an error code or signal for the user of an
incorrect pairing. Figure 5 shows pseudo code, indicated by reference 500,
illustrating an exemplary routine for scanning characters preceding the cursor
location to detect an opening character, and Figure 6 shows pseudo code,
indicated by reference 600 illustrating an exemplary routine for scanning
characters subsequent to the cursor location to detect the correct closing
character corresponding to the opening character.
During the backward scan routine 500, the autotext module
continues scanning backward from the cursor location a character at a time
until
it locates an opening character that is not paired with a closing character
that has
already been added to the LIFO stack. The use of LIFO stack to track opening
and closing characters scanned during the backward scan routine 500 allows the
autotext module to ignore character pairs that are nested within the target
character pair. An error is signalled if an unmatched nested character pair is
located during the backward scan. The backward scan routine 500 retums the
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found opening character as variable j, and can also return the location of the
opening character as variable i if such location information is needed.
During forward scan routine 600, which is performed after backward
scan routine 500, the autotext module continues scanning forward from the
cursor location a character at a time until it locates a closing character
that is not
paired with an opening character that has already been added to the LIFO stack
during the forward scan routine 600. The use of LIFO stack to track opening
and
closing characters scanned during the forward scan routine 600 allows the
autotext module to ignore character pairs that are nested within the target
character pair. An error is signalled if an unmatched nested character pair
(for
example "[ }" ) is located during the backward scan. When the target closing
character is found, a check is made to determine if it corresponds to the
opening
character found during backward scan routine 500, and if not, an error is
signalled that an unmatched pair has been entered, and if so, the forward scan
routine 600 retums the location of the target closing character as variable n,
thereby providing the information needed to perform a "quick exit" by
relocating
the cursor to after the closing character of the character pair.
Referring again to Figure 4, the delete processing routine 425 will
now be explained in greater detail. Routine 425 permits both the opening and
closing characters of a character pair to simultaneously deleted when either
the
opening character or the closing character is selected for deletion by the
user.
For example, when the delete key is pressed, the autotext module 68 checks to
see if the character to be deleted (as determined by the input cursor
location) is a
closing character or an opening character of one of the predetermined
character
pairs (steps 432, 434). If not, the character deletion is carried out in the
normal
manner (step 436). If however, the character to be deleted is either an
opening
character or a closing character of one of the predetermined character pairs,
the
autotext module 68 performs forward and backward scanning routines (for
example routines 500, 600) to determined if the opening (or closing) character
is
paired with its corresponding closing (or opening) character, and also to
determine the location of the opening and closing characters if a pair exists
(step
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438). If a character pair is found, then both the opening and closing
characters
are deleted from the display field 72 and screen 22 (step 440). If no
character
pair is found, then only the character located adjacent the input cursor is
deleted
(step 436). It.will be appreciated that delete routine 425 could also be
configured
to work with the backspace function.
Thus, in summary, it will be appreciated from the flowchart of Figure
4 that upon detecting that a user of.the device 10 has entered a character
that
falls within the list of predetermined opening characters, the autotext module
68
causes both the opening character and its corresponding closing character,
followed by a space character to be added to the display field 72 and
displayed
on the display 22, and positions the input cursor to locate any subsequently
input
characters within the opening and closing character pair. The user can exit
from
inside a character pair either by scrolling one character at a time, or can
jump to
after the closing character of the character pair by entering a predetermined
quick e(it key or key combination. A user can quickly encapsulate text within
the
opening and closing characters of a character pair by selecting the text and
then
entering the opening character (in some text editors that are configured to
perform a block delete of selected text, it will be necessary to configure the
editor
to override such function when one of the predetermined opening characters is
entered in combination with selected text).
The present invention saves the user the trouble of having to
manually enter the closing character of a character pair and the trailing
space
that typically follows such a character. In reduced key configurations such as
those commonly found in mobile devices, such a feature can be particularly
time
saving as some special pair closing characters, for example the character ")"
may
require the user to take a number of different actions to enter. Furthermore,
such
a feature ensures that the user does not forget the closing character.
In order to provide a better understanding of the invention, an
illustrative example of the operation of the device 10 according to
embodiments
of the invention will be explained with reference to Figure 7. Figure 7 shows,
in
sequential order, characters stored in the display field and shown on display
22 in
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CA 02416098 2006-07-07
response to a series of keyboard events. In the illustrated example, a user
enters the opening pair character "{", which, as indicated by reference 701,
is
added to the display field 72 and displayed on display 22. The autotext module
68 determines that the entered character falls within the list of
predetermined
special character pairs, and, as indicated by reference 702, causes the
corresponding closing character "}" and a trailing space Sp to be
automatically
inserted. Additionally, the input cursor, represented by dashed line box 706,
is
positioned at the same location as the closing character "}" so that any
subsequently entered characters will be inserted before the closing
character")"
and after the opening character "{", with the closing character pushed further
right
with each subsequent character entry. In the illustrated example, the user
enters
the characters "Text", as indicated by reference 703. As indicated by
reference
704, upon the user entering the designated exit key or key combination , the
input cursor 706 jumps over the closing character "}" and the trailing space
Sp to
the next available input location.
In some embodiments, the autotext module may be configured to
determine in step 414, by using forward and backward scanning routines similar
to routines 500, 600, if it is processing a nested character pair, and if so,
to skip
adding a trailing space after the closing character. In some embodiments, the
autotext module 68 may be configured not to insert any trailing space after
the
closing pair character. In some embodiments, the autotext module 68 may be
configured to automatically Insert spaces immediately after the opening
character
and immediately before the closing character of a character pair. In some
embodiments, the location of automatically inserted spaces in and around the
predefined character pairs could be user configurable.
In some embodiment of the invention, the autotext module 68 is
configured to automatically insert a closing character sequence that
corresponds
to an opening character sequence, and position the input cursor between the
opening and closing character sequences. As noted above, there are situations
when an opening sequence of characters is paired with a closing sequence of
characters with information nested between. For example HTML source code is
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structured using paired opening and closing sequences as: <HEAD> opening
character sequence paired with the </HEAD> closing sequence, or opening
<TITLE> paired with closing </TITLE>, or <TABLE> with </TABLE>. It will be
appreciated that the methods described above in respect of character pairs
consisting of a single opening and a single closing character are easily
adaptable
for use with opening and closing character sequences. Conventional text
prediction routines could be Used to speed up entry of the opening sequence,
with the autotext module of the present invention automatically inserting the
corresponding closing sequence and positioning the input cursor.
In some embodiments, all or some of the functions of the autotext
module 68 could be implemented as an application separate from any specific
text input application 66, thus allowing several text input applications to
call on
and use a single autotext module 68. Functions of the autotext module 68 and
text input application could also be integrated into the operating system 60.
It will be appreciated that in addition to automatic pair character
insertion, the device 10 could also have other autotext functions such as
those
described, for example, in the above mentioned US Patent No. 6,396,482.
Although the device 10 has been described as a mobile communications device,
embodiments of the present invention could also be applied to electronic
devices
that are neither communications devices or mobile. In addition to the physical
keyboard described above, the automatic text insertion of the present
invention
could work with virtual keyboard systems (for example, on-screen stylus input
systems) and other character entry systems as well.
Although the invention has been descdbed above in the context of
a left to right language system such as the English language, it could also be
applied to other language systems such as Arabic and Japanese.
The above-described embodiments of the present invention are
intended to be examples only. Alterations, modifications and variations may be
effected to the particular embodiments by those skilled in the art without
departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined by the claims
appended hereto.
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