GB2356074A - Electronic dictionary - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic dictionary comprises preview display means for simultaneously displaying a candidate list of word entries corresponding to input characters, and displaying information (translations) corresponding to word entries selected by a cursor within the candidate list. When a translation key is pressed, the selected translation is displayed alone, and parts of speech or idiomatic phrases can be selected, or marks within the translation can be selected to obtain a model sentence, synonym or word form comment. Alternatives can be displayed to aid spell checking.

Description

2356074 Electronic Dictionary The present invention relates to an

electronic dictionary for representing information etc. relating to translation and words corresponding to input words in English to Japanese, Japanese to English, Japanese or English etc. to be displayed.

Conventionally, with an'electronic dictionary for displaying dictionary data such as translations of words, for example, if a word is input, a word entry list corresponding to that word is displayed on a screen, and by selecting a desired word entry from the list the translation of the selected word entry is displayed by switching the screen.

Also, when information relating to synonyms, idiomatic phrases and model sente nces etc. is to be displayed, by carrying out a specified operation with a list of word entries or their translations displayed on the screen, specified related information is displayed by switching the screen in the. same way as described above.

However, in cases such as where there are a plurality of word entries corresponding to an input word, or where there 1 I c.

are a plurality of idiomatic phrases using the input word, there is a problem that it is necessary to search for words and idiomatic phrases while switching the display screen between selection of word entries and display of translation, which lowers efficiency.

For this reason, it has been proposed to display a plurality of word entries corresponding to the input word and some of the beginnings of each of the word entries respectively side by side.

However, when displaying a list and beginnings of translations in the list, various parts of speech are mainly described in the translation beginnings, but it is difficult to understand the gist of the translation when searching for information when only the beginnings of sentences are displayed Also, when carrying out a spell check, with beginnings only it is difficult to confirm whether or not a certain spelling is the desired spelling.

The present invention has been conceived in view of the above described drawbacks, and is intended to provide an electronic dictionary for displ aying dictionary data more efficiently on a screen to make searching for desired dictionary data more 2 i i straightforward.

A f irst aspect of the present invention f or solving the above described problems is an electronic dictionary, provided with dictionary data having information corresponding to word entries, for searching word entries corresponding to input characters and displaying inf ormation corresponding to a word entry designated from within searched candidates, comprising preview display means for simultaneously displaying a candidate list of word entries corresponding to the input characters, and displaying information corresponding to word entries selected by a cursor within the candidate list.

A second aspect of the present invention is the f irst aspect in which the candidate list is a list of word entries including the input characters, and the information has a translation corresponding to the word entries.

A third aspect of the present invention is the f irst aspect in which the candidate list is a candidate list of word entries having similar spellings to spelling of an input word.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is any one of the first to third aspects, provided with a plurality of types of dictionary data, and searching a word entry corresponding to an input word from the plurality'of types of dictionary data.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is an electronic 3 I dictionary, provided with information corresponding to word entries and dictionary data having sub-information relating to the word entries, for displaying only marks indicating the presence of sub-information when displaying information corresponding to word entries to abbreviate that content, and displaying sub-inf ormation corresponding to the marks when the.marks are selected, comprising a display for displaying only marks indicating the presence of information corresponding to a word entry and sub information and preview display means for simultaneously carrying out display of sub-information corresponding to selected marks among the displayed marks.

A sixth aspect of the present invention is the fifth aspect in which the sub-inf ormation is selected f rom idiomatic phrases, model sentences and comments relating to the word entries.

With the present invention, by using the preview mode it is possible to see information corresponding to one word entry list at the same time without switching the screen.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of further example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- 4 Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of an electronic dictionary of respective embodiments of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a drawing showing the external appearance of the electronic dictionary; Fig. 3 is a f lowchart showing one example of usage conditions of the electronic dictionary of the f irst and second embodiments of the present invention; Fig. 4 is a drawing showing screens displayed in respective steps of Fig. 3 by the display means in the first embodiment of the invention; Fig. 5 is a drawing showing screens displayed in respective steps of Fig. 3 by the display means in the second embodiment of the invention; Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing one example of usage conditions of the electronic dictionary of the third embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 7 is a drawing showing one example of a screen displayed by the display means in each step of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a drawing showing one example of a screen displayed by the display means in each step of Fig. 6; and Fig. 9 is a drawing showing one example of a screen displayed by the display means in each step of Fig. 6.

Next, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments. (First Embodiment) Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of an electronic dictionary of the first embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a drawing showing the external appearance of the electronic dictionary.

As shown in the drawings, the electronic dictionary 10 comprises a control section 20 for executing control of respective sections, dictionary data 30 stored in memory such as ROM, an input device 40 for carrying out character input and electronic dictionary operations, and a display device 50 for displaying various information.

The control section 20 performs overall control of the electronic dictionary 10 by causing execution of a control program etc. stored in memory such as ROM by a CPU, and mainly comprises search means 2 1, display means 22 and preview display means 23.

The dictionary data 30 are made up of English to Japanese, Japanese to English, ordinary English, and synonym 6 dictionaries in this embodiment. For example, each of the English to Japanese.. Japanese to English, and ordinary English dictionaries are made up of word entries and their translations, and idiomatic phrases and model sentences using the word entries, and comments for the word entries are included inside the translations as sub-in formation.

The input device 40 comprises character keys 41 for inputting characters, selection keys 4 2 for selecting the type of dictionary and for carrying out selection and definition f or selection of word entries and idiomatic phrases, and display of translations and model sentences etc., as well as a power supply switch 4 9 turning a power supply on and of f. The selection keys' 42 are, for example, a dictionary selection key for selecting a dictionary, a cursor key 44 for moving a cursor, and a translation key 45 for displaying and confirming a translation.

The display device 50 is a liquid crystal display device, and can display various information.

The search means 21 searches for word entries corresponding to characters input using the character keys 4letc. Speci f ically, in translation mode selected by pressing any one of the "English to Japanese", "Japanese to English", "English to English" or "synonym" dictionary selection keys 43, word entries containing an input character string are 7 searched for from the selected dictionary data 3 0, and in spell check mode selected by pressing the space key of the dictionary selection keys, similar word entries in the input character string are searched f or f rom the selected dictionary data (this can be selected in advance and can, f or example, be both English to Japanese and Japanese to English).

The display means 22 outputs necessary information for advising on each operation and information representing results searched by the search means 21 etc. to the display device 50.

The preview display means 23 operates in preview mode and gives a preview. display of necessary information. Here, for preview display, for example, with a searched word entry list displayed, a translation corresponding to one of these word entries is displayed in a specified region, or a word entry list and translation of a word entry displayed in preview are displayed at the same time on a single screen on the display device 50. It is possible to set whether or not there is preview mode for respective translation modes in advance, and it is also possible to set to preview mode without f ail as a def ault.

With such an electronic dictionary, f or example, if characters are input in translation mode using the character keys 41, the input characters are temporarily stored in RAM, being storage means, as a character string. The search means 8 21 of the control section 20 then searches word entries constituting candidates from comparison of the character string stored in RAM and the word entries of the stored dictionary data 30, and the searched word entries are temporarily stored in RAM as a candidate list.

Here, when preview mode has not been set, that is, in normal mode, the display means 22 displays the candidate list stored in RAM on the display device 50 as a single screen. Af ter that, by selecting a target word entry f rom the candidate list, the translation of that word entry is searched for by the search means 21, the translation is stored in RAM and displayed in the display device 50 as a single screen by the display means 22.

Also, when preview mode has been set (in this embodiment, translation mode and spell check mode are always set to preview mode), the preview display means 23 displays the candidate list stored in RAM at a specified region of the screen, f or example, on the lower half of the screen, and retrieves dictionary data 30 for the translation of the word entry at the cursor position in the candidate list to display it on a specified region of the display device 50, for example on an upper half of the screen. The cursor position is aligned with a word entry at the top of the candidate list, but if the cursor is moved using the cursor keys 44 the preview display 9 means 23 automatically gives a preview display of the translation of the word entry at the cursor position. Further, if the translation key 45 is pressed while in preview mode, the translation being previewed is selected and displayed on the whole of the screen, and if the return key 47 is pressed preview display is returned to. When there is only one word entry as a candidate, there is no preview display and a translation screen is presented.

Here, the design and display method of the screen to be previewed is not p articularly limited, and it is possible to have a display divided either laterally or vertically. For example, it is possible to set a position for preview display at a line number of the screen and to display the candidate list on the entire screen, and to present the preview display of translations underneath from the set line. In preview mode, it is possible to display the candidate list on only the lower half of the screen and to preview the translation on only the upper half of the screen. Also, it is possible to set a range to be previewed to the right half of the screen using the-preview display means 23, and to preview the translation on the right half of the screen overlaid on the candidate list displayed on the entire screen.

Display operation of the electronic dictionary of this embodiment will now be described.

I I Fig. 3 is a f low chart showing one example of usage conditions of the electronic dictionary of the present invention, and Fig. 4A - Fig. 4C are views showing one example of a screen displayed in each step of Fig. 3.

First of all, instep S1, power to the electronic dictionary 10 is turned on using the power supply switch 49, and in step S2 if a target dictionary is selected using the dictionary selection keys 43 (in this case English to Japanese is selected) a character input screen corresponding to the selected dictionary is displayed on the display device 50 by the display means 22. In step S3 characters are input using the character keys 41 while looking at the character input screen. This input character string is temporarily stored in RAM as a character string. The screen at this time is shown in Fig. 4A. Fig. 4A is an example where the English to Japanese dictionary is selected and "g" "e" "t" is input.

Next, in Step S4, it is judged whether or not the translation key 45 has been pressed, and if it has been pressed the search means 21 searches for word.entries including the input character string from the dictionary data 30 and temporarily stores results in a specified region of RAM. Then, in Step S5, as shown in Fig. 4B the preview display means 23 displays a word entry candidate list on a lower half of the screen, and presents a preview display of the translation for the word entry at the top of the candidate list on the upper half of the screen. Next, with this preview mode, in step S6 it is judged whether or not the cursor has been moved to another word entry by the cursor keys, and if the cursor has moved, translation of a selected word entry is preview displayed in step S7. By sequentially carrying out this preview display, it is easy to f ind a target word entry.

Next, if the translation key 45 has been pressed in step S8 the display means 22 displays a translation for the target word entry on the entire screen in step S9, as shown in Fig. 4C. If another search is selected in step S10, step S2 is returned to, while if another search is not selected processing terminates at step S11 by turning the power supply off.

With such an electronic dictionary of this embodiment, since it is possible to preview display translations for a selected word entry while looking at a word entry candidate list, there is no need to switch screens each time, and it is possible to more efficiently find a target word entry.

(Second Embodiment) In the second embodiment, an example is given of carrying out a spell check with the electronic dictionary 10, and in this embodiment the preview display means always functions when spell checking. In spell checking, beginning words of 12 similar spellings to the spelling of the input character string and their dictionary data are searched by the search means, and the dictionary used can be selected in advance, but in this embodiment the English to Japanese and the English to English dictionaries are selected. Fig. 5 is a screen displayed by the display means of the electronic dictionary of the second embodiment, and will be described using the f low chart of Fig. 3.

First of all, in step S1, the power supply to the electronic dictionary 10 is turned on using the power supply switch 49, and if spell check has been selected in step S2 by pressing the "spell" key of the dictionary selection keys 43, a character input screen (not shown) is displayed on the display device 50 by the display means 22.

Next, after 11aple" has been input using the character keys 41 in step S3, word entries having a spelling similar to the spelling of the input character string are searched for by the search means 21 upon pressing the translation key 45 in step S4, and a candidate list and a translation of the word entry at the cursor position are displayed on the display device 50 by the preview display means 23, as shown in Fig. 5A. Specifically, a candidate list of word entries such as "apple", "apple" and "APR", as well.as a translation of the top word ent ry, "apple" here, are previewed. Japanese to English and 13 English to English word entries are included. in the candidate list, but it is also possible to give priority to display of only one of them in the case of doubling up, and it is also possible to display the two with marks showing the kinds of the -dictionaries. with this preview mode, in step S6 it is judged whether or not the cursor -has been moved to, another word entry by the cursor keys 44, and if the cursor has moved, translation of a selected word entry is preview displayed in step S7, in the same way as described above for the first embodiment. Therefore, by sequentially carrying out this preview display, it is easy to f ind a target word entry. Then, in step S8, with the cursor placed on a target word entry, "apple" in this case, the translation key 45 is pressed to display a translation for the target word entry on the entire screen in step S9, as shown in Fig. 5B.

in this way, with this embodiment, when inputting target words the preview display means 23 makes it possible to see the word entry candidate list and the translation for the word entry where the cursor is positioned, even if the spelling is inaccurate, which means that it is possible to efficiently find target words.

(Third Embodiment) With this embodiment, after displaying the translation for a target word entry on the entire screen as in the above described 14 first and second embodiments, idiomatic phrases and model sentences containing that word entry, or comments using the word entry, are preview displayed.

Fig. 6 is a flow chart showing one example of the third embodiment, and is inserted between steps S9 and SIO of Fig. 3. Also, Fig. 7.- Fig. 9 are screens displayed in each step.

This embodiment relates to a step after display of a translation corresponding to a target word entry on the entire screen, as shown in Fig. 7A. If the mark key 46 is pressed the cursor is displayed at the position of an icon at the upper right of the screen. Here, various parts of speech possessed by the word entry are displayed, and at the same time, when there is an idiomatic phrase as sub-information an "idiom" icon is displayed. If each icon of the part of speech is selected, the screen is moved to the position of that part of speech, and if "idiom" is selected an idiomatic phrase list and a translation for one idiomatic phrase are previewed.

In the case of "get" in Fig. 7A, there are an intransitive verb and a noun as parts of speech, and an idiomatic phrase. Accordingly, if "idiom" is selected in step S21, as shown in Fig. 7B an idiomatic phrase list is displayed at the lower half using the preview display means 23, and a translation for the initial idiomatic phrase is previewed at the upper half. Also, with this preview mode, in step S23 it is judged whether or not the cursor has been moved to another idiomatic phrase by the cursor keys 44, and if the cursor has moved, translation of a selected idiomatic phrase is preview displayed in step S24. By sequentially carrying out this preview display, it is easy to find a target idiomatic phrase. If a target idiomatic phra se is selected by pressing the translation key 45 in step S25, the display means 22 displays a translation for the selected idiomatic phrase on the entire screen of the display device 50 in step S26, as shown in Fig. 7C.

On the other hand, if an idiomatic phrase is not selected in step S21 and the cursor is moved to a translated sentence using the cursor keys 44, the cursor is moved sequentially across the marks for sub-information inside the translated sentence, namely the "sentence" mark indicating a model sentence, the "synonym" mark indicating a synonym comment or the "word f orm" mark indicating a word f orm comment. In step S31 it is judged whether or not a sub-information mark has been selected by this cursor movement, and in step S32 the content of the sub-inf ormation selected by the cursor movement is previewed on the lower half of the screen. Also, if it is judged in step S33 that there is cursor movement, the content of the sub information at the cursor position is previewed in step S34. Further, if it is judged in step S35 that the translation key 45 has been pressed on this preview display 16 screen, only the content of the sub-inf ormation is displayed on the entire screen in step S36.

Fig. 8A is a screen preview displaying a model sentence as s ub-inf ormation f or "get", and Fig. 8B is a screen displaying only the model sentence sub-inf ormation. Fig. 9A is a screen preview displaying a synonym as sub-inf ormation, and Fig. 9B is a screen displaying only the synonym sub-inf ormation on the entire screen.

In this way, with this embodiment, since it is possible to preview subinformation such as model sentences, idiomatic phrases and synonyms while word entries and translations are displayed as dictionary data on the screen., it is possible to efficiently find target sub- in formation.

(Others) The preview display is not limited to the above described embodiments, and it is also possible to make use of it in the case of preview displaying a model sentence list or idiomatic phrase list and translations for selected model sentences and idiomatic phrases, in the case of carrying out a model sentence search or an idiomatic phrase search, f or example.

In the electronic dictionary of the present invention as described above, since it is possible to display one dictionary data on a screen and to preview display information corresponding to the displayed dictionary data on the screen, 17 it is possible to efficiently find target dictionary data.

18

Claims (6)

Claims:

1. An electronic dictionary, provided with dictionary data having information corresponding to word entries, for searching word entries corresponding to input characters and displaying information corresponding to a word entry designated from within searched candidates, comprising, preview display means for simultaneously displaying a candidate list of word entries corresponding to the input characters, and information corresponding to word entries selected by a cursor within the candidate list.

2. The electronic dictionary according to claim 1, whe rein the candidate list is a list of word entries including the input characters, and the information has a translation corresponding to the word entries.

3. The electronic dictionary according to claim 1, wherein the candidate list is a candidate list of word entries having similar spellings to spelling of an input word.

4. The electronic dictionary according to any one of claims 1 to 3, provided with a plurality of types of dictionary data, and searching a word entry corresponding to an'input word from the plurality of types of dictionary data.

5. An electronic dictionary, provided with information corresponding to the word entries and dictionary data having sub-information relating to the word entries, for displaying 19 only marks indicating the presence of sub-inf ormation when displaying information corresponding to word entries to abbreviate that - content, and displaying sub-information corresponding to the marks when the marks are selected, comprising; preview display means for simultaneously carrying out display of information corresponding to the word entries with marks indicating the - presence of sub-inf ormation, and display of sub-inf ormation corresponding to selected marks among the displayed marks.

6. The electronic dictionary according to claim 5, wherein the sub-Inf ormation is selected f rom idiomatic phrases, model sentences and comments relating to the word entries.